Learn some common suffixes in Japanese
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What are some suffixes in Japanese? |
| Risa: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At JapanesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Yuya is going out for a coffee with his neighbor, Yoko. He wants to get to know her better, so he asks, |
| "What is your job?" |
| Yuya Ohara: お仕事は何ですか。 (O-shigoto wa nan desu ka.) |
| Dialogue |
| Yuya Ohara: お仕事は何ですか。 (O-shigoto wa nan desu ka.) |
| Yoko Matsushita: 会社員です。 (Kaishain desu.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Yuya Ohara: お仕事は何ですか。 (O-shigoto wa nan desu ka.) |
| Michael: "What is your job?" |
| Yoko Matsushita: 会社員です。 (Kaishain desu.) |
| Michael: "I'm an office worker." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, we will be exploring some Japanese suffixes and why they are useful to know. Suffixes are small meaningful units added to the end of certain words in order to change their meaning. For example, in English, the suffix "-ness" is used to turn adjectives, such as "happy," into nouns, such as "happiness." Something similar also happens in Japanese. |
| Let’s start with a closer look at the dialogue. Do you remember how Yuya asks, "What is your job?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Risa as Yuya Ohara: お仕事は何ですか。 (O-shigoto wa nan desu ka.) |
| Michael: And do you remember how Yoko says "I'm an office worker?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Risa as Yoko Matsushita: 会社員です。 (Kaishain desu.) |
| Michael: Yoko's profession is indicated with the word |
| Risa: 会社員 (kaishain) |
| Michael: which is a compound of |
| Risa: 会社 (kaisha) |
| Michael: meaning "company" and |
| Risa: 員 (in) |
| Michael: meaning "member." So, together, we have literally "company member," and, more naturally, "office worker," which is |
| Risa: 会社員 (kaishain) |
| Michael: You can use the same suffix for other words as well, but, just like in English, you can’t use a certain suffix for all the words. Also, in Japanese, you can’t use a suffix with just any word. There are some restrictions, and you will need to memorize the words that can be used with this suffix. Here are some other examples: |
| Risa: 議員 (giin) |
| Michael: "member of an assembly" and |
| Risa: 店員 (ten’in) |
| Michael: "shop staff." As you can hear, this suffix gives the word it is attached to a certain meaning, which is "member of." If you keep this in mind, you'll be able to easily guess the meaning of any new word that ends with it. |
| Now, let's hear another suffix, which comes in handy when turning a noun into an adjective or an adverb. The suffix is |
| Risa: 的 (teki), |
| Michael: which means "something like" or "seems like," also equivalent to English adjectives ending in "-ish." Here are some examples: |
| Risa: 文化的 (bunkateki) |
| Michael: "cultural" and |
| Risa: 世界的 (sekaiteki) |
| Michael: "global." This suffix is very useful to express a quality. The next suffix is used to turn adjectives into nouns. The suffix is |
| Risa: さ (sa) |
| Michael: Let's try with the adjective meaning "big" |
| Risa: 大きい (ōkii) |
| Michael: You just have to drop the final -i and add the suffix, so that you get |
| Risa: 大きさ (ōkisa) |
| Michael: which means "size, volume." The same mechanism applies to the na-adjectives. For example, the adjective meaning "convenient" |
| Risa: 便利 (benri) as in 便利な (benrina) |
| Michael: becomes |
| Risa: 便利さ (benrisa) |
| Michael: which means "convenience." Our next suffix is |
| Risa: 中 (chū) |
| Michael: When we attach this suffix to a noun that indicates action, it means "in the middle of something," "in a certain state," "during," or "while." For example, |
| Risa: 勉強中 (benkyōchū) |
| Michael: "in the middle of studying" |
| Risa: 仕事中 (shigotochū) |
| Michael: "in the middle of working." Now, let's hear two more suffixes that refer to time. The first is |
| Risa: 後 (go) |
| Michael: which means "after." And the second is |
| Risa: 前 (zen) |
| Michael: which means "before." These are very common in a doctor's prescription, for example |
| Risa: 食後 (shoku-go) |
| Michael: which means "after meals," and |
| Risa: 食前 (shoku-zen) |
| Michael: which means "before meals." The next suffix is |
| Risa: 方 (kata) |
| Michael: which means "way of doing something" or "how to do something" when it is used with the masu-stem of a verb. For example, |
| Risa: 食べ方 (tabekata) |
| Michael: "way of eating." |
| Risa: 話し方 (hanashikata) |
| Michael: "manner of speaking." And our last suffix is |
| Risa: がる (garu) |
| Michael: which attaches to an adjective and turns it into a verb. The mechanism is the same as for the suffix さ (sa). For example, the adjective meaning "happy, glad" |
| Risa: うれしい (ureshii) |
| Michael: becomes |
| Risa: うれしがる (ureshigaru) |
| Michael: which means "to be glad." The adjective meaning "proud" |
| Risa: 得意 (tokui) as in 得意な (tokuina) |
| Michael: becomes |
| Risa: 得意がる (tokuigaru) |
| Michael: which means "to take pride in." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned that some words can get their meaning from a small unit attached at its end. |
| If you memorize the most common suffixes, you'll be able to guess the meaning of the words they are attached to, even if you don't know the word. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Risa: またね！ (Mata ne!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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