Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 2

75 In this lesson we add the particle ~ yori , ‘than’ and ~hou ‘this alternative of the two’. By using these, the sentences above can be restated as follows: X to Y to dochira no hou ga ii desu ka. Which is better, X or Y? -- Y yori X no hou ga ii desu. X is better than Y. When comparing more than three items you can specify the items compared by saying ‘X no naka de ‘ among X (the group)’ or listing up each member of the group like X to Y to Z no naka de ‘among X, Y, and Z’ Kono naka de dore ga ichiban ii desu ka. Among these, which is the best. X to Y to Z no naka de dore ga ichiban ii desu ka. Which is the best among X, Y, and Z? -- X ga ichiban ii desu. X is the best. 8-3-2 Sentence + shi Shi added to the end of a sentence means “and” and indicates that it’s one factor or one reason among others that leads to the conclusion under discussion. Ame da shi. Because it’s raining, and… (so, I’m not going) You can link more than two sentences using shi . The last sentence in the sequence can be either another reason or the conclusion. When asked about a restaurant for example, you may link three characteristics or two characteristics and a conclusion as follows. Oishii shi, yasui shi, kirei desu yo. The food is good, and it’s cheap and it’s clean. Oishii shi, yasui shi, daisuki desu yo. The food is good, and it’s cheap, so I like it a lot. Since shi implies there are other reasons, it is often used to make a sentence sound inconclusive, thus polite in some cases, even when it is actually the only reason. You may notice younger speakers use shi- ending sentences a lot for this reason. Drills and Exercises A. Cue: 野球と相撲とどっちの方がいい？ Which do you like better, baseball or Sumo? Response: 野球より、相撲のほうがいい。 I like Sumo better than baseball. Cue: うどんとラーメンとどっちの方がいい？ Which do you like better, Udon or Ramen ? Response: うどんより、ラーメンの方がいい。 I like Ramen better than Udon . B. Cue: 伝統的ですね。 It’s traditional, isn’t it? Response: ええ、伝統的だし、おもしろいし、大好きです。