Simply Japanese Grammar

Eh hehe, I’ve been getting a lot of fan mail recently ヾ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ

But seriously, thanks to all of you who have written in. I used to work with children, so believe me when I say that I don’t do things for the thanks. But whenever someone sends me a note of gratitude, even if it’s Anon, it brightens my day a bit. 

On that note, since a few of you have felt a bit of a talkative bug, I'd like to share something with you guys too: I’ve been thinking about redesigning the blog. Not a lot mind you, but just a refreshing change. If you have any suggestions about the type of format that is most comfortable to you for a blog like this, please let me know your thoughts.

And since we’re on the topic of design, I’ve also been wondering about the content on the blog. 「(°ヘ°) Of course, I don’t necessarily have a problem with my lesson formats or the Kanji Origin posts, but here are my immediate concerns:

- I don’t do enough K.O.’s. Yep, this has been nagging in my brain, so if you like those then yes, part of my brain is on your side. Help that side of my brain win if this is truly a concern for you.

- I may be going a little too advanced with the kanji. When I started the blog, I remember thinking I would stay with N5-N4 level kanji for the sake of those who are still new. Not sure if I have been sticking to that too well...OTZ

- There aren’t enough content variations. Ugh, I wish I was talented enough to draw, because I would really like to see more visual aids on my blog. I’ve thought about working with a partner, but my schedule is erratic and I tend to attract people who are the same way. I may want something timely but they’re distracted, they may want something timely but I’m distracted, yadda yadda. When I come up with more ideas, but they’re usually of the geeky variety (have I mentioned I’m a geek? I feel it has come up a few times around here...) and I do want this blog to feel as general as possible. 

Hello, everybody! I hope you all have had at least a good start into the New Year.

A new year means new opportunities, and of course, new decisions. Let’s talk about how to decide things in Japanese.

There are many different moments when you have to make a decision. Do you want the soup or the salad? Pokemon Sun or Pokemon Moon? A morning class or an evening class? In English, this is a pretty unanimous phrase: “I decided on the soup.” “I decided I want Pokemon Sun.” “I decided to take the morning class.”

More casually, it can be reduced to “I picked” or even “I’m doing”, the latter being a very interesting phrase. You can’t actually “do” a soup, but it’s another way to say that a decision has been made. In that respect, Japanese is similar. But for now, let’s just talk about 決める/きめる.

決める is the literal closest word to the English “to decide”. I mean, 決める means just that, “to decide”. 

ニューヨークに行くことに決める。

I decided to go to New York.

パーティのひどりを決めました。

I decided on a date for the party.

その大学に入っていると決めます。

I decided to enroll in that college.

Now, some of you may look at the sentences/translations and feel it’s simple enough. But someone of you may have noticed a small, yet essential difference between the examples: the particles. That’s right, 決める uses に, を, and と. Because it can.

This can be something that can be difficult to explain, and sometimes people don’t bother to explain it at all, but here goes.

に決める

に決める is the most standard paring. It refers to a decision being made.

りんご(をたべるのこと)に決めました。

I decided to eat an apple. 

In this case, the (をたべるのこと) is implied to some degree because most likely you would have picked an apple to eat it. In general, always refer to に決める if you’re really stuck. That said, it’s hard to describe the full usage of に決める without going into the other two.

を決める

This is a bit more nuanced than the former example. を決める doesn’t state the decision directly, but rather what the category that is decided upon. Let’s go back to the previous example of eating an apple. If I had to use を決める:

くだものを食べるのことを決めました。

I decided upon a fruit to eat.

Here, the result would likely still be the same: I picked an apple. But this example doesn’t tell you the exact fruit I picked. Instead, it described the category. If we go back to the first を決める example:

パーティのひどりを決めました。

I decided on a date for the party

I’m not telling you the exact date here, am I? If I did, it would be more like this:

パーティのひどりは２月11日に決めました。

I decided the date of the party will be February 11th. 

Here, に決める is used because I am sharing the exact result of what was being decide on. Let’s go back to を決める:

くるまを決めました。

I decided on a car.

This is literally all it means. I’m not telling what kind of car, what year, or any specifics. If I did share a specific detail (like a black car or something), に決める is more appropriate because now I’m telling you I decided on a specific car/result.

と決める

と決める is interesting because while it can substitute for either に決める or を決める, it’s actually not a good regular substitute for either. Yeah, I realize I made things more confusing.

The thing about と決める isn’t that is it is following a type of translation rule, but rather an emotional one. と決める is used to create a sense of “Finally!” or “After a long time”. It’s used to convey that a lot of thought and time went into making the decision. If we look at the original example of と決める:

その大学に入っていると決めます。

I decided to enroll in that college.

The use of と決める conveys that it took a long time to decide to enroll in a specific college. This is understandable as college is usually one of those things people try to think about. Let’s look at a comparison between と決める and に決める.

まこととけっこんすることに決めました。

まこととけっこんすることと決めました。

Very literally, they both mean “I decided to marry Makoto.”. Sentence 1 conveys a more natural, easy transition to making the decision to marry Makoto. Sentence 2 conveys a more deliberate moment of consideration. In the second example, maybe there were doubts or issues regarding Makoto as a marriage partner. Maybe in sentence two it was an arranged marriage situation involving multiple options. The point is that the use of と決める means that a long train of thought was put into the decision.

Same thing with を決める:

ダイエットを決めました。

ダイエットと決めました。

Again, both mean “I decided on a diet”. を決める, like に決める, is a more neutral, natural decision making process. と決める is a deliberate, intentional choice within diets.

In summation, に決める is the Foreigner’s Privilege choice. For a non-specific decision, を決める is the best. To convey a serious and considerate decision result, と決める is better.

I’m not really going to do examples for this one because と決める can technically be used as an answer to anything (who am I to judge how long it takes for you to decide on a toothpaste?). But I will ask you to consider specifics vs categories.

Red vs Colors

Cats vs Animals

Target vs Department Stores

Halloween vs Holidays

Lavender vs Flowers

Penne vs Noodles

California vs U.S. States

By keeping in mind conveying a decision on a specific result is に決める and a decision within a category is を決める, you’ve pretty much have a grasp on the difference between the two particles.

I’ve reached more than 400 followers! ばんざい！

I just wanted to take a little moment to thank my followers that have gotten me to this point. When I started this blog in my college years, I would have been satisfied if I only helped 100 people, so helping 4x as many is a great treat for me, especially at the start of 2017. To be honest, I am a bit worried about how much time I can put into this blog given a pretty big change in my life that will last from now to the end of this year (and maybe a little into 2018). But, I still have a few lesson ideas floating around in my head! And of course, if anyone has any questions always, always ask! I answer much quicker than I post lessons, I promise!

Hello, Anon! Happy New Year, or more relevantly, 明けましておめでとうございます！

In this expression of “Happy New Year”, 明けまして would refer to the “New Year” part. It comes from the verb 明ける, which means many things. It mostly has to do with opening things, opening/clearing things up, or the sunrise. However, the more relevant definition here is “To begin (a New Year), to end a period or season). When it is put into its (polite) て-form and followed by “Congratulations!”, おめでとうございます’s translation, it can translate to: “Congratulations on beginning a New Year”, or “Happy New Year”. Of course, this is also an acceptable sentence:まだクリスマスのプレゼントを明けましています。

We are still opening (or unwrapping) Christmas presents

So, we talked a bit last time about pointing out traits in yourself and others. But, what are traits if you can’t compare them?

How people define things is relative to the things they can compare it to. If you lived in the cleanest place on earth, you’d call my bedroom a pigsty. By comparison, if you lived in complete filth, you’d think my room was the cleanest place on earth. The truth is, we only know what is good because we only know what is bad, and vice versa. 

So it is important to know how to compare things. Let’s look at this English sentence:

Tea is more delicious than coffee.

It doesn’t matter if you agree with the sentence or not, but think about how you would say it. In English, you wouldn’t say “Tea is delicious. Coffee is not delicious” because a) you may very well think coffee is delicious to some degree and b) It is too wordy. So how do we do this in Japanese?

In Japanese, there are two main comparison particles: より and ほど. They both translate to “than” in English, but they actually have specific definitions that prevent them from being interchangeable in Japanese.

より

Let’s start with より’s literal translation. It...it actually has a bunch, most of them irrelevant to this lesson. We’re going to focus on it’s literal translation “more than”. より’s a bit weird to translate really. And to prove it, let’s go back to the original example:

Tea is more delicious than coffee.

お茶がコーヒーよりおいしいです。

Literally, the Japanese sentence says “Tea, more (so) than coffee, is delicious”. 

Let’s analyze the structure a bit. You want to convey that between tea and coffee, tea is the more delicious option. So, since tea is the focus, tea is the subject. The adjective is naturally last. So in between, you want to make it clear that coffee does not exceed tea in deliciousness. That is why より is chosen. より is picked when you want to compare the subject to something that is not as proficient as the subject in the chosen parameter.

Mina is shorter than Erika. 

ミナがエリカより短いです。

Now, keep in mind that より is neutral. All it serves to show is that subject B (Erika) is not to the same degree in shortness as subject A (Mina). Is is a good thing that Mina is short? Is it a bad thing? Who knows. より’s not meant to add emotional conveyance to that. It’s an objective term that is only made subjective based on your own context. 

I don’t dance as well as Layla (or less nicely, “I dance worse than Layla)

私がレイラより悪くて踊ります。

Here, you see より, but clearly putting myself in a less desirable position. However, this is still acceptable because I am the superior at being worse at dancing. More literally “I am better than Layla at dancing poorly”. 

You see that より can be used with adjectives or verbs. Now, I will warn you to be very careful if you are comparing something in the attribute of a noun. You can’t say “I, compared to Paul, writer”. It took me a whole minute to come up with that sentence because I had to override all the English grammar rules I know. It honestly doesn’t make any sense. You can’t compare with a noun by itself. You can say “I am better at writing than Paul”, “私がパールよりいいさくぶんします”, or “I am a better writer than Paul”, “私がパールよりいいさっかです”.

(Post example edit: Something was nagging me about using that as an example to prove my “Don’t just use straight nouns with より” point. I realized what it was, and I will explain it now. Many of you may be wondering why I used さくぶんします instead of 書く. 書く literally means just “to write”, like putting a pencil to paper. さくぶんします refers to actually making a piece of literature, a poem, a blog post, or anything else people...well, write. Being a writer refers more to さくぶんします since anyone with a writing utensil and paper can 書く. I will keep that example because I really don’t know how often you compare your handwriting to others, and there’s not really a noun profession for handwriting.)

Keep in mind the ending of all these examples are positive. It’s possible to use より with a negative-ending sentence, but it’s...well, that’s why we have ほど.

ほど

Okay, we’ve talked about how to explain if something is exceeding another in a parameter, but what if it isn’t? What if the subject is actually doing worse than something else in some degree?

Let’s look back at our second example, Mina is shorter than Erika. When it comes to height, there are a bunch of different ways to compare things, isn’t there? I could have said Erika is taller than Mina, and that still would have meant the same thing. But what if we are specifically talking about shortness? If the context is requiring me to evaluate in terms of how short someone is, I should probably keep that adjective. But I can’t say:

エリカがミナより短いです。

Because it means that Erika is shorter than Mina now. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t think a person can be shorter than a person that is shorter than them.

So, if I’m stuck with ‘短い”, より is not going to work anymore because the ending has to be in a positive tense. This is where ほど comes in.

ほど has a few meanings, but in this context, it literally means “upper limit, maximum”. It’s used when you want to describe something as the superior to your subject. But there is another twist:

エリカがミナほど短いです。

Try literally translating this and identifying the problem with this sentence. “Erika is shorter than Mina, who is the limit of...shortness”. That...doesn’t make sense. You can’t say that something is better than the thing that is the best of that parameter. You can’t say that ““Cute High Earth Defense Club” is funnier than “Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun”, which is the funniest anime”. Aside from your own personal opinions, the grammar in the sentence doesn’t make sense at all.

エリカがミナほど短くないです。

There, fixed. It now literally means “Erika, with Mina as the upper limit, is not shorter”. Or simply “Erika is not shorter than Mina.” By making the adjective negative, you are reinforcing that Erika is not shorter (in other words, Erika is taller) than Mina. 

Let’s go back to the example of me being a worse dancer than Layla. Why would I even say I’m better at dancing poorly? Is there a terrible dancer competition I don’t know about? No (well probably, but how many of those really exist?). I would most likely say:

I am not as good as dancing as Layla.

私がレイラほどいい踊りません。

This way, I remain the subject and I am basing the parameter on who is the better dancer. 

Chinese is not as easy to learn as French

中国語がフランス語ほど習いやすくない。

(You’ll remember we discussed about how to talk about verb difficulty earlier)

So here, you see that Chinese is the subject. If your friend was talking about deciding to learn Chinese, you would keep that as the subject, right? You wouldn’t make things confusing by trying to make the subject French. But, if you were taking French or you knew your friend may have taken French before, that would make a reasonable comparison. 

Now, keep in mind that with ほど, subject B does not have to be the ultimate in that field. For example:

青が赤ほどよくないです。

If I had to prove that not only is blue worse than red, but red is the best color out of all the colors, we’d be here all day. As far as I know about colors, there aren’t really any that are objectively better out of all the colors. Do I really think Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is the funniest anime in the world? No. I think it’s pretty funny, but I’m not going to write a post proving that it is objectively the funniest anime in the world. I don’t even know what I would say is the funniest anime in the world. Rinne 1/2? Persona 4 the Animation? Again, we’d be here all day.

The only thing that ほど cares about is between two things, subject B is the one you feel is superior. 

Let’s summarize.

If the main subject is superior in a parameter, you use より with the comparison.

If the main subject is inferior in a parameter, you use ほど with the comparison and make the end negative. 

Try translating these for extra practice! And as always, feel free to ask questions.

Bill is more forgetful than Martin.

Pizza is cheaper than tacos.

Tacos are not as cheap as pizza.

Mr. Smith is a better teacher than Ms. James.

I don’t like watching anime as much as I like reading manga.

I play on my 3DS more than my PS Vita.

Joe does not run as fast as Usain.

I don’t drink as much beer as I do tea.

Answers:

ビルがマーティンより忘れっぽいです。

ピザがタコスより安いです。

タコスがピザほど安くないです。

スミス先生がジェームズ先生よりいい先生です。

アニメを見る事がまんがを読むほど好きではありません。

3DSがPS Vitaよりします。

ジョーがウセーンほど速くて走りません。

Okay, so I’m reading a Japanese webcomic and this line pops up:

父さんの会社、倒産しちゃった。

Translated phonetically:

tousan no kaisha, tousan shichatta

This is a pun based on the fact that the term for “father” and the term for “bankruptcy” are homonyms in Japanese. It actually made me laugh, but I...I wouldn’t even know how to translate this and still keep the joke.

Literally translated it’s this:

Dad’s business went completely bankrupt.

So how do you keep the joke?

I for the life of me can’t figure out something that is somewhat funny enough while still keeping the translation literal.

Hello, everybody! It’s been a while since I’ve done a K.O., huh. 

Today’s Kanji Origins is #15, but that’s not really a milestone. I really should do this more often. 

空

This is the character for “sky”. It combines 穴 (space) and the phonetic reading of エ (work). So space + work = sky! I guess. (I feel it is important to note that the “space” we’re talking about here means like “empty space”, like “there is so much space between me and him”. Not “The Earth is in space”) . It’s pretty easy for me to remember because I really like the character. And by “character”, I mean Sora from Kingdom Hearts. \_(ツ)_/

Anyhoo, 空 can be used by itself to mean what it means. However, it also means “void”, “empty”, “vacuum”, and “vacant”. The amount of puns that the Japanese can make with this are staggering. I feel KH is one of the worst offenders, but that’s a different thing.

It’s also pretty common as a unisex name as well, like how people name their kids “Skye” or “Skyler” in English.

空港: airport

空気: air, atmosphere

架空: aerial, overhead

青空: blue sky

空洞: cave

Strangely, 空 is used a lot for “air” in English, but I guess the thinking is that things are in the “sky” rather than the “air”. 

中

中 tends to be a kanji a lot of people learn early on. It has a very simple form, and it is used in a lot of beginner’s grammar. It’s also directly from the Chinese language. It’s a 丨inside a 囗 . So, 中 means “inside”. By extension, it also means “middle”. The Chinese use this character in their country name, “中国”’, which refers to them as “The Middle Country”, or what they implied “The Center Country”. They believed that they were the center of the Earth (I guess some still do to some extent), but then a bunch of things happened with Japan (didn’t go well) and they got their first aircraft carrier a couple of years ago and America thought it was cute. 

Anyhoo!

中東: Middle East

日中: During the day

中学: Middle school, junior high

中日: China and Japan

中島: Island in a pond or a river

虫

虫 is a character that means ‘insect’ or ‘bug’. But would you believe me if I told you it is supposed to be an image of a snake? Yes, a snake. A very much not bug creature. (And for who knows what reason, they created a new kanji for snake as 蛇, which combines 虫 and 它, which means other. So they made snake ‘other bug’ rather than keep 虫 as snake).

To be fair, considering worms are bugs and do look snake-like, I can understand confusion in a time before etymologists and herpetologists became a thing. You can understand it looks like 中 a bit, but there’s really no relation other than pronunciation. You may also notice that 虫 is used in a lot of diseases in an interesting coincidence of a shared figure of speech; Having a ‘bug’ means that you’re sick, and that is something that is mutual in Japanese.

殺虫剤: Insecticide

虫歯: Cavity, tooth decay

水虫: Athlete’s foot

苦虫: Making a sour face (like you ate a bug)

虫垂炎: Appendicitis

防虫: Insect repellent

弱虫: Weakling, coward (weak as a bug)

交

Next is 交, which means ‘mingle’ or ‘association’. It’s often used in matters of connection and shared activity. It’s supposed to be a man ‘大’ crossing his legs  ‘乂’. 乂 is an archaic kanji that means ‘to mow’ or ‘subdue’, but it’s not entirely relevant here.

You need to be a bit careful when 交 is by itself though. Independently, it also has the adverb form of “in succession”, but most people write it in its hiragana form.

Now, I’m not entirely sure why a man crossing his legs was the main image for association, but I guess people don’t normally cross their legs when they’re alone, really only in public.

外交: Diplomacy

交流: Cultural exchange

交通: Traffic, communication

交える: To combine

交響曲: Symphony

交互: Mutual, reciprocal

校

This one should already be familiar as a ‘basic’ kanji. 校 means ‘printing’ or ‘school’, and it’s often paired with the previously mentioned 学 because ‘study’ + ‘printing’ = school. Or ‘learning’ + ‘school’ = ‘school’. Either way, 校 is a very educational kanji.

It’s supposed to be 木 with 交. 交 is simply there for pronunciation, and I’m not necessarily sure why 木 is involved, but I guess that many of the things essential for school and printing are paper and pencil/ink brush which wood was often a part of. 

校長: Principal

校舎: School building

母校: Alma mater

We all have quirks about ourselves that makes us unique, things that set us apart. It’s not just the things that we want or like to do, but also the things that we do without even trying or wanting to. 

This is different from the previously mentioned しまう, where a specific action was done unintentionally once. When something about you happens often and without your direct control, it is a separate instance.

After all, everyone forgets an appointment or two. It happens. But how would you describe a person who is actually forgetful?

Some of you may think at first thought: その人がよく忘れます。”That person often forgets”.

Meaning-wise, it’s clear. But both the Japanese and English forms of this are unnatural and almost formal. There is actually ways to say “That person is X” and “That person tends to be Y” in Japanese. Let’s talk about がち, っぽい, and ぎみ.

がち

がち translates directly to “apt to do ___, tends to do ___”. It can be used with any noun or verb, but there is a catch. You see, がち has to be negative. In other words, it’s something that you or someone else often does without trying, or when you notice that you or another person has been doing something negative lately. For example:

暇な時に、お菓子を食べがちです。

When I have nothing to do, I tend to eat candy.

たびたびけんかして、離婚がちです。

They’re always fighting, so they’re likely to divorce.

The first scenario is similar to a moment when we could use しまう, but in this case it would have happened so many times it just became a pattern. The second scenario describes a sort of general rule. It makes sense that couples who fight a lot will divorce. Both these scenarios are definitely something that a speaker is ashamed of or is concerned about. You couldn’t use がち like this:

家に次第、晩ご飯を作りがちです。

As soon as I get home, I tend to make dinner.

In English, the sentence would be fine, but in Japanese, using がち implies that you don’t like that part of yourself, as if you have a problem with making your own food. And maybe it is a problem if you have to make it for an ungrateful family. My point is that using がち makes people think you don’t like that particular habit or circumstance.

っぽい

I really like the term っぽい because it’s a translation of something we use in English all the time. っぽい means “-ish” or “-like”. If I didn’t just unlock a new world for English speakers, then you’re not speaking English right or you speak it too well. “-ish”/”-like” is used when you want to make a comparison to something, but you want to use it as an adjective rather than a simile. っぽい is the same. It’s an い-adjective used with nouns, but also for verbs and adjectives. It’s great.

Try to practice translating っぽい with some of these terms:

大人っぽい

忘れっぽい

やさしっぽい

みどりっぽい

RPGっぽい

先生っぽい

おどろきっぽい

Okay, there was a bit of a moment I went a little nuts, but the meanings are easy to grasp, aren’t they? 

Adulty

Forgetty

Kindish 

Greenish

RPG-like

Teachery

Scaredish

In English, none of these are actual words, but the meaning gets across. That is the magic of っぽい. Now, some っぽい terms have been used so often, that they are actual words in Japanese (i.e. 子供っぽい, 忘れっぽい). However, if there is ever a moment that you are stuck in how to describe something, っぽい is your best friend. It’s like a Foreigner’s Privilege way to make a word into an い adjective. It’s also a good way to ask for the actual word version of things. (i.e.  おどろきっぽい is better known as よわき, meaning “timid”). So don’t feel embarrassed about not knowing the real version of an adjective. As long as you know a word that relates to it and っぽい, you’ll be okay.

気味／ぎみ

Last is 気味／ぎみ. 気味 is a bit like the in between of previous two. While っぽい may very well be a part of that situation forever, がち can certainly be temporary or in the past. Like っぽい, 気味 is neutral. However, like がち, 気味 is often temporary.  What makes 気味 unique is that the trait is rarely full blown. Let’s compare:

忘れっぽい vs 忘れ気味

If someone is 忘れっぽい, they are, and probably has always been, forgetful. It’s just who they are. Someone who is 忘れ気味 is a little forgetful lately. Notice that it implies out of the ordinary behavior, or when observing someone for the first time. However, it does not mean complete and utter embodiment of that trait. For example, everyone has moments when they feel a little tired or a bit bored, but this does not mean this is always who they are. If someone has been late recently due to construction, that is 遅着気味 (ちちゃくぎみ). If someone is ALWAYS late no matter what, even if you gave them an earlier time on purpose, then that is 遅っぽい. 

疲れがち vs 疲れ気味

If someone is 疲れがち, they do not like being so. However, that is something about themselves they have noticed for a good long while. Before it got to 疲れがち, people were probably saying 疲れ気味. 疲れ気味 is not necessarily negative, but it is an observation that people tend to be concerned about. People who are 疲れ気味 may not ever become 疲れがち, and they may not even be that bothered by it (like they know it’s due to new medication or jet lag). Remember that to use 気味, the trait cannot be full blown or an annoyance. がち is used when a trait is annoying and even in full swing.

高直がち vs 高っぽい

Here, you have two words meaning “expensive”. But keep in mind that がち is used negatively. In other words, it’s frustratingly expensive. You can use this when the rent on your apartment goes up, or when scalpers mark up the price of Fire Emblem Fates Special Edition by an extra 200%. It is used when something, at the moment, is in the condition of being annoyingly expensive, further implying there is nothing you can do. 高っぽい is neutral, so it doesn’t carry that same emotional weight. 高っぽい would be closer to understandably expensive. Like organic food at Whole Foods would be 高っぽい, but you buy it anyways because you feel that the price increase is fair and/or necessary. You also wouldn’t use がち in the Whole Foods case because Whole Foods has always had comparatively higher prices and probably always will. You also (hopefully) wouldn’t use 高っぽい with the scalper example because those prices tend to change based on product availability. 

Let’s sum things up. 

If a trait is NEGATIVE, and likely either temporary or a general rule, がち is a good choice.

If a trait is PERMANENT, and often accepted and meant neutrally, っぽい is the best fit.

If a trait is MINOR, and relatively recent, 気味 works well.

Of course, any trait can require the use of any of these three depending on the context. Much like English, half the usage of Japanese terms is the emotional meaning behind it. 

Yep! It was my first one! Here is the link: http://simplyjapanese.tumblr.com/post/21197959133/introduction%E3%81%AFwa-and-%E3%81%8Cga

Hello! Today I’m going to talk about grammar forms that are “in the moment”. That is to say that two things happen around the same time. 

Let’s consider these sentences in English:

When the elevator closed, I realized I forgot my wallet.

or 

When you get back, please call me.

In both sentences, “when” is used to describe a moment where an action happened. If you’re beginning Japanese, your first impulse may be to translate the sentences into Japanese using “時／とき”:

エレベーターが閉まった時に、さいふを忘れてしまった気づきました。

Hmm. I don’t want to say this is completely wrong, but the correct emotional conveyance isn’t there. 時 is used when it’s a general and extended period of time (学生の時: When I was a student; 結婚した時: When I got married, for example). However, elevator doors closing is usually a swift action.

The second problem with 時 is that people usually remember forgotten things the moment it becomes too late. 時 does a poor job conveying suddenness or promptness. It’s a jack of all trades but master of pretty near nothing; learning to not use 時 all the time is a strong sign of Japanese fluency.

So, let’s talk about things we can use to replace 時. Mostly, とたん, 次第, and 最中.

Let’s talk about とたん, since it’s the easier one to explain, but a little harder to get. 

とたん

とたん’s most precise translation is “just now” or “at that moment”. It’s literally the second A happens, then B. This makes とたん the best fit for our elevator example:

エレベーターが閉まったとたん(に)、さいふを忘れてしまった気づきました。

This is much better, since now there is that understanding of “at that moment”. The listener/reader can imagine the surprise or shock of realizing you forgot your wallet when the doors closed. 

I highlighted part of the sentence for a reason. You see, とたん can only be used with a past tense verb. とたん is pretty much always used in regard to an action. It’s even hard to imagine an “as soon as” sentence in English without a verb in past tense. It’s the same scenario in Japanese. Let’s translate a few:

As soon as I returned home, the phone rang.

家に帰ったとたん(に)、電話が鳴りました。

When I finished my homework, I turned on the television. 

しゅくだいを終えたとたん(に)、テレビをつけました。

Just as my mom entered the room, we started laughing.

お母さんが部屋に入ったとたん、ぼくたちが笑い始まりました。

I hope you notice something about とたん in these examples:

1) とたん is always used when both clauses are past tense. You can’t say “Just as the door closed, let’s start dancing!”. Even in English that’s weird. とたん must be preceded by a past tense verb, and followed by a past tense verb. 

2) I put (に) in parenthesis a lot. I did this to show that に, while used correctly in this form, can be optional. とたん only really uses に as a particle to the point where に is pretty much implied. 

次第/しだい

Is it weird I like the aesthetics of this word? Yes? Okay, let’s move on then.

次第 also means “as soon as”, but it’s primarily used in the present. Let’s look at our original second example:

When you get back, please call me.

Well, とたん can’t work here because neither the first or second part is in past tense. 時 is also no good because while “returning” can take a long time, the speaker is obviously referring to a specific instance when the returning is completed. It might even be imperative that the listener/reader call ASAP.

This is where 次第 works. It actually has a second meaning of “dependent upon”, but it doesn’t always work in translation with its other meaning. At this moment, we are only regarding its “as soon as”/”immediately” meaning.

When you get back, please call me.

帰り次第、私を電話に呼び出した下さい。

Let’s note how 次第 is conjugated. The verb is put into its ます form, but the ます is cut off. Also note how the second part is a command/request. This is acceptable. 

次第 also implies that the first clause can be done, so you can’t really use potential form with this. Let’s look at another example:

The moment you fall in love, you become weak.

恋をし次第、弱くなります。

Again, the same thing. A ます form verb with no ます, followed by 次第. 

Now, this next note is pretty important:

DO NOT USE 次第 with に. 

The issue isn’t that に can never be used with 次第. The issue that when they are used together, the meaning changes. 次第に means “to gradually --”. It’s an adverb. For example:

まどを閉め次第に, ライトをつけて下さい。

I...I wouldn’t know where to begin translating this. If the まどを閉め part wasn’t there, this could be “Please gradually turn on the lights”. But since まどを閉め is there, this sentences becomes quite messed up. If に wasn’t there:

まどを閉め次第, ライトをつけて下さい。

As soon as you close the window, please turn on the lights.

There, much better. Of course, this is a valid sentence too:

まどを閉め次第, 次第にライトをつけて下さい。

As soon as you close the windows, please gradually turn on the lights.

If this sentence seems silly to any English speakers, remember that Will Smith will smith.

最中／さいちゅう

And last but not least is 最中. 最中 means “in the middle of”. Despite the presence of 中, it doesn’t have to be the actual middle. Much like in English, 最中 has the same non-exact emotional meaning:

かれのスピーチの最中に彼女が泣きました。

She cried in the middle of his speech.

Now, it’s not always clear what the exact “middle” of something like a speech is. It could be closer towards the beginning or the end. All 最中 does is note that some moment, performance, or action was interrupted by something else.

ざっしを読んでいる最中、医者に呼ばられました。

I was in the middle of reading the magazine when I was called by the doctor.

In this example, I’m using a Verb, but in ーている form. This is acceptable. After all, you have to have been doing an action to be interrupted by it. Even in English, the verb is in -ing form even though this happened in the past tense. Let’s look at one more example.

A: 「今、何をしているの？」 “What are you doing now?”

B: 「宿題の最中だ。」            “In the middle of homework.”

At first glance, B seems to be using a fragmented sentence, but it’s actually complete: “(I’m) in the middle of (doing) homework”. This is also acceptable. It’s clear that 時 couldn’t work in this example. If someone asks what you are doing, “Homework time” is kind of a weird response. This also shows that 最中 primarily serves as a sort of “adverb” noun. It’s a noun that only serves a purpose when describing actions and moments. Therefore, it is perfectly okay to say “I am ‘Noun’”. 

Let’s practice a bit, shall we? I’ll write some sentences in English, and you can think about if 時, とたん, 次第, and/or 最中 would work:

1. When you’re done with that, you can go home.

2. When the cat hissed, I started running.

3. I was daydreaming when I saw him.

4. When you are free, call me.

5. My phone always rings a lot when I am sleeping.

6. I hate it when you call me after work! I’m always in a meeting!

Alrighty, let’s see how you did:

1. それを終えたとたん、帰ってもいいです。

　それをおえた時、帰ってもいいです。

In this case, both とたん and 時 are fine. The reason is that the sentence in itself doesn’t convey urgency or a sense of immediateness. However, it could. So either is fine.

2. 猫がほえたとたん、はしりました。

Here, there is a strong association with the timing of A and B. A happened first, then B. Further, both are in past tense. とたん is the winner.

3. くうそうふけっている最中にかれを見ました。

Here, the sentence is both in past tense, but the sentence doesn’t convey the sense of an immediate event. Further, “daydreaming” is more likely something to be interrupted. 最中 is the best.

However, one could make the case for 時 if this happens EVERY TIME. 

4. あなたが暇になり次第、呼び出してください

　あなたが暇な時に、呼び出してください。

Interestingly enough, both 次第 and 時 are acceptable in this translation, only because we don’t have further context. 次第 works well with a sense of urgency or command, while 時 works more as an invitation or a polite request. But, please note what precedes both clauses. 次第 MUST be followed by a verb. To that end, 休む could also work. If the case was for 時, then of course adjectives are fine. But for any verb, it should be in dictionary form in this case. 

5. 寝ている最中に電話がいつもたくさんの音を鳴きます。

    寝る時に電車がいつもたくさんの音を鳴きます。

Hnnnnn. This is also a weird context one. Remember, 最中 is best when it conveys that something has been interrupted. Naturally, sleep can be interrupted--but it doesn’t have to be. If the speaker is a hard sleeper, but then wakes up in the morning to find a lot of missed texts and calls and notifications, then 時 is better. If the speaker is trying to convey often being woken up, 最中 can be a better bet.

6. あなたが仕事の後にすぐに私を呼び出す物が嫌いだ。いつも会議の最中だよ！

Ah, a tricky two-parter! Yep, couldn’t resist. I’m sure many of you saw “I hate it when” and went through all what we talked about. You’re right to think that とたん, 次第, and 最中 aren’t correct in that part (最中 works in the second part though), but where is 時? The problem with using 時 is that a specific instance, when the listener calls, is described as disliked by the speaker. If something has frequently happened to the point where it is a norm, and it is being described by an adjective, then 物/もの is actually the correct noun. I may do a more in depth lesson later about 物/もの, but just know that 時 is used when a moment is used as the description, 物 is used when a specific and common moment is described. 

OH WOW SORRY. I had no idea I had this message until just now O_O;, so I don’t know how long you have been waiting or if you already have an answer. 

I was actually planning to do a more in depth lesson soon, but that particular grammar pattern means “on the edge of”. Yeah, it doesn’t translate completely well. It’s like saying in between 5:29 and 5:30. It’s not 5:30 yet, but it is about to be soon. So the sentence translates to: “But, although the troubling snow is on the verge of piling up due to the strong winds, most of it is completely removed.” --or that is my interpretation anyways. The key is that you understand that ~か~ないかのうちに means “right before ~ happens”. Also remember that ~か~ないかのうちに references an ACTION that WILL or WOULD HAVE happened. Like the fact that a party is going to start soon or the fact that snow often piles up. You can’t use it to reference something that can’t or doesn’t have to happen.

Hello, everybody! Today, I'm going to talk about points in times a bit. 

いますand あります are pretty standard verbs and some of the first words for newbies. In a nutshell, they both mean "to exist", where います is for animate objects and あります is for inanimate objects, or rather non-living things even including events and plans. They also have secondary meanings: います also means "[Verb]-continuously" and あります also means "to happen". We're going to talk about the latter meanings today, and how it relates to another verb, おきます.

おきます/おく is a verb commonly meaning "to put/place", but it has a bunch of other meanings too. We're going to talk about the particular meaning of "doing something in advance".

Usually, 〜ています is taught early and alone, because it has a pretty common equivalent in English. It means to do a Verb continuously, or in simpler terms "~ing".

すしを食べています。

[I'm] eating sushi.

ビデオゲームをしています。

[I'm] playing a video game.

When you want to put a verb into ~ing form, you need to put the verb into its て-form and put an います at the end. 

Even in English, there is a noticeable difference between "I eat sushi" and "I am eating sushi". The former is a very general statement presented as a fact, while the latter describes the current action at a specific time. Imagine this phone conversation:

Ａ： 「B−くん、すしが食べられますか。」

Ｂ：「はい、すしを食べます。今、すしをたべています。」

A: "B, can you eat sushi?"

B: "Yes, I eat sushi. I'm eating sushi now."

Even unconsciously, you can see how B's first and second statement portray different things. 

Now, 〜てあります isn't the 〜ています when it comes to inanimate things. It has a meaning that can also be applied to living beings. 〜てあります is a little difficult to explain and it's often explained with ~ておきます. The best way I can think of explaining the two of them is that ~ておきます is to do something in advance, while 〜てあります is to create a continuous situation. Unfortunately, they're kind of similar in usage:

パーティーのために、ケーキを買っています。

パーティーのために、ケーキを買っておきます。

パーティーのために、ケーキを買ってあります。

I threw in the first sentence just for comparison review.

I'm buying a cake for the party.

I [have presently] bought a cake in advance for the party.

I [have presently] bought a cake for the party.

I realize I have made this more confusing by putting the last two sentences in past tense when the Japanese tense is clearly present, which is why I threw in "have presently", because while it is heavily implied in Japanese, it's a little wordy in English, and it makes more sense this way. 

The point of Sentence #2 is to describe a particular action, also emphasizing that the cake was bought prior to. This is a single moment in time. The point of Sentence #3 is to describe the situation of now having the cake, and the cake is still around. This is an ongoing moment in time. Next example:

そのレストランに行きたいから、よやくしております。

そのレストランに行きたいから、よやくしてあります。

I want to go to that restaurant, so I already made a reservation.

VS

I want to go to that restaurant, so I have a reservation.

Again, sentence 1 is describing having previously done that action of making a reservation, and sentence 2 is describing the situation of having a reservation. 

So in recap:

〜ています: Used to describe an action currently being done [いま] 

〜てあります: Used to describe how an action creates an ongoing situation [いまから]

~ておきます: Used to describe how an action is done in advance [あとのために]

Bonus Round time: That being said, I want to briefly go over the difference between 〜てあります and just あります.

アイスクリームがあります。

アイスクリームを買ってあります。

There is ice cream.

I have bought ice cream (which is still around).

Again, slightly different pictures. The first sentences doesn't describe any particular action, just that ice cream is, well, here. The second sentences makes it clear that the ice cream was bought (I suppose rather than home-made or stolen), or even "There is ice cream that I bought":

私に買われたアイスクリームがあります。

久しぶり、みんなさん！Today, I'm going to talk about そう and らしい. Some of you have probably encountered そう already, as it's a standard part of everyday speech because it has tens of meanings. We'll only care about a few meanings for now.

Initially, そう is often introduced as "seems like" or "looks like", which is true. But I'm going to hold off on that now because of reasons. 

そう can mean "I heard that ~~". Let's see an example:

そのレストランのケーキがおいしいそうです。

"I heard that restaurant's cake is delicious."

A lot of you might be jumping in to say "Why can't it mean that the restaurant's cake seems good?" It's because of how the sentence ahead of the そう is phrased.

When you want to report something that you heard or something that people say, you use the sentence in its entire form. I realize that might be hard to understand, but let's see how the sentence would look if I wanted to say seems.

そのレストランのケーキがおいしそうです。

"That restaurant's cake seems delicious."

You may have noticed that the い is missing from the the second sentence. When you take off the stem of a verb or the い from an い adjective, the そう being used is "seems like". When the sentence has a full sentence, then the そう is "I heard". Let's look at the next one:

みやばし先生がうつくしいそうです。

I heard Mr./Ms. Miyabashi is beautiful.

This sentence would be a little odd if it was "seems". "It seems that Mr./Ms. Miyabashi is beautiful." Unless you're suspicious about something that seems obvious, it would be weird to use "seems". Not only does the presence of the い make it "heard", it also helps it make sense.

Also, as a note, this does not mean that you have to hear it from "people". You can hear it from the T.V., newspaper, blog, etc. 

But, what if you wanted to use nouns or な adjectives? Like if you heard that some homework was simple.

しゅくだいがかんたんだそうです。

簡単／かんたん is a な adjective meaning "simple". 

Now, you'll notice that a form of です is used twice: once in its plain form, and again at the end of the sentence. When you have a な adjective or a noun, a だ has to be there in the appropriate plain form. This doesn't mean it has to be in present positive all the time though.

たかばさんが先生じゃないそうです。

I heard that Takaba isn't a teacher.

みかさんがねむくなかったそうです。

I heard Mika wasn't tired.

The key is that そうです is always present positive. In Japanese, "I didn't hear" doesn't really exist in the そうです format. This is sort of like how 思いません doesn't really exist, as "I don't think" is a little bit of a misnomer. There's really no way to say "I didn't hear that." (as in "it wasn't heard by me) without sounding a little obnoxious or rude. 

Now, for そう meaning "seems like" the rules are a little different. As I mentioned before, the stem of the verb/adjective is cut off, so this is more of a suffix than a word. 

おもそうです。

That looks heavy.

With 重い／おもい being the い adjective, the い is cut off, letting the そう hitch on. 

雪がふりそうです。

It seems like it is going to snow.

Here, the ます of ふります is taken off and replaced with そう. 

Once again, nouns and な adjectives use the same rule:

かのじょがしずかそうです。

She seems quiet.

In a な adjective's condensed form, the な is cut off and there is no です/だ. 

Now, here is where things get a little tricky. What if you wanted to say "He doesn't seem okay"? You can't change the verb/adjective because the そう has taken over the part that typically changes.

かれが元気そうではありません。

He doesn't seem all right.

In this case, the そうです changes as appropriate, because it's the only part that can change now. This is okay, because "doesn't seem ~~" makes sense. Is the the opposite of "I heard" in the sense that "I heard" makes the sentence before change, while "It seems" makes the です after change. This is the key grammatical difference between the two. Here are some sentences to practice by yourself. Try to identify if it is a "heard" そう or a "seems" そう.

わかばくんがいそがしそうです。

うどんがからいそうです。

面白い本だどうです。

その国があつくないそうです。

このアイスクリームが寒そうじゃない。

A note before we move forward. The "seems" そう is left as そう in reference, and the "heard" そう is そうです is reference.

Now for らしい. I'm mentioning らしい because it is very similar そう. らしい is an い adjective meaning "seeming", "~ish", and "typical of ~". For example:

かのじょがゆうめいだらしいです。

She seems famous.

かれがやくしゃらしくないです。

He doesn't seem like an actor.

らしい's rules are a mix of both そうs. You can change either the sentence before, or the らしい after depending on what sort of inflection you want. In a way, らしい is closer to the English seems because of this flexibility. However, in Japanese context "He seems like not an actor" and "He doesn't seem like an actor" mean pretty much the same thing. Of course, the former sentence is awkward in English. 

らしい can also be used for "____-like". For example:

かめらしく、いつもおなかがすいた。

Like a turtle, I'm always hungry. 

スミスさんががにぎやがです。うんどうせんしゅらしいです。

Smith is energetic. He's like an athlete.

かなしそうです。はなこらしくないです。

You seem sad. That's not like you, Hanako.

Now, what sets らしい apart from そう is that らしい means you have reliable information, or at least more reliable than そう. This blurs it with そうです a little. そうです means that "From some information source, I heard ____". らしい is like "Based on something reliable, It seems like _____". そう means "I don't really have any proof, but it seems like _____". Here's an example:

このスミス先生によって本がエキサイティングだそうです。でも、スミス先生らしくないだから、本が好きそうではありません。

I heard this book that Mr. Smith wrote is exciting. But, that doesn't seem like Mr. Smith's style, so I don't think I'll like it.

Wow, this sentence was a handful. But it sort of embodies each term nicely. そうです means "heard", as in I heard from someone that the book is exciting. らしい is seems like, using Mr. Smith's earlier work to make a standard for what kind of person/author he is. And そう it seems like I won't like the book, but I don't really have that much to support my theory other than a feeling or bias.

This is らしい's only context by the way. There are several different types of そうs besides the two I mentioned.