LESSON 25

TODAY'S TOPIC: Ki ni shinai
" Never mind"

Welcome back to Reiko-chan's JAL 7th week lessons!
How are you doing? Daijobu? I hope you are getting used to Japanese particles, be-verb, and other grammatical words. I have been thinking that even though Japanese language system is completely different from English and is said to be difficult to learn, Japanese might not be that difficult, because in spoken Japanese, you don't need to worry about word order, articles, plural or singular, future tense, nor completing sentences, you just need to say important words. Also, pronunciation is easy and there is no spelling inconsistendy. Sou, ganbatte!

Today, let's learn how to say "never mind" in Japanese. In Japanese, ki means "mind" "spirit" "heart" and so on. There are lots of idioms that use ki in Japanese, and one of them is ki ni suru, which means "do mind." Suru is a verb that means "do" here. (suru is an irregular verb, so its conjugation pattern is unpredictable. However, this verb is used very frequently.) If you make the verb negative, I mean change it from suru to shi nai, the meaning of ki ni shi nai becomes "take it easy" "Never mind" "Don't feel bad about it" "don't worry" etc. depending on the context. Wakari mashita ka? Yoshi! Ja, let's begin.

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Ki ni shinai, ki nishinai.
Never mind, never mind.
Listen to Umi and repeat after her, please? Ni is a particle that marks the indirect object of the sentence (that means, ki is the receiver of the action shinai.), but ki ni shi nai! (don't worry about it) now.

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Sonna koto, ki ni shinai de.
Please don't worry about that sort of thing.
As I explained in the previous lesson, sonna means "that sort of." Koto means "thing," "matter" etc., therefore sonna koto means "that sort of thing(s)." In the same manner, "this sort of thing" is konna koto in Japanese.
De: You may remember, a verb tasukeru (to help) conjugated to its te-form, takukete (please help). The same rule is applied here to shi nai, the negative form (notice there is nai here) of the verb suru, only te is voiced and changed to de. Therefore, shi nai de means "please don't do."
Summary:
Suru (dictionary form, "to do")
Shi nai (negative form, "don't do")
Shi nai de (te-form, "please don't do")

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Ki ni suru yo.
I do mind.
Naturally, if you use suru instead of shi nai, the meaning changes to "I care" "I worry" or "I mind" etc.

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Oki ni nasarazu ni.
Please don't mind.
This is a very polite way of saying the same thing. The first o is the "honorific o" as in o-kane (honorable money) and she used nasarazu, which is the respect form of shinai. If you want to be very polite, say like this.

Omake

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Bikkuri shita naa!
(I was) surprised!
Bikkuri is a noun that means "surprise" "shock" "astonishment" and so on. Shita is the past tense of the verb suru. So the direct translation is "Did surprise," but you say this when someone scared you, you are shocked, etc. to mean "you scared me" "I was shocked" and so on. Here, Hikaru is just prolonged an ending particle na and said naa.

Omake sono ni (2)
Here are some more frequently used expressions you hear in Anime.

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Sono touri (o + u is pronounced as oo, you remember?)
That's right. (You are right! That's the idea. You said it.)
Sono is a demonstrative I explained last week (it means "that"). But explaining the meaning of each word doesn't help you understand this simple phrase, so please remember as it is.

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Sou desu wa.
That's right. (you are right. She is right. etc.)
I explained about this in a lesson where I explained "soo" before. (Sou (pronounced as soo) is "so" in English, you remember?) The direct translation is "(it is) so," but the real meaning is almost the same as sono touri, only sono touri is stronger in its meaning.

How did you do today? Ja mata ashita.

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LESSON 26

TODAY'S TOPIC: Genki dashite!
" Cheer up"

Today, let's study some phrases you can use to cheer people up. As you know, genki is "vigor" "energy" "vitality" and so on (as in genki desuka (= Are you energetic? = How are you?)). Dashite is so called te-form (conjugated form that ends with "te" sound) of a verb dasu which means "take out" "bring out" or "pull out" in this context. Usually te-form of a verb means "please do something" In case of a verb tasukeru, its te-form tasukete means "please help." Therefore, genki dashite literally means "Pull out your energy, please" and so on. But its actual meaning is "please cheer up" "show your nerve" and so on. Now, listen to Hikaru and practice saying it, please?

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Umi-chan, genki dashite.
Umi, cheer up.

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Umi-chan, Fuu-chan, genki dashite.
Umi, Fuu, please cheer up.
I couldn't find an example, but sometimes, you may hear a particle wo after genki. Wo is a particle put after a direct object of a sentence, but ki ni shinai de ^_^.
Now, how about next one? Listen carefully and try to catch the words, please.

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Hikaru tte doushite, sou itsumo genki nano yo.
Hikaru, how come (you are) always so lively?
New word is only itsumo, which means "always." In this example, genki is used as a na-adjective meaning lively, cheerful, full of energy etc.
Note: 1) If you put "tte" after Hikaru, you sound like saying "a person called Hikaru" instead of just "Hikaru" thus emphasizing a person whose name is Hikaru.
2) Na-adjectives often act like nouns. In genki wo dashite, genki is a noun, but in genki desu, genki is an adjective.

Next one is used to cheer up someone who is injured or doing badly.
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Fuu, shikkari shiro.
Fuu, pull yourself together.
It can mean "cheer up" "don't lose courage" "keep up your spirit" "look sharp" "be yourself" etc. depending on the context. Isn't it useful? I am sure you have heard this phrase a lot in Anime. Shikkari means "strong" "firm" "strong-mined" etc. Just add a verb suru (= to do) and you get this idiom. Don't ask me why. Here, Ferio used so called imperative form of a verb suru, thus sounds like he was ordering Fuu to cheer up.


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Nee, Hikaru! Fuu! shikkari shite!
Hey, Hikaru! Fuu! Please, pull yourselves together!
This one uses shite, the te-form of suru, thus, a little bit politer than Ferio's. Nee is like "look here" "mark my word well" or "I say" etc. in English.

Omake
Next one buji(na) is a na-adjective that means "safe" or "secure."
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Yokatta, ohime-sama, buji datta no ne.
Thanks God, the princess has been safe, hasn't she?
Ohime-sama is very polite way of saying princess. Sama is the same suffix as in Zagato-sama ( = Mr.) and the first o is the honorific o. Therefore, only hime has the meaning (= princess). The ending particle ne is a tag question maker (you remember? Gooooood!).
Note: Here datta (past tense of da which is the plain form of Japanese be-verb desu) is used. In Japanese, there is no distinction between "was" and "has been," thus datta can mean either of them depending on the context.

How about next one? Minna means "everyone." Try to catch what Precea says without reading the translation, please?

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Yokatta, minna buji datta no ne!
Thanks God, everyone has been safe!

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Go buji de yokatta desu wa.
(She) was safe and I am glad.
If you are a polite person, say like Fuu. Go is the same as honorific o. (sometimes o appears as go, but they are the same thing)
De here act like "and" in English.
Note: When you connect two nouns, such as "you and I," please use "to" thus anata to watashi. Here buji and yokatta are adjectives (not nouns), thus de is used. In some cases te is used instead of de. Those te and de are the same te and de used for te-forms of verb. But, this is not important here, so ki ni shinaide.

That's all for today. Wakari mashita ka? Daijobu desuka? Genki dashite, ikou!

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LESSON 27

TODAY'S TOPIC: Watashi wa Shidou Hikaru.
" I am Hikaru Shidou"

Today we will review one of the sentence structures we already studied, A is B. (A is a subject and B is so called subjective complement (I hate to use these kind of terminology), such as I am Reiko, I am 25 years old, etc. )
In Japanese, A is B is expressed A wa B (plus be-verb and ending particles sometimes). Wa is the sentence topic marker which means "as for" or "speaking of." When you want to use a be-verb, add it at the end of the sentence (but before ending particles), such as A wa B desu, A wa B da etc..

Now, please test yourself whether you understand the following sentence. Shinkan means "priest," Zagato's rank in Cefiro.
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Watashi wa Shinkan Zagaato.
I am the priest Zagato.
How about next one?
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Anata wa Kurefu-san?
Are you Mr. Clef?
Did you understand what she said? Good! Just raise the intonation and you can make it an interrogative as you do in English.

All right, try next one, too. This is a conversation among Precea and Magic Knights when they first met.
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Precea:Anata-tachi majikku naito ne?
Hikaru:Souda, watashi wa Shidou Hikaru.
Umi:Watashi wa Ryuuzaki Umi.
Fuu:Watakushi wa Hououji Fuu desu.
Hikaru:Anata ga Puresea-san?

Did you understand? Great! (Wakarimashitaka? Sugoi, sugoi!) Here is the translation.
Precea: You (plural) are Magic Knights, aren't you?
Hikaru: That's so (that's right). I am Hikaru Shidou.
Umi: I am Umi Ryuuzaki.
Fuu: I am Fuu Hououji. (polite)
Hikaru: Are you Ms. Precea?
Note: Ga is a particle that marks the subject.

Next one is a little bit difficult, but you will understand, I hope.
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Souda, sore ga omae no mahou da.
That's right, that (it) is your magic.
Sore is "that," right? (see lesson 24). Since ga is added after sore, sore is the subject of this sentence. Omae is "you," no is "'s" and mahou is "magic" thus omae no mahou means "your magic."

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Emeroodo hime wa kono sekai no hashira na noda.
Princess Emeraude is the pillar of this world, you see.
You may remember that hime is used as a suffix like sama or san. Thus Princess Reiko is Reiko hime in Japanese. Sekai is "world" thus kono sekai is "this world."
(Na) noda: It suggests that Clef is offering an explanation or justification for what he is talking about rather than stating the fact. When it is used as a question, it suggests that you wants the listener to give you the explanation. noda, nda, and udesu are its variations. In a polite speech, it appears as no desu.

Let's try one more conversation.
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Umi: Demo, Hikari tte dare? Hikaru no oniisan?
Hikaru: Hikari wa uchi no inu da yo.
Umi: ,,,but, who is Hikari? Is he Hikaru's elder brother?
Hikaru: Hikari is my family's dog.
New words:
O-niisan = elder brother. (o is the honorific o)
* Younger brother is otouto. (here, o is not honorific, but part of the word)
(O-neesan = elder sister, imouto = younger sister)
Uchi = my home or my house
Inu = dog

How did you do today? If you are having difficulties with grammatical markers or particles, please return to previous lessons and review.

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LESSON 28

TODAY'S TOPIC: Kore wa Hikari ja nai!
" This is not Hikari!"

Today, we will review one of the sentence structures, A is not B. In Japanese, A is not B is expressed by A wa B ja nai. (B is a noun) For making negative sentences that contain adjectives, review my previous lessons.

Now, test yourself whether you can understand following sentence without reading the translation.
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Kore wa Hikari ja nai.
This is not Hikari.

Did you catch all the words? Good. How about this one. Zagato used de wa instead of ja here.
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Densetsu wa densetsu da, jijitsu dewa nai.
A legend is a legend, (it) is not a fact.
As you may remember, de wa sounds more formal than ja.
New words:
densetsu = legend. (Densetsu no = legendary)
jijitsu = fact

Try next one, too.
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Hikaru! Wakara nai no? Kore wa Hikari ja nai, mamono nano yo!
Hikaru, don't you understand? This is not Hikari, (it is) a monster, you see!
Notice: Umi used nano here. It is the same as noda which I explained in lesson 27.

Omake
"What is your name?" appears in Japanese as Anata no namae wa (nan desuka). You don't need to say "what" part because the listener will know you are asking a question by the intonation.
Listen to Umi and Ascot and repeat after them.
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Umi: Nee, anata no namae wa?
Ascot: A, Asukotto
Umi: Hey, (what is) your name?
Ascot: A, Ascot.

Omake sono 2 (ni)
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Umi: Anata mo Zagaato no nakama?
Ascot: Chigau!
Umi:Are you also a Zagato's follower?
Ascot: No, I am not.
Mo is a particle that means "too" or "also." When you want to say "are you also,,," all you need to do is to say mo instead of wa. Easy. right?
Chigau means "wrong" "error" "mistake" and so on in this context. "No, it isn't" "No, I am not" etc. (i.e. for any pronouns) are expressed by chigau or chigai masu in Japanese. Short and easy, right?

That's all for this week's lessons. If you don't understand particle wa and be-verb, please review previous lessons. But for other small grammatical markers, don't worry for now.

Summary (A is B and A is not B)
Plain:
Watashi wa Reiko. (I am Reiko)
Watashi wa Reiko da. (I am Reiko, with be-verb)
Watashi wa Reiko ja nai. (I am not Reiko.)

Polite (adding be-verb is mandatory):
Watashi wa Reiko desu. (I am Reiko)
Watashi wa Reiko ja (dewa) nai desu.
(Or Watashi wa Reiko ja arimasen.) (I am not Reiko)

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