<Lesson-15>
In
this lesson, you will learn a further idiomatic expression
using "wa"and "ga".
and an _expression for experiencing actions.
A, Idiomatic expression using "wa" and "ga"(2)
The
functions of particle "wa" and "ga " were explained in the
last lesson.
In addition to the idioms based on
"suki/kiraidesu","jouzu/
"hoshiidesu" and "wakarimasu", let me introduce another
idiomatic _expression using "wa" and "ga".
Here are some examples.( Please click here to listen to these sentences )
1,
私は息子がいます。Watashi wa musuko ga imasu.
< I have a son.>( Literal
translation : As for me, there is a son.)
2, あなたの家には庭がありますか。 Anata no ie wa niwa ga
arimasuka.
<Does you house
have a garden ?> ( Literal
translation : As for your house, are there garden ?)
3, 昨日は天気が悪いでした。Kinou wa tenki ga
warui deshita.
<Yesterday the weather
was bad. > ( Literal translation :
As for yesterday, the weather was bad.)
4, 日本は自然が美しいです。 Nihon wa shizen ga utsukushii
desu.
<Nature is
beautiful in Japan. > (
Literal translation : As for Japan, nature is
beautiful.)
* On the above sentences, particle "wa" has referential function in the contexts.
Exercise 1, Please arrange the following words properly ,as in the example.
e.g < は、背、低い、あなた、が、です > *背（せ）=height *低い（ひくい）=low
=As for you, the
height is low. ( You are short.)
=>あなたは背が低いです。
1,
<です、難しい、入学試験、この、たいへん、は、が、学校> *入学（にゅうがく）=entrance,
*試験（しけん）=exam
=As for this school, the entrance exam is
very difficult ( This school has very difficult entrance-exam )
=>
2,
<家、猫（ねこ）、じゅっぴき、が、の、私、は、の、います>
=As for my house, there are 10 cats. ( My
house has 10 cats)
=>
3,
<雨（あめ）、でした、昨日（きのう）、が、の、強い（つよい）
=As for yesterday's night, the rain was
strong ( Last night there was heavy rain )
=>
4,
<すもう、が、歴史（れきし）、古い（ふるい）、日本、の、
=As for Japanese sumo, the history is old. (
Japanese sumo has a long history)
=>
5,
<からだ、あなた、が、健康（けんこう）、は、か、です> *からだ=body
=As for you, is the body healthy ? ( Are you
well ?)
=>
6,
<店（みせ）、は、あの、が、ありません、商品（しょうひん）、
=As for that shop, there is no cheap
goods. ( In that shop, there is nothing cheap )
=>
<About the particle "wa ">
As
I explained you in the last lesson, the particle "wa " denotes a
preceding word to be the "referential" one about which
something is to be said. Thus, "wa" (after
nouns, pronouns, particles etc)
can appear more than once in the same clause (especially, in
the negative sentences)
Let's see some sample sentences.
*この辞書は、ページはたく
さんありますが、言葉はそんなにたくさんありません。
Kono jisho wa peeji wa takusan
arimasu ga, kotoba wa sonnani
takusan arimasen.
<As for this dictionary, pages are plenty, but
words are not so plenty>*kotoba=word
(This dictionary has plenty of pages,but doesn't
have so many words)
* "peeji wa "instead of "peeji ga "is used for reference.
* "kotoba wa" instead of "kotoba ga" is used for reference.
* "ga " is "but""however"like "demo""shikashi ".
Exercise 2, Please make up Japanese sentences, as in the example.
e.g
As for you, the leg is short , but the arm is long. *short
=短い（みじかい）*leg=足（あし）*arm=腕（うで）
( You have short legs and long
arms )
=> anata wa ashi wa mijikai desu ga,
ude wa nagai desu. （あなたは、足は短いですが、腕は長いです。）
1,
As for me, the height is low , but my body is healthy.
( I am short , but I am healthy. )
*height＝身長（しんちょう）
2,
As for yesterday,the temperature was high, but the humidity was
not high.
( Yesterday, it was high temperature, however it
was not high humidity. )
*temperature=気温（きおん）, *humidity=湿度（しつど）,
*high=高い(true adj)>
3,
As for Mrs. Kato, the face is beautiful, but the character is
gloomy.
( The face of Mrs.Kato is beautiful , but her
character is gloomy.)
*face=顔（かお）, *character=性格（せいかく）,
*gloomy=暗い（くらい）(true adj)>
4,
As for my company, the employees are not so many, but the profit
is very high.
( My company doesn't have so many employees, but
have very high profit. )
*employee=従業員（じゅうぎょういん）, *profit=利益（りえき）
5,
As for Mr. Watanabe, a wife exists, but children don't exist.
( Mr. Watanabe has a wife and no children. )
B, Expressions of experience.
As
you learned "koto"in the last lesson, "koto", when it follows
the verb, makes the verb into a kind of noun.
Using the word "koto" and "arimasu/arimasen", one can
express any action as a noun and thus express also the
experience of that activity.
Now, let's see some sample sentences
1, A, 私
は、日本語を話すことがあります。or ありません。watashi wa nihongo
o hanasu koto ga arimasu/arimasen
( I have/don't have
occasion to speak Japanese.)
* "koto"has
various meanings such as "situation""experience""case""
B, 私
は、日本語を話したことがあり ます。or ありません。 watashi
wa nihongo o hanashita koto ga
arimasu/arimasen.
(I
have/haven't spoken Japanese or I have/have not had
occasion to speak Japanese.)
* the form "hanashita " comes from the
te-form "hanashite",with "te"changing into "ta"
* The form of the
sentence-B refers to past experience.
2, A, あ
なたは日本に行くことがありますか。 anata wa nihon
ni iku koto ga arimasu ka (
Do you have chance to go to Japan ?)
The
reply to this kind of question is:
(positive)=>Hai,
(nihon ni iku koto ga) arimasu. (Yes,I
have.)
(negative)=>Iie, (nihon ni iku koto wa) arimasen.(No,I
have not.)
* In negative answer, "wa"instead of "ga" is preferable.
B, あ
なたは日本に行ったことがありま すか。anata wa nihon ni
itta koto ga arimasu ka. ( Have
you been to Japan ?)
* the form
"itta" comes from the te-form "itte" by changing "te" into "ta"
The
reply to this kind of question is:
(positive)=>
Hai, (nihon ni itta koto ga) arimasu.
(positive with frequency)=>e.g ichi-do arimasu.(I
have been to Japan once.)
(negative)=>
Iie, (zenzen/ichi-do mo) arimasen.( I have never been to
Japan. )
<Grammatical notes>
* Frequency:
ichi-do, ni-do(twice), san-do(three
times), yon-do(four times) ,....suffix
:do
* nando
mo (many times) tokidoki (sometimes), tabitabi (often),sukoshi(a
few)
are used as
well to indicate degrees of frequency.
e.g nihon
ni itta koto ga tabitabi/tokidoki arimasu.
( I have often/sometimes been to Japan)
* zenzen (or
ichido mo) + negative form is "not at
all"
Exercise 3, Please compose sentences asking and answering about experiences as in the example.
e.g
Have you ever drunk sake ? ( to drink=nomu)=> 酒を飲んだことがありますか。
(positive+ sometimes)=>
はい、ときどき酒を飲んだことがあります。
(negative)=>
いいえ、ぜんぜん飲んだこと（が or は）ありません。
1,
Have you eaten Japanese food?
(positive + sometimes)=>
(negative)=>
2,
Have you seen my new car ?
(positive + once)=>
(negative)=>
3,
Have you met with him ? *to met with A =A と会う
(positive +a few times)=>
(negative)=>
4,
Have you ever been taken to hospital ? *to be taken to
hospital=病院（びょういん）に入院（にゅういん）する
(positive + twice)=>
(negative)=>
5,
Have you made cakes at home ?
(positive + many times)=>
(negative)=>
Exercise 4, Please translate the following sentences into Japanese.
e.g
Do you have occasion to quarrel with your wife? (to
quarrel=kenka o suru)
=> (anata wa) anata no tsuma
to kenka o suru koto ga arimasu ka. （あなたは、あなたの妻とけんかをすることがありますか。）
1, Will you have the opportunity to go to Japan next year ? *next year=来年（らいねん)
2, Do you have occasion to speak Japanese in the office ?
3, Do you work on Sundays ?
4, Do you have occasion to drive while getting drunk ? *to drive=運転（うんてん）する *to get drunk=酔う（よう)
5, Do you have occasion to sing songs in front of people? *to sing=歌う（うたう） *song=歌（うた）, *people=人々（ひとびと)
*You can express cases in which you don't
do any actions as well,by using
the "negative root of the verb +koto + ga
arimasu/arimasen.".
( As you learned in lesson-10, the negative root is one of the 4
fundamental inflection patterns )
e.g
私は朝食を食べな いことがあります。 watashi
wa choushoku o tabenai koto ga
arimasu.
( There
are occasions when I don't eat breakfast )
* " tabe-nai" is negative root of
"tabe-ru"
e.g あ
なたは夜,寝ないことがあり ますか。 anata
wa yoru nenai koto ga
arimasu ka.
( Does it
happen that you do not sleep at night? )
* "ne-nai" is negative root of
"ne-ru" *yoru=night
Let's make experience expressions using "negative root of verbs +koto"
Exercise 5 Please compose Japanese sentences, as in the example.
e.g
It happens that I do not read books at all.
=>watashi wa hon o zenzen
yoma-nai koto ga arimasu. （私は、本をぜんぜん読まないことがあります。）
1, There are occasions when I do not go to school.
2, There are occasions when I do not watch T.V at home.
3, Are there occasions when you do not speak to your friends?
4, Does it happen that you do not say "good morning" in the morning ?
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