11.5) The ใซ Particle [Part 1]
While ใ is the most important particle in Japanese, ใซ may hold the title for being the most versatile. It has A LOT of uses. But fear not true believer, I have a post (or a few) to help you understand the many uses of ใซ!
Letโs start out slow, shall we? In this post, I only have 2 uses to tell you about, marking existence and marking movement. The interesting thing is that you may not see the connection at first, but itโs there (at least in a Japanese way of thinking). Because I have so many examples for you, the vocabulary for this post wonโt contain the verbs; Iโll put all of them together a little later in the post.
ใExistenceใ
ใซ is used to mark a place of existence. Back in this post about the particle ใฎ, we talked about โLocation Noun Phrases.โ These are nouns connected to location nouns (such as ไธ, ไธ, ๅค etc.) with the particle ใฎ. Even though my examples there only used the location noun phrases as topics, they are more often used to say where someone or something is located.
For example, the English phrase โon the tableโ would become ๆบใฎไธ in Japanese. If we want to make a comment about that location, we attach the ใฏ particle. However, if we want to say that something is located there, we need the ใซ particle. If we wanted to say that a cat is located there, we would say:
โ ๏ฝๆบใฎไธใซ๏ฝ็ซใ๏ฝใใ๏ฝใ
= At the on of the desk, a cat exists.
= There is a cat on the desk.
ใใ is used because the subject (the cat) has a will of its own. For non-living things (and plants) that donโt have a will of their own, ใใ is used. A more extract example would be:
โก๏ฝๅฎๅฎใซใฏ๏ฝ็กๆฐใฎๆใ๏ฝใใ๏ฝใ
= As for in space, an uncountable number of stars exist.
= There are countless stars in space.
Itโs the same idea. ใ marks the subject of the sentence while ใใ or ใใ tells us that it exists and ใซ tells us where. Example 2 additionally made the place the topic. This leads to the nuance that we are talking about things that exist in the universe.
โขใใใใฏ๏ฝใใใซ๏ฝ๏ฝใชใ๏ฝใ
As for that, it isnโt here.
โฃใใชใๆฉๆฌใใใฏ๏ฝๅฎถใซ๏ฝ๏ฝใใชใใฃใ๏ฝใฎ๏ผ
Why wasnโt Mr. / Ms. Hashimoto at home?
As you can see, the same is true when you want to talk about things / people that are not located somewhere. Note that the ใฏ particle is often used in sentences with negative verbs like ใชใ or ใใชใใฃใ.
ใDestination of Movementใ
The remaining uses of ใซ all have a common connection, which is movement. The first time Japanese learners are introduced to ใซ, itโs usually in sentences where there is some form of movement. In these simple sentences, ใซ marks the destination. Here are some examples:
โคใ3ๅนดๅใ๏ฝใขใกใชใซใซ๏ฝ๏ฝ่กใฃใ๏ฝใ
= 3 years ago, to America (I) went.
โฅ ๏ฝใใใซ๏ฝ๏ฝๆฅใฆ๏ฝใญใ
= To here, come, wonโt you?
โฆใไปไบใฎๅพใๅฝผใฏ๏ฝๅธฐใ๏ฝใ*
= After work, as for him, he went / came home.
โงใใใใใๆๆฅญใซ๏ฝๅบใ๏ฝใ*
= Now, I will leave (where Iโm at) to go to class.
โจใใ้ขจๅใซ๏ฝๅ ฅใใใ๏ฝใ
= Into the bath / tub I want to go.
*In example 7, ๅธฐใ simply means the subject is returning home, we donโt know whether the listener is at home or not. In example 8, the ใซ bundle marks the destination. If you want to state the origin point, you would use ใใ.ย
ใThe Result of Moving Yourselfใ
Now here is the interesting part that will tie movement and existence together. In Japanese, the idea of existing somewhere is not limited to the verbs ใใ and ใใ. There are a lot of other verbs that express existence - itโs just that the existence is a result of some kind of movement. Take a look at this example:
โฉใๅ้ใ๏ฝ็ฉบๆธฏใซ๏ฝ๏ฝ็ใใ๏ฝใ
= My friend at the airport arrived.
= My friend arrived at the airport.
Letโs say a 4-year old asks you, โWhatโs the difference between arriving somewhere and being somewhere?โ First off, that child is very smart. But when you actually think about it, the idea of arriving somewhere is not really different from existing there. (I think the difference is that โarrivingโ carries with it the idea that there was some travel or movement prior whereas simply existing somewhere doesnโt tell us how the person got to that point.)
With that in mind, the following examples also show us the result of some kind of movement. Notice how ใซ marks where the subject ends up after the movement.
โชใ๏ฝใในใซ๏ฝ๏ฝไนใฃใ๏ฝใ
= I got on the bus.
(movement onto the bus and then existing there)
โซใใใ ใฏ๏ฝใใฎๆค ๅญใซ๏ฝ๏ฝๅบงใ๏ฝใ
= Tom sits in that chair.
(movement to the chair and then existing there. More simply, sitting there)
โฌใ๏ฝใใขใฎๆ ใซ๏ฝ๏ฝ็ซใฃใ๏ฝใ
= I stood under the door frame.
(movement to under the door frame and then existing there. Simply put, standing there)
ใThe Result of Moving Somethingใ
Our next set of examples are closely related to the last sectionโs examples with one difference: Now instead of a person moving, an object is moved and then exists somewhere. Because this implies that the object has no volition of its own, our old friend the ใ particle will show up.
Here are some examples where the end result of some kind of movement is existence somewhere else:
ใโญใๅฏใๅใ็ซใ๏ฝๅคใซ๏ฝ๏ฝๅบใใฆใใ ใใ๏ฝใ*
= Before you go to sleep, please put the cat outside.
ใโฎใๅฝผใฏ๏ฝใซใกใฉใซ๏ฝๆฐใใใใฃใซใ ใ๏ฝๅ ฅใใ๏ฝใ
= He put new film into the camera.
ใโฏใ้็ญใ๏ฝๆบใฎไธใซ๏ฝ๏ฝ็ฝฎใใ๏ฝใ
= I put the pencil on the table.
ใโฐใๅฝผๅฅณใฏใใซใฏใ๏ฝใใผใซใซ๏ฝ๏ฝๆณจใใ ๏ฝใ
= She poured milk into the bowl.
ใโฑใใคใใใใฏใ้บบใ๏ฝในใผใใฎไธญใซ๏ฝ๏ฝไปใใ๏ฝใ*
= As for Tsukemen, (you) the noodles into the soup dip.
ใโฒใ๏ฝ่ใซ๏ฝๅกฉใ๏ฝใใใใ๏ฝใ*
= Iโm going to put (sprinkle) salt on the meat.
*In Example 14, though the cat is alive and would normally have volition to do something, in this case it is treated like an object. Poor cat! In example 18, even though dipping is for a second or less, the noodles will exist in the soup for that short period of time. In example 19, ใใใ has the image of showering something completely over something else. ่ใซ would then mean that the meat will exist inside the โshower of saltโ. ๐
ใClothingใ
There are a whole set of verbs that have to do with putting on and wearing clothes, accessories, footwear, etc. Iโm planning on writing a separate post about them but for now, itโs good to realize that they all fall into the category of moving something in order to make it exist somewhere - that is, on a part of the body. With these verbs, if there is a ใซ it will be attached to the body part because that is the โdestinationโ for the article of clothing. Most of the time though, this ใซ bundle is omitted because itโs obvious from the verb and the article of clothing.
โณใ็ถใฏ๏ผ้ ญใซ๏ผๅธฝๅญใ๏ฝ่ขซใ๏ฝ
= As for my father, he hats wears.
My father wears hats (on his head). (duh lol)
ใThe Verbsใ
The ใซ that marks the location of existence works together with only certain verbs. It would be very strange to say ๅฎถใซ้ฃในใใThe reason is that ้ฃในใ is not the correct kind of verb that works with ใซ. Here are the verbs we have seen so far:
I do want to mention something that you will inevitably run into. Using these verbs in the past tense obviously describes a past action. Using them in the non-past (dictionary) form can either indicate a future action or a habitual action.ย
However something interesting happens when you change these verbs to their ใฆ form and then attach ใใ. Again, I plan to go into more detail at a later date, but there are 3 possibilities:
A) You will end up describing a continuous, ongoing physical action.
B) You will end up with not an ongoing action, but an ongoing state or condition.
C) Depending on context, it could be case A or case B.
Here are some examples:
ๅบใใฆใใ means continuously putting out or giving off something.
่กใฃใฆใใ does not mean โcontinuously goingโ. It means โwent and then remained in that stateโ, more simply โis thereโ. Itโs the same with ๆฅใฆใใ.
ไนใฃใฆใใ can mean getting on / boarding but it can also mean boarded and then remained in that state, more simply, is on the bus, train, etc.
ๅบงใฃใฆใใ means sat and then remained in that state = is sitting
ใConclusionใ
Well that was a lot, wasnโt it!? I gave you a lot of examples but I hope itโs easy to see how they all are related. Whether there was some sort of movement (moving yourself or moving an object) or not, the end result is always existence. I think this is the key to understanding the ใซ particle because it always marks the location of the existence. If you keep this in mind, you wonโt end up asking yourselfย โwhy do they use ใซ HERE?โ all the time. No one needs all that!
As always thanks for your time and see you next post!
Rice & Peace,
โ AL (ใขใซ)
๐๐พ
