31 grammar points in 31 days

[community.japanese]

Andy-san, トラさん、Teabag さん、子狼さん、charliegchen8215-san, くろくまさん、
こんにちは
Wow, Andy-san, that was quite a practice! Very well done!

１．私は叔父の葬式に行くかどうかまだ決めていません。(iku ka dou ka - is the expression here)

Well spotted That's perfect!
Since there was a discussion about "ka", I'd like to give my opinion too.
If you focus only on the part "iku ka dou ka", "iku" is not in "masu-form" or any polite form.
This is because of being followed by "ka". In this sentence, "dou ka" can be even omitted, but
to clarify "whether or not" meaning, I'd not omit it. It's not up to politeness though.
Like Tora-san said, formality would play some role instead.
"...ka dou ka ....nai/masen" is a frequently-used phrase to say "I ... not .... whether or not....."

"gozen ju-ji ni, (watashi wa,) uchi iru ka dou ka wakaranai."
午前１０時に家にいるかどうかわからない。

Again, perfect!
In Japanese, we first clarify if we're talking about a.m. or p.m. and then tell the time

Moving on...

I think you would want something more like:-
"Shoujo wo koroshita hannin wo tsukamaeta eiyuu."

Modifying clause is easy. It's the same as a normal sentence but it must be in dictionary form.
一億円の家を建てた人。
いちおくえんのいえをたてたひと。

Minor correction: It has to be in a plain (or "informal") form, not necessarily dictionary form

Both very very very good!! Thank you very much
And, the 子狼さん, thank you for clarifying that part

You're right about "koroshita" but if I can quote a PDF sample sentence so you can see something similar:
"Neko wa watashi ga katta pan o tabeta nezumi o tsukamaeta."
Now my sentence (with corrections):
"Eiyuu wa shoujo ga koroshita hannin o tsukamaeta."

Like 子狼さん already explained very well, this sentence structure is changed from the
first attempt of yours. So, it's up to what you want to say here, but as far as I see above description,
it seems you're a bit confused. When the sentence is longer and more complicated, always try to "build up"
from the simple sentence. Assuming what you wanted to say was "The hero caught the criminal who
killed the girl":
1. Eiyuu wa/ga tsukamaeta.
↓
"Whom did he catch?"
↓
"The criminal"
2. Eiyuu wa hannin o tsukamaeta.
↓
"Hannin of what (crime)?"
↓
"The criminal who killed the girl"
3. shoujo o koroshita hannin
↓
Now, all together..."Eiyuu wa shoujo o koroshita hannin o tsukamaeta."
See what I mean?
If you follow this way, you can also avoid particle mistakes or confusion of them.
In your sentence, it had "shoujo ga koroshita", but in that case, "hannnin" is the girl
"The girl killed the suspect/criminal" and this hero caught the alread-dead hannin...

Now, very important grammar point discussed here...

I know, that you can use the past tense to ask about future events in English and German, but is it possible in Japanese too?

The answer is actually "yes".
As Andy-san posted, there are some sentences introduced in lessons.
By using past tense, your "point of view" (or "yourself") is already in the future and saying this line
like you've "remembered" about it now.
While "ashita wa tanjoubi desu yo ne" means you know tomorrow is his/her birthday and just confirming it.

Also, when your certainty is low, it usually takes past tense.
The nuance or sense (idea behind) of 明日テストだっけ。 is "oh, by the way, is tomorrow test day?" while
明日テストだったっけ。 has more connotation of "I totally forgot about it until now, but is tomorrow test day?
or was it other day?"
I belive English has this "certainty level" matter too, like "I would", "I could", etc.


Oh, by the way,

"Ichi tasu kyuu-juu-kyuu hiku go-juu kakeru ni waru yon ikouru ni-juu-go!"
1 + 99 - 50 x 2 ÷ 4 = 25!

Although I'm rubissh at math, I think the answer would be 75
We can say "ikooru", but we also say "wa" often to say "=" in culculation

Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

[andycarmenjapanese8100]

Thank you Natsuko-sensei. That was the best explanation so far.

Oh, by the way,

"Ichi tasu kyuu-juu-kyuu hiku go-juu kakeru ni waru yon ikouru ni-juu-go!"
1 + 99 - 50 x 2 ÷ 4 = 25!

Although I'm rubissh at math, I think the answer would be 75

1 + 99 = 100
100 - 50 = 50
50 x 2 = 100
100 ÷ 4 = 25

Day 21 - LIS5L23 - You da

"Kare wa, senshuu kusuriya-san de yorimashita. Byouki no you desu."
Last week he visited the pharmacy. He seems sick.

[mewes6190]

Thank you Natsuko-sensei. That was the best explanation so far.

Oh, by the way,

"Ichi tasu kyuu-juu-kyuu hiku go-juu kakeru ni waru yon ikouru ni-juu-go!"
1 + 99 - 50 x 2 ÷ 4 = 25!

Although I'm rubissh at math, I think the answer would be 75

1 + 99 = 100
100 - 50 = 50
50 x 2 = 100
100 ÷ 4 = 25

Day 21 - LIS5L23 - You da

"Kare wa, senshuu kusuriya-san de yorimashita. Byouki no you desu."
Last week he visited the pharmacy. He seems sick.

I have to be on Natsuko-Senseis side here: The answer is 75. In German, we say "Punkt- vor Strichrechnung", I don't know what's the rule in english, but FIRST you calculate the multiplications and the division, then the addition and substraction. Therefore, you have to go:
1+99-(50x2÷4) = 1+99-25 = 75
(You have to first calculate 50x2/4, which is 25, and subtract these 25 from the 1+99. )
So, it's 75. But this isn't an math-forum, so ...

[andycarmenjapanese8100]

I have to be on Natsuko-Senseis side here: The answer is 75. In German, we say "Punkt- vor Strichrechnung", I don't know what's the rule in english, but FIRST you calculate the multiplications and the division, then the addition and substraction. Therefore, you have to go:
1+99-(50x2÷4) = 1+99-25 = 75
(You have to first calculate 50x2/4, which is 25, and subtract these 25 from the 1+99. )
So, it's 75. But this isn't an math-forum, so ...

Next you'll be telling me that 0.9r equals 1.

[Tracel]

Hey everyone,

It is wonderful that Natsuko-sensei spent so much time helping us all out.

Natsuko-sensei wrote:When the sentence is longer and more complicated, always try to "build up"
from the simple sentence. Assuming what you wanted to say was "The hero caught the criminal who
killed the girl":
1. Eiyuu wa/ga tsukamaeta.
↓
"Whom did he catch?"
↓
"The criminal"
2. Eiyuu wa hannin o tsukamaeta.
↓
"Hannin of what (crime)?"
↓
"The criminal who killed the girl"
3. shoujo o koroshita hannin
↓
Now, all together..."Eiyuu wa shoujo o koroshita hannin o tsukamaeta."
See what I mean?

This is a very helpful way for breaking down what you want to say. I love it It also works the other way around when you are trying to read more complicated Japanese. It is important to find the main phrase. The only 'big' drawback is, of course, remembering how to do this if you are talking in real-time with someone. They will probably end up walking away from me before I have figured out what I want to say.

As Andy-san posted, there are some sentences introduced in lessons.
By using past tense, your "point of view" (or "yourself") is already in the future and saying this line
like you've "remembered" about it now.
While "ashita wa tanjoubi desu yo ne" means you know tomorrow is his/her birthday and just confirming it.

Also, when your certainty is low, it usually takes past tense.
The nuance or sense (idea behind) of 明日テストだっけ。 is "oh, by the way, is tomorrow test day?" while
明日テストだったっけ。 has more connotation of "I totally forgot about it until now, but is tomorrow test day?
or was it other day?"
I belive English has this "certainty level" matter too, like "I would", "I could", etc.

It has been a long time since I have studied English grammar and its intricacies. But I want to look up this part because it has made me curious how we do use past in a future sense. I will get back to you with that.

Tracel

[charliegchen8215]

The thing I don't get is why when it comes to math is that the Japanese grammar goes out the door.

１足す１掛ける２は４になります。
The word order is similar to English but which what is modifying what? Seems to be special rules when it come to numbers.

[Tracel]

Ok, the past tense in the future......is a can of worms. No simple answers unfortunately.

I belive English has this "certainty level" matter too, like "I would", "I could", etc.

Yes, 奈津子先生、we do use the modal auxiliary verbs 'would' or 'will' and 'could' or 'can' to indicate certainty levels. There is, however, not a consensus on what 'tense' or 'aspect' the words 'would' and 'could' are in. Some sources say they are the past of will and can, and some say they are the 'conditional' form of the modal auxiliary verbs.

Who would have thought that there could be such controversy over GRAMMAR. I will leave this discussion up to someone with much better knowledge of the rules than I think I ever had. (maybe マイケルさん ）

For some of the sentences in the PDF, you could swing them in the past tense in English too.

冷蔵庫にマヨネーズあったっけ？
Reizōko ni mayonēzu atta kke?
"I can't remember. Is there mayonnaise in the fridge?"
Wasn't there some mayonnaise in the fridge?

すみません、千葉に住んでいるんでしたよね？
Sumimasen Chiba ni sunde iru n deshita yo ne?
"Sorry, but if I remember correctly, you live in Chiba, right?"
Sorry, but didn't you live in Chiba? (puts a lot of uncertainty on whether or not his guess is correct.)

At least this makes sense for this Canadian/American/West Coast/Semi-educated Female English speaker, whose linguistic skills have been warped over the years by several other languages. Everything starts looking correct to me after a while.

トラ

[Tracel]

Oh, and I wouldn't touch the math questions with a barge pole. 　How would you say that in Japanese?
とら

[andycarmenjapanese8100]

Day 22 - LIS6L19 - ~te iku

"Kore kara, Jei Kei Roulingu ni yotte hon o yonde ikimasu. Demo kanojo wa Harii Pottaa no hon o kaite ikimasen."
From now on, I'll continue to read books by JK Rowling. But she's not writing Harry Potter books anymore.

[andycarmenjapanese8100]

Day 23 - LIS5L22 - ~te oku

"Chakuriku suru no mae ni, nete oku."
Before [the plane's] landing I'm going to sleep.

[charliegchen8215]

冷蔵庫にマヨネーズあったっけ？
Reizōko ni mayonēzu atta kke?
"I can't remember. Is there mayonnaise in the fridge?"
Wasn't there some mayonnaise in the fridge?

すみません、千葉に住んでいるんでしたよね？
Sumimasen Chiba ni sunde iru n deshita yo ne?
"Sorry, but if I remember correctly, you live in Chiba, right?"
Sorry, but didn't you live in Chiba? (puts a lot of uncertainty on whether or not his guess is correct.)

Again, doesn't this have more to do with 助動詞の「け」? 助動詞の「け」がなかった場合はどうでしょうね。

ちなみに、「住んでいるんでした」という文はPDFに本当に書いてありましたかね。これは関連付けの「のだ」という連語ですね。私の知る限り、関連付けの「のだ」は過去形が存在しません。

奈津子先生、よろしければ、ご確認をお願いいたします。

[charliegchen8215]

Day 22 - LIS6L19 - ~te iku

"Kore kara, Jei Kei Roulingu ni yotte hon o yonde ikimasu. Demo kanojo wa Harii Pottaa no hon o kaite ikimasen."
From now on, I'll continue to read books by JK Rowling. But she's not writing Harry Potter books anymore.

Day 23 - LIS5L22 - ~te oku

"Chakuriku suru no mae ni, nete oku."
Before [the plane's] landing I'm going to sleep.

これから、J・K・ローリングの書いた作品を読み続けます。でも彼女はもうハリーポッターの本を書きません。

着陸する前に、寝ておく。

[andycarmenjapanese8100]

Day 24 - LIS6L20 - ~Masu stem + hajimeru, tsuzukeru, owaru

"Shukudai o shi-owatta ka?"
Have you finished your homework?

"Watashi wa, te o yurashi-hajimeru toki, hashitte kudasai!"
When I start waving my hand, run!

"Anata ga fuzake-tsuzukeru to karera wa tatemono kara desaseru!"
If you keep messing around we'll get thrown out of the building!

[andycarmenjapanese8100]

Day 25 - LIS5L21 - ~te iru + ~te aru

"Hayaku sanpo shite! Densha ga itte iru!"
Walk quickly! The train is leaving!

"Kabe ni posutaa o kakete arimasu."
The poster is hung on the wall.

[andycarmenjapanese8100]

Day 26 - LIS6L21 - De aru

"Soto ni tenki wa samui de aru. Uwagi o kite!"
The weather outside is cold. Wear a coat!