Quick Reference: Noun Tenses
| PRESENT/FUTURE TENSE | PAST TENSE | ||
| Affirmative | Negative | Affirmative | Negative |
| N da. | N ja nai. | N datta. | N ja nakatta. |
| (Ex.) Gakkō da. It’s a school. | (Ex.) Gakkō ja nai. It’s not a school. | (Ex.) Gakkō datta. It was a school. | (Ex.) Gakkō ja nakatta. It wasn’t a school. |
Practice
Read the following two sentences and rewrite them in the requested form.
| 1. | Ame? | “Is it rain?” | __________________________ |
| Affirmative answer: | “Yes, it’s rain.” | __________________________ | |
| Negative answer: | “No, it’s not rain.” | ||
| 2. | Kore wa tori da. | “This is a bird.” | |
| Plain present negative form: | “This is not a bird.” | __________________________ | |
| Plain past form: | “This was a bird.” | __________________________ | |
| Plain negative past form: | “This was not a bird.” | __________________________ |
Chapter 7
Is This Bentō Mine?
Short Dialogues
| FEMININE | MASCULINE | ||
| 1. | Kore ie no kagi? | Kore ie no kagi? | Is this a house key? (Lit. Is this the key of a house?) |
| Un. | Un. | Yeah. | |
| 2. | Watashi no bentō dore? | Ore no bentō dore? | Which bentō (packed lunch) is mine? |
| Are. | Are. | That one (over there). | |
| 3. | Sore shinsha na no? Uun, shinsha ja nai wa. Chūko(sha) yo. | Sore shinsha na no ka? Iya, shinsha ja nai yo. Chūko(sha) da yo. | Is that a new car? No, it’s not. It’s a used car. |
| 4. | Ano omocha ikura datta? | Ano omocha ikura datta? | How much was that toy? |
| Ūn, sen’en datta kashira. | U-n, sen’en datta kana. | Uh, it was about one thousand yen, I think. | |
| 5. | Shiai enki da yo. | Shiai enki da ze. | The game is postponed, you know. |
| Jōdan deshō? | Jōdan darō? | You must be kidding. |
Shaded items: Check the “Learning from the Dialogues” section in this chapter to learn more about these.
Vocabulary
| e no kagi | house key |
| ie | house |
| no | of (P) → |
| kagi | key |
| watashi no | my |
| ore no | myⓂ |
| ore | IⓂ |
| bentō | lunch; packed lunch; lunch box |
| dore | which; which of three or more |
| are | that (one/person) over there |
| sore | that |
| shinsha | new car |
| ja nai (= dewa nai) | is/are/am not |
| chūkosha | used car |
| Uun ( | No; Nope; Uh-uh (Int) ( |
| Iya (= Uun/Iie) | No; Nope; Uh-uh (Int) Ⓜ |
| wa | (P) |
| yo | (P) → |
| ano + (N) | that + (N) |
| omocha | toy |
| ikura | how much |
| datta | was/were (past form of da) |
| Ūn | Hmm; um; well; uh; let’s see (Int) |
| sen’en | thousand yen |
| en | yen (unit of Japanese currency) |
| kana (= kashira) | I wonder (P)Ⓜ |
| shiai | game; match; tournament |
| enki | postponement; adjournment; extension |
| ze | (P)Ⓜ |
| jōdan | joke |
| deshō/darō | isn’t it? don’t you? probably → |
Learning from the Dialogues
USING NO
Now perhaps you’re ready to say something a bit more complicated? The particle no can help you! The particle no is basically used to join two nouns so that one noun modifies the other one. You can use no to do several different things:
1. To describe another noun. In the first dialogue, the no as in ie no kagi is used to link ie and kagi and indicates a relationship between the two nouns. It is similar to the English prepositions “of,” “in,” or “’s.”
In Japanese all modifiers come before the nouns modified. Therefore, if the first noun is accompanied by the particle no, it describes the next noun—and so determines the meaning. As in, for example, what kind? which one? when?
See how it works?
2. To say whose it is. In the second dialogue, the no as in watashi no bentō/ ore no bentō refers to possession. The possessive form is made by adding the particle no after personal pronouns or nouns.
3. To ask a question. In the third dialogue, the no used in kore shinsha na no? marks a question in informal speech. The formal speech equivalent of this question would be Kore wa shinsha na no(n) desu ka? The polite question form desu ka? is almost entirely omitted in informal speech.
Women will more commonly add no at the end of the sentence rather than use the single word shinsha with a rising intonation. Men also use it, especially when talking to women.
To make an informal question with verbs or adjectives, you add the particle no at the end of the sentence.
If there is a noun or adjectival noun, you must also add na, before you add the no.
Look back over the Vocabulary lists that you’ve learned so far and choose some nouns, as well as some adjectival nouns. Then go ahead and try making questions with them—using na and no as appropriate.
| Kyōkai na no? | Is it a church? |
| (N) | |
| Shizuka na no? | Is it quiet? |
| (Adj N) |
Now choose a few adjectives and verbs that you know. Make questions with them, by adding no.
| Atarashii no? | Is it new? |
| (Adj) | |
| Shitteru no? | Do you know him? (Chapter 4) |
| (V) |