Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 1

46 Grammar Notes 2-4-1 Days of the Week Youbi indicates days of the week. There are three variations for each day of the week. getsu, getsu-you, getsu-youbi The longer, the more formal. Abbreviations like the following are also very common. Getsu-sui-kin Mon-Wed-Fri Kaa-moku Tue-Thurs. Do-nichi Sat-Sun The question word nan-youbi ‘what day of the week’ cannot be used to ask ‘what day of the month’, which will be introduced later. 2-4-2 Noun to Noun /X to Y/ means ‘X and Y’. Unlike English ‘and’, which can connect various elements including adjectives, verbs, or sentences, the particle to can only connect nouns or noun phrases. Nihon to America Japan and America Asia Ginkou no Oda-san to J-Netto no Sumisu-san Mr. Oda from Asia Bank and Mr. Smith from J-Net Kayoubi to mokuyoubi no jugyou Classes on Tuesday and Thursday Kono nihongo no kyoukasho to ano hon this Japanese textbook and that book Like other particles, to follows a noun, and when pronouncing, there is no pause between the noun and to (in English, you can pause before ‘and.’) There is no limit to the number of nouns connected, but it’s rare for an adult speaker to list more than three or four. 2-4-3 The Past Form of /X desu / X deshita , X ja nakatta desu The forms of /X desu / including the Non-Past, Past, Affirmative and Negative are shown in the chart below. Make sure you do not use deshita in the Past Negative form.