Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 1

56 Note that all the modifying elements occur before the main noun, and that the particle no must be attached to a noun modifier wherever it occurs. The order of modifying elements is rather free, unlike in English, where there are certain restrictions. chiisai takai kono Amerika no keitai this small, expensive American cellphone kono watashi no keitai this cellphone of mine watashi no kono keitai this cellphone of mine 3-1-3 arimasu ‘there is X’ The verb arimasu means ‘there is’ or ‘I have’. It indicates inanimate existence such as objects, plants, ideas, events, etc. A different verb is used for people and animals and will be introduced later. There are two negative forms for arimasu : arimasen and nai desu . The latter is less formal. As we have seen so far, nai desu is part of the negative forms for noun and adjective sentences. Arimasen can substitute for nai desu in these forms and sounds a little more elegant. Sumaho ja nai desu . → Sumaho ja arimasen. It’s not a smartphone. Takaku nai desu. → Takaku arimasen . It’s not expensive. Similarly, the Past form arimasen deshita can substitute for nakatta desu. Sumaho ja nakatta desu. → Sumaho ja arimasen deshita. It wasn’t a smartphone. Takaku nakatta desu. → Takaku arimasen deshita. It wasn’t expensive. The chart below shows all the forms including these alternatives. Table 6. All the past forms of "arimasen" - affirmative and negative - as a verb sentence, noun sentence, and adjective sentence. Affirmative – Non-past Negative – Non-past Verb Sentence Arimasu. Nai desu. Arimasen. Noun Sentence Nihon desu. Nihon ja nai desu. Nihon ja arimasen Adjective Sentence Takai desu. Takaku nai desu. Takaku arimasen.