おんな
The Girl by Hashizume Akiko

Welcome to the first reading in the Kanshudo Reading Corner!
This reading provides a very simple introduction to a few key grammatical constructions in the context of a mystery protagonist.
Below you'll find some information on some of the constructions used.

います vs あります

います and あります are both verbs concerned with 'existence', often translated as 'there is/are', but います is used in the context of living things, and あります is used for inanimate objects. In this extract, you'll see examples of both to illustrate the distinction. For more information on います vs あります, and other uses of these words, read more in:
You may notice that ありますalso appears in the sentence 一つだけありません. We have translated this as 'But, just one thing is missing'. A literal translation of just the words in this sentence would give us something like 'Just one thing isn't there.', but that doesn't quite convey the same sense of meaning.
You will also come across two sentences toward the end of the extract that use います. 女の子の家にはお父さんもいます。'The girl's father lives at the home.' お母さんもいます。'The girl's mother lives at home too'. In both these sentences, we have chosen to use the verb 'lives' as opposed to 'is', as this better conveys the meaning of the Japanese sentences.

Family members

Referring to family members in Japanese can be confusing! This article illustrates several typical forms. For a comprehensive overview refer to our grammar article:
This is an extract / adaptation from the original. The source of this piece is:
"Onna no ko", Reberu-betsu Nihongo Tadoku Raiburari, Reberu 1, Vol 1 (Kanshu NPO Hojin Nihongo Tadoku Kenkyukai, Tokyo, Asuku, 2006)
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.
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