Let's learn Japanese grammar! Grammar Explanations for Japanese Teachers -Let's Distinguish Parts of Speech-/Japanese Learning Support LLC | blog

Let's learn Japanese grammar! Grammar Explanations for Japanese Teachers -Let's Distinguish Parts of Speech-/Japanese Learning Support LLC

 

Before you know it, August is approaching the latter half of the year, and it's a little more difficult to handle the summer heat. I think there are many people who have been refreshed by the three consecutive holidays and Obon, so it would be nice if you could work hard again from now on.

Well, this time I will also explain the theme that has a lot of questions in the daily lesson. This time it's a story about Japanese "parts of speech". This is the core part of learning a language, and is extremely important when learning grammar because the form and points to be aware of may change depending on the part of speech. seems to be experiencing a scene where he thinks "What?" Let's make that distinction clear this time.

 

First, let's review some basic Japanese parts of speech.

After all, the parts of speech that are absolutely indispensable when making sentences are "nouns (N)", "verbs (V)", "adjectives (A)" and "particles (P)". Nouns name things, verbs describe actions, adjectives mainly describe things, and particles connect words.

 

She is Izumi-san, a Japanese teacher. She always teaches me kindly.

 

In the sentence above, ``she'', ``Japanese teacher'', and ``Izumi-san'' are nouns, ``gentle'' is an adjective, and ``teach'' is a verb. Particles such as "wa" and "no" that connect these words are called particles. In addition, there are also adverbs that express degrees such as "always, very, a little, slowly", classifiers that express numbers and quantities such as "3 pieces, 10 sheets, 5 units", sentences and sentences such as "so, but" There are many parts of speech, such as conjunctions that connect , and Japanese is made up of them.

 

Now read the following sentence. What is the part of speech in the underlined part?

 

①I will explain tomorrow's event.

(2) This document will be used to explain the event.

 

It seems that the same word "description" is used, but (1) is "verb" and (2) is "noun." This word is used as a noun by itself, but if you add "masu" to it, it becomes a Group III verb.

As in the example above, there are many words that are used both as nouns and as Group III verbs. This is mainly seen in nouns that express actions, such as "I will drive → I will drive", "I will guide → I will guide you". There are many other words that apply, such as "breakdown, instruction, savings".

 

What about the following statement?

 

① He always greets me with a cheerful voice.

②What is the secret to your well-being ?

 

This is the same word "genki", but ① is used as "na adjective" and ② is used as "noun". What do you mean?

There are two types of adjectives, “i-adjectives” and “na-adjectives” (see my previous blog for a detailed explanation), and some “na-adjectives” are also used as nouns. There are some things.

 

One of them is the word "genki". In sentence 1, ``his greeting voice'' has the role of an adjective that describes what kind of voice it is, and is used in the form of ``na A na N''. This form is used like "simple problem", "beautiful person", "quiet town".

On the other hand, in sentence 2, we are talking about the state of "genki" itself. In these sentences, it acts as a noun and is used in the form "N of N". This form is used as a cure for illness or as a countermeasure against earthquakes.

 

There are other na-adjective words like this, such as "freedom" and "peace".

Example) ・This school is famous for its free style. / America has the Statue of Liberty.

The peaceful days did not last long. / It is necessary to hand down the importance of peace to future generations.

 

In addition, there are not many words that can be used in any form of "verb", "noun", or "adjective".

① My family was worried because I came home late yesterday.

②Actually, I'm a little worried about him.

③ It is better to eliminate the seeds of worry as soon as possible.

Already understood. ① is used as a group III verb by joining with "～shimasu", ② is used as a na-adjective in the form of "na A na N", and ③ is used as a noun in the form of "N of N".

 

So far, we have seen situations in which the word itself has multiple parts of speech. Here's a quick introduction to the basic changes.

 

For example, when you want to make a sentence "N is ~". You can make various sentences such as "I am a Japanese teacher." "It's hot in the summer."

So what if you want to put a verb or adjective here? Of course, they can't be entered as they are, so they are "nominated". It turns into a noun form.

For verbs, it can be used in the form of "V (plain form) + koto", such as "It is difficult to swim."

Ex) ・It has been my dream since I was little to live in this city.

 

In the case of i-adjectives, it can be made into a noun by changing from ``i'' to ``sa'', such as ``hot → heat.''

You can use it like, "This year's heat is abnormal."

In the case of na-adjectives, add "sa" to make them into nouns, such as "simple → easy".

Let's use it like "This computer is popular because it is easy to operate."

 

This time, we checked the Japanese parts of speech and their relationships. There may be times when what you thought was a verb is used as a noun, or when you were taught that it was a na-adjective, but it comes out as a noun. It is precisely because it is used in a sentence that changes its form that we are able to express what we want to convey without any inconvenience. It may feel difficult until you get used to it, but you will get used to it little by little as you go along. First of all, please put it in the corner of your head and work on your daily learning.

 

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