We are coming to the end of the fourth major section of the guide. Do you feel like your Japanese has improved? We’ve come to the point where we’ve learned enough conjugations to be able to start mixing them together in various useful combinations. Of course this can be a little difficult to do without some practice, which is the reason for this lesson. But first, since we’ve come to the end of yet another section, let’s learn some more sentence-endings particles.
「な」 and 「さ」 sentence-ending particles
Vocabulary
- あのう／あの – say; well; errr
- うん – yes (casual)
- この – this （abbr. of これの）
- 間 【あいだ】 – space (between); time (between); period
- ディズニーランド – Disney Land
- 行く 【い・く】 (u-verb) – to go
- すごい (i-adj) – to a great extent
- 込む 【こ・む】 (u-verb) – to become crowded
- 何 【なに／なん】 – what
- 出来る 【で・き・る】 (ru-verb) – to be able to do
- 今 【いま】 – now
- 図書館 【と・しょ・かん】 – library
- 何で 【なん・で】 – why; how
- 日本語 【に・ほん・ご】 – Japanese (language)
- たくさん – a lot (amount)
- 勉強 【べん・きょう】 – study
- する (exception) – to do
- まだ – yet
- 全然 【ぜん・ぜん】 – not at all (when used with negative)
- 分かる 【わ・かる】 (u-verb) – to understand
- 大丈夫 【だい・じょう・ぶ】 (na-adj) – ok
- なる (u-verb) – to become
- いい (i-adj) – good
- 今日 【きょう】 – today
- 雨 【あめ】 – rain
- 降る 【ふ・る】(u-verb) – to precipitate
- 大学 【だい・がく】 – college
After the 「よ」 and 「ね」, 「さ」 and 「な」 are the next most commonly used sentence-ending particles.
「さ」, which is basically a very casual form of 「よ」, is similar to the English “like” in that some people throw it in at the end of almost every single phrase. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a very sophisticated manner of speech but just like using “like” all the time, I cannot deny that it is an easy habit to fall into. In that sense, due to its over-use, it has almost lost any specific meaning. You may overhear a conversation like the following:
Ａ：あのさ・・・
A: Hey…
Ｂ：うん。
B: Yeah.
Ａ：この間さ・・・
A: This one time…
Ｂ：うん。
B: Yeah.
Ａ：ディズニーランドに行ったんだけどさ、なんかさ、すごい込んでて・・・
A: I went to Disney Land and it was really crowded…
Ｂ：うん
B: Uh huh.
Ａ：何もできなくてさ・・・
A: Couldn’t do anything, you know…
And it goes on like this, sometimes the other person might break in to say something related to the topic.
You can use 「な」 in place of 「ね」 when it sounds too soft and reserved for what you want to say or for the audience you are speaking to. Its rough sound generally applies to the male gender but is not necessarily restricted to only males.
Example 1
洋介：今、図書館に行くんだよな。
Yousuke: You are going to the library now huh? (seeking explanation)
智子：うん、なんで？
Tomoko: Yeah, why?
Example 2
ボブ：日本語は、たくさん勉強したけどな。まだ全然わからない。
Bob: I studied Japanese a lot, right? But, I still don’t get it at all.
アリス：大丈夫よ。きっとわかるようになるからさ。
Alice: No problem. You’ll become able to understand for sure, you know?
ボブ：ならいいけどな。
Bob: If so, it would be good.
The 「な」 sentence-ending particle is often used with the question marker 「か」 to indicate that the speaker is considering something.
- 今日は雨が降るかな？
I wonder if it’ll rain today. - いい大学に行けるかな？
I wonder if I can go to a good college.
「かい」 and 「だい」 sentence-ending particles
Vocabulary
- おい – hey
- どこ – where
- 行く 【い・く】 (u-verb) – to go
- 呼ぶ 【よ・ぶ】 (u-verb) – to call
- いい (i-adj) – good
- 一体 【いったい】 – forms an emphatic question (e.g. “why on earth?”)
- 何時 【なん・じ】 – what time
- 帰る 【かえ・る】 (u-verb) – to go home
- つもり – intention, plan
- 俺 【おれ】 – me; myself; I (masculine)
- 土曜日 【ど・よう・び】 – Saturday
- 映画 【えい・が】 – movie
- 見る 【み・る】 (ru-verb) – to see
- 一緒 【いっ・しょ】 – together
「かい」 and 「だい」 are strongly masculine sentence endings for asking questions. 「かい」 is used for yes/no questions while 「だい」 is used for open-ended questions.
Examples
- おい、どこに行くんだい？
Hey, where are (you) going? - さきちゃんって呼んでもいいかい？
Can (I) call you Saki-chan? - 一体何時に帰ってくるつもりだったんだい？
What time were (you) planning on coming home exactly? - 俺は土曜日、映画を見に行くけど、一緒に行くかい？
I’m going to see a movie Saturday, go together?
Gender-specific sentence-ending particles
These sentence-ending particles are primarily used just to emphasize something and doesn’t really have a meaning per se. However, they can make your statements sound much stronger and/or very gender-specific. Using 「わ」 is just like 「よ」 except it will make you sound very feminine (this is a different sound from the 「わ」 used in Kansai dialect). 「かしら」 is also a very feminine version of 「かな」, which we just went over. 「ぞ」 and 「ぜ」 are identical to 「よ」 except that it makes you sound “cool” and manly, or at least, that is the intent. These examples may not be very helpful without actually hearing what they sound like.
Vocabulary
- もう – already
- 時間 【じ・かん】 – time
- ある (u-verb) – to exist (inanimate)
- おい – hey
- 行く 【い・く】 (u-verb) – to go
- これ – this
- 終わり 【お・わり】 – end
- いい (i-adj) – good
- 大学 【だい・がく】 – college
- 入る 【はい・る】 (u-verb) – to enter
- もう時間がないわ。
There is no more time. - おい、行くぞ！
Hey, we’re going! - これで、もう終わりだぜ。
With this, it’s over already. - いい大学に入れるかしら？
I wonder if I can enter a good college.
That’s a wrap!
Vocabulary
- 加賀 【か・が】 – Kaga (last name)
- 先生 【せん・せい】 – teacher
- ちょっと – a little
- 質問 【しつ・もん】 – question
- 聞く 【き・く】 (u-verb) – to ask; to listen
- いい (i-adj) – good
- はい – yes (polite)
- 日本語 【に・ほん・ご】 – Japanese (language)
- 何 【なに／なん】 – what
- 言う 【い・う】 (u-verb) – to say
- そう – (things are) that way
- 大体 【だい・たい】 – mostly
- こんにちは – good day
- 思う 【おも・う】 (u-verb) – to think
- ただし – however
- 書く 【か・く】 (u-verb) – to write
- 時 【とき】 – time
- 他 【ほか】 – other
- 表現 【ひょう・げん】 – expression
- ある (u-verb) – to exist (inanimate)
- これ – this
- 覚える 【おぼ・える】 (ru-verb) – to memorize
- 朝 【あさ】 – morning
- おはよう – good morning
- でも – but
- 上 【うえ】 – above
- 人 【ひと】 – person
- おはようございます – good morning (polite)
- 分かる 【わ・かる】 (u-verb) – to understand
- 間違える 【ま・ちが・える】 (ru-verb) – to make a mistake
- 勉強 【べん・きょう】 – study
- なる (u-verb) – to become
- 洋介 【よう・すけ】 – Yousuke (first name)
- あのう／あの – say; well; errr
- 英語 【えい・ご】 – English (language)
- 教える 【おし・える】 (ru-verb) – to teach; to inform
- もらう (u-verb) – to receive
- もし – if by any chance
- 時間 【じ・かん】 – time
- うん – yes (casual)
- アメリカ – America
- 留学 【りゅう・がく】 – study abroad
- する (exception) – to do
- 去年 【きょ・ねん】 – last year
- 行く 【い・く】 (u-verb) – to go
- お金 【お・かね】 – money
- ある (u-verb) – to exist (inanimate)
- いつ – when
- 欲しい 【ほ・しい】 (i-adj) – wanted; desirable
- 来週 【らい・しゅう】 – next week
- 木曜日 【もく・よう・び】 – Thursday
- ありがとう – thank you
- 怠ける 【なま・ける】 (ru-verb) – to neglect, to be lazy about
- 来る 【く・る】 (exception) – to come
- そんな – that sort of
- こと – event, matter
We learned quite a lot of things in this section. Let’s try to put it all together by seeing how different kinds of conjugations are used in different combinations. This is of course by no means an exhaustive list but merely an illustration of how we can use what we learned in various combinations to create a lot of useful expressions.
Example 1
アリス： 加賀先生、ちょっと質問を聞いてもいいですか？
加賀先生： はい、いいですよ。
アリス：「Hello」を日本語で何と言えばいいですか。
何と言えば = quoted sub-clause + if conditional of 言う
加賀先生： そうね。大体、「こんにちは」と言うと思いますよ。ただし、書く時は「こんにちわ」じゃなくて、「こんにちは」と書かなくてはなりません。
「と言うと思います」 = quoted sub-clause + quoted sub-clause
「じゃなくて」 = negative sequence of states
アリス：そうですか。他に何かいい表現はありますか。
加賀先生：これも覚えといてね。朝は、「おはよう」と言うの。でも、上の人には「おはようございます」と言ってください。
「覚えといて」 – 覚える +
abbreviated form of ～ておく + casual ～てください with ください dropped.
アリス：はい、分かりました。間違えないようにします。いい勉強になりました！
Literal translation of Example 1
Alice: Kaga-sensei, is it ok to ask you a question?
Kaga-sensei: Yes, it’s ok.
Alice: If you say what for “hello” in Japanese, is it ok?
Kaga-sensei: Well, mostly, I think people say “konnichiwa”. Only, when you write it, you must write “konnichiha” and not “konnichiwa”.
Alice: Is that so? Are there any other good expressions?
Kaga-sensei: Please memorize this too (in preparation for the future). In the morning, everybody says, “ohayou”. But, please say, “ohayou-gozaimasu” to a higher person.
Alice: Yes, I understood. I’ll do in the manner of not making mistake. It became good study!
Interpretative translation of Example 1
Alice: Kaga-sensei, is it ok to ask you a question?
Kaga-sensei: Sure.
Alice: How do you say “Hello” in Japanese?
Kaga-sensei: Well, most of the time, I think people say “konnichiwa”. Only, when you write it, you must write “konnichiha” and not “konnichiwa”.
Alice: Is that so? Are there any other good expressions?
Kaga-sensei: You should know this too. In the morning, everybody says, “ohayou”. But, please say, “ohayou-gozaimasu” to a higher person.
Alice: Ok, I got it. I’ll try not to make that mistake. That was very informative!
Example 2
洋介：お！アリスだ。あのね、質問を聞いてもいい？
アリス：何？
洋介：ちょっと英語を教えてもらいたいんだけどさ、もし時間があれば、教えてくれない？
「教えてもらいたい」 = receiving favor + to want （たい）
アリス：え？英語を勉強するの？
洋介：うん、アメリカで留学してみたいなと思ってね。去年も行こうとしたけど、お金がなくて・・・
「してみたいなと思って」 = to try something out （～てみる） + want to （たい） + な sentence-ending particle + quoted subquote + te-form of 思う
「行こうとした」 = volitional of 行く + to attempt （とする）
アリス：そうなの？いいよ。いつ教えてほしいの？
洋介：いつでもいいよ。
アリス：じゃ、来週の木曜日からはどう？
洋介：うん、いいよ。ありがとう！
アリス：勉強を怠けたり、来なかったり、しないでね。
「怠けたり来なかったりしないで」 = List of actions （～たりする） + negative request of する.
洋介：そんなことしないよ！
Literal translation of Example 2
Yousuke: Oh! It’s Alice. Hey, is it ok to ask a question?
Alice: What?
Yousuke: I want to receive the favor of you teaching English and if, by any chance, you have time, will you give the favor of teaching?
Alice: Huh? You are going to study English?
Yousuke: Yeah, I was thinking that I want to try studying abroad in America. I tried to make motion toward going last year too but, without money…
Alice: Is that so? It’s good. When do you want me to teach you?
Yousuke: Anytime is good.
Alice: Then what about from next week Thursday?
Yousuke: Yeah, ok. Thanks!
Alice: Don’t do things like shirk on your studies or not come, ok?
Yousuke: I won’t do anything like that!
Interpretative translation of Example 2
Yousuke: Oh! It’s Alice. Hey, can I ask you a question?
Alice: What up?
Yousuke: I want to learn English so if you have time, can you teach me?
Alice: Huh? You’re going to study English?
Yousuke: Yeah, I was thinking about studying abroad in America. I tried going last year too but I didn’t have the money.
Alice: Really? No problem. When do you want me to teach you?
Yousuke: Anytime is fine.
Alice: What about from next week Thursday then?
Yousuke: OK, thanks!
Alice: You’re not going to shirk on your studies or not come or anything right?
Yousuke: I won’t do anything like that!