Let's read the story about the old man being a horse! part2/Japanese Learning Support LLC
Let's read the story called The Old Man is a Horse.
``The Old Man is a Horse'' is an old Chinese story.
Last time, I uploaded part 1, so this time I will introduce part 2.
Previous synopsis↓
There once lived an old man and his son. An old man had a wonderful horse, but one day the horse disappeared. The villagers said they felt sorry for the old man, but he wasn't too depressed.
A few days later, the horse returned with another horse. The villagers were jealous because they now had two big, strong horses, but the old man remained calm.
The grandfather then warned his son never to ride a new horse because it was dangerous.
Click here if you want to read part 1 of “Seou ga Uma” ↓
https://nihongojikan.jp/blog/20240326-4259/
“The old man is a horse” part 2
A few days later, my son decided he wanted to try riding his new horse.
Then, I rode a horse and ran through the forest.
Then, the horse stopped listening and began to thrash about wildly.
Son: “Wow!!”
My son fell off the horse and broke his leg.
When the villagers saw their son who was injured and unable to move, they said to the old man:
Villager: "Son, are you okay? I feel sorry for you, falling off the horse and breaking your bones."
Grandfather: "Thank you for your concern. But this may lead to something good."
The old man said calmly.
The villagers thought that the old man was strange because he remained calm even when his son was injured.
A few weeks later, a war broke out between the country where my grandfather lived and the neighboring country.
All young men have to go to war.
However, the grandfather's son was told that he did not have to go to war because his leg was injured.
The war was very violent and many young people died.
The villager went to the old man again,
Villager: "You're lucky. If your son had gone to war, it would have been dangerous."
Grandfather: "Well, you never know what will happen in life. It's hard to predict whether something good will turn out to be bad, or if something bad will turn out to be good."
In this way, the people of the village should not let their guard down even if something happy happens because it might lead to something bad, and if something sad happens they should not panic because it might lead to something good. I learned from my grandfather that you should not do anything.
How was it.
This time, I introduced a story called ``The old man is a horse.''
Now, let's review the grammar that appeared in the story!
What we will study today is "maybe".
``In this way, villagers should not let their guard down even if something happy happens, because it might lead to something bad, and even if something sad happens, it might lead to something good.'' I learned from my grandfather that you shouldn't be in a hurry."
There was a sentence like this in the text.
"Maybe" means "there is a possibility of..."
There is a grammar with a similar meaning, ``maybe'', but ``might'' has less evidence and is often less certain.
``Doudo'' has a clear reason and basis, and is more reliable, so it is often used in news such as weather information.
"I think..." can also appear in similar situations in real conversations.
"I think..." expresses the speaker's opinion or speculation.
Now, let's look at an example sentence for "may".
Sample1 It might rain this afternoon.
Sample2 I might not be able to make it by bus, so I'll take a taxi.
Sample3 Lately, I have been seeing Mr. A a lot. Maybe he likes me.
Sample4 I haven't used this computer for a long time, so it might be broken already.
Now, let's take a look at the conversation between Mr. A and Mr. B below.
In such cases, which one should you use: ``maybe'', ``desu'', or ``I think''?
A: Mr. C is late. The party has already started.
B: Yes. I won't come today .
Have you decided on the answer?
It's best to use "may" here.
"Maybe" is used to list one possibility.
One possibility is that Mr. C won't come.
It sounds a little unnatural to use ``desi'' and ``to think'' in this situation.
"Shizu" is used when you are very confident about something based on your own experience, knowledge, data, etc.
"I think" also expresses the speaker's opinion or guess, and is often used when the speaker is not 100% certain.
In this scene, Mr. C is just running late, so we don't know yet whether he really "won't come."
Maybe you took the wrong train? Was there an accident? Not sure where to party?
There are many possibilities.
Therefore, saying "I guess" or "I think" feels predetermined and unnatural.
Of course, if Mr. C is a person who always skips appointments (someone who suddenly stops coming even if he has made an appointment), Mr. A and Mr. B know Mr. C's personality from experience, so they can say, You can also say, ``Since it's Mr. C, I don't think he will come today.''
Today, we talked about part 2 of ``Seo ga Uma'' and ``maybe.''
I hope you enjoyed it.
Read a lot, memorize a lot, and improve your Japanese level.
Applications for JLPT have started.
There is still time to prepare, so start studying now!
Well, that's it for today!
