WORK
| 仕事 shigoto | job |
| 会社 kaisha | company |
| 教師 kyōshi | teacher (plain form, cf. 先生 sensei) |
| 医者 isha | doctor |
Structure Notes
3.1. Time words (relative time expressions)
In the preceding lesson we found that place words like ue ‘topside’ and naka ‘inside’ are a kind of noun in Japanese. Time words are a similar sort of noun. Such words are kyō ‘today,’ kyonen ‘last year,’ and mainichi ‘every day.’ The general question word used to ask the time is itsu ‘when.’ Here are some time words you will find useful:
| 昨日kinōyesterday | 今日kyōtoday | あした/明日ashita/asutomorrow | 毎日mainichievery day |
| 先週senshūlast week | 今週konshūthis week | 来週raishūnext week | 毎週maishūevery week |
| 先月sengetsulast month | 今月kongetsuthis month | 来月raigetsunext month | 毎月maitsukievery month |
| 去年kyonenlast year | 今年kotoshithis year | 来年rainennext year | 毎年maitoshi/mainenevery year |
| 先学期sengakkilast academic term | 今学期kongakkithis academic term | 来学期raigakkinext academic term | 毎学期maigakkievery academic term |
Here are some example sentences with relative time expressions:
いつ大阪に行きますか。
Itsu Ōsaka ni ikimasu ka.
When are you going to Osaka?
来年行きます。
Rainen ikimasu.
I’ll go there next year.
私は昨日ステーキを食べました。
Watashi wa kinō sutēki o tabemashita.
I ate steak yesterday.
3.2. Nouns with and without particles
Most nouns usually occur followed by a particle of some sort or by the copula—kono hon wa…, go-han o…, byōki desu. Some nouns occur either with or without a particle, with only a slight difference in meaning. The time words listed in note 3.1 can be followed by the particle wa or used alone without the particle:
毎日は仕事をしません。
Mainichi wa shigoto o shimasen.
I don’t work EVERY day.
毎日仕事をします。
Mainichi shigoto o shimasu.
Every day I work.
When you use the particle wa, you are making the time word the topic of your sentence. Often you are CONTRASTING what happens at THAT time (… wa) with what happens at other times. When a noun is used without a particle, it usually modifies either the whole sentence or the verb phrase at the end; this we can call the ADVERBIAL USE of a noun.
3.3. Particles から kara, まで made, and へ e
After place words, the particle kara means ‘from,’ the particle e means ‘to,’ and the particle made means ‘to, as far as, up to.’ If you want to say ‘from Kobe to Osaka’ you can say either Kōbe kara Ōsaka made or Kōbe kara Ōsaka e, but there is a slight difference of meaning. When you use the particle e, you are primarily interested in the two endpoints; when you use made, you are also interested in the space, time, or means of travel between the two points. This difference of meaning is so subtle, however, that you can just remember that either made or e means ‘to’ when reference is to a place.
Many speakers in Eastern Japan often replace the particle e with the particle ni. So you will also hear Kōbe kara Ōsaka ni ikimashita ‘I went from Kobe to Osaka.’ You can say either Uchi e kaette benkyō shimashita or Uchi ni kaette benkyō shimashita ‘I went (back) home and studied.’
After kore ‘this,’ sore ‘that,’ or a time word, the particle kara has the meaning ‘after, since,’ for example, sore kara ‘after that’ and kore kara ‘after this, from now on.’ Compare them with koko kara ‘from here.’ In a similar way, the particle made means ‘until’: sore made ‘until that (happens)’ and kore made ‘until now (this).’ Compare them with koko made ‘up to here, as far as this place.’
(Kara with verbal expressions is discussed in notes 3.10 and 4.12. Made with verbal expressions is discussed in note 5.18.)
ご飯を食べて, それから映画を見ました。
Go-han o tabete, sore kara eiga o mimashita.
I had dinner and after that watched a movie.
これから毎日勉強します。
Kore kara mainichi benkyō shimasu.
From now on I’m going to study every day.
これまでマンガを読みませんでした。
Kore made manga o yomimasen deshita.
Until now I haven’t been reading comic books.
昨日から病気なんです。でも，あしたからまた働きます。
Kinō kara byōki na n desu. Demo, ashita kara mata hatarakimasu.
He’s been sick since yesterday. But he’ll work from tomorrow (on) again.
明日の晩までその仕事をしています。
Asu no ban made sono shigoto o shite imasu.
We’ll be doing that job until tomorrow night.
3.4. Particle ね ne
The particle ne is frequently tacked on at the end of a sentence to soften its tone. It implies that the speaker wants the hearer to agree with him, or that he wants what he is saying to agree with what the hearer might think. It is often translated by a rhetorical question (one to which an answer really isn’t expected) such as ‘…isn’t it,’ ‘…doesn’t he,’ ‘… wasn’t it,’ or by something like ‘… you know,’ ‘… you see.’
| 「中村さんは銀行員ですね。」“Nakamura-san wa ginkōin desu ne.”“Mr. Nakamura is a bank
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