ぶんぽう (Grammar) |
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The negative question form Vませんか is commonly used to invite someone to do something together. Although the verb is grammatically negative, Vませんか functions as a polite invitation, similar to “Would you like to...?” in English. To accept an invitation, you can respond with いいですね (“That sounds good”) and Vましょう (“Let's ...”).
Declining an Invitation: ～はちょっと…Japanese speakers often avoid directly saying “no” when declining an invitation. One common strategy is to select the part of the invitation that does not work for you, mark it with は, and follow it with ちょっと… (“a little…”). The sentence is deliberately left unfinished, allowing the listener to understand that there is a problem without stating the refusal directly. An apology such as ごめんなさい or すみません is also often added. For example, suppose someone invites you to see a movie downtown tomorrow. You could decline by focusing on different aspects of the invitation:
The listener normally understands ～はちょっと… as a polite refusal even though the speaker never explicitly says “I can't” or “I don't want to.”
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In this lesson, we will learn another use of the particle に. The structure [V-stem + に + motion verb] expresses the purpose of going or coming somewhere. The V-stem + に part tells us what someone goes or comes somewhere to do. The verb stem (V-stem) is the ...ます form of a verb without ます. For example, 食べ is the verb stem of 食べます, and かい is the verb stem of かいます.
Caution: The Vて form cannot be used with the purpose statement.
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We can use the structure [Place で + Event が あります] to say that an event or activity takes place at a particular location. The particle で marks the location where an event or activity occurs. Do not use に for the location in this structure. Recall that に marks the location where a person or object exists, while で marks the location where an activity or event takes place.
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In conversation, Xって？ is often used to ask what an unfamiliar word or expression means. The particle って is a conversational quotation/topic marker. The rest of the question is left unstated because its meaning is clear from the context. For example,
This can be understood as a shortened form of:
In this example, ナイター is a type of カタカナ英語 (Japanese-coined English expression). It comes from the English word night and refers to a night game, especially a baseball game played at night. To answer this question, …のことです is commonly used.
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This lesson introduces the polite volitional form, V-stem + ましょう. It is commonly used to suggest doing something together and corresponds to “Let's V” in English.
Making Suggestions: V-stem + ましょうかThe pattern Verb-stem + ましょうか can be used to ask for a suggestion or propose doing something together. Depending on the context, it corresponds to “Shall we...?” or a question such as “Where/What shall we...?” A and B below are deciding on where to go for coffee. Offering to Do Something: V-stem + ましょうかWe previously learned V-stem + ませんか for inviting someone to do something. In response to an invitation or in other situations where something needs to be done, V-stem + ましょうか can also be used to offer to do something yourself. In this use, it means “Shall I V?”The context -- and especially a subject such as 私が -- helps indicate whether ...ましょうか means “Shall we...?” or “Shall I...?” |
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Adding か to a question word creates an indefinite expression, referring to a person, thing, place, time, or choice that is not specifically identified.
Particles after Question Word + かWhen が or を follows a Question Word + か expression, it can often be omitted. Other particles, such as に, へ, で, と, and から, cannot normally be omitted and must be kept. いつか, when it means “someday/sometime,” normally does not require a time particle.
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To give a completely negative response to a QW + か question, we commonly replace か with も and use a negative predicate. This creates meanings such as “nothing,” “no one,” “nowhere,” and “neither.”
Notice that expressions such as 何も and だれも do not mean “nothing” or “no one” by themselves. The negative meaning is created by combining QW + も with a negative predicate. When another particle is required, も generally follows that particle, as in どこにも, どこへも, and だれにも. Some QW + も expressions do not have the expected meaning. The following are special.
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Nにします: Making a ChoiceWhen choosing or deciding on something from available options, we commonly use Nにします, meaning “I'll have N,” “I'll take N,” or “I'll choose N.”
The particle に marks the option that the speaker decides on. Nでいいです: Saying an Option Is AcceptableWhen indicating that a particular option is acceptable or satisfactory, we can use Nでいいです, meaning “N is fine” or “N will be fine.”
Here, the speaker originally wanted an egg sandwich but accepts a vegetable sandwich as an alternative. Thus, Nでいいです often suggests “N is good enough / N will do,” whereas Nにします more directly expresses the speaker's choice. Compare:
Grammatically, で in Nでいいです is the て-form of the copula です. The expression can be understood literally as “With N, it is fine.” Other Common Uses of NにしますNにします also occurs in some common expressions:
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The phrase particle だけ has the meaning of "only" or "just." It follows the word or phrase that it limits. When だけ is attached to a phrase marked by が, を, or は, these particles can often be omitted. If they are retained, they come after だけ. Other particles, such as に, と, で, and の, cannot simply be dropped. Depending on what だけ limits, it may come either before or after some of these particles.
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