Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 1

89 Grammar Notes 4-3-1 Double-Subject Structures A Japanese sentence can have more than one subject phrase. This is called a double-subject sentence. Maikeru-san wa [ ohashi daijoubu desu. ] Michael is fine with chopsticks. In the sentence above, ohashi is the subject of the bracketed sentence, and Maikeru- san is the subject of the entire sentence. In other words, the bracketed sentence ‘chopsticks are fine’ is an attribute of or a description about Michael. Similarly, in the examples below, the bracketed sentences are facts about the preceding nouns. Furansu wa [ keeki ga oisii desu ] . France has good cake. Honda-san wa [ eigo wa jouzu desu ] kedo… Honda-san is good at English, but…. Dare ga [ eigo ga dekimasu ] ka . Who can speak English? Watashi mo [ sushi ga suki desu ] kedo. I like sushi, too. As shown above, both of the subject nouns (inside and outside of the brackets) can take the particles ga, wa, mo , or no particle. Depending on which particle is used, there is a shift in meaning ( ga =new information, wa =contrast, mo =addition, or no particle= neutral). Special note should be taken of nouns such as suki ‘like’, and kirai ‘dislike’, and the verbs such as wakarimasu ‘understand’ , dekimasu ‘can do’, arimasu ‘have’, and irimasu ‘need.’ These all indicate a state rather than an action in Japanese. Therefore, unlike their English translations, they do not take an object. What you like, what you understand, etc., can be marked by the particles ga , wa , or mo , or no particle, but not by the particle o . Honda-san wa sushi ga suki desu . Ms. Honda likes sushi. Watashi wa terebi wa irimasen . I don't need a TV. Kono daigaku wa arabiago no jyugyou mo arimasu. This university has an Arabic class, too. By the way, there is no such thing as a double-object structure in Japanese. Whew! 4-3-2 Verb Stem + tai ‘want to do x’ Tabetai desu means ‘I want to eat’. To make the tai form of a verb, replace ~ masu with ~ tai desu . Tabemasu → Tabetai desu I want to eat it. Mimasu → Mitai desu I want to see it.