Basic Japanese: A Grammar and Workbook

300 Pages·2010·2.51 MB·English

by  Shoko Hamano

BASIC JAPANESE
Basic Japanese:A Grammar andWorkbook comprises an
accessible reference grammar and related exercises in a single volume.
This book presents 25 grammar units,covering the core material
which students would expect to encounter in their first year
of learning Japanese.
Divided into two parts,the first outlines fundamental components
of Japanese including the writing system,pronunciation,word order,
particles and conjugation patterns,while the second builds on this
foundation by introducing basic grammatical patterns organized by
the task they achieve.Grammar points are followed by contextualized
examples and exercises which allow students to reinforce and
consolidate their learning.
Key features include:
• clear,accessible format
• many useful language examples
• transliteration of all examples
• jargon-free explanations of grammar
• abundant exercises with full answer key
• subject index.
Basic Japanese is suitable both for class use and independent study,
making it an ideal grammar reference and practice resource for both
beginners and students with some knowledge of the language.
Shoko Hamano is Professor of Japanese and InternationalAffairs
and Director of the Language Center atThe GeorgeWashington
University,USA.Previous publications include Making Sense of
Japanese Grammar (co-authored,2002) and The Sound-Symbolic
System of Japanese (1998).
TakaeTsujioka isTeachingAssistant Professor in Japanese at
The GeorgeWashington University,USA.Previous publications
include The Syntax of Possession in Japanese (2002).
Other titles available in the GrammarWorkbooks series are:
Basic Cantonese
Intermediate Cantonese
Basic Chinese
Intermediate Chinese
Basic German
Intermediate German
Basic Italian
Basic Irish
Intermediate Irish
Basic Korean
Intermediate Korean
Basic Polish
Intermediate Polish
Basic Russian
Intermediate Russian
Basic Spanish
Intermediate Spanish
BasicWelsh
IntermediateWelsh
BASIC JAPANESE:
A GRAMMAR AND
WORKBOOK
Shoko Hamano and Takae Tsujioka
R Routledge
outledge Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
Firsteditionpublished2011
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2011ShokoHamanoandTakaeTsujioka
TherightofShokoHamanoandTakaeTsujiokatobeidentifiedasauthorsof
thisworkhasbeenassertedbytheminaccordancewithsections77and78ofthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
TypesetinTimesTenbyGraphicraftLimited,HongKong
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprinted
orreproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,
mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,
includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformation
storageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting
fromthepublishers.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Hamano,Shoko,1953–
BasicJapanese:agrammarandworkbook/ShokoHamanoandTakaeTsujioko.
—1sted.
p.cm.—(Routledgegrammarandworkbooks)
Includesindex.
1. Japaneselanguage—Grammar. 2. Japaneselanguage—Textbooksforforeign
speakers—English. I. Tsujioko,Takae. II. Title.
PL535.H262010
495.6′82421—dc22
2009050703
ISBN13:978-0-415-49855-5(hbk)
ISBN13:978-0-415-49856-2(pbk)
ISBN13:978-0-203-84956-9(ebk)
CONTENTS
Preface xi
Part 1 Basic building blocks 1
1 Pronunciation 3
Vowels and consonants 3
Syllables 5
Mora 5
Exercises 6
2 Writing system 7
Kanji 7
Hiragana and katakana 8
Punctuation 12
Exercises 13
3 Parts of speech 16
Major categories 16
Word formation 21
Other categories 22
Exercises 23
4 Word order and sentence structure 26
Basic word order 26
Flexibility 27
Omission 28
Uniform word order for statements and questions 29
Placement of noun modifiers 30
Placement of dependent clauses 30
v
Exercises 32
Contents 5 Basic particles 35
Structure particles:ga,o,ni,and no 35
Meaning-oriented particles:ni,e,de,kara,made,
and to 37
Discourse particles:wa and mo 39
Connective particles:to,ka,ya, toka,ga,keredomo,
and kara 43
Conversation particles:ne and yo 45
Exercises 46
6 Conjugation patterns of predicates 51
Basic conjugation of noun + da 51
Basic conjugation of adjectives 52
Basic conjugation of verbs 53
Stem forms 59
Te-forms 59
Negative te-forms 62
Exercises 62
7 Questions and question words 66
Yes-no questions 66
Wh-questions 68
Exercises 70
8 Demonstrative pronouns 73
Basic distinctions 74
Extended use of kochira,sochira,achira,and dochira 76
Abstract reference 77
Exercises 78
9 Number and quantity 81
Basic numbers 81
Counters and quantifiers 82
Positions of quantifiers 83
Approximation of quantity 87
Expressing the speaker’s attitude toward quantity 87
Relative quantity 89
Exercises 91
10 Social dimensions of grammar and vocabulary 94
vi Family terms 94
Polite and plain sentence styles 97 Contents
Honorific,unmarked (descriptive),and humble verbs 98
Combining politeness and respect 101
Personal pronouns 102
Grammatical factors in the use of polite and plain forms 103
Grammatical factors in the use of honorific and
humble forms 105
Exercises 105
11 Concreteness and abstractness in grammar 109
Pronominal uses of no and koto 109
Nominalizers no and koto 112
Apparent exception to the constraint on the pronoun no 115
Special ending n(o) da 116
Exercises 116
Part 2 Grammar by tasks 119
12 Describing time 121
Point vs.duration 121
Order of time words 122
Particles used with time words 122
Sentence patterns ordering events on a time scale 125
Exercises 129
13 Asking the whereabouts 133
Verbs of existence:aru and iru 133
Events 137
Spatial expressions 137
Use of tokoro 139
Exercises 140
14 Expressing likes and dislikes 143
Talking about favorite things 143
Talking about favorite activities 145
Degrees of likes and dislikes 146
Exercises 147
15 Expressing desires 149
Expressing one’s own desire for material objects 149 vii
Contents Expressing one’s own desire to take some action 149
Expressing others’ desires 152
Exercises 154
16 Talking about ability 157
Potential forms of verbs:-eru,-rareru 157
Using complex sentences:...koto ga dekiru 159
Verbs that do not occur as potential expressions 160
Describing the quality of performance:...no ga
joozu da/heta da 162
Exercises 163
17 Describing frequency 165
Frequency adverbs 165
Frequency over a period of time 167
Inquiring about frequency 168
Exercises 170
18 Comparison 172
Comparing two options 172
Comparative Q&A with two options 174
Comparing three or more options 176
Superlative Q&A 176
Same or different?:...to onaji da 178
Exercises 179
19 Invitations and proposals for joint actions 183
Invitations:-masen ka 183
Suggestions for an action involving the listener:-mashoo 184
Seeking consent and opinions:-mashoo ka 186
Exercises 188
20 Offering advice,making requests,and giving instructions 190
Personal advice:-tara doo (desu ka) 190
Strong recommendation:-hoo ga ii (desu) 192
Requests:-te (kudasai), -naide (kudasai) 193
Honorific requests 193
Exercises 195
21 Seeking,granting,and denying permission,and
describing obligations 197
viii Seeking permission with short forms 197
Using expressions for desire to seek permission 198 Contents
Using te-forms to seek approval 199
Giving permission 201
Denying approval 202
Describing obligations 204
Explaining rules 204
Exercises 206
22 Expressing ease and difficulty 209
Ease and difficulty as inherent properties of items 209
Objective judgment of the likelihood of successful
accomplishment 211
Exercises 212
23 Explaining causes and reasons 215
Stating the cause with te-forms 215
Giving the rationale with kara 216
Appending the reason with kara da 217
Giving and soliciting explanations with n(o) da 218
Forms preceding kara da and n(o) da 220
Giving personal reasons with no de 221
Exercises 222
24 Describing giving and receiving 225
Verbs of giving 225
Verbs of receiving 226
Auxiliary uses of verbs of giving and receiving 227
Honorific and humble counterparts 230
Compatibility with speaker-centered expressions 231
Summary 231
Exercises 232
25 Apologizing and thanking 235
Short expressions of apology and appreciation 235
Full apologies and thanks 236
Apologizing with te-forms 236
Giving excuses 237
Thanking with te-forms 237
Using past-tense forms for apologizing and thanking 238
Use of apology for thanking 240
Exercises 240 ix