Minna No Nihongo Grammar Lesson 19

Minna No Nihongo Grammar Lesson 19

1. Verb た-form

In this lesson you learn the た-form. How to make the た-form is shown below.

The た-form is made by changing てand でof the て-form into たand だrespectively.

	て-form	た-form
Group I	かいて のんで	かいた のんだ
Group II	たべて	たべた
Group III	きて して	きた した

 

2. Vた-formことがあります

have the experience of V-ing

This sentence pattern is used to describe what one has experienced in the past. This is basically the same sentence as わたしはNがあります which you learned in Lesson 9. The content of one’s experience is expressed by the nominalized phrase Vた-form こと.

馬に乗ったことがあります。

I have ridden a horse.

Note that it is, therefore, different from a sentence which merely states the fact that one did something at a certain time in the past.

去年北海道で馬に乗りました。

I rode a horse in Hokkaido last year.

3. Vた-formり, Vた-form りします

V … and V …, and so on

You learned an expression for referring to a few things and persons among many (～や～ [ など ] ) in Lesson 10. The sentences learned here are used in referring to some actions among many other actions. The tense of this sentence pattern is shown at the end of the sentence.

日曜日はテニスをしたり、映画を見たりします。

On Sundays, I play tennis, see a movie and so on.

日曜日はテニスをしたり、映画を見たりしました。(*)

Last Sunday, I played tennis, saw a movie and so on.

[Note] Make sure that you don’t confuse the meaning of this sentence pattern with that of the て-form sentence below which you learned in Lesson 16.

日曜日テニスをして、映画を見ました。(**)

Last Sunday I played tennis and then saw a movie.

In (**) it is clear that seeing a movie took place after playing tennis. In (*) there is no time relation between the two activities. These activities are mentioned as example activities among the activities done on Sunday to imply that one did other activities besides them. And it is not natural that actions usually done by everybody every day such as getting up in the morning, taking meals, going to bed at night, etc., are mentioned.

4.

い-adj (～い) → ～く な-adj [な] → に Nに

なります

become …

 

なりますmeans “become” and indicates changes in a state or condition.

寒い             → 寒くなります                  get cold

元気[な]      → 元気になります              get well

25歳             → 25歳になります              become 25 years old

5. そうですね

そうですねis used when you agree or sympathize with what your partner in conversation said. そうですかwith a falling intonation is a similar expression to this (see Lesson 2, 6). そうですかis, however, an expression of your conviction or exclamation after getting information which was unknown to you, whileそうですね is used to express your agreement or sympathy with your partner in conversation when he/she refers to something you agree with or already know.

寒くなりましたね。

そうですね。

It’s got cold, hasn’t it?

Yet, it has.

Related Post:
Minna No Nihongo Grammar Lesson 20
Minna No Nihongo Lesson 19 Vocabulary