Minna No Nihongo Grammar Lesson 5

Minna No Nihongo Grammar Lesson 5

1. N (place) へ 行きます / 来ます / 帰ります

When a verb indicates movement to a certain place, the particle へ is put after the place noun to show the direction of the move.

京都へ 行きます。       I will go to Kyoto.

日本へ 来ます。           I came to Japan.

うちへ 帰ります。       I will go home.

[Note] The particle へ is read え.

2. どこ [へ] も 行きません / 行きませんでした

When an interrogative takes the particle も and the verb following it is negative, all that is represented by the interrogative is denied.

どこ [へ] も 行きません。     I don’t go anywhere.

何も 食べません。                 I don’t eat anything. (L.6)

だれも いません。                 Nobody is there. (L.10)

3. N (vehicle) で 行きます / 来ます / 帰ります

The particle で indicates a mean or a method. When verbs denoting movement (いきます, きます, かえります, etc) are used with で, で indicates a means of transportation. The noun preceding で, で is a vehicle in this case.

電車で 行きます。                           I’ll go by train.

タクシーで 来ます。                       I came by train.

When you walk somewhere, you use the expression あるいて. In this case, で is not used.

駅から 歩いて 帰りました。          I walked home from the station

4. N (person/animal) と V

When you do something with a person (or an animal), the person (or an animal) is marked with the particle と.

家族と 日本へ 行きました。 I came to Japan with my family.

If you do something alone, the expression ひとりで is used, と is not used.

一人 (ひとり)で 東京東京へ 行きます。    I’ll go to Tokyo alone.

5. いつ

To ask about time, the interrogatives using なん such as なんじ, なんようび, なんがつ, なんにち are used. Other than these, the interrogative いつ (when) is also used to ask when something will happen/happened. いつ does not take the particle に.

いつ 日本へ 来ましたか。                When did you come to Japan?

… 3月25日に 来ました。                   … I came on March 25th.

いつ広島へ いきますか。                 When will you go to Hiroshima?

… 来週 いきます。                             … I’ll go there next week.

6. S よ

よ is placed at the end of a sentence. It is used to emphasize information which the listener does not know, or to show that you are giving your judgement or views assertively.

この 電車は 甲子園 (こうしえん: name of a town near Osaka) へ 行きますか。

… いいえ、行きません。次の 普通ですよ。

Does this train go to Koshien?

… No, it doesn’t. The next local train does.

無理な ダイエットは 体に よくないですよ。

Excessive dieting is bad for your health. (L.19)

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Minna No Nihongo Grammar Lesson 6
Minna No Nihongo Lesson 5 Vocabulary