Unit 3: そちらはなんじまでですか

1. カタカナ (Katakana): ア, イ, ウ, エ, オ

Katakana is one of the three Japanese writing systems, alongside Hiragana and Kanji. It is primarily used for:

• Words of foreign origin (e.g., コーヒー - coffee, アメリカ - America).
• Onomatopoeia (sound-mimicking words).
• Emphasizing words (similar to using italics in English).
• Names of many plants and animals.

The first five Katakana characters correspond to the same vowel sounds as in Hiragana.

2. 動詞 (どうし - Verbs)

A. Introduction to Japanese Verbs

In Japanese, the verb is typically placed at the very end of the sentence. The form we will learn in this unit is the ます (masu) form. This is a polite form used in formal situations or when speaking to strangers, elders, or superiors. It indicates the non-past tense, which can mean either the present (habitual actions) or the future.

• Affirmative (Present/Future): Verb stem + 〜ます (masu)
  • Example: たべます (tabemasu) - I eat / I will eat.
• Negative (Present/Future): Verb stem + 〜ません (masen)
  • Example: たべません (tabemasen) - I don't eat / I won't eat.

B. Key Movement Verbs: 行きます, 来ます, 帰ります

These three verbs are fundamental for talking about movement.

Example Sentences:

• わたし は きょうと へ **いきます**。 (Watashi wa Kyōto e ikimasu.) - I am going to Kyoto. (Speaker is not in Kyoto).
• やまださん は ここ へ **きます**。 (Yamada-san wa koko e kimasu.) - Mr. Yamada is coming here. (Speaker is at "here").
• わたし は うち へ **かえります**。 (Watashi wa uchi e kaerimasu.) - I am returning home.

3. Grammar and Key Sentence Patterns

A. The Particle へ (e)

The particle へ marks the direction of movement. It is written with the Hiragana for "he" (へ) but is pronounced "e" when used as a particle. It is used with movement verbs like いきます, きます, and かえります.

Structure: [Place] へ [Movement Verb]

• がっこう へ いきます。 (Gakkō e ikimasu.) - I'm going to school.
• にほん へ きました。 (Nihon e kimashita.) - I came to Japan. (This is past tense, 〜ました).

B. Key Sentence: 「この電車は甲子園へ行きますか。」

This sentence is a great example of how to ask for directions or confirmation.

Breakdown:

• この電車 (この でんしゃ) - This train
• は (wa) - Topic marker particle ("As for...")
• 甲子園 (こうしえん) - Kōshien (a place name)
• へ (e) - Direction particle
• 行きます (いきます) - To go
• か (ka) - Question marker particle

Translation: "Does this train go to Kōshien?" or "As for this train, does it go to Kōshien?"

Possible Answers:

• Affirmative: はい、行きます。 (Hai, ikimasu.) - Yes, it goes.
• Negative: いいえ、行きません。 (Iie, ikimasen.) - No, it doesn't go.

C. Particle と (to) - "with" / "and"

The particle と is used to indicate that you are doing an action with someone.

Structure: [Person] と [Action]

• ともだち **と** がっこう へ いきます。 (Tomodachi to gakkō e ikimasu.) - I go to school with my friend.
• かぞく **と** にほん へ きました。 (Kazoku to Nihon e kimashita.) - I came to Japan with my family.

To say you are doing something alone:
You use the word ひとりで (hitori de). Note that the particle is で, not と.

• **ひとりで** えいが を みます。 (Hitori de eiga o mimasu.) - I will watch a movie alone.

D. Particle で (de) - "by means of"

The particle で is used to indicate the means or method by which an action is performed. This is commonly used for transportation.

Structure: [Transportation] で [Movement Verb]

• でんしゃ **で** いきます。 (Densha de ikimasu.) - I go by train.
• バス **で** かえります。 (Basu de kaerimasu.) - I will return by bus.
• ひこうき **で** きました。 (Hikōki de kimashita.) - I came by airplane.

Important Exception: Walking
To say you are walking, you use あるいて (aruite), which is the te-form of the verb あるきます (arukimasu - to walk). It does not use the で particle.

• えき まで **あるいて** いきます。 (Eki made aruite ikimasu.) - I will go to the station on foot.

4. 時間 (じかん - Time) and 毎日の日課 (まいにちのにっか - Daily Routine)

A. Grammar: から (kara) and まで (made)

These two particles are used to define a range, whether it's for time, space, or other quantities.

• 〜から (kara) - from / since
• 〜まで (made) - until / to / up to

Structure: [Start Point] から [End Point] まで

Examples:

• Time: ぎんこう は ９じ **から** ３じ **まで** です。 (Ginkō wa kuji kara sanji made desu.) - The bank is (open) from 9:00 until 3:00.
• Location: おおさか **から** とうきょう **まで** しんかんせん で いきます。 (Ōsaka kara Tōkyō made shinkansen de ikimasu.) - I will go from Osaka to Tokyo by bullet train.
• Asking the question from the unit title:
  • A: すみません、デパートは なんじまで ですか。 (Sumimasen, depāto wa nanji made desu ka?) - Excuse me, until what time is the department store open?
  • B: １０じまで です。 (Jūji made desu.) - It's open until 10:00.

B. Days of the Week (曜日 - ようび)

Asking the day: きょうは なんようび ですか。 (Kyō wa nan'yōbi desu ka?) - What day is it today?

C. Daily Routine Vocabulary (Verbs)

• おきます (okimasu) - to get up, to wake up
• ねます (nemasu) - to sleep, to go to bed
• はたらきます (hatarakimasu) - to work
• べんきょうします (benkyō shimasu) - to study
• やすみます (yasumimasu) - to rest, to take a day off
• おわります (owarimasu) - to finish

Example Daily Routine Sentence:
わたし は まいにち ７じに おきます。そして、８じに がっこうへ いきます。
(Watashi wa mainichi shichiji ni okimasu. Soshite, hachiji ni gakkō e ikimasu.)
"I get up at 7:00 every day. And then, I go to school at 8:00."

5. 日本語のカウンター (Japanese Counters) and Dates

Japanese uses specific counter words when counting different categories of things. The structure is Number + Counter.

A. Time Counters

• Hour: 〜時 (じ - ji)
  • 1:00 いちじ
  • 2:00 にじ
  • 3:00 さんじ
  • 4:00 **よ**じ (Irregular)
  • 5:00 ごじ
  • 6:00 ろくじ
  • 7:00 **しち**じ (Irregular)
  • 8:00 はちじ
  • 9:00 **く**じ (Irregular)
  • 10:00 じゅうじ
  • 11:00 じゅういちじ
  • 12:00 じゅうにじ
• Minute: 〜分 (ふん - fun / ぷん - pun)
  • The reading changes based on the preceding number.
  • 〜ぷん: 1 (ippun), 3 (sanpun), 4 (yonpun), 6 (roppun), 8 (happun), 10 (juppun)
  • 〜ふん: 2 (nifun), 5 (gofun), 7 (nanafun), 9 (kyūfun)
• AM/PM:
  • AM: ごぜん (gozen) -> ごぜん ９じ (gozen kuji) - 9:00 AM
  • PM: ごご (gogo) -> ごご ３じ (gogo sanji) - 3:00 PM

B. Calendar Counters (Months and Days)

• Month of the Year: 〜月 (がつ - gatsu)
  • Simply Number + がつ.
  • Exceptions: April is **し**がつ (shigatsu), July is **しち**がつ (shichigatsu), September is **く**がつ (kugatsu).
• Day of the Month: 〜日 (にち - nichi / か - ka)
  • This counter has many irregular readings, especially for the first ten days.
  • Irregular Days 1-10:
    • 1st: ついたち
    • 2nd: ふつか
    • 3rd: みっか
    • 4th: よっか
    • 5th: いつか
    • 6th: むいか
    • 7th: なのか
    • 8th: ようか
    • 9th: ここのか
    • 10th: とおか
  • Other Irregular Days:
    • 14th: じゅうよっか
    • 20th: はつか
    • 24th: にじゅうよっか
  • Regular Days: For most other days, use Number + にち.
    • 11th: じゅういちにち
    • 25th: にじゅうごにち

Asking the date: きょうは なんがつ なんにち ですか。 (Kyō wa nan-gatsu nan-nichi desu ka?)

6. 家族 (かぞく - Family Vocabulary)

In Japanese, the words used for family members change depending on whether you are talking about your own family to an outsider (uchi - "inside") or talking about/to someone else's family (soto - "outside"). The terms for someone else's family are more polite.

Important Note: When you are speaking directly to your own family member (e.g., your own mother), you use the polite form (おかあさん, おとうさん, etc.). You only use the humble forms (はは, ちち) when describing your family to someone outside of it.