N4 トピック
L8: Smooth Operator
Smooth Operator
In this Topic, we’re going to learn how to set the scene, give examples, and smoothly express our needs. In N5, we learned how to make basic, blunt sentences with some essential natural flourishes, such as sentence ending particles. In N4, we are expanding not just what we can express but how we can express ourselves. In the Topics for Lesson 8, we will focus on greasing the wheels of conversation to make things sound much smoother.
In this Topic specifically, we will learn how to use たら to set up a situation, and how to use 他に and 例えば as conversational signposts. We will also learn how to control our intensity with そんなに, and how to express necessity with 必要.
In the Details section, we will focus on bringing these things together, to make smooth, natural Japanese.
このトピックに出てくる文法
たら
When, From when, Just when, If
The conjunction particle たら is used as a kind of 'halfway point' between 'if' and 'when' in Japanese. It expresses the completion of an (A) action, and then a (B) action that is considered to be the result of (A). It may be hypothetical, or it may be presenting a one-time result of something that happened in the past.
To use たら, it will replace た in the simple past form of verbs, い-Adjectives, な-Adjectives, and nouns.
Caution
Despite appearing to be the past form of the word that it is attached to, たら itself does not actually carry the nuance of 'past'. Other words in the sentence will need to be examined to see whether たら is truly highlighting something from the past, or simply the completion of something (which may or may not happen in the future).
Fun Fact
Although たら is regularly used to mean 'if', it almost always has a nuance of 'when'. This is due to たら specifically highlighting the following situations:
Completion: 完了 - Completion of (A).
Materialization: 成立 - Coming to fruition of (A).
These meanings are opposed to other 'if' structures like ば, and なら, which focus far more strongly on the hypothetical 'if' meaning.
ほかに(も)・ほか(に)は
Other, Another, Any other, Anything else, As well as, Besides, In addition
他に is regularly considered to be one of the more difficult structures to master in Japanese, so let's take a thorough look at it. Basically, 他 by itself just means 'another', or 'other'. に highlights 他 'another thing' as being the target of what comes next in any particular sentence. The possibilities are as follows:
他に - Another thing.
他に（も） - Even another thing (sounds less certain).
他に（は） - Was there another thing (focuses on something pre-existing, which someone may have forgotten).
他に（は） may be used in either positive or negative sentences, but it tends to appear in negative sentences more often.
Caution
Because 他に（も） focuses on the 'addition' of another thing, it cannot be used in negative sentences (with the exception of questions).
The reason this is acceptable in questions, but not statements, is due to the 'isn't it?' meaning that negative questions can have in Japanese (just like English). It is the equivalent of the following:
この他にもない - In addition to this, there is also nothing (sounds strange in English!)
その他にもないか - In addition to that, is there nothing else? (sounds normal in English!)
がひつよう
Need, Necessary
が必要 is a common expression in Japanese which is used to highlight the 'need' or 'necessity' of something. It is a structure that may only be used with nouns, which means that verbs will need to be nominalized (turned into noun-phrases) in order to use this construction.
Both が and だ may sometimes be omitted from this expression in casual speech. However, it is a good idea to at least use が, to clarify the thing that is 'necessary'.
そんなに
So (much), That much, Like that
そんなに, like そんな, is one of the most common ways to express that one thing is 'like' something else in casual conversation. The addition of the particle に just highlights そんな as being the 'destination' of the 'like' amount. This construction is regularly translated as 'so much', 'that much', or simply 'like that'.
As a word, そんなに is used adverbially. This means that it may come before any verb, い-Adjective, or な-Adjective.
Almost any そんなに based sentence can be translated literally as 'to an extent like (A)', where (A) is the word that comes after そんなに, and に indicates 'to'.
As そんなに is another example of こそあど言葉 (words like これ, それ, あれ, and どれ), it means that こんなに, あんなに, and どんなに may also be used.
Despite this, そんなに is almost considered a set phrase, and is therefore the most common out of all of the possibilities (except for どんなに, which is often used when explaining/giving reasons for something).
ひつようがある
It is necessary to
Like が必要, 必要がある is an expression which is used to highlight the 'need' or 'necessity' of something. The primary difference being that 必要がある highlights the need to 'do (A)', and will therefore be used with verbs (without the need for nominalization).
To use 必要がある, just attach it after the plain form of the verb that you want to highlight the 'need' for.
As we can see, this construction is simply the combination of a verb + 必要 (creating a verb modified noun), the case marking particle が, and the う-Verb ある. In this way, it just means 'the need of doing (A) exists'.
Naturally, this grammar pattern may also be used negatively, to highlight that there is 'no need to do (A)', or that 'doing (A) is not necessary'.
たとえば
For example
たとえば (or 例えば in its kanji form) is an adverb in Japanese that is used at the beginning of a sentence, or an individual statement, in order to present an example. It can be translated almost directly as 'for example'.
Fun Fact
例えば should primarily be used when the 'example' that is being given is as simple as possible. If you want to explain something in further (in-depth) detail, 詳しく 'in full' would be used as the adverb instead.
詳細
This Topic covers a smattering of useful conversational tools, so let’s think about how we can apply them in natural conversation.
Flow Rider
When we’re speaking Japanese, we don’t want to just blast out simple sentences. We want to join our thoughts together so that there is a logical flow to what we are saying. With 他に, 例えば, and そんなに we can do this. In fact, a lot of the grammar we will learn from N4 onwards is about having finer control over the flow of conversation and how we express ourselves.
The Scene is Set
As mentioned in the grammar explanation, たら is often translated to ‘if’, but it frequently will have a meaning closer to ‘when’. As such, it is extremely useful for connecting thoughts in a more complicated way than the basic て form.
We will revisit たら in more detail in another Topic coming up in Lesson 8. It is an extremely common and useful pattern which we’ll see frequently as we continue learning Japanese!
The Mother of All Invention
We have just learned two ways to talk about ‘needs’. We have が必要 with nouns and 必要がある with verbs. But, we also already know words and phrases like ほしい ‘want’, 要る ‘need’, and なくてはならない ‘must (do)’. How do these all fit together and what exactly is different about them?
First, let’s look at examples with nouns. We can use ほしい, 必要or 要る. ほしい focuses on simple desire. 必要 focuses on objective necessity. 要る also focuses on ‘need’, but it is less stiff sounding and more common in conversation.
Next, let’s look at examples with verbs. The pattern 必要がある tells us there is an objective necessity. It is all about something being necessary for something else. We have previously learned patterns like なくてはならない ‘must (do)’. These differ from 必要がある as they are not about necessity but rules or obligations. Although there are times when the two may overlap, there are also times when it may sound unnatural to use one of these in place of another. 必要がある is a bit rarer and used more often when talking about formal or logical necessity in an objective sense.
And just for the sake of completion, we should mention that we do also have the てほしい pattern, but this is for talking about wanting someone else to do something, not yourself.