今日 IMABI - Intermediate II

を向く

The verb 向く is one of only three verbs of direction that seemingly behave as transitive verbs with the case particle を despite being intrinsically intransitive. The remaining two verbs are 振り向く (to turn around) and 振り返る (to look/think back (on), but both of these verbs overlap semantically with 向く. The thought process as to why を is allowed with these verbs comes from the fact that the action carried out—shift in direction—isn’t so much an objective change of state, but rather a subjective action done by the agent; it is this direction of sense, if you will, that allows 向くto behave like a transitive verb as most transitive verbs in Japanese imply an active agent causing the action in question to occur. By proxy, this affects 振り向くand 振り返る as we will also look at in further detail.

を向く can be used even with non-volitional agents. In other words, even if the doer of the action isn’t necessarily doing the act of turning out of its own volition, the particle を is still overwhelmingly used. When the agent is overtly purposely doing the act of turning, then を becomes obligatory.

For を向く to be grammatical, the “object” must be one that can be conceptualized as a direction word. If it can't, it will need to take のほう (the direction of).

7. 目 ( め ) が 上 ( うえ ) を 向 ( む ) いている 時 ( とき ) は、 考 ( かんが ) えをまとめている 時 ( とき ) です。
When one’s eyes are facing up, it’s when one is gathering one’s thoughts.

8. 重 ( おも ) さで 扇風機 ( せんぷうき ) が 下 ( した ) を 向 ( む ) いてしまいます。
The fan faces downward due to its weight.

9. 下 ( した ) を 向 ( む ) くな。
Don’t look down.

Grammar Note: The を seen in Exs. 7-9 can be interpreted as the を seen with intransitive verbs of movement, making its usage obligatory in situations such as theses.

10. ナマケモノは 真後 ( まうし ) ろを 向 ( む ) いたまま、 木登 ( きのぼ ) りができる。
Sloths can climb trees whilst still facing right behind them.

11. 本殿 ( ほんどの ) が 海 ( うみ ) を 向 ( む ) いて 建 ( た ) っている。
The main shrine is built towards the sea.

12. 医者 ( いしゃ ) のほうを 向 ( む ) いてではなく、 患者 ( かんじゃ ) さんのほうを 向 ( む ) いて 仕事 ( しごと ) をしたい。
I want to work turned towards the patients and not towards the physician.

13. 僕 ( ぼく ) はふいと 笑美子 ( えみこ ) さんのほうを 向 ( む ) いて 言葉 ( ことば ) をかけた。
I suddenly turned toward Emiko and spoke to her. 

14. 黒板 ( こくばん ) を 向 ( む ) いて 聞 ( き ) くことが 中心 ( ちゅうしん ) の 授業 ( じゅぎょう ) では、 子供達 ( こどもたち ) の 集中 ( しゅうちゅう ) も 長続 ( ながつづ ) きしません。
In classes centered around listening whilst facing the board, the children’s concentration won’t last long either.

The Transitive Verb 向ける 

When moving something into a certain direction, however, the direction becomes an indirect object, thus requiring the transitive form 向ける to be used.

15. 謙太郎 ( けんたろう ) が、 左 ( ひだり ) の 扇風機 ( せんぷうき ) を 下 ( した ) に、 右 ( みぎ ) の 扇風機 ( せんぷうき ) を 右 ( みぎ ) に 向 ( む ) けた。
Kentaro pointed the fan on the left downward and the fan on the right to the right.

16. 人 ( ひと ) ばかり 写 ( うつ ) るので、カメラレンズを 上 ( うえ ) に 向 ( む ) けた。
Because only people would be in the picture, I pointed the camera lens upward.

It is also the case that を向ける can follow direction words, and when it does, it implies explicit active will on the part of the agent in turning that said direction.

17. 皆 ( みな ) が 左 ( ひだり ) を 向 ( む ) いたとき、あなただけ 右 ( みぎ ) を 向 ( む ) けるか。
Only you turn to the right when everyone turns to the left?

Sentence Note: In Ex. 17 above, the first clause uses を向く with no implied nuance of the subject “everyone” truly purposely orienting to the left, but the second clause uses を向ける, which does imply that the subject “you” are purposely orienting yourself to the right.

に向く 

It goes without saying that the original particle that has always been paired with 向く has been に. This make senses as even in English, the word “toward(s)” usually follows “to turn.” The destination/direction of the orientation of the subject is emphasized with the use of に, and consequently, there isn’t an implied active agent. Lastly, the state that に向く describes must be one that will or is ongoing.

18. 新月 ( しんげつ ) の 頃 ( ころ ) は、 地球 ( ちきゅう ) の 太陽 ( たいよう ) に 照 ( て ) らされた 面 ( めん ) が、ほぼ 月 ( つき ) のほうに 向 ( む ) いている。
In a new moon, the side of the Earth that is illuminated by the Sun is roughly pointed towards the Moon.

Sentence Note: In Ex. 18, the side of the Earth illuminated by the sun is not purposely oriented toward the moon. This statement is a simply fact of observation being made about a natural phenomenon.

19. 私 ( わたし ) の 関心 ( かんしん ) はいつも 未来 ( みらい ) に 向 ( む ) いている。
My interests are always directed to the future.

20. 主人公 ( しゅじんこう ) の 足 ( あし ) の 向 ( む ) くところには 炎 ( ほのお ) が 燃 ( も ) え 広 ( ひろ ) がっていた。
Flames spread where the protagonist’s feed headed.

Grammar Note: The phrase 足が向く, alternatively seen as 足の向く when modifying a noun phrase as is the case in Ex. 20, uses the particle が before 向く only because no direction-noun is stated. If there were, it would be marked withに or へ.

21. 仕事柄 ( しごとがら ) 、 本屋 ( ほんや ) に 行 ( い ) くと、 美術 ( びじゅつ ) の 本 ( ほん ) のコーナーに 足 ( あし ) が 向 ( む ) く。
Because of my work, when I go to a book store, my feet head for the fine arts corner.

22. 家 ( いえ ) の 向 ( む ) きが 少 ( すこ ) し 斜 ( なな ) めに 向 ( む ) いている。
The aspect of the house is slightly tilted.

There is a particular usage of に向く that is unique to it and not shared with を向く—or へ向く which is to be showcased next—is being synonymous with ～に適している, “to be suited/apt/fit for…”

23. アナウンサーに 向 ( む ) いている 人 ( ひと ) の 特徴 ( とくちょう ) は 何 ( なに ) でしょうか。
What are the characteristics of someone who’s fit for announcing.

24. うちの 息子 ( むすこ ) は物書きに 向 ( む ) いていない。
My son is not cut out for writing.

25. 誰 ( だれ ) しも、 今 ( いま ) の 仕事 ( しごと ) で 思 ( おも ) うような 結果 ( けっか ) が 出 ( で ) ないと、「 自分 ( じぶん ) はこの 仕事 ( しごと ) に 向 ( む ) いていないのでは」という 疑問 ( ぎもん ) が 頭 ( あたま ) をよぎったりする。
Whenever one doesn’t get the results that one thought at one’s current job, the question as to whether “one is suited for the job” will cross anyone’s mind.

26. 彼 ( かれ ) の 体型 ( たいけい ) は 水泳 ( すいえい ) に 向 ( む ) いている。
His build is suited for swimming.

へ向く 

へ向く is largely synonymous with the first sense of に向く, but it is especially when one wishes to express a change in orientation that is heading away from an original position.

27. 苗木 ( なえぎ ) が 太陽 ( たいよう ) の 方 ( ほう ) へ 向 ( む ) いてぐんぐんと 成長 ( せいちょう ) している。
The saplings are growing steadily toward the sun.

28. 君 ( きみ ) はどっちの 方角 ( ほうがく ) へ 足 ( あし ) が 向 ( む ) くかね。
I wonder which direction you’ll head for.

29. 中国 ( ちゅうごく ) の 視線 ( しせん ) は 今 ( いま ) 、 米国 ( べいこく ) へ 向 ( む ) いている。
China’s gaze is currently pointed toward America.

30. いつも 外 ( がい ) へ 向 ( む ) いている 意識 ( いしき ) を 内側 ( うちがわ ) に 向 ( む ) け、 仕事 ( しごと ) のストレスを 和 ( やわ ) らげましょう。
Point your awareness which is always pointed outward inward and alleviate your work stress.

Grammar Note: Ex. 30 demonstrates how へ向く, and by proxy に向く are suitable for when 向く is used with abstract subjects. を向く would, in fact, be incorrect. 

Differences Matter 

Given that を向く, に向く, へ向く, and  ～を（～に）向ける aren’t exactly the same, it’s only natural that they can all occur at the same time. Ex. 19 is an example of all four of these forms used in tandem.  

31. 上半身 ( じょうはんしん ) を 右 ( みぎ ) に 向 ( む ) けて、この 右 ( みぎ ) に 向 ( む ) いた 時間 ( じかん ) が 長 ( なが ) いほど、インパクトで 体 ( からだ ) が 正面 ( しょうめん ) を 向 ( む ) いている 時間 ( じかん ) は 一瞬 ( いっしゅん ) で、 素早 ( すばや ) く 左 ( ひだり ) へ 向 ( む ) いていくというのがポイントです。
The point is to point your upper body to the right, and the longer it’s pointed to the right, the time the body points to the front at impact becomes instantaneous, at which point the body swiftly faces leftward.  

The Intransitive Verb 向かう

Another verb that derives from 向く is 向かう. It’s a combination of 向くand the archaic auxiliary verb ふ, which is used to express a continuous state. 向かう means “to face” or “to go towards.” Even still, there is a subtle nuance that once one “faces” or “heads toward” X that the state will last for a certain length of time, or that the change in orientation will have a measurable duration. This verb is solely intransitive and either takes the particles に or へ, but never を.

32. 大型 ( おおがた ) の 台風 ( たいふう ) 15 ( じゅうご ) 号 ( ごう ) が 日本 ( にほん ) へ 向 ( む ) かっている。
Large-scale Typhoon #15 is heading toward Japan.

33. 冬 ( ふゆ ) に 向 ( む ) かっているのに、なんていいお 天気 ( てんき ) ！
Although we’re heading to winter, what great weather it is (today)!

34. 入院 ( にゅういん ) のブッシュ 元大統領 ( もとだいとうりょう ) 、 快方 ( かいほう ) に 向 ( む ) かう
Hospitalized Former President Bush Getting Better

The suffixes ～向き and ～向け are very similar, but there are a few subtle differences that ultimately make the latter far more commonly used. Don't let commonality, though, confuse you into never using the former as it is necessary in its own circumstances, which are detailed first below.

 The Suffix ～向き

The first usage of ～向き is to mean “facing” when attached to literal direction words such as 東 (east) and 南 (south).

35. 食器棚 ( しょっきだな ) にお 皿 ( さら ) やコップを 入 ( はい ) れる 時 ( とき ) 、 下向 ( したむ ) きに 置 ( お ) いた 方 ( ほう ) がいいんでしょうか。
Is it best to place themes bottom up when putting up plates and cups in the cupboard?

36. せっかく 新 ( あたら ) しい 家 ( いえ ) に 住 ( す ) むのなら、 明 ( あか ) るい 南向 ( みなみむ ) きがいい。
If you’re going to go through the trouble of living in a new home, one facing the bright southerly direction would be best.

37. 私 ( わたし ) のように 今 ( いま ) ネガティブな 思考 ( しこう ) をしている 方 ( ほう ) も、 前向 ( まえむ ) きになりたいと 思 ( おも ) ったことがあるはずです。
People who, like me, think negatively now should have had a moment where they wanted to become positive.

Phrase Note: 前向き literally means “facing forward” and is usually used in the sense of being “positive/proactive.”

Another usage of ～向き is being equivalent to ～に適した (suited/apt/fit for…). This usage is also seen in the phrase 向き不向き, which means “being cut out for certain things and not for others.” It is implied that the suitability is naturally so.

38. 安心 ( あんしん ) して 暮 ( く ) らせる 学生向 ( がくせいむ ) きの 物件 ( ぶっけん ) を 数多 ( かずおお ) く 扱 ( あつか ) っています。
We handle a vast number of properties suited for students to be able to live with peace of mind.

39. この 小説 ( しょうせつ ) は 偶然 ( ぐうぜん ) にも、 日本語 ( にほんご ) を 勉強 ( べんきょう ) している 外国人向 ( がいこくじんむ ) きでもある。
This novel is coincidentally also suited for foreigners who are studying Japanese.

40. これは 韓国人向 ( かんこくじんむ ) きの 辛口 ( からくち ) ビールです。
This is a spicy beer suited for Koreans.

41. 仕事 ( しごと ) に 向 ( む ) き 不向 ( ふむ ) きってあるんですか。
Is there such thing as some things being cut or not cut out for you in jobs?

The Suffix ～向け 

Similarly, ～向け is used to indicate that something has been tailored towards something/someone. Essentially, it indicates a target. For instance, 日本向けの商品 means “merchandise tailored/targeted for Japan.”

42. 初心者向 ( しょしんしゃむ ) けのIMABIの 教科書 ( きょうかしょ ) を 買 ( か ) いたい。
 I wish I could buy an IMABI textbook made for beginners.

43. 日本 ( にほん ) に 住 ( す ) んでいた 時 ( とき ) は、大人向けの 教養番組 ( きょうようばんぐみ ) をいつも 見 ( み ) ていた。 
When I lived in Japan, I always watched educational programs made for adults.  

44. 菅元総理大臣 ( すげもとそうりだいじん ) はいくつかの 全国向 ( ぜんこくむ ) けテレビ 演説 ( えんぜつ ) をしました。
Prime Minister Kan made several nation-wide televised speeches.

振り向く 

In the sense of “to draw interest in…”, 振り向く is used with the particle に. Otherwise, in the sense of meaning “to look back at,” it is always used with the particle を.

45. 興味 ( きょうみ ) のあることには 振 ( ふ ) り 向 ( む ) いて 目 ( め ) を 合 ( あ ) わせますが、 興味 ( きょうみ ) のないことには 振 ( ふ ) り 向 ( む ) きもしないことは、 日常 ( にちじょう ) でもよくあることです。
Giving attention and making eye contact with things that are not interesting but not giving a bit of attention to things that aren’t interesting is something that often happens in the ordinary.

46. あなたの 好 ( す ) きな 人 ( ひと ) がどんな 人 ( ひと ) に振り 向 ( む ) くのかリサーチしましょう。
Research the kind of person the person you like gives attention to!

47. あの 日 ( ひ ) の 朝 ( あさ ) 、 息子 ( むすこ ) を 学校 ( がっこう ) に 送 ( おく ) り 出 ( だ ) したとき、こちらを振り 向 ( む ) いた 顔 ( かお ) がまさか 最後 ( さいご ) になるとは 思 ( おも ) いもしませんでした。
That morning when I sent off my son to school, I had no idea that the face he gave me when looking back would be his last. 

48. 背後 ( はいご ) の 奇妙 ( きみょう ) な 物音 ( ものおと ) に 振 ( ふ ) り 返 ( かえ ) った。
I turned around at the strange sounds in the back.

49. 驚 ( おどろ ) きながら 爆発音 ( ばくはつおん ) に 振 ( ふ ) り 返 ( かえ ) った。
I turned around surprised at the noise of the explosion.

50. 50 ( ごじゅう ) 年以上 ( ねんいじょう ) の 昔 ( むかし ) を 振 ( ふ ) り 返 ( かえ ) る。
To think back on olden times over fifty years ago.

注目する 

In Standard Japanese grammar, 注目する (to notice) is used with the particle に. It is synonymous with 目を向ける, which makes it clear why it would take に. However, because it is semantically very similar to other verbs like 見る (to see/look), 注視する (to gaze steadily), and  監視する (to monitor) which all take を, some speakers do happen to say を注目する. It is important to reiterate, though, that に注目する is still the true, correct form.

51.  画面左下 ( がめんひだりした ) ｛に・△ を｝ 注目 ( ちゅうもく ) する。
Notice the bottom left of the screen.

52.  今後 ( こんご ) どうなるか｛に・△ を｝ 注目 ( ちゅうもく ) してください。
Please pay attention to what becomes of it from now on.

53.  毎日 ( まいにち ) ツイート｛に・△ を｝ 注目 ( ちゅうもく ) してください。
Please pay attention to tweets every day.

54.  医療業界 ( いりょうぎょうかい ) の 成 ( な ) り 行 ( ゆ ) きを｛ 注視 ( ちゅうし ) ・△  注目 ( ちゅうもく ) ｝する。
To observe the development of the medical care industry.

55.  画面 ( がめん ) の 右下 ( みぎした ) ｛に・△を｝ 注目 ( ちゅうもく ) してないよね。
You aren’t paying attention to the bottom right of the screen, huh.

As the title suggests, this lesson will be about compound verb endings for fixing or making errors of judgment.  

忘れる, which is an 一段 verb, means "to forget".  In compound verbs it means "to forget to...". This implies that you forgot to do something that you needed to do. If this is not what you wish to imply, ～のを忘れる should be used. Both are often used with ～てしまう, which means "to accidentally/end up doing".

1. テレビを消し忘れた。
    I forgot to turn off the TV.

2. ケーキを買い忘れました。
    I forgot to buy the cake.

3a. プリンターを消し忘れて会社を出た。         
3b. プリンターのスイッチを切り忘れて会社を出た。
      I left the company without turning off the printer.　

4a. 宿題をし忘れてしまった。(ちょっと不自然)
4b. 宿題（を）するのを忘れた。 (もっと自然)
4c. 宿題を忘れた。(一番自然)
      I accidentally forgot to do my homework.

Naturalness Note: The notes on naturalness are most relevant when there is no preceding context. If you were to tell your Japanese teacher, for instance, that you forgot to do your homework, it would be more appropriate to use 4a.

5.   歌詞 かし を忘れるのは 恥 は ずかしいじゃん。(Casual)
     Isn't it embarrassing to forget your lyrics?

6. すっかり忘れたよ。
    I completely forgot.

7. 彼に電話するのをすっかり忘れてた。(Casual)
    I'd completely forgotten to call him. 

8. 滝 たき の写真を 撮 と るのを忘れた。
     I forgot to take a picture of the waterfall. 

直す is used in a variety of situations to represent that one is curing or fixing something. In compound verbs it expresses that one is "doing something over again".

9. 電話をかけ直す。
     To call back.

10. 計画を 練 ( ね ) り直した。
      I planned it over again.

11. やりなおしたんだ。
       I redid it.

Orthography Note: ～直す is often left in かな.

      間違 ( まちが ) える is the transitive form of  間違 ( まちが ) う and means "to confuse/mistake". The intransitive 間違う is sometimes used nowadays to function as 間違える, but when this happens, it tends to be in very casual speech. In compound verbs, ～間違える is used to mean "messed up on...".

12. 自分の名前を書き間違えました。
      I made a mistake in writing my name.

13. 言い間違えた。
      I made a mistake in speaking.

14. 歌うのを間違えた。
      I mistakenly sang the wrong song.

15. 歌い間違えた。
      I messed up on the song.

Phrase Note: Another similar phrase would be 歌で 失敗 ( しっぱい ) した meaning "failed at the song".

16. 彼は僕を彼の弟と見間違えた。
      He mistook me for his little brother. 

   誤 あやま る means "to mistake" and is in compound verbs to show that one "mis-...s" something. 

17. 彼は私を兄と見誤りました。
      He mistook me for my older brother. 

18. 記事を読み誤ったんじゃないか。
      Didn't you misread the article?

This lesson continues on with intermediate compound verb endings. 

Grammar Note: 来る can only be used with the following patterns: 来慣れる (to be used to coming to) and 来合わせる (to make one's appearance). If you think about the meanings of these phrases as they are discussed, this will make sense to you. 

  慣 ( な ) れる, an 一段 verb, means "to get used to" and may also mean "to domesticate", which is in essence animals getting used to human control. 慣れる is intransitive and is used as a compound ending to show an inclination to liking or being accustomed to something. 

1. この街には住み慣れました。
    I got used to living in this town.

2. 彼は都市の生活に慣れることができなかった。
    He couldn't get used to living in the city.

3. 通学に慣れるのは 重要 ( じゅうよう ) です。
     It is important that you become used to commuting to school.

4. コンピューターは使い慣れるのは時間がかかります。
     It takes time to get used to the computer.

5. 彼は 旅慣 ( たびな ) れている。
    He's well-traveled.

6a. 日本料理｛は、・を｝食べ慣れました。
6b. 日本料理に慣れました。(もっと自然)
　　　I've gotten used to eating Japanese food.

7. 私は 人前 ( ひとまえ ) で話すことに慣れていません。
     I am not used to speaking in front of people.

8. 日本の 天候 ( てんこう ) に慣れる。
     To get used to Japanese weather.

9. まだ明るさに慣れてねー。（ 砕 くだ けた言い方）
   (My eyes) are still not adjusted to the light.

10.  寵愛 ちょうあい に慣れるのはだめですよ。
    It is no good to be over-familiar with attention.

Orthography Note: なれる may be written as 狎れる when specifically referring to domestication.

合う shows how something "fits". In compounds it shows "to...with each other". So, there is someone else with you doing the same action. Essentially, ～合う shows people doing something with each other--reciprocal action. The object(s) of the sentence must be similar. 

The causative form 合わせる may show that one makes something into one, looks into differences, reciprocally does, or does something all of a sudden.

11. ロミオとジュリエットは愛し合っていた。
      Romeo and Juliet loved each other.

12. 誘 さそ い合わせる。
      To invite each other.

13. 彼らは宿題を 手伝 ( てつだ ) い合った。
      They helped each other with homework. 

14. 犯行現場 はんこうげんば に居合わせました。
      I was present at the crime scene.

15. 何時に待ち合わせようか？
      What time shall we meet?

16. 彼と彼女は君が 代 ( よ ) を歌い合っていた。?
      彼と彼女は君が代を一緒に歌っていた。〇
      He and she sang Kimigayo with each other.

Culture Note:  君 ( きみ ) が 代 ( よ )  is the national anthem ( 国歌 ( こっか ) ) of Japan.

17. 二人で 聖書 ( せいしょ ) を読み上げ合いました。
      The two read aloud the bible with each other.

18. 彼らは 想 ( おも ) いを打ち明け合うだろう。
      They will probably confide their feelings with each other. 

19. ケーキを一緒に｛食べましょう 〇・ 食べ合いましょう X｝。
      Let's eat cake together.

20. 乗り合わせた乗客
       Fellow passengers

21. 計算を読み合わせる。
      To read out and compare calculations.

22. このドレスはあたしにぴったり｛（と）合いますか・ですか｝。 (Feminine) 
　   Does this dress fit perfectly with me?

23. 申し合わせた通りにしましょう。
       Let's do as arranged.

24. お 互 ( たが ) いに引き合わせる。
      To introduce to each other.　

25. 警察に問い合わせましたか。
      Did you check with the police?

26. 書類 しょるい を 綴 と じ合わせましたか。
      Have you bound the documents together?

27. 布を 縫 ( ぬ ) い合わせる。
      To sew together.

28. 傷口 きずぐち を縫い合わせてもらった。
      I had my wound(s) sewn up.

29. 各種 詰 ( づ ) め 合 ( あ ) わせキャンディーを 買 ( か ) いに 行 ( い ) った。
      I went to buy mixed candies.

30. それらの糸は 縒 ( よ ) り合わせ 難 ( がた ) い。
       These threads are hard to twist together.

31. 悲しみを分かち合う。
　  To share in the sadness.

Word Note: 分かち合う is typically interchangeable with 分け合う, but it is generally more 文語的. However, in the case of "sharing" non-physical items such as sadness, you should use 分かち合う. 

32. 家族の都合が合うのは今日だけだ。
　　 Today is only when my convenience matches with my family's.

Word Note: 都合が合う is unavoidable in contexts like these, but it is generally not liked when referring to just one's convenience. In which case, you should say 都合がいい.  

There is also another ending that shows mutual action: ～違える. This sometimes confusingly has a meaning of ～間違える. This is because the verb 違える itself has the following meanings: to not have something be the same; to mess up; to be against a contract; to injure one's muscles. You have to essentially learn on a case by case basis. 

33. 靴を履き違える。
     To mix up shoes.

34. 約束を違える。
     To break one's promise.

Reading Note: This 違える may be read as either ちがえる or たがえる. 

35. 寝違えて、首筋が痛い。
     I got a crick in my neck, and now it hurts.

36. 社長と刺し違える。
     To expose the company president and receive repercussions from him/her. 

37. 一審を差し違える。
     To overturn the first match decision (and give the win to the other opponent). 

  切 ( き ) る means "to cut" and may be used literally and figuratively. ～切る shows that "something is done completely". 

38. 彼は読書に 浸 ( ひた ) り切っていた。
       He was completely engrossed in reading.

39. 紙をはさみで切る。
      To cut paper with scissors.

漢字 Note: 鋏 is not uncommonly used to spell はさみ. 

40. 彼はかの歌手の全ての歌を歌い切った。
     He sang all of that singer's songs completely. 

41. いつかは地球に残っている石油は全て使い切ってしまうだろう。
      The remaining oil on the earth will probably one day end up completely used.

42. 紐 ひも を切る。
      To cut a string.

43. 電話を切る。
      To hang up the phone.

44. ｛手・関係｝を切る。
       To break a relationship.

45. 彼がイギリス 海峡 ( かいきょう ) の 距離 ( きょり ) を泳ぎ切りました。
      He completely swam the (entire) distance of the English Channel.

46. 水泳選手は、日本海を一緒に泳ぎきりました。
      The swimmers swam across the Sea of Japan together.

47. ジョーンズ先生は来月までに 約 ( やく ) １０冊読み切っているでしょう。
      Ms. Jones will have probably read around 10 books by next month.

Syntax agreement simply describes adverbs that have specific meanings when used in a positive or negative sentence, and the adverb may specifically require being in a negative sentence. 

Some adverbs must be used in a negative sentence. Others can be in either positive or negative sentences, but translations change. This can get quite tricky.

Point 1: Examples of the colloquial usage of 全然 include 全然 大丈夫 だいじょうぶ  (completely fine).

Point 2: Examples of  絶対 ぜったい （に） include the following. 

1. 絶対 に 許 ゆる さない。
    I will never allow/forgive.

2. 絶対に 違 ちが う！
    Absolutely not!

Point 3: あまり is more common in negative contexts. あんまり is a colloquial variant due to ん insertion. In positive contexts, it implies that a limit has been passed, making it similar to 非常に (very/greatly/much/quite). 

3. あまりうまくない。
    I'm not really good.

4. あんまり分かんない。(Colloquial; 東京弁)
    I don't quite understand.  

5. あんまり 運動 うんどう しません。(More spoken)
    I don't exercise much.

Point 4: With negative expressions とても means "simply cannot". とっても is a more forceful variant. 

6. とても真似できない。
    I simply cannot mimic. 

7. とても疲れた。
    I'm very tired.

8. 中国語はとっても難しい！
     Chinese is very difficult! 

Point 5:　 決 けっ して may be casually pronounced as けして.  

More Examples

9. 全然分 からない。
    I don't understand at all.

10. このドアは 閉 し まらないよ。
      This door won't shut.

11. わたしは一切テレビを見ません。
      I don't watch television at all. 

12. その日はちょっと...
      That day is a little...

Culture Note: Japanese is indirect and so are the people that speak it. When people want to decline an invitation, they often say ...はちょっと with a very reluctant tone.  

 まだ　VS　全然 VS 全く

        In a negative sentence, まだ means "yet/still hasn't." 全然  and 全く both mean "not at all," and they are both not viewed as synonyms of まだ.

13. まだ雨が降っています。
      It's still raining.  

14. 「もう書きましたか」「いいえ、まだ書いていません」
      "Have you written it?" "No, I haven't written it yet". 

Sleeping is difficult sometimes. We might tell our friends we didn't sleep at all last night even though we actually slept a little. Or, we may have a hard time falling asleep and try talking to someone in the meantime. In that situation, though, have you actually dozed off and failed to truly fall asleep, or have you been completely sleepless? With all of this in mind, we'll now learn how to express these situations in Japanese.  

15a. まだ 寝 ね ていません。           
15b. まだぜんぜん寝ていません。
15a. I still haven't slept (at all).     
15b. I still haven't slept any. (Have slept but not enough)

16. まだ寝ない。            VS ぜんぜん寝ない。
      I still won't sleep.I won't sleep at all.  

17. もう朝なの？まだ全然寝てない。
      It's already morning? But I still haven't slept much at all. 

18. きのうは全く寝なかった。  (You didn't sleep for even a minute)

19. きのうは全然寝なかった。   (You slept a little)

きのうは全然寝(ら)れなかった means "I couldn't sleep at all", but it sounds like you might have slept some. You might find yourself in a conversation like the following. 

20. 「はぁー、きのうは全然寝(ら)れなかったよ」「本当に 一睡 いっすい もしてないの？」「いやー、寝たには寝たけど30分おきに起きちゃってさ」
"Haa, I didn't sleep at all last night" "Really? You didn't sleep a bit?" "Well, I did sleep if that's what you mean, but I would wake up every thirty minutes"

 Misconceptions on 全然

全然 was borrowed from Chinese about three centuries ago. At the time, it roughly equated to "completely" with both positive and negative sentences. Getting closer to modern times, its meaning narrowed to only be used in negative sentences. Now, the word has changed again in casual language to mean とても. For example, you'll hear things like ぜんぜんおいしい and ぜんぜん大丈夫. The former, though, may sometimes have the nuance of "not thinking it would be delicious but turns out it is quite alright."

Japanese has a lot of onomatopoeic words that not only describe sound but also physical and mental states. Unlike English, they are more numerous and found in all sorts of speech for reasons you will learn in this lesson. These words are often hard to translate, but don't let this be a problem for you.

The definition of a 擬音語 is directly tied to what it's used with. Most onomatopoeic expressions in Japanese have several usages, and not all might fall into the same category. Because we are only dealing with 擬音語 in this lesson, we will not see usages of any word introduced that fall out of this category.  

 Common 擬音語

1. ぺこぺこ: With と it refers to being servile or dented. 
2. がらがら: When  followed by と, it refers to the sound of something solid crashing, a tire revolving, gargling, clattering, or rattling. 
3. ぺらぺら（と）: This may also be the sound of flipping pages. 
4. ざーざー: It can also refer to the sound of radio static. 

Part of Speech Note: Some verbs are based off of onomatopoeia. Ex.  はためく (to flutter)

Voicing Note: Voiced onomatopoeia often have a more serious or dramatic tone to them versus their very similar non-voiced counterparts. They are often antonymous. For instance, からから can refer to clattering, but がらがら can refer to something solid crashing or really loud clattering (at the least). 

 Various Realization

Let's say that a common property of onomatopoeic expressions is that there is a root. This root can be doubled and result in something like しくしく.  Now, not all onomatopoeia will have as many possible forms as others. So, you should learn onomatopoeia one at a time, but you can always look to see if a certain form exists.

To look at the wide variety of things that can happen, we will use コロ (sound of something rolling) as an example.  

Derivation Note: There are cases when a ッ may be inserted inside the root, but this can't happen here because the consonant inside the root is r. 

Of course, there can always be other words derived from onomatopoeia. Please note that you always have your irregularities. Sometimes different forms have different nuances, although always related. This does not include non-onomatopoeic words with repeating elements. This is really just something you have to mess around with and test the limits of.

1. 日本語 がぺらぺらですね。
    You speak Japanese very fluently, don't you?

2. 車輪 しゃりん はくるくる 回転 かいてん した。
    The wheels turned around.

3. しとしとと 雨 が 降 ふ る。
    To drizzle.

4. 冷蔵庫の中をごそごそあさる。    
    To feel through the refrigerator. 

5. お 腹 なか がぺこぺこだよ。
    I am very hungry!

6. ゴロゴロと 雷 かみなり が 鳴 っている。
    Thunder is rumbling.

7. 大 きな 木 がどさっと 倒 れた。
    A large tree thudded down.

8. ばたんと 閉 し める。
    To shut with a bang.

9. しんとした森
    A silent forest

10. 滴 しずく がぽたぽたと落ちていた。
      The drops were plopping down. 

11. 雨が 屋根 ( やね ) をパラパラと 打 ( う ) っていた。
      The rain was pattering on the roof.

12. ぐつぐつ（と） 煮 ( に ) る。
      To simmer. 

13. ざわざわ（と）する
      To hum  

14. カブトムシがカサカサと草むらを動いている。
     Beetles are rustling through the grass thickets.

15. カブトムシが空をぶんぶんと飛んでいる。 
     Beetles are buzzing through the air.  

16. 風がぴゅうぴゅうと 吹 ふ く、寒い日でした。
      It was a cold day with the wind really blowing.

Grammar Note: The last example shows how a verbal expression can be used as an attribute when another attribute is used at the same time. Notice the use of the comma. 

Saying 

Eating & Drinking

Laughter

With onomatopoeia and と, 来る shows some sort of reaction. This may be a physical or an emotional reaction. Whatever the case may be, the verb still keeps its sense of "to come."

15. わさびが 鼻 はな につんと来た。 
      Wasabi got in my nose big time.

16. 静電気 せいでんき がびりっと来る。
      For static electricity to shock you.

17. ぼくにはしっくり来ない。
      It doesn't fit well with me. 

18. ぴったり来る 音楽  
      Agreeable music

19. カチンと来る。
      To get angry.

We humans share the planet with many kinds of living things. We all probably know the names of hundreds in our native languages, but what about Japanese? This lesson does not introduce all things that lives, but you will finish knowing the names of several handfuls. 

Although all plant and animal names have 漢字　associated with them for the most part, if the spelling is not as common than the　カタカナ spelling, it will be left in parentheses for reference.  

1. 東京の 葛西 かっさい 臨海 りんかい 水族 すいぞく 園 えん に 訪 おとず れた人たちは 勢 いきお いよく 群 む れで泳ぐマグロ(鮪)の 姿 すがた を楽しんでいました。
The people who visited the Kassai Marine Aquarium in Tokyo were enjoying seeing the schools of tuna swimming energetically. 

2.  野生 やせい の 熊 くま が山から下りてきた。
   The wild bear came down from the mountain.

3. バラ(薔薇)の咲く 楽園 らくえん へようこそ。
    Welcome to paradise where roses blossom. 

4. オオカミ(狼)がいないと、ウサギ(兎)が 滅 ( ほろ ) びてしまう。
    If there were no wolves, rabbits would die out.

5. 道の 真ん中 ( まんなか ) で 蛇 ( へび ) を 踏 ( ふ ) んだらどうなりますか？
    What happens when you step/stomp on a snake in the middle of the road?

6. カエル（蛙）を 轢 ( ひ ) いたことがあります。
    I have run over a frog before.

7. その畑には多くの 樹木 ( じゅもく ) が 並 ( なら ) んでいました。
    Many trees were lined up by each other in the field. 

8. 近い 将来 ( しょうらい ) 、海の魚が 絶滅 ( ぜつめつ ) 状態 ( じょうたい ) になるかもしれない。
    In the near future, the fishes of the sea may become extinct. 

Reading Note: 魚 may be read as さかな or うお. The first is typically more common, but the latter is required in certain expressions. The latter is actually from the original word for fish.    

9. 馬に乗ったことがありますか？
   Have you ever ridden a horse?

10. 庭に竹を植えたいです。
　  　I want to plant bamboo in my yard.  

11. クモ（蜘蛛）の巣は飛んでいる虫を 捕 ( つか ) まえる 罠 ( わな ) です。
      A spider web is a trap to catch flying insects. 

12. 引き上げる度に、10～20匹ずつ 網 ( あみ ) にカニが付いてくる。
     Each time I lift the net up, 10-20 crabs are in it. 

13. 家の 庭 ( にわ ) に 果樹 ( かじゅ ) や 桜 ( さくら ) を 植え ( うえ ) てはいけない。
     　You can't plant fruit trees or cherry blossom trees in your yard.

14. 数頭 すうとう の牛がそこの 柵 さく を壊して 逃 に げてしまった。
　　　Several cows broke that fence over there and escaped. 

15. カメ（亀）に 噛 ( か ) まれた時はどうすればよいでしょうか。
   　　What should you do when you're bitten by a turtle?

16. 羊 ひつじ を 数 かぞ えても 眠 ねむ
れない。
     I can't sleep even if I count sheep. 

17. 日本には昔からウサギ（兎）が月に 棲 ( す ) むという 説話 ( せつわ ) が 伝 ( つた ) わっている。
There is a legend in Japan that has been told since ancient times that rabbits live on the moon. 

18. 猿 さる は木から落ちても猿だが、 議員 ぎいん が 選挙 せんきょ で落ちれば、ただの人なのだ。
A monkey is still a monkey when he falls out of a tree, but an assemblyman is simply a regular man when he falls out of the election. 

19. あたしはトラ（虎）になる夢を見る猫ですにゃあ。
     I'm a cat who dreams of becoming a tiger. 

21. 現在、上野動物園には 象 ぞう は 何頭 なんとう いるか知っていますか。
     How many elephants are there currently at Ueno Zoo? 

22. たまに 蚊 か を手で殺した時に 血 ち が 付着 ふちゃく するけど、あれって僕らの血なの？それとも蚊の血なの？誰か教えてください！
Occasionally blood gets on me when I kill a mosquito with my hand, but is that our blood? Or, is it the mosquito's blood? Someone, please tell me. 

23. フグ（河豚）を食べる国は日本 以外 いがい にはどれくらいありますか？
     How many other countries are there aside from Japan where people eat puffer fish?

24. 小さいトカゲ（蜥蜴）が部屋の 壁 かべ にくっついていた。
      There's a small lizard stuck on the wall inside the room. 

25. 妊娠中 にんしんちゅう はイカ（烏賊）やタコ（蛸）を食べてはいけない。
     You mustn't eat squid or octopus while pregnant. 

26. キリン（麒麟）に乗れる場所を探しています。
     I'm looking for a place where I can ride a giraffe. 

27. ライオンはシマウマ（縞馬）を食べますよね。
     Lions eat zebras, right?

28. パンダは中国にしかいない。
      Pandas are only in China.

29. シカ（鹿）が多すぎる。
     There are too many deer.

30. アリ（蟻）を殺すと雨が降る。
      When you kill an ant, it rains. 

31. ペンギンはなぜ 南半球 みなみはんきゅう にしかいないの？
     Why are penguins only in the Southern Hemisphere? 

32.  祖母 そぼ に 鴨 かも 肉 にく を使ったレシピを教えてもらいました。
      I had my grandmother teach me a recipe that uses duck meat. 

Note: A domesticated duck is called an アヒル.

33. 蝶 ちょう の 寿命 じゅみょう は長くても 数ヶ月 すうかげつ 程度 ていど です。
     The lifespan of a butterfly, at the most, is around several months. 

Variation Note: Butterfly may also be チョウチョウ（蝶々）or 蝶ちょ.

34. うなぎ（鰻） 釣 づ りの 餌 えさ は何がいい？
     What sort of bait is best for fishing eels? 

35. 本物のクジラを見てみたい。
      I want to see an actual whale.  

36. タヌキ（狸）は日本 特有 とくゆう の動物です。
     The tanuki (raccoon dogs) is a unique animal to Japan. 

37. 日本ではかつてネズミ 罠 わな を 仕掛 しか けるとき、 油 あぶら 揚 あ げを餌として 用 もち いるのが 一般的 いっぱんてき だった。     
In the past in Japan, it was commonplace to use deep-fried tofu as bait to trap mice.

38. サメ（鮫）は 滅多 めった に 人間 にんげん を 襲 おそ わない。
     Sharks seldom eat people.

Usage Note: Some people say フカ（鱶） for shark. This is predominantly a West Japanese word for it, and it traditionally refers to a large shark. Most sharks are large, so it might as well be the general word for shark.

Usage Note: 蜂 is a general term for any kind of bee or wasp. ミツバチ refers to what Americans think of as being bees. アシナガバチ and スズメバチ both would be called wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets by English speakers, but the former has long legs as the name suggests. The Japanese equivalent of a bumblebee is a クマバチ. Some speakers call this as クマンバチ. Both words may also refer to a オオスズメバチ. The American version is マルハナバチ.The オオスズメバチ (giant hornet) is extremely dangerous. キイロスズメバチ may be called カメバチ (瓶蜂), トックリバチ (徳利蜂), or アカバチ (赤蜂). クロスズメバチ and シダクロスズメバチ, which would specifically be called wasps by most English speakers, are wasps known for building their nests in the ground. Thus, some Japanese speakers call them ジバチ (地蜂), ドバチ (土蜂), ハイバチ (灰蜂), ヘボ (used in the 東海地方), or スガレ・スガリ (used throughout 東北). Special attention is given to ハチ because all aside from bumblebees are especially dangerous in Japan.  

Everyone likes animals. Haven't you seen some today at work or school? Jokes aside, languages are not in agreement about what animals sound like. Sometimes they may sound similar across unrelated languages, but usually they don't.  

Curriculum Note: This lesson is currently a stub lesson and will be expanded over time.  

The following table lists the most important animal sounds in Japanese. See how different they are? 

 More Birds

The most abundant source of animal sounds in Japanese are from birds. This is because each bird species have particular songs. As there are many indigenous bird species in Japan, pictures will be used to show you what these birds look like. 

擬態語 represent states and 擬情語 represent emotion(al states). These are intertwined with each other, and they are often tied to some sort of sound. Just like before, different spellings and nuances based on context are to be expected. However, the best thing that you can do to learn Japanese onomatopoeic expressions is see them how they're being used. 

To begin, we will look at a chart of common 擬態語 and 擬情語. Some notes that we have already seen before will be repeated in context of this lesson as reinforcement of what you already know with new material. 

• くたくた: Exhausted, worn down,  boiled to a mush, or even wordy.
• いらいら（と）: It may be irritating as in emotions are as in the body. 
• すっくり（と）:  Being refreshed, clean-cut, straightforward, complete, and even neat. 
• しっかり（と）: It can also mean reliable and enough.
• ぷんぷん（と）: It can also refer to a strong smell in a negative fashion.

Part of Speech Note: Some verbs are based off of onomatopoeia. Ex. きらめく (to sparkle/radiate).

Voicing Note: Voiced onomatopoeia often have a more serious or dramatic tone to them versus their very similar non-voiced counterparts. They are often antonymous. For example, さらさら can be smooth but ざらざら is rough. 

As you can see, there are some very similar patterns going on. Many onomatopoeic expressions in Japanese are the result of a doubled element(s). We have expressions like こそこそ（と） (stealthily) where double-morae element is doubled. These in particular are subject to having many variants. For instance, you can say こそっと or こっそり instead.  Note that the insertion of the っ is prevented when the resulting double consonant is not one that is allowed in Japanese. 

Please note that you always have your irregularities. Sometimes different forms have different nuances, although always related. This does not include non-onomatopoeic words with repeating elements. This is really just something you have to mess around with and test the limits of.

1. めらめらともえている 炎 ほのお
    A flaring flame

2. ちんちん。
    Beg!　（To a dog)

3. だらだらとした 討論 とうろん
    A lengthy debate

4. じとじとした 部屋
    Humid/damp room

5. がっかりした顔
   A dejected face 

6. 音楽 おんがく にうっとりする。
    To be enchanted by music.

7. はらはらして 待 つ。
    To wait in great suspense.

8. ばらばらに 壊 こわ す。
    To break into pieces.

9. でれでれにする。
    To be love-stricken.

10. にょろにょろと 這 は い 回 まわ る。
     To slither about.

11. 兄 あに は今日プンプンしてる。(Casual)
      My old brother is in a bad mood today.

12. ぎらぎら 光 る 太陽 たいよう
     A glaring sun

13a. 雨 の 中 をはるばる 来 る。
13b. 雨 の 中 をわざわざ 来 る。
        Come all the way through the rain.

Sentence Note: 13a infers that you never stopped on the way, and 13b infers that you took the trouble to come that far. 

14. からからにする。
      To dry up.

15. ずきずきと 痛 いた む。
      To throb in pain.

16. ぎっしり 詰 つ まった
      Packed; tight; heavy

17. 雨 でぐっしょりとぬれた。
      I got soaked by the rain.

18. ぺこりと 頭 あたま を 下 さ げる。
      To bob one's head.

19. ぼんやりとした 人影 ひとかげ
      A vague figure.

20. がっしりとした 男
      A well-built man

21. (あなた)の 日本語 の 能力 のうりょく はめきめきと 上達 じょうたつ していますね。
      Your Japanese skills are remarkably improving.

22. チューインガムが 靴 くつ の 底 そこ にぺたっとくっついた。
      Chewing gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe.

23. ぐずぐずする。
     To be slow at doing.

24. まるまるとした 酔 よ っ 払 ぱら い
      A plump drunkard 

25. 煙 けむり がもくもくと 上 がる。
      For smoke to rise.

26. ぱっくりと裂ける。
     To split open. 

27. とげがちくちく（と）する
      Thorns are prickly

28. 背中がぞくぞく（と）する。
      For one's back to chill.

29. ふつふつ（と）沸く
      To boil out. 

30. 彼はまあまあ 優 やさ しい。 
      He is relatively nice.

Part of Speech Note: まあまあ can also be seen as an interjection meaning "now, now" or "my, my". Many adverbial phrases have varying parts of speech depending on usage.  

31. 瓶 びん はすっかり 空 から だ。
      The bottle is quite/completely empty.

32. もうすっかりよくなりましたか。
      Have you become quite well already?

33. そっと 肩 かた を 抱 だ いた。
      I gently hugged his shoulder.

Reading Note: 抱く is either read as だく or いだく. The first shows physical embrace. The latter shows the bearing of thoughts, feelings, etc. 

Eating & Drinking

Laughter

You will often see ～中 used in time phrases, and it is typically translated as during or throughout.

Although both are written as 中, the suffixes ～ちゅう and ～じゅう are slightly different.

     ～ちゅう means "during" in the sense of "under way". It becomes ～じゅう with 今日, 昨日, etc. It may also be used to show duration of condition (Ex. お祈り中 ＝ At/in prayer). It can also mean under(going)――Ex. 試験中　＝ undergoing an exam. 

      ～じゅう can be used to show duration as well. ～間中（ずっと） is a frequently used phrase and means "during/while". It helps when you want to use ～じゅう when you can use 間. This shows start to finish. Phrases it can directly attach to include things such as  一晩 ( ひとばん ) , 一年 ( いちねん , etc. ～じゅう(に) may also mean "throughout" but in terms of distance and place.  For instance, say you get stung all over your body by bees. You can use 体じゅう to describe where you were stung.

Connecting Note: ～中 can attach to either Sino-Japanese or native words. However, the etymology of the word it is used with will not help you in using the right reading. You have to learn how it is read one phrase at a time. 

 Examples

1. 弟は  春休 はるやす み 中 ちゅう 遊んでばかり｛でした・いた｝。
    My brother just played all throughout spring break.

Grammar Note: ～てばかりです shows incessant action.  

2.  今日中 きょうじゅう に 仕上 しあ げてください。
     Please finish it up within (the end of) today.

3. 休業中 きゅうぎょうちゅう の 営業所 えいぎょうしょ
       A business office that's closed for the holidays

4. 体中 からだじゅう が 痛 いた んだ。
     It hurt all over my body.

5.  密漁 みつりょう 船 せん が 操業中 そうぎょうちゅう に 転 てん 覆 ぷく した。
　　A poaching ship capsized in operation.  

6. 百 ひゃく 人中 にんちゅう 半数 はんすう 避難 ひなん しました。
　　Out of the 100 people, half evacuated.

Meaning Note: You will often see ～中 used in the same sense as in Ex. 6. to mean "out of...". Note that it is attached to the counter phrase 百人. 

Phrase Note: One common phrase which is slightly grammatically questionable is 発売中. This is often used to emphasize having started to sell something. However, the definition of 発売 is "to begin selling". As you can see, it is an instantaneous verb, and instantaneous verbs normally should never take 中. For instance, you can't say 死亡中, 卒業中, or 結婚中. You can say, though, 婚約中 (engaged) and 出願中 (under application). These phrases are acceptable because there is an end to the state the verb brings about. So, while 発売中 is typically acceptable when the product has not been out long, after a long period of time, it becomes very strange Japanese to anyone.  

The following phrases all have ～中 with the reading ちゅう except 世界中, which is read as せかいじゅう. Remember, when ～中 means "during", it is read as ちゅう, and when it means "throughout", it is read as ～じゅう.

    This lesson will be about the parts of the body.

 凝る　Versus 懲りる　

These words are often confused because they sound similar, and sometimes when not written in 漢字, they resemble each other. The first is a 五段 verb and the second is a 一段 verb. The following chart describes their most important usages. 

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会話　1

26. お母さん: あら、セッス、顔色がよくないわね。
セス: ええ、実は、今朝から何となく寒気がして、それに頭が痛くて。。。
お母さん: 熱はあるの？
セス: さあ、分かりません。でも、あるかもしれません。
お母さん: そうねえ。顔がちょっと赤いわねえ。風邪かしら。お医者さんに診察をもらったほうがいいよ。電話をかけてみるから。 

(電話を切る)

セス: どうもありがとうございました。
お母さん: いいえ、でもよかったね、ちょうど空いてて。

There are several new things in this short little conversation. The mother uses a lot of feminine expressions, which haven't really been covered up to this point. あら is an expression like "oh my!" and is often used by female speakers. Sentence endings like わね, の (making a question), and かしら (I wonder) are all feminine.

Grammar Points

～かもしれません　＝　Might～たほうがいい　＝ It's best to　～てみる　＝　To try to... 

New Vocab

会話　2

27. セス、医者に行く。

医者: どうしましたか。
セス: あのう、今朝から体がだるくなって、さっきのども痛くなって。 
医者: そうですか。
セス: それに、ものを飲み込むとき、痛いんです。
医者: いけませんね。食欲は?
セス: あまりありません。
医者: じゃ、ちょっとのどを見てみましょう。大きく口を開けてください。ああ、やはりずいぶん赤いですね。風邪ですよ。薬を出しますから、一週間飲んでみてください。それから、一日に何回か、うがいをしてください。早く治ると思いますよ。
セス: はい、分かりました。食事はどうしたらいいでしょうか。
医者: そうですね。あのう、まあ、軟らかいものだけにしておいたらどうですか。おかゆぐらいにするんですが。
セス: ありがとうございました。
医者: お大事に。

Grammar Points

1. ～ておく: Used to show action in advance or preparation of something.  
2. ～たらいいでしょうか　＝　What do I do about?
3. ～たらどうですか　＝　How about doing...?
4. ～ぐらい is used here to show a minimal limit.
5. ～てみましょう　= Let's try to...　Here it is used to more indirect and polite to the patient.  

Culture Note: お大事に is only said to those that are in need of care.  

Each society has its own customs about colors. Japanese is now based on a seven color （七色） scheme, but Japanese has not always been this way. This will become quite apparent as we look at individual colors. 

A lot can be said about the nuances of each color, how to be more specific about shades and hues, and what sort of idiomatic expressions can be made with color. By now you should have already learned the basic colors through example sentences thus far. So, this lesson is more about knowing exact details about colors, and it will be expanded over time.  

There is a noun and an adjectival form to each color. Also, there are additional Sino-Japanese variants for many colors, which can be made adjectival by adding の.

Usage Notes:

1. All colors of native or foreign origin may be followed by  色 . Certain colors should be used with  色 . For example,  灰  just means "ashes". Gold and silver must have  色  in order to not be confused with the actual elements. Words such as ターコイズ and オレンジ can be understood to mean the color, but they really refer to the objects. Without  色 ,  緑  may mean "greenery".  紫  as a noun may refer to soy sauce in sushi restaurants.

2. The native versions of gold and silver are rare. In fact, the one for gold is never used but in 白銀色, 銅色, and the like.

3. Most of the Sino-Japanese readings are rare.

4.  青 , not  緑 , is the color used for streetlights for "green".  青  may also mean "greens" in expressions like  青物市場 あおものいちば  meaning "vegetable market". It is also the color for pale face, youth, and freshness in plants, coolness, the sea, and even the color of moonlight and evening mist. It may also refer to black as in a horse's coat.

5. 茶色 is "brown" instead of "green" because when tea was first introduced to Japan, it would be shipped to elites in hardened, steamed form. From then, it would be cut up and boiled in hot water and drank. As "green tea" variants would come later, the color of the original tea drinks became the Japanese word for brown. 

Light and Dark Colors

     Light colors are expressed by using  薄 うす い or  薄 うす ～. For dark colors, use  濃 こ い. Now, there will be colors that are light or dark variants of a general color. 淡い is "light/faint" and its antonym is also 濃い.

1. 淡い黄色の葉っぱがありますよね。
    There are light yellow flowers, aren't there?

2. この花の色が薄い。
    This flower's color is pale/weak/thin.

3. 高橋さんの車はその濃い緑色のですね。
    Mr. Takahashi's car is that dark green one, right? 

4. 梅 うめ の 薄紅 うすべに
     The light crimson of a plum

Mixed Colors

     Colors may be put together to make things such as "white-black" and "yellow-green". The resultant expressions may be read with either 訓読み or 音読み. 音読み are rarer and reserved for the spoken language with exception to #8.

5. 黄緑（きみどり・おうりょく）
    Yellow-green

6. 黒白（くろしろ・こくはく）
    Black and white

7. 青緑（あおみどり・せいりょく）
    Blue-green/aqua 

8. 金茶（きんちゃ）
     Golden brown 

Interesting Phrases

赤字     and  黒字  are deficit and surplus respectfully. They are words that typically confuse students, although there are similar expressions in English. For example, you can say "to be in the red". When you get a failing grade, you can say you got an  赤点 あかてん . However,  黒点 こくてん  refers to sunspots. So, it is not the opposite of 赤点. Instead, the antonym for 赤点 is either  及第点 きゅうだいてん  or  合格点 ごうかくてん .

It is also important to note that the phrases 肌が｛白い・黒い｝ are NOT used for nationality/race. Rather, they refer to someone's complexion. 

Japanese food, 日本料理 にほんりょうり ・ 和食 わしょく ・日本食, is one of the most interesting things about Japan. At the end of this lesson, you will be able to go to a Japanese restaurant ( 日本料理屋 ) and talk about what's in your food, how to ask for your food, etc. 

 お品書き　（Menu)

お好み焼き Okonomiyaki ７００￥     天丼 Tendon ７８０￥     寿司 Sushi １４００￥   すき焼き Sukiyaki １２００￥
刺し身 Sashimi １３５０￥     狐そば Kitsune soba ７００￥   狐うどん Kitsune udon ７００￥ サラダ Salad ４００￥
お握りずし Onigirizushi １０００￥    ざるそば Zaru soba ５５０￥     しゃぶしゃぶ Shabushabu １２５０￥

お飲み物

ビール　Beer　３１０￥  お茶　Tea　３００￥    水　Water　１００￥    コーク　Coke　２５０￥
Qoo 　３００￥     焼酎　Shochu　３００￥     ミルク　Milk　２５０￥ 

デザート

アイスクリーム　Ice cream　２４０￥     チョコレートセーキ Chocolate shake ２５０￥
アップルパイ　Apple pie ３００￥     チーズケーキ　Cheese cake ３５０￥  

Cultural Differences: In the average Japanese restaurant, when food is done, it is sent out immediately regardless of whether or not the other people's food in one's party is ready. Refills are rare. Coffee might be refilled, but you may get charged double. When sitting down you are given a wet towel called a おしぼり to wipe your hands, a menu, and some tea and water.  

 Useful Expressions

1. メニューを 見 ( ) せてください。          
    Please show me a menu.

2. お 腹 ( なか ) が 空 ( あ ) きましたか。      
    Are you hungry?

3. Xがおいしそうですね。   
    X looks good. 

4. 安 ( ) いレストランです。      
    It's a cheap restaurant.

5. じゃあ、それにしましょう。          
   Well, let's go with that.

6. のどが 渇 ( かわ ) きました。            
    I'm thirsty.

7. 寿司二人前 すしににんまえ お 願 ねが いします。              
    Sushi for two please. 

8. （お）酒 ( ) がお 好 ( ) きですか。         
    Do you like sake?

9. お 飲 ( ) み 物 ( ) は?
    Drinks?

10.  蛋白質 たんぱくしつ 　＝　Protein                      炭水化物 たんすいかぶつ 　＝　Carbohydrates                     脂肪 しぼう        ＝　Fat 

11. 相席 あいせき お 願 いします。
      Please let another party sit with you.

Culture Note: You may be asked this in Japan in inexpensive restaurants when it's really crowded and there's really nothing that you can do about it.  

12. 少々 しょうしょう お 待 ちください。
     Please wait one moment. 

13. いらっしゃいませ。 何名 ( なんめい ) ですか。こちらへどうぞ。 
      Welcome. How many will there be? Please follow me.  

14. ビールをもう 一本 ( ) ください。
      Give me one more beer please.

Note: Beer in this case is most likely 缶ビール．

15. てんぷらを 一人前 ( ) お 願 ( ) いします。
      Tempura for one please.

16. 火 ( ) にかける。
     To put on the stove.

17. 胡椒 こしょう を 加 くわ えて 味 あじ をつける。
      To put in flavor by adding pepper.

18. お 勘定 かんじょう は○○になります。
      Your bill comes out to XX.

19. お 待 ( ) たせしました。（Waiter)
      I'm sorry for having made you wait. 

20. 「ここでお 召 ( め ) し 上 ( ) がりですか、それともお 持 ( ) ち 帰 ( ) りですか」「ここで食べます。」
      “Is this to eat here or to-go?” “For here”.

21. すし 屋 ( や ) へ 行 ( ) きましょうか。
      How about going to the sushi shop?

22. たいてい 何 ( ) を 飲 ( ) みますか。
      What do you generally have to drink? 

23. ご注文はお 決 ( き ) まりですか。
      Have you decided on what you will order?

24. 私 ( ) に 払 ( はら ) わせてください。
      Allow me to pay.

25. はい、 全部 ( ぜんぶ ) でX 円 ( えん ) になります。
      Yes, this comes out to in total to X yen. 

26. 何 ( ) に｛しましょう・なさいま｝か。
        What shall I get you?

27. お 勘定 ( かんじょう ) をお 願 ( ねが ) いします。
      Please bring us the bill.

28. 「お 茶 ( ちゃ ) をもう 一杯 ( いっぱい ) いかがでしょうか？」「ええ、いただきます」
       “Can I get you another glass of tea?” “Yes, thank you”.

29. コーヒーのお 代 ( か ) わりはいかがですか。
      Would you like a refill of coffee?

Culture Note: When you are given something to eat or drink, say "いただきます". When leaving, you say "ご 馳走 ( ちそう ) （さま（でした））". The hostess may respond with "お 粗末 ( そまつ ) さまでした.

30. お 水をください。 ( )
      Water, please.

Female Speech Note: お is more frequently used by women in common items such as these. Similar words include お 肉 ( にく ) "meat" and　お 冷 ( ひや ) "cold water".

31. どこかおいしいレストランを 教 ( おし ) えてください。
      Could you tell me of delicious restaurants anywhere?

32. ずいぶん色々 ( ) なものがあるんですね。
      There are a lot of items. (In reference to the menu)

 More Key Words

　　Rice is the most important food in Japan. ご 飯 はん , cooked rice, is even synonymous to "meal". 米 こめ  is uncooked rice. Many things are made from rice.

酒 ( ) : The Japanese Drink

      酒 ( ) , also known as 日本酒 ( にほんしゅ ) , is a rice-based alcoholic beverage. It's served at room temperature or heated. It can be served in お 猪口 ( ちょこ ) ,small cylindrical cups, 杯 ( さかずき ) which are flat saucer-like cups, or 枡 ( ます ) which are wooden box-like cups. One shouldn't fill one's own cup: it should be done for you. To ask:

33. （お） 酒 ( ) をもう 一杯 ( ) ください。
      One more cup please.

     Be sure to hold your cup to the 徳利 ( とっくり ) --the flask--as a gesture of acceptance.  乾杯 ( かんぱい )  (Cheers)!

More Rice

丼 ( どんぶり ) : 丼 is a bowl of hot steamed rice with toppings.
煎餅 ( せんべい ) : Rice crackers in all shapes and flavors. 
チャーハン・炒飯: Chinese fried rice.
お 握 ( にぎ ) り: Balls of rice with filling.
餅 ( もち ) : Rice cake.
すし: すし is vinegar rice topped/mixed with seafood & vegetables. There are many kinds.

Noodles 麺類 ( めんるい )

うどん (Japanese): うどん is a wheat-flour noodle. There are several kinds of dishes.
そば (Japanese): そば is buckwheat. It is either served chilled with a dipping sauce or in a hot broth.
素麺 ( そうめん ) (Japanese): そうめん are white thin wheat flour noodles dipped in めん 汁 ( つゆ ) 　and served cold. The noodles are often placed in a flume in cold water and the diners have to catch them.
ラーメン (Chinese): ラーメン is made of Chinese-style wheat noodles and is served with a meat and often flavored with soy sauce or 味噌 ( みそ ) (soybean paste).

Word Note: 漬物 つけもの also refers to salted foods.

河豚 ( ふぐ ) (Sashimi): The フグ, puffer fish, is poisonous yet delicious. It is prepared with extreme caution to remove the toxic areas. The Emperor is forbidden to eat it. The liver is apparently the most delicious part, but it's also the part most likely to kill you. フグ is a delicacy ( 珍味 ( ちんみ ) ）. 

ギョーザ (Yakimono): Chinese ravioli-dumplings usually filled with pork and vegetables.
味噌汁 ( みそしる ) (Shirumono): みそ soup is made out of 出汁 ( だし ) , stock, and みそ paste.
鰻 ( うなぎ ) (Yakimono): ウナギ is freshwater eel. Saltwater eels are called 穴子 ( あなご ) . 
しゃぶしゃぶ (Nabemono): しゃぶしゃぶ is made with thinly sliced beef. It is usually served with 豆腐 ( とうふ ) , 白菜 ( はくさい ) (Chinese cabbage), 春菊 (edible chrysanthemum leaves), 海苔 ( のり ) seaweed, onions, 人参 ( にんじん ) carrots, 椎茸 ( しいたけ ) and えのき 茸 ( だけ ) mushrooms, etc. 
豚 ( とん ) カツ (Agemono): Breaded, deep fried pork cutlet.
焼 ( や ) き 鳥 ( とり ) (Yakimono): Skewered chicken, it can refer to skewered food in general. 
照 ( て ) り 焼 ( や ) き (Yakimono): 照り焼き is grilled, broiled, or fried meat glazed in sweet soy sauce. 
てんぷら (Agemono): Deep-fried prawns and vegetables.
寄 ( よ ) せ 鍋 ( なべ ) (Nabemono): Seafood hot pot.
雑煮 ( ぞうに ) (Shirumono): A soup with 餅 ( もち ) common in New Year's.
豚汁 ( とんじる ) (Shirumono): Like みそ soup with pork.
梅干 ( うめぼし ) (Tsukemono): 梅干 is pickled 梅 ( うめ ) , which are like plums.

唐揚 からあ げ (Agemono): 唐揚げ is bite-size chicken, fish, etc. deep fried.
お 好 ( この ) み 焼 ( や ) き (Yakimono): Consists of a flour batter, トロロ, 水 ( みず ) / 出汁 ( だし ) , 卵 ( たまご ) egg, and shredded キャベツ(cabbage), etc. It is often flavored with mayo.
すきやき (Nabemono): Thinly sliced ビーフ (beef) and vegetables cooked in 醤油 ( しょうゆ ) soy sauce, 出汁 sugar, and sake. It's dipped into bowls of raw egg.
芋煮 ( いもに ) (Suimono): A thick potato soup.
薄作 ( うすづく ) り (Sashimi): Finely sliced raw fish. Plate is decorated with shredded 大根 ( だいこん )  Japanese radish, lemon slice, ginger, and a 大根 ( だいこん ) -chili mixture with scallions in the center.
弁当 ( べんとう ) (Miscellaneous): Assorted lunches.

 Delicacies

 Other Unique Drinks

Word Note: For liquor, "straight" is "ストレートで" and "on-ice" is " 水割 ( みずわ ) りで".

 デザート (desserts) and おやつ (snacks) are very important, and there is a large variety that you can choose from in Japan. 

和菓子 ( わがし )  (Japanese-style sweets)

洋菓子 ( ようがし )  (Western-style sweets)

Common Snacks

In this vocabulary lesson, we will learn about the planets and basic astronomical terminology. Note that this lesson will be about 天文学 ( てんもんがく ) (アストロノミー) and not astrology 占星術 ( せんせいじゅつ ) (アストロロジー). The difference is that astronomy is a true science whereas astrology is a pseudo-science. Although fascinating with its own realm of terminology, this lesson will focus on the former as the terminology in the field is of practical use. 

Our solar system is called the 太陽系 ( たいようけい ) . The Sun in Japanese is 太陽 ( たいよう ) , but it also often just goes by 陽・日. The moon in Japanese is 月.The planets of our solar system are as follows:

Word Note: 明星 is a literary term and not an astronomical term. 金星 is the predominant name in the spoken language.

1. 水星 ( すいせい ) は 月 ( つき ) と 似 ( に ) ている。
Mercury resembles the moon.

2. 金星 ( きんせい ) の 大気 ( たいき ) は 殆 ( ほとん ) どが 二酸化炭素 ( にさんかたんそ ) から 成 ( な ) っている。
The atmosphere of Venus is almost completely made up of carbon dioxide.

3. 私 ( わたし ) たち 人間 ( にんげん ) が 住 ( す ) む 地球 ( ちきゅう ) も「 惑星 ( わくせい ) 」です。
The Earth that we humans live on is also a “planet.”

4. 火星 ( かせい ) に 移住 ( いじゅう ) する 計画 ( けいかく ) が 実際 ( じっさい ) に 進行 ( しんこう ) しているのはご 存知 ( ぞんじ ) ですか。
Did you know that plans to migrate to Mars are actually progressing?

5. 太陽系 ( たいようけい ) で 一番大 ( いちばんおお ) きい 惑星 ( わくせい ) は 木星 ( もくせい ) です。
The largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter.

6. 木星 ( もくせい ) と 土星 ( どせい ) はガスで 出来 ( でき ) ている。
Jupiter and Saturn are made of gas.

7. 天王星 ( てんのうせい ) は 横 ( よこ ) を 向 ( む ) いている。
Uranus is on its side.

8. 海王星 ( かいおうせい ) の 中心部 ( ちゅうしんぶ ) は 水 ( みず ) の 氷 ( こおり ) とアンモニアから 成 ( な ) っている。
The center of Neptune is made up of water ice and ammonia. 

The chart below provides a healthy list of some of the most important terminology in the field of astronomy. These words encompass many of the words that pervade daily conversations regarding the heavens. Following the chart are plenty of example sentences for you to study past grammar as well as practice using the words introduced below. 

Word Notes:

1. 恒星 is the astronomical term for a “star” whereas 星 is the common day word. Another difference is that 星 may refer to any celestial body, including the Earth and other planets.
2. 彗星 is both the technical word for “comet” and the most frequently used word for it in everyday speech. Colloquially, it may also be ほうき星. This is no different than the English phrase “shooting star.”
3. Colloquially, our galaxy is called 天の川. The technical term is 銀河系, which also refers to galaxy systems in general.
4. Eclipse is 食 ( しょく ) . This, however, is the simplified spelling. It is traditionally spelled as 蝕. Both spellings are still used. In media, though, only the simplified spelling is typically employed.
5. Colloquially, 大気 suffices as the word for atmosphere, but 大気圏 encompasses all parts of the atmosphere up to the boundary between the outer edge and space itself whereas 大気 typically refers just to the part of the atmosphere that we view as air.

Examples

9. 水星 ( すいせい ) は、 太陽 ( たいよう ) に 最 ( もっと ) も 近 ( ちか ) く 公転 ( こうてん ) している 惑星 ( わくせい ) だ。
Mercury is the planet that revolves closest to the Sun.

10. 巨大 ( きょだい ) な 隕石 ( いんせき ) が 地球 ( ちきゅう ) に 衝突 ( しょうとつ ) する 可能性 ( かのうせい ) は 何 ( なに ) パーセントですか。
What percentage is the possibility that a large meteorite will collide with Earth?

11. オゾン 層 ( そう ) が 破壊 ( はかい ) されると、 地球 ( ちきゅう ) に 届 ( とど ) く 紫外線 ( しがいせん ) の 量 ( りょう ) が 増 ( ふ ) える。
If the ozone layer is destroyed, the amount of ultra-violet rays that reach Earth will increase.

12. ほぼ 全員 ( ぜんいん ) の 宇宙飛行士 ( うちゅうひこうし ) がなんらかの 宇宙酔 ( うちゅうよ ) いを 経験 ( けいけん ) します。
Almost all astronauts experience some amount of space adaptation syndrome.

13. ブラックホールとは 高密度 ( こうみつど ) かつ 大質量 ( だいしつりょう ) の 天体 ( てんたい ) で、 物質 ( ぶっしつ ) だけでなく 光 ( ひかり ) さえも吸い 込 ( こ ) んでしまうほど 強力 ( きょうりょく ) な 重力 ( じゅうりょく ) を 持 ( も ) っている。
A blackhole is a celestial body with high density and great mass that holds such strong gravity that it not only swallows matter but even light.  

14. 僕 ( ぼく ) はひとり 車 ( くるま ) で 流星群 ( りゅうせいぐん ) を 見 ( み ) に 行 ( い ) きました。
I went by myself via car to go see a meteor shower.

15. 天王星 ( てんのうせい ) の 自転軸 ( じてんじく ) が 横倒 ( よこだお ) しになっている。
The axle of Uranus is on its side.

16. みんなで 皆既月食 ( かいきげっしょく ) を 観察 ( かんさつ ) しましょう。
Let’s all observe a total lunar eclipse together.

Word Note: The antonym of 皆既月食 is 皆既日食 ( かいきにっしょく ) .

17. 望遠鏡 ( ぼうえんきょう ) を覗き 込 ( こ ) んで、ほうき 星 ( ぼし ) を 探 ( さが ) した。
I looked into a telescope and searched for shooting stars.

18. 夜空 ( よぞら ) を 見上 ( みあ ) げたら、 天 ( あま ) の 川 ( がわ ) が 見 ( み ) えました。
I looked up at the night sky and could see the Milky Way.

19. 宇宙船 ( うちゅうせん ) に 乗 ( の ) る 夢 ( ゆめ ) を 見 ( み ) ました。
I dreamed of riding in a spaceship.

20. イオには、 18 ( じゅうはっ ) 個 ( こ ) の 活火山 ( かつかざん ) があります。
There are eighteen active volcanoes on Io.

21. エウロパの 地下 ( ちか ) に 海 ( うみ ) があるかもしれない。
There may be a sea below the surface of Europa.

22. 月 ( つき ) の 裏側 ( うらがわ ) には、 隕石衝突 ( いんせきしょうとつ ) でクレーターがボコボコと 開 ( あ ) いている。
On the backside of the moon, there are craters everywhere due to meteorite impacts.

23. 天文台 ( てんもんだい ) で 星 ( ほし ) を 観 ( み ) たいです。
I want to see stars at an observatory.

24. 宇宙 ( うちゅう ) は 膨脹 ( ぼうちょう ) し 続 ( つづ ) けている。
The universe continues to expand.

25. 宇宙人 ( うちゅうじん ) が 存在 ( そんざい ) する 確率 ( かくりつ ) が 高 ( たか ) いなら 地球 ( ちきゅう ) に 来 ( こ ) ないのは 何故 ( なぜ ) だろうか。
Why is it that if the probability that extraterrestrials is so high yet they haven’t come to Earth?

26. 火星 ( かせい ) は 過去 ( かこ ) にフォボスとデイモスのような 小 ( ちい ) さい 衛星 ( えいせい ) がいくつかあったとされています。
It is said that Mars in the past had several small satellites like Phobos and Deimos.

27. 天体 ( てんたい ) を 見 ( み ) るのに 適 ( てき ) した 場所 ( ばしょ ) はどこですか。
Where is a suitable place to see celestial bodies?

28. 小惑星帯 ( しょうわくせいたい ) は 原始 ( げんし ) の 太陽系 ( たいようけい ) の 名残 ( なごり ) に 見 ( み ) えるが、 原始 ( げんし ) の 状態 ( じょうたい ) を 保 ( たも ) っているわけではない。
The asteroid belt may look like relics of the primal solar system, but it is not the case that it maintains a primal condition.

29. 国際宇宙 ( こくさいうちゅう ) ステーションとは、アメリカ 合衆国 ( がっしゅうこく ) 、ロシア、 日本 ( にっぽん ) 、カナダ 及 ( およ ) び 欧州宇宙機関 ( おうしゅううちゅうきかん ) (ESA) が 協力 ( きょうりょく ) して 運用 ( うんよう ) している 宇宙 ( うちゅう ) ステーションである。
The International Space Station is a space station which is operated in collaboration of the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency (ESA).

30. 宇宙塵 ( うちゅうじん ) は 地球 ( ちきゅう ) に 降 ( お ) り 注 ( そそ ) ぐ 宇宙 ( うちゅう ) の 塵 ( ちり ) である。
Space dust is dust from space that falls to Earth.

31. 大気圏 ( たいきけん ) とは、 地球 ( ちきゅう ) を 取 ( と ) り 巻 ( ま ) く 薄 ( うす ) い 大気 ( たいき ) の 層 ( そう ) のことである。
The atmosphere is the thin stratum of air that surrounds Earth.

32. なぜ 惑星 ( わくせい ) は 公転 ( こうてん ) の 起動 ( きどう ) から 外 ( はず ) れないのか。
Why is it that planets don’t leave their revolution orbits?

33. ビッグバンとは、 宇宙 ( うちゅう ) の 開闢直後 ( かいびゃくちょくご ) に 宇宙 ( うちゅう ) の 膨張 ( ぼうちょう ) が 始 ( はじ ) まった 時点 ( じてん ) を 指 ( さ ) します。
The Big Bang indicates the point in time when universe expansion began immediately after the creation of the universe.

34. 冥王星 ( めいおうせい ) は 準惑星 ( じゅんわくせい ) の 典型例 ( てんけいれい ) である。
Pluto is a classic example of a dwarf planet.

This lesson is about the several ways to say "or," but it is not exhaustive. Nevertheless, it will provide you what you need to know to understand how to express "or" correctly in Japanese. 

  か・それか・それとも

か can also list noun phrases to mean "or." When you start a new sentence to list things with "or," you use それか. If you start a new sentence in listing with "or" but are making a question, you use それとも. か functions for both situations when you don't make a new sentence. 

1. すしか さしみ を 食 べるつもりです。
    I intend to eat sushi or sashimi.

Grammar Note: か is not necessary after sashimi. Adding it would be old-fashioned.

2. すしを 食 べる。それか、フランス 料理 を 食 べる。
    Eat sushi, or eat French cuisine. 

3. すしを食べる? それとも、フランス料理を食べるの？
    Will you have sushi? Or, will you have French cuisine? 

4. 手 で 書 くか。それとも、タイプするか。
    Will you write it by hand? Or, will you type it? 

5. 料理 をする。それか、 掃除 をする。
    I'll cook. Or, I'll do the cleaning.

Practice: Translate the following. You may use a dictionary.

1. A nation like Japan or China.
2. I'll eat fish. Or, I'll eat pizza.
3. Will you go next month? Or, will you go next week?
4. He is around 20 years old.
5. Is he smart?

 か（どうか）

"Whether (or not)" is "か（どう）か".  どう may only be added when the embedded question doesn't have a question word like 何 in it.  When just か is used, the "not" is implied.

6. 彼 かれ が 弟 おとうと さんかどうかは 怪 あや しい。
    It is doubtful that he is his little brother.

7. 彼女がパーティーに来るかどうか（を）知っていますか。
    Do you know if she is coming to the party or not?

8. 明日までに宿題ができるかどうかわかんない。
    I don't know whether or not I'll be able to finish my homework by tomorrow. 

9. 「 明日 ( あした ) はいい 天気 ( てんき ) でしょうか」「あの、いい天気かどうか分かりません」
“Is tomorrow's weather going to be good?” “Uh, I don't know if it's going to be good weather or not”.

10. 先生が学校に行ったかは 不明 ( ふめい ) だ。
    It is unknown whether the teacher went to the school.

11. だれ（だ）か分からない。
     I don't know who he is.

Grammar Note: The だ isn't necessary when followed by か inside a subordinate clause.

Variant Note: かいなか is a very formal variant of かどうか. 

AかAないか: No More Than

This usage is exclusively used with counter phrases. As the examples below suggest, A is the same verbal expression in the affirmative and negative form respectively.

12. 2千円するかしないかだ。
      It costs no more than 2,000 yen.

13. 歩数 ほすう は千歩行くか行かないかだ。
      The number of steps is no more than 1000.

14. 彼の 年 のころは50 歳 さい になるかならないかだ。
      He's no more than fifty years old. 

 または

または, rarely written as 又は, is used in situations such as when you want to express tolerance/allowance of either options presented or when out of two things you take one and get rid of the other.

15. 電話または電報で知らせる。
      To inform by either phone or telegram.

16. 肉または魚の料理を準備する。
     To either prepare meat or fish. 

17. AまたはBに〇を 付 ける。
      To put a 〇 to A or B.

Reminder Note: As for または, it gives the sense that either is fine. 

もしくは

もしくは, rarely written in 漢字 as 若しくは, is used in limited situations where you choose something out of several options.

18. 万年筆もしくはボールペンで書くこと
      Writing with a fountain pen or a ballpoint pen.

19. 手紙 もしくは 電話 で 連絡 する。
      To contact via letter or phone.

Remember Note: もしくは should only be used if the options are not significantly different.

 あるいは

あるいは, rarely in 漢字 as 或（い）は, is used in situations where you are showing that things are alternate or both simultaneous, but it is not normally used in showing permission/allowance.   

20. インタビューの結果を口頭発表、あるいは論文の形で報告する。
      To either report the interview results by oral representation or essay form.

21. 東京 あるいはソウルのような 首都
      A capital city like Tokyo or Seoul.

Note: As for あるいは, the items must be of the same kind.

 ないし

ないし, rarely spelled in 漢字 as 乃至, doesn't merely suggest A or B but A and B and what's in between. This is quite different from the other options. So, pay attention to this.

22. 北 ないし 北東

      North or northeast

Etymology Note: As the characters show, this is not a combination of the negative ない and the particle し.

Reminder Note: All of these are rather formal and literary and would be replaced by か in the spoken language.

There are some set phrases in Japanese that involve adjectives becoming nominalized by simply being left as is. As quick examples, consider the following set phrases. 

1a. 酸いも甘いも嚙み分ける。
1b. 酸っぱいも甘いもよく心得ている。 
      To know full well about the world.
      Literally: To fully distinguish between sour and sweet.

Typically, however, ～さ and ～み are used to nominalize adjectives, with ～め and ～き two other methods. The resulting products of these endings are not completely interchangeable. 

     ～さ nominalizes an adjective objectively. Nouns with ～さ can either be concrete or feel as if they are. Not only can you find it after 形容詞, but you can also find it after 形容動詞 of both native and Sino-Japanese origin as well as loans from other languages.

1. 長さはどれぐらいですか。
    How long is it?

2. 嬉 ( うれ ) しさを 噛 ( か ) み 締 ( し ) める。
    To enjoy happiness.

3. 無鉄砲 ( むてっぽう ) さだけは 親譲 ( おやゆず ) り。  (皮肉的)
    Only recklessness is from (his) parents.

4. 安定の早さ
    Rapidity of stability

5. 薬の飲みにくさ
    Difficulty of taking medicine 

6. その花の美しさに感動しました。
     I was moved by the flower's beauty. 

7. モダンさのコントラスト
    Modernity contrast 

8. 強さで 成 な し 遂 と げる。
    To accomplish with strength.

9. 土地 ( とち ) の 値段 ( ねだん ) は 広 ( ) さと｛利便性・ 便利 ( べんり ) さ △｝で変わります。
    The price of land changes according to the size and convenience. 

10. 打撃の強さは木を倒すほどでした。
　　The blow was strong enough to knock down a tree.

11. 設備投資の弱さは競争力に大きなマイナスになるだろう。
      The weakness of capital investment could became a big minus to competitiveness.

12. 幸登は故郷の讃岐うどんが食べたさに日帰りで帰省することにした。 
Wanting to eat his hometown's Sanuki udon, Yukito decided to go back home for the day. 

Grammar Note: This shows that ～さ can be used with ～たい phrases. 

13. 嵐の前の静けさだね。
      It's the lull before the storm. 

Form Note: 静けさ is from the Classical Japanese  静けし. Note, though, that 静かさ does exist because 静けし and 静かなり were different words then. 静かさ describes the objective quietness of something whereas 静けさ describes quietness in the sense of tranquility, emphasizing that quietness is a prerequisite. 

Warning Note: 大げさ  is not an example of this. The true spelling is 大袈裟, and this is not 当て字. Rather, 袈裟 in this phrase comes from 袈裟懸け, meaning "slashing someone diagonally from the shoulders" in this instance. This eventually led to its adjectival meaning of "grandiose". 

14. 若さに免じて許す。
      To forgive out of consideration of (the person's) youth.

     ～み nominalizes an adjective subjectively. So, ～み shows that there is some sort of condition or nature. It may also show the "location" of a certain condition. For example, 高み means "elevated place". The 当て字 味 is often used to write ～み. 

Grammatically speaking, ～み is very limited as to what it may attach to. It must only attach to simple adjectives (単純形容詞) such as 苦い. Derived adjectives, compound adjectives, and adjectives with repeating parts like 美々しい, cannot be used with ～み. This is the complete opposite with ～さ.

Most of the adjective it can be used with refer to sight, hearing, hues, significance, etc. However, even this is not good enough. The chart below has almost all existing examples in Modern Japanese. To really know how み works, you have to investigate into each one. Some commonalities exist between similar words, but that's about it.  

Some of these are so rare that they may not be recognized as existing words. Some may be viewed as coming from verbs (痛む → 痛み; 楽しむ → 楽しみ; 悲しむ → 悲しみ; 明るむ → 明るみ; 暗む → 暗み).  

Word Notes:

1. 白み  may be read as 白身 to refer specifically to "egg white", and 白味 can be used to refer to "whiteness" or "egg white".

2. 黒み may also refer to "dark feeling" instead of just "dark hue". 

3. 黄み spelled as 黄味 or 黄身 may mean "egg yolk" with the last option only meaning "egg yolk". 

4. 浅み (shallow place), 低み (low ground), 軽み (light hue) read as either かるみ or かろみ, and しょっぱみ are often deemed "ungrammatical" due to their rarely used status. It is to note that かろみ is actually a complex word from 芭蕉 works referring to a serious and smooth figure for discovering beauty. It's also important to note that although many Japanese teachers will tell you that しょっぱみ doesn't exist, it's not difficult to find examples of it made by native speakers. Perhaps this is due to confusion from み’s multiple usages in the Japanese lexicon. On one hand, しょっぱみ refers to salty flavor, not saltiness, which then it would need to be replaced with しょっぱさ. 

5. 高み, 低み, 深み, and 浅み refer to places of a certain depth.

6. 臭み may be used figuratively.

7. うまみ has several meanings, which include "good taste", "the fifth category of taste 'umami'", "skill", and "profit (商売)". It's interesting to note that umami has been introduced into English.  

8. 暗み no longer exists from the adjective 暗い, though it is productive when derived from 暗む. 

9. ありがたさ　＝ gratefulness; ありがたみ　＝　value; importance.

10. 重み may refer to a weight that feels heavy, heavy in the feeling sense, or heavy in the abstract sense. Thus, as you can imagine, 強み and 弱み are based on feeling rather than on concrete strength. This sense is also true for 厚み, 温かみ, 柔らかみ, and 温み.

 Examples

15. 赤味がかったもの
      Something that's reddish

16. 深みにはまる。
      To go in too far.

17. 明るみに出された。
      It was brought to light.

18. 蛇 ( へび ) が 茂 ( しげ ) みの中でうごめいている。
      A snake is squirming in the grove.

Word Note: 茂み is an example where the original adjective is no longer in existence. 

19. 母が亡くなって、初めて有難みを実感した。
      With the passing of my mother, I experienced gratefulness for the first time.  

20. 新鮮味は欠けるが、多くの人を呼び寄せる企画だ。　　
      It lacks freshness, but it is a plan that will bring over a lot of people. 

Word Note: 新鮮み may be viewed as an exceptional case, but 味 in this instance can also be viewed as literally being Sino-Japanese, in which case this would not be a suitable example.  

21. 新鮮味に欠ける企画だ。
      It's a plan that lacks freshness.

～め is yet another ending that may nominalize a subset of adjectives. It is even more restricted than み. It may be used with dimensional adjectives (次元形容詞) such as 長い, 短い, 太い, 近い, 遠い, 高い, 低い, 細い, 丸い, 厚い, 薄い, 深い, and 浅い.

There are also other examples such as 多め, 早め, and 古め (not so common).It can also be with some color: 黒め; 白め. You have to be careful, though, because 赤目 does literally mean "red eye(s)". In speaking of which, 黒目 do mean "iris" and 白目 "white of the eye". So, using ひらがな instead is wise to differentiate meanings. These words in which there could be conflicting meanings are best used in phrases. In fact, all of thee words are most frequently used in larger phrases. 

The purpose of ～め is to show degree or tendency. And, it may also be seen after some verbs. Important examples include 控えめ and 落ち目.

22. 畑を深めに掘り返す。
      To tear up a field deep. 

23. 肌が黒めの男性
      Dark-skinned males 

24. 英語が多めのアニソン
      Anime songs with a lot of English

25. 色素薄め
       Light on pigment

26. 厚めの布
      A rather thick cloth 

Spelling Note: There is no true difference in spelling if you use め or 目 aside from the color examples. However, it is less common when it attaches to adjectives. 

The adjectival form ending in く, for a very small amount of adjectives, can be used to create nominalized expressions.

Words such as 近く, 遠く, 多く, 古く, and 早く are often used as nouns. Such words and phrases involving them are almost always dealing with time and space. Even so, their antonyms are not necessarily applicable with this grammar. For instance, 古く can be used nominally, but 若く cannot. 

There are three basic things to know about these phrases that have already been mentioned. To be clear, they are:  

• All of these end in く.
• You can view this usage as coming from the deletion of a noun phrase that would be before the adjective in question.
• These phrases are usually about time and space.  

These words often take the particles へ, から, に, and まで, but they are almost never used with other particles like が and を. If が and を are to be used, the phrase in question must be fully nominalized. Though there are particles that they can often be used with, this does not mean you can always use them together. 

Consider the following example.

1a. 友里が遠くに行ってしまった。
1b. 友里が遠｛い・くの｝場所に行ってしまった。
　　 Yuri went far away.

2. 空高くを目指す。
　  To aim up for the skies. 

3.   燕 ( つばめ ) が空高くを飛んでいた。 
     The swallows were flying up above. 

4. その 瓶 ( びん ) が遠くから海に浮かんできた。
     The bottle came and floated (here) from afar on the sea.

5. 友里が船橋駅の近くに住んでいる。 
    Yuri lives near Funabashi Station. 

6. その土地の広くに伝えられた。
     (It) was spread throughout the land. 

7. こんな遅くにどうしたの？ 
     What's wrong this late (at night)? 

8. ついに目的の谷に 辿 たど り着いた。勢いをつけて 証拠品 しょうこひん を深くに投げ捨てた。
I finally arrived at the valley, my destination. I then threw the evidence deep down the valley.

9.セスが遅くに出て行った。午前２時を回っていた。
　 Seth left when it was late out. It was past 2 A.M.

Several words only work well when used right after a noun, creating very commonly used phrases.  

5. 友里が朝早くから夜遅くまで働いていた。
　Yuri was working from early in the morning until late at night. 

6. 地中奥深くまで沈み込む。
　 To sink deep into the ground. 

7. 鮟鱇 ( あんこう ) は海の底深くに生息している。
    Angler fish live deep below on the sea floor. 

8. 旦那 ( だんな ) は朝早くに目覚めた。
    My husband woke up early in the morning. 

9．私はほとんど毎日、夜遅くに帰宅します。 
    I come home late in the night almost every day. 

14. 太平洋の東側にフィリピン 海溝 ( かいこう ) がある。百合がその深くに 潜った ( もぐった ) 。 
The Philippine Trench is on the east side of the Pacific Ocean. There, Yuri dove deep down.

Though these words have been described as involving the nominalization of adjectives through the連用形, it is actually more probable that these are merely the 省略形 (abbreviated form) of statements with these adjectives in the 連体形 followed by some time/place noun. The evidence for this is the ungrammatically of Ex. 15. This example shows that you cannot fully exploit them as nouns unless like in Ex. 2. 

15a. 月が古くについて語る。　X
15b. 昔 ( むかし ) の月について語る。◯
        To tell about the ancient moon. 

16. きょう、近くの大学を見学しました。 
      Today, I observed a nearby college.    

To use these phrases in isolation, there has to be a clear reference to time or space. In Ex. 17, この噂 refers to a time that acts as the referent for 古く. This point of reference is abbreviated out of the phrase, but without such as phrase existing, you get incorrect sentences like 18a. 

17. この 噂 うわさ は古くからある。
      This rumor is ancient.

18a. 優里が古くを振り返った。X
18b. 優里が過去を振り返った。◯
        Yuri looked back at the past. 

19. その歴史は古くまで 遡 ( さかのぼ ) る。
      The history goes way back. 

多く:　The Exceptional Word 

多くrefers to quantity and can be used freely like any other noun. It does not follow the rules discussed above. 

20. 市民の多くから信任を得る。
　　　To receive trust from most of the townspeople. 

21. 血液 ( けつえき ) の 流出 ( りゅうしゅつ ) を止める機能は動物の多くに 備 ( そな ) わっている。
      The function of stopping blood flow is found in a lot of animals. 

22. 氷山 ( ひょうざん ) がすべて 溶 ( と ) けてしまったら、 南極 ( なんきょく ) 大陸 ( たいりく ) に住む動物の多くが 絶滅 ( ぜつめつ ) してしまう。 
If all the icebergs were to melt, most of the animals living in Antarctica would go extinct. 

23. インターネットによる 診察 ( しんさつ ) 予約 ( よやく ) が多くの病院で導入されている。
　　Reserving medical examinations online is being introduced to many hospitals. 

24. 実験結果の多くにこの 傾向 ( けいこう ) が見られる。 
　　This trend is seen in most of the experiment results.

 若く　& 浅く: X

若く and 浅く, despite being related to time and space, cannot be used nominally. Yet, their antonyms 古く and 深く can. However, you can still use them in other ways. 

25. ワニに 食 く いちぎられたレイヨウの 死骸 しがい が水中深くまで沈んだ。
      The antelope carcass ripped to shreds by the alligator sunk deep below the water. 

26a. 転覆 ( てんぷく ) した船が浅くに浮いている。X
26b. 転覆した船が浅く浮いている。?
26c. 転覆した船が少し沈んでいる。〇
26d. 転覆した船が沈みかけている。
　　　 The capsized boat is teetering.

Sentence Note: Imagine a boat capsized and teetering above and below the surface. Usually, 26c or 26d would be used to describe this, but 26b is not out of the question. Unlike the rest, it is vague as to whether the boat is permanently jutting out of the water or is fully sunken directly below the water but not deep down.  

27.  鋭 するど い 棒 ぼう で 突 つ かれて死んだカエルがかなり深いところまで沈んでいる。
      The frog that died from being stabbed with a sharp rod has sunk really deep. 

28. 深海魚 ( しんかいぎょ ) は浅いところに住んでいる。
　　 Deep-sea fish are living in a shallow area.

29. 暗礁 ( あんしょう ) に乗り上げた 旅客 ( りょかく ) 船 ( せん ) は、１０メートルくらいの浅いところに沈んでいる。 
The cruise ship capsized on the coral reefs and is sunken in a shallow spot 10 meters deep. 

30a. 妹の友達は若くに亡くなった。X
30b. 妹の友達は若く亡くなった。◯
        My younger sister's friend died young. 

31. 若いときに亡くなる人が多くて、悲しい。
      It's sad that a lot of people die when they are young. 

32. かなり深くまで潜った。
      I dived quite far down. 

Grammar Note: Using an adverb before these words allows them to stay grammatical as if they were used with another noun before them. However, this cannot be used to expand this pattern to other adjectives.  

 近く　& 遠く

The adjectives 近い and 遠い are somewhat irregular because they can essentially always be used with the particles に, へ, から, and まで in the forms 近く and 遠くrespectively. 

33. 流れ着いてよ、どこか遠くへ。あなたの待つ 素敵 ( すてき ) な場所へ探しているよ、歌えるような今は音信不通のラブソングを。
Drift somewhere afar. I search for a song that I might sing, one that is now on silent, as I head to the splendid place you are waiting for me. 

From DIV's 漂流 ( ひょうりゅう ) 彼女. 

34.  冥王星 めいおうせい の近くからやってきた 宇宙人 うちゅうじん たち、いったい何を 企 たくら んでいるのか？
      What on Earth are the aliens from near Pluto planning? 

35. 遠くにある火山が 噴火 ( ふんか ) して、まさか 火山 ( かざん ) 灰 ( ばい ) がここまで降って来るとは思わなかった。 
I never thought that volcanic ash would fall all the way here since the volcano is so far away. 

36. 銀閣寺の近くにある 銭湯 ( せんとう ) に行きたいです。
      I want to go to a public bath near Ginkakuji. 

37. 近くにある公園で桜が満開です。
     The cherry blossoms are in full bloom at the nearby park. 

 Obligatory ～くの

For 近い, 遠い, 少ない, and 多い, unless part of an entire phrase modifying a noun, they can't be used to modify a noun alone. With exception to 近い and 遠い which we'll get to later, this holds true. In this situation you must use ～くの. However, for 少ない,  you have to totally rephrase as 少なくの doesn't exist. 少しの exists, though. 

38. いちばん近いところ　
      The closest place 

39. 近いうちに　　　(Set Phrase)      
      In the near future

Grammar Note: You can actually say 近く to mean 近いうちに. The form 近々 also exists. This just goes to show you what might be done to an adjective on an individual basis. 

40. 駅に近い。
      It's close to the train station. 

41. 駅に近いマンションに住む。
      To live in an apartment close to the train station. 

42. 近くの学校　
     A school nearby

43. 遠くの大学
      A college far away 

44. 日本は 地震 ( じしん ) が多い。
      There are a lot of earthquakes in Japan. 

45. 人が少ない。
      There are few people. 

46. 少ない 人数 ( にんずう ) 　
      Small amount of people

Phrase Note: This phrase is alright because 人数, unlike 人, is a quantity noun. Nevertheless, it's shown to show one way of how to overcome the ungrammaticality of 少ない人. 

47a. 東京には少しの緑がある。
47b. 東京には緑が少しある。 

It seems that 近い and 遠い actually fall out of the problem if a modifier is implied in context. Although not appropriate for writing, using these two without restriction appears to be a feature of the spoken language among younger people. 

48. 遠い学校に通いたくない。
　　　I don't want to go to a school that's far away.

The difference between が and を does not stop at 私が魚を食べる kind of sentences. Though が is called the subject marker and を is called the direct object marker, there are times when they are indeed interchangeable. As to be expected, there are restrictions on when they are interchangeable. 

When we learned about the potential form, we saw how が and を can be interchangeable. For instance, you can say 日本語が話せる or 日本語を話せる for "can speak Japanese." The use of を with the potential is highly tied to personal volition. The more volition the agent has, the more likely を will be used and the less likely が is used.

1. 美恵子は自然に美しい歌詞｛が 〇・を ???｝書けた。  
　　Mieko was naturally able to write beautiful lyrics. 

2. ホームラン｛が 〇・を ???｝打てた。 
　  I was able to hit a home run.

３. この漢字｛が・を｝書ける人はあまりいないでしょうね。
　　There probably isn't a lot of people who can write this Kanji.  

Aside from the potential form, there is interchangeability with ～たい and phrases of like and dislike (好き and 嫌い). To see if the same concept of control is at work, consider the following. 

4. 私は自分のこと｛が・を｝好きになった。
　I've gotten to like myself. 

5. 私はポケットモンスター新作｛が・を｝買いたいです。　  
　　I want to buy the latest Pokemon game. 

～を分かる has traditionally been incorrect, but it first started to appear in the late 1800s and is here to stay. The trigger for why を is being acceptable is a change in perceptible control implied by 分かる. 

6.  誰もあたしの気持ちを分かるはずなんてない！
      There's no way anyone understands my feelings!

助詞の選択

Japanese grammar generally frowns upon the same particle showing up more than once in a single clause. Consequently, counterexamples involve very specific grammatical structures that trump regular judgment calls.

If a subject that would otherwise take が is used in a potential sentence with an object marked with が, we get XがYがPotential Verb. Of course, XはYがPotential Verb exists and is most common, but the existence of the former sentence type requires explanation. In reality, we must consider five different sentence types. The least common is V, and we'll give it an ? for being questionable.

1. 友里が英語を話す。
2. 友里が英語が話せる。 X* 
3. 友里が英語を話せる。
4. 友里に英語が話せる。
5. 友里に英語を話せる。(X) 

*: These sentence patterns should be thought of as underlining forms that then may change when spoken. So, in reality, as you can see later below, II is not used as is but is when the subject is marked by は.

Here is a chart that shows the percentages of what the subject is marked with depending on whether the object is marked with either が or を. 

1. 	Object+が	Object+を
   Subject	が　　は　 　に  　には   　にも	が　　　は　　　に　　にも　　には
   	0%　 25%     8%     51%     16%	50%      49% 　   0%       1% 　   0%

Chart Note: The subject does not like to have the same particle as the object. には and にも, which indirectly refer to the subject in terms of spontaneous action, should not be used when the object is marked with を as を highlights volition. Spontaneity is the opposite of volition. So, you'd be adding two grammatical opposites together.   

There is no doubt that Type III is becoming more pervasive than Type II (remember that Type II essentially surfaces with は on the subject instead), but that doesn't help explain the difference between them at all. We will need to investigate what sort of other grammatical triggers aid in the decision. First, though, let's get back to the somewhat questionable Type V. 

7a. 俺は涙を流せない。
7b. 俺には涙を流せない。△・X
      I can't shed a tear.

In context, questionable grammar can be made natural. With this in mind, consider the following

8. 人間には涙が流せるし、自分は涙を流せないが、涙を流す理由は理解できた。¹
    Man can cry, and so though I myself cannot shed tears, I have now understood the reason for crying.  

Ex. 8 shows us several of the sentence types above in one, which are both frequently used in negative structures, but we do not see Pattern V. This gives us more proof to say that it is ungrammatical. The first part of this sentence lacks volition. The ability to cry is described initially as an innate characteristic of people that may in essence occur spontaneously. Thus, 涙を would be ungrammatical for this meaning. Because には calls for this sort of nuance, を becomes inappropriate.

  状態的 じょうたいてき 動詞/State Verbs

One way to start thinking about が versus を is whether the verb is in regards to a state. So, we would expect transitive verbs like 理解する and 期待する to favor or mandate the use of が. If not, then が or を, but the internalized relationship between the parts of the sentence would be different.

9a. [友里は英語を話]せる。
9b. [友里は英語が][話せる]。
      Yuri can speak English.

10a. [僕はパンを食べ]たい。  
10b. [僕はパンが][食べたい]。
      I want to eat bread. 

11. 日本語｛が・を｝話したいです。
      I want to speak Japanese.

12. 日本語｛が・を｝話せますか。
      Can you speak Japanese?

13. その文法点｛が・を｝説明できません。
      I can't explain that grammar point. 

14.  北朝鮮 きたちょうせん はいつでもミサイルを 発射 はっしゃ できる状態だ。
　　　North Korea is in the state of being able to fire a missile at any time. 

We will see again this concept of whether the ending is modifying the verb only or the entire phrase itself. Also, you may be wondering why を is used in Ex. 14 even though the subject is clearly in the state of being able to do the action. That is because of the next factor: control. 

  最大限 さいだいげん のコントロール/Ultimate Control 

  The next example is quite intriguing. Using が with 自分 and the like in this sort of grammar is avoided, and wrong at the worst. But, if we replace 自分 with other people nouns, the grammar doesn't change. が is highly related to spontaneity (things happening naturally), and that does help us with examples like Ex.1, but it doesn't help us here. The concept to introduce here is control. The use of を is determined by whether the speaker is able to control the action or want being expressed. 

15. あいつは｛自分・他人｝を 偽 いつわ れる男だ。
 　　That guy is a man can deceive himself/others. 

This sentence demonstrates ultimate control. The subject is able to deceive so much that he himself can be victim to his own deceit. So, there are at least two restrictions to keep in mind: spontaneity and control. The former makes が obligatory, and the latter makes を obligatory. 

 ～ようになる & ～ようにする

Consider ～ようになる and ～ようにする. The former is intransitive and the latter is transitive. Thus, you do not see interchangeability with が and を. [] will be used to show how to view the main argument to focus on in these sentences. The content of the brackets could be replaced with other phrases, but the grammar would still be the same. 

16. 私は毎日やっているうちに[自然に漢字が書けるよう]になりました。 
　　 I became able to naturally write Kanji while I was studying every day.

17. 4年生が終わるまでに常用漢字を[書けるようにします]。
　　 I will have (the students) able to write the Joyo Kanji by the time the fourth year students end.

18. 乃理子は独学でハングル｛が 〇・を?｝書けるようになった。
      Noriko became able to write Hangul through self-study. 

19. 乃理子は独学でハングル｛が ?・を 〇｝を読めるようにした。
      Noriko had herself able to read Hangul through self-study. 

する has a high degree of 他動詞性 even when it is in a potential phrase. This is further seen when we use する with a potential phrase with the addition of imperative or imperative-like structures such as ～なければならない or the 命令形.

20. 運転中は、絶対にスマホ｛が ?・を 〇｝使えないようにしなくてはいけない。
　　 You must make it that you can't use your smartphone ever while you drive. 

21. 引っ越しの前に、 不要 ふよう なもの｛が ?・を 〇｝捨てられるようにしておけ。
 　  Before moving, have it that you are able to throw away unneeded things. 

  動作主性 = Agency

Another way to look at this issue is agency. Control is directly tied to a sense of agency. Whenever there is a perfective aspect and/or emphasis on result, が becomes inappropriate. Anything related to completion is really perfect for を but not が.   

22. 中国に長く住んでいて、英語を話す機会がほとんどなくなったので、英語｛が 〇・を ??｝話せなくなった。 
I lived in China for a long time, and because I basically lost my chances to speak English, I became unable to speak English. 

23. いつでも 野良 のら 猫 ねこ ｛を 〇・が ？｝殺せるわけではない。
　　 You can't just be able to kill the stray cats whenever. 

24. 思ったより早くエッセイを書けてよかった。
      I'm so glad I was able to write the essay earlier than I thought. 

25. 冬の間はあの 洞窟 どうくつ にある 氷柱 つらら を 溶 と かせない。
　　 You can't melt the icicles in that cave during the winter. 

26.  量 りょう が多すぎて、ビール｛を 〇・が ？｝｛飲み 干 ほ せなかった・飲み切れなかった｝。 
I was unable to douse down/completely drink} all of the beer because there was just too much. 

27. 山口さんがフランス語｛を 〇・が??｝話せるように、私はフランス人も招待しました。 
      To get Yamaguchi-san able to speak French, I also invited French people. 

Sentence Note: Another reason why が wouldn't be used in Ex. 27 is the doubling of が in the same clause. 

28. 神経科学試験の前に韓国語の宿題｛を 〇・が X｝してしまいたい。
      I want to get my Korean homework over before my neurology exam. 

29. 子供たちが来る前に、テーブル｛を 〇・が X｝片づけておきたい。 
      I want to have the table cleared off before the children come. 

Grammar Note: The interchangeability of が and を also applies to ～たい. Here, the argument that control is the deciding factor seems really strong. 

 When the Potential Form and Intransitive Form Look the Same

There are instances in which the potential form of a transitive form looks just like the intransitive form. Examples of this situation include 焼ける and 割れる. So, sentences such as パンが焼ける are naturally ambiguous. The agent may or may not be implied. In this case, the meaning difference is minor. Meaning A would be for "the bread to bake" and Meaning B would be "to be able to bake bread". The solution to distinguish them would be to say パンを焼ける instead. Though one would think avoiding ambiguity would be a good thing, not all speakers like ～を焼ける because both the default intransitive meaning and the potential meaning are intransitive. 

 自発性 Betrays Us at Times

が is the particle for spontaneity（自発性）. It is this sense of lack of control in something spontaneous that makes が the better choice, but for verbs that typically imply a sense of control, the particle を may be seen used nonetheless due to it being the norm rather than being a reflection of the grammatical constraints of the context in question. 

30. セスは日本語の 天才 てんさい だから、新しいレッスン｛が・を ?｝次から次にとめどなく作れた。 
Because Seth is a Japanese genius, he was able create new lessons nonstop one after the other.

31. 俺はお前｛が 〇・を 〇・？｝好きで好きでたまらねーんだよ。
      I like you so, so much I can't stand it. 

32. 僕はきのうから豚骨スープ｛が・を ?｝食べたくて、食べたくて仕方なかったので、あの 屋台 やたい に行ってみた。
I wanted to eat tonkotsu soup so bad since yesterday, and so I went to that stand.

Sure, you will have people say that ? is in fact X to them. After all, this is a grey zone. It all has to deal with how the speaker internalizes this concept of spontaneity versus control and how this relates to potential （可能）and desire （願望）. We can see how either makes sense for a lot of verbs. In the second example here, the fact that the sentence is overall more colloquial is another factor for why を may appear. The reason why が is always right in this sort of context is because of its role as the spontaneity particle. 

 Control ≈ Will 

If you have control over something, you usually willfully exercise this control. Because of this, we will likely never see ～を聞こえる or ～を見える because not only are we dealing with completely spontaneous actions, there is no way will （有意志性） or motor action will ever be expressed with them. Spontaneous verbs dealing with the senses are completely contrary in meaning to 他動詞. Remember, grey zones like above are where the semantic domains of two things overlap. Here, we are looking at an extremity. が would have to completely disappear for ～を聞こえる or ～を見える to ever be acceptable. This is more evidence that these verbs are indeed not potential verbs despite what textbooks often claim.

This explanation also explains why ～をできる is not acceptable. Though, ～を＋する Verb can be put into the potential with the same restrictions on が・を交替, the independent verb 出来る must be treated differently. 

33. 知也は英語｛が 〇・を X}出来る。
      Tomoya can speak English.

34. 知也は英語｛が 〇・を X}出来るようになった。
      Tomoya became able to speak English. 

35. 知也は英語｛が 〇・を X・???｝出来るようになりたいと思っている。 
      Tomoya wants to become able to speak English.

36. 知也は英語｛が ??・を 〇｝出来るようにしたいと思っている。
      Tomoya wants to have himself able to speak English.

We see again how ～ようになる　and ～ようにする influence the decision and change the organization of the parts of the sentence. We expect the same things if we use ～ておく.

37. これまでに出来なかった問題をできるようにしておくことを願います。
      We ask that you prepare yourself to be able to answer the problems that you haven't been able to up till now. 

38. 休み時間になったら、 噂話 うわさばなし ｛が・を｝できるようにしておいた。 
 　　 We had that we cold gossip once we were in free time. 

39. 学校で使っている問題集の問題が出来るようにしておくこと。
      Have it that you can do the problems in the problem set used at school.

40. お金の 管理 かんり をできるようにしておくことが、自分の生活を守る上でも大切になってくる。²
Being able to manage one's money before will become even more important than protecting one's way of life.  

41. みだりに青年が 埋立地 うめたてち に立ち入るのを 防止 ぼうし することができるようにしておくこと。
Have it that you can prevent youths from trespassing recklessly into the land reclamation site.  

We see that ～することができる will never become ～することできる even when you add ～ておく. Aside from this, there is a lot of variation between  が and を. Due to the independent nature of the verb 出来る, we can say that が出来る would still be more common and grammatically safer overall even with the addition of ～ておく.  

If using ～ておく worked to get を used before 出来る, then this should work for verbs like 見える. The use of ～ようにする or an imperative phrase should also influence this. 

42.  通学 つうがく 路 ろ の近くでは、どこからでも 交通 こうつう 標識 ひょうしき ｛が・を｝見えるようにしておきなさい。 
Please make sure that the traffic signs are visible from any direction near the school zone. 

 分かる

The use of ～を分かる is here to stay, though it has traditionally been incorrect. Again, the idea that it is English's fault is not plausible. What is certain is that this verb has come to mean 理解する and has taken on the same grammatical rules as it in colloquial/emphatic speech. 

Can we, though, find a Japanese route to the emergence of ～を分かる through this discussion? Yes, think about ～を分かろうとする. It would be harder to find Japanese speakers who don't like this example because the volitional pattern ～（よ）うとする is added, which adds the highly transitive する and 'control' related grammar. Similar grammar, then, should also make を is easier to use or at most obligatory.

43. 俺の気持ち｛を 〇・が X｝分かってくれ！
　　 Understand my feelings! 

参照: https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/japanese/survey/globe/18/08.pdf 

There are tons of idioms with 気. There is no simple definition of 気. It can refer to one's spirit, mind, disposition, mood, intention, feeling, attention, interest, etc. It can also refer to the atmosphere or the essence of something. All of these have a common theme. Once you begin seeing expressions with it, this will become much clearer. 

　  The literal interpretations of idioms gives us an insight on how truly different Japanese words things in comparison to English. Don't let this, though, make you unable to understand them. Keep in mind that 気 is just a normal noun. There's nothing really different from it than words in English with lots of usages or those found in many set phrases.

Don't view this list as bunch of set phrases whose literal meanings are just bizarre. This is certainly not how the Japanese view them. In every language, there are idiomatic phrases that have deviated so far from the original meanings of the words that they are composed of that you have to treat them as separate items in one's vocabulary. But, for the most part, the Japanese really think of 気 expressions with the literal interpretations provided in the right column.

Also, idioms are not equal in idiomacy (level of being idiomatic). Some may be very similar to the English phrasing minus a word here and there. The Japanese itself in 気 phrases may be far more abstract than others. For instance, 気が重い is more straightforward than 気をそろえる. Keep all of this in mind as you look at this list and the example sentences that follow. 

     Conjunctions 接続詞 せつぞくし connect sentences together in Japanese. They don't normally connect clauses, however. This is quite unlike English, which often doesn't like some conjunctions being used at the beginning of a sentence. Instead, Japanese does a good job distinguishing between conjunctions, which is the topic of this lesson, and conjunctive particles.

Some conjunctive phrases are made of multiple phrases. This makes things a bit more complicated, especially when things look very similar minus one thing. Also be aware that all of the conjunctions may not be expressed with either conjunctions or conjunctive particles and thus will not be mentioned in this lesson.

In this this lesson conjunctions are labeled with the following terms. This lesson does not aim to teach you all conjunctive phrases in Japanese, but you will definitely learn what they are, how they are used, and plenty to practice with.

Usage Notes:

1. さて is used to change the topic of conversation. It may also be an interjection similar to "well" in English.
2. しかし is not used as frequently as the English equivalent "however". It is used, first and foremost, to contrast two different things.
3. When （その） 一方 いっぽう （では）  is used with 他方 たほう （では） before it, in which case その may never precede it, the interpretation changes to "on the one hand". This extended pattern is not likely to be used in the spoken language.
4. Due to it looking like しかし, しかも is often misused by students. It is just like そのうえに.
5. そして shows that something additionally happens.

Examples 

1a. あるいは 本当 ( ) かもしれません。
1b. 恐 (    おそ ) らく（それが） 本当 ( ) かもしれません。(More natural) 
      Perhaps that's true.

2. 明朝十時集合 ( ) 。ただし 雨 ( ) の 場合 ( ) は 中止 ( ) 。
    A 10 o’clock meeting tomorrow, but cancellation in case of rain.

3. しかも、あられが降ってるんだよ。
    Besides, it's hailing!

漢字 Note: あられ may rarely be spelled as霰

4. そりゃそもそもの始まりだった。
    That's all it was to begin with.

5. 命は天に 在 ( あ ) り。 然 ( さ ) らばただ時を待つのみ。(Old-fashioned)
    Life is in heaven. So, we just wait for the time.

6a. よく学び 且 ( か ) つよく遊ぶ。（Not an imperative; Set phrase; old-fashioned)
6b. よく学びよく遊べ。（Imperative)
      Study well and play well.

7. お金は 即 ( すなわ ) ち幸福と考える。
    To think of money, in other words, happiness.

8. しかし、 景気 ( けいき ) はまだ 回復 ( かいふく ) しない。
    However, the economy hasn't recovered.

9. ｛さて・さあ｝、始めよう。
     Well, let's begin.

10. だったら、 手伝 ( てつだ ) おう。
    If that's the case, I'll help.

11. 但 ただ し雨の場合は 延期 えんき 。
      However, it will be postponed in the case of rain.

12. 彼女は 歌人 ( かじん ) であり、かつ小説家であります。
     She is a tanka poet, and she is also a novelist.

13. あいつはそもそも殺すつもりはなかった。
      He didn't have an intention of killing in the first case.

14. ０ 対 たい ０の 均衡 きんこう を 破 やぶ る。
      To break a tie of 0-0.

Word Note: 対 is the equivalent of "versus". 

15. 先 ま ず日本へ行きました。そしていろいろなところへ行きました。
      First of all, I went to Japan, and I went to a lot of different places. 

16. よって 件 ( くだん ) の 如 ( ごと ) し。（Set phrase; Formal)
      Therefore, it is as the aforementioned statement.

17. それゆえ、 銃撃戦 じゅうげきせん の 死者 ししゃ は 百人以上 に 上 のぼ ります。
      Therefore, the casualties from the shoot-out will climb to over 100.

18a. 行 ゆ く 川 の 流 れは 絶 た えず 溢 あふ れ 出 している 故 にもとの 水 ではない。
18b. 行 く 川 の 流 れは 絶 えずして、しかももとの 水 にあらず。(Original Classical version)
        The flow of a passing river endlessly flows; hence, it is not the original water.

19. その 代 ( か ) わりに、 本 ( ) を 買 ( ) った。
      Instead, I bought a book.

20. ところでお 仕事 ( ) は？
      By the way, your job is?

21. それにつけても 思 ( ) い 出 ( ) すのは 古 ( ) き 良 ( ) き 時代 ( ) だ。
      Anyways, that reminds me of the good old days.

22. 新語並 しんごなら びに 外来語 がいらいご に 関 かん する 資料 しりょう を 調 しら べる。
      To examine data about both neologisms and foreign expressions.

23. そういえば、 久実 ( ) さんはどうしてるんだろう？
      Now that I think of it, I wonder what Kumi is doing?

24. 日本語 ( ) には 同音異義語 ( どうおんいぎご ) が 多 ( ) い。｛ 故 ( ) に・それゆえ・よって・そういうわけで・そのようなわけで・従って・このた め・そのため・だから・このことから｝、 漢字 ( ) で 書 ( ) く。
Japanese has a lot of homophones. Therefore, you write with Kanji.

Historical Note: The introduction of 漢字 caused Japanese to have a lot of homophones.

Word Note: From the single example above, there are a lot of possible conjunctions out there that relatively mean the same thing. However, what are their exact differences?

• 故 ( ) に shows that due to the fact it's after, the following is as effect.
• それ 故 ( ) に shows that the stated matter is reason for the next case stated after it.
• よって states that the previous sentence as the reason or evidence. 
• そういわけで・そのようなわけで　＝　With that reason
• 従って　＝　Therefore; so; consequently.
• このため・これゆえに　＝ Points that as the goal or reason.
• そのため　＝　このため.　This is a rare occasion with これ are interchangeable それ.
• だから　＝　So; because
• このことから　≒　With this

Even in English, there are several interchangeable but slightly different phrases that can be used. The specifics and impromptu nature of speech at a given situation is the ultimate determining factor. Some of these are more formal or casual then the others. So, that has a lot to do with which is used. 

25a. だから 言 ( ) わないことじゃない。
25b. だから 言 ( ) わんこっちゃない。（Slang/very casual)
        I told you so.

26. その 結果 ( けっか ) 、 試験 ( しけん ) に 受 ( ) かった。
      Because of that, I passed the exam.

27. それはさておき、東京に引っ 越 こ すんだ。
       By the way, I'm moving to Tokyo.