おみやげは？ What About the Gifts? by Natalie Rees
Verb て／ってform
This form is usually introduced in the second half of a beginner level course. In the Kanshudo Beginner Lessons, it is introduced in lesson 20.
The て／って form of verbs is a useful conjugation to master, as it allows us to:
- Form sentences that describe two or more events or activities, similar to one of the ways in which 'and' functions. For example: サラとヒデキはおきて、あさごはんを食べました。 Sara and Hideki got up and had breakfast.
- Make requests (て／ってください): まってください。 Please wait.
- Express the present continuous form (て／っています), i.e. something that is happening now, like 'ing' in English: テレビを見ています。 I'm watching TV.
- Express a state of being (て／っています): サラはわくわくしていました。Sara was excited.きんちょうしています。I'm nervous.
There are also other uses of the て form which you will encounter throughout your studies. For reference, here's a starting point for information in the grammar library:
verb て form
verb て form
Verb plain/short form +前に before doing....
Usually introduced around the 2nd year of language study, this is another useful structure. If you are not yet familiar with the plain/short form of verbs, start with this article in the grammar library:
verb plain form (also known as the dictionary form)
verb plain form (also known as the dictionary form)
This structure enables us to talk about events or activities that happen before others. For example:
でも、アメリカにかえる前に買いものをしたかったです。 But before returning to America, they wanted to go shopping.
Verb stem + たい／たかった／たくない／たくなかった want to.../wanted to.../don't want to.../didn't want to...
This enables us to express things we or others want to do or don't want to do and to also express these concepts in their past tense forms.
でも、アメリカにかえる前に買いものをしたかったです。 But before returning to America, they wanted to go shopping.
何も／だれも／どこも + verb negative form = nothing/nobody/nowhere
These words are always used with the ngative form of a verb. For instance the sentence 「だれも、何も見ませんでした」would be expressed in English as 'Nobody saw anything'. Here the English 'saw' is expressed in the negative form 見ませんでした in Japanese.
Noun + のこと about ... (when 'about' is used in reference to a particular subject/topic, etc)
日本のことをたくさん話しました。 They talked a lot about Japan.
パーティーのことを聞きましたか。 Did you hear about the party?
During your studies you may come across the expression について defined as 'about', however this is somewhat a rigid expression used more in formal situations.
Verb plain/short form + ことができます can/be able to...
This is another useful expression that is easy to put into practice once you master plain/short verbs.
電車が来る前におみやげを買うことができました。 They were able to buy gifts, before the train came.
いい思い出になりました。 It was a good memory.
This is a good expression to remember. It can be used when you have had an experience that you feel you will cherish and remember in time to come.
This text has been selected to suit reading level: Beginner.
However, it includes some vocabulary and phrases that you would not necessarily be expected to know at that level.
We believe knowledge of such vocabulary and phrases is beneficial at any stage of Japanese language learning,
as they are commonly used in everyday language.
Many of the readings in the Reading Corner, such as this one, have additional notes in the introduction.
The notes often provide extra information that will help you get more out of the text, including links to articles in the Grammar library.
Additional notes are included with some of the individual sentences in a reading directly below the text.
