Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 2

3 5-1-2 Particle Ni indicating the Location of Existence Ni is a semantic particle. A place noun followed by particle ni indicates the place where something or someone is located. While /a place + de / above is followed by an activity verb, /a place + ni/ is followed by a verb of existence such as arimasu, imasu , and their variations. Compare the following. Toshokan ni imasu. He is in the library. (a person/ animal) Toshokan ni arimasu. It is in the library. (a thing) Toshokan de arimasu. It is held in the library. (an event) Particles wa and mo may follow ni . Amerika ni mo arimasu. They are in America too. Amerika ni wa arimasen. It’s not in America (it may be somewhere else.) When the context makes it clear that the location of someone or something is under discussion, /a location noun plus desu/ can be used instead of /a location noun ni arimasu/imasu./ Yamada-san wa? How about Mr. Yamada? - Toshokan desu . He is in the library. -Toshokan ni imasu. He is in the library. 5-1-3 Irasshaimasu : Honorific Verbs There are many ways in Japanese to show deference to other people. Being proficient in polite language is a requirement for working adults. The politeness system of the language is complex and it is part of the language curriculum in Japanese schools. Many companies offer in-house training for new employees to speak business- appropriate language, which includes a lot of polite expressions. One way to create linguistic politeness is to position yourself lower than the person you are talking about, by either lowering yourself (Humble forms) or raising the person (Honorific forms). Honorific forms are used to raise the person being talked about. You use them when describing anyone to whom you want to show deference such as your customers and clients, strangers and people you have just met, and people senior to you including senpai , bosses, supervisors, teachers, etc. Needless to say, you do not use honorific verbs to describe yourself. Some of the commonly used verbs have a special honorific version as shown in the chart below.