N5 Topics
L2: Getting Into Action
Be able to talk about actions and doing things
Getting Into Action
In this Topic, we're going to get our first look at Japanese verbs, and learn about two main types. る-Verbs and う-Verbs. Knowing the difference is important, as it affects how they conjugate (change so other words can attach to them).
We'll also learn how to use the 'object' marking particle を with verbs. It will tell us what is being acted upon in a sentence.
Grammar in this Topic
る-Verb (Dictionary)
る + ます (Ichidan Verbs)
る-Verbs are verbs that have only one possible conjugation pattern. This pattern simply involves the replacement of る with another construction, depending on the tense of the verb (past, negative, etc). This conjugation pattern that only includes る is where the Japanese name Ichidan (一段) 'one-level' comes from.
In these examples, we can see that る is removed from the verb to create the polite ます form. The る form of the verb is often called 'plain form', 'casual form', or 'short form', depending on the source/book.
All る-Verbs end in the kana る, there are no exceptions to this rule.Caution
While all る-Verbs end in る, not all verbs that end in る are る-Verbs. These verbs can be identified by the る changing, rather than being removed when conjugated.
As the る in 取る becomes り in 取ります, we can determine immediately that it is not a る-Verb, but actually an う-Verb.
う-Verb (Dictionary)
う + ます (Godan Verbs)
う-Verbs include all of the verbs in Japanese that end in う sounds (including some of the verbs that end in る). These verbs are called Godan (五段) 'five-level' verbs in Japanese, due to their conjugations using all 5 of the different sounds in the same column (段) that their base form comes from.
As we can see here, the く in 聞く changes to き when conjugated to the polite form. All of the other sounds in the K-column will be used with 聞く, depending on the conjugation. This is the same for all of the う-Verbs.
聞かない, 聞きたい, 聞く, 聞ける, 聞こう
Here we can see the う-Verb 聞く using all of the different K-column sounds in various conjugations.
Caution
Just like with る-Verbs, the base form of the verb may be called 'plain form', 'casual form', or 'short form', depending on the source/book.
を
Object marking particle
In Japanese, を is a particle that marks the object of an action. This means that the subject (the person or thing performing an action) is performing that action with the object being the goal/target of the action. In most cases, whatever を is attached to will not actually be 'doing' anything, but will instead have something being done to it.
In these sentences, を is marking the thing that is having an action performed 'on' it. This is how the Japanese language views the 'object'. However, unlike English, an object can also be a place in which an action is performed 'through', if the goal of that action is based in that location itself.
In these sentences, を is marking the place 'through' which the action is taking place. This use of を highlights that the place itself is what is being interacted with (running/walking requires interaction with the ground, so the ground/place is the object).
Details
Up until now, we haven't really discussed the order that words flow in a Japanese sentence. Now that we know a bit more about verbs and the most essential particles, let's take a closer look.
Who and What
As a general rule, the subject will come before the object, and the verb always comes last.
Although this is the most neutral order, Japanese is actually quite flexible! As long as the verb stays at the end, we can swap the other parts around to shift emphasis.
Framing the Conversation
Another general rule is that は will tend to come at the very beginning, when it is used. This is because it tells us the topic of conversation, framing the rest of what's to come. Sometimes it can be hard to conceptualize a whole statement unless we first know within what context it is happening.
We can even take the object of a sentence (normally marked by を) and rephrase it as the topic by using は. This makes it feel like the main thing we want to talk about. Let's look at all the possible patterns with は, が, and を in one simple sentence.
We can see from this that, although は and が are often compared, は can be used much more generally than が can.
Last But Not Least
As was briefly mentioned before, the verb will come last in a Japanese sentence. We are given all the other context first (time, place, subject, object) and then finally told what happens at the very end.
In general, things that come earlier in a sentence will be giving information or details about things that come later, with the most important thing coming at the end.
Dinner Date
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たくや：「僕は、ラーメンを食べます！君は？」
さくら：「ラーメン！いいですね！私はバターラーメンを食べます！」
たくや：「バターは美味しいですよね！僕もそれを食べます！」
さくら：「お酒は飲みますか？」
たくや：「水がいいです！」
さくら：「今日は土曜日です。私はワインを飲みます！」
たくや：「ワイン、バターラーメン…。いいですね…。」