Exercises in Genki

[Toritoribe]

Mistakes in my corrected efforts. ouch.
2)へやははいってください。
9) 自転車を借りてください。

And you did it again.
2) へやにはいってください。
9) 自転車を借りてもいいですか。

An 'in the present' example. I will do this then that.

The present form also expresses the present habit, for instance, 朝起きて、新聞を読みます。 can mean "I wake up, and read a newspaper every morning".

The -te form is used just to connect the two clauses there, as in the explanation in Genki, The meaning is decided by the relation between the two clauses. It might be the cause/reason of the main clause, or even can be an adversative conjunction "but". Think about an example "I took a bath, and rested". This sentence can mean both "I took a bath, and after that, I rested in my room" and "I took a bath, and rested in the bath" in English, isn't it? おふろに入って、休みました。has a similar ambiguity also in Japanese. The purpose of this section in Genki is to learn how to connect two clauses with using -te form. You will learn other various meanings of this -te form later.

 

[Buntaro]

I will treat myself to an english language textbook after i finish Genki.

When you finish Genki, start doing a language exchange! (Do you know what a "language exchange" is?) Start a language exchange with a Japanese person in your area. Or find a Japanese person online to do a language exchange with. I think there may be lots of Japanese people who would like to do an online language exchange with you, since it's free. (Heck, maybe even Hirashin might do an online language exchange with you... Or Hirashin might have someone in mind.) I think there are places on the Internet with Japanese people just waiting for a language exchange partner to appear. All you need is Skype and a fast enough Internet connection.

You may also be able to find someone in your area who is studying Japanese, someone who is at the same beginner's level as you, The two of you can start putting small dialogues together, then practice saying the dialogues out loud with each other. Speak, speak, speak! We can provide you with ideas for dialogue topics.

(As you can see, I am very big on people developing their speaking skills. A lot of programs have students only develop a passive knowledge of a foreign language, and I am very much against this.)

When the time comes, if you need help setting up a language exchange, please do not hesitate to ask for help. All of us here are rooting for you!

 

[seaDonkey]

And you did it again.
2) へやにはいってください。
9) 自転車を借りてもいいですか。

2)We both know I did not type へやは on purpose. right?..
9)I made THAT mistake. We learn from our mistakes. I will have my eyesight checked and then a brain scan.

Your explaination of the -te form is understood. Many thanks to Bentaro and yourself for demystifying somewhat the early chapters of Genki.

 

[Buntaro]

Many thanks to Buntaro and yourself for demystifying somewhat the early chapters of Genki.

Don't touch my mustache!

 

[seaDonkey]

Don't touch my mustache!

ムスタッシュを触ってはいけません。

You have my deepest thanks for pointing out chapter 6 also teaches us the strong prohibition statement.

 

[Toritoribe]

2)We both know I did not type へやは on purpose. right?

Right, so I wrote "you did it(=typo) again".

 

[Buntaro]

SD,

I want to talk more about dialogue-writing. Write short, four-sentence dialogues. Here is an example:

A. What are you doing?
B. I am practicing Japanese.
A. Is it difficult?
B. It is very difficult.

Like my example, keep your dialogues short and non-complicated. Keep the dialogues to four lines, although you may want to write a six-line dialogue once in a while.

Start with greetings and farewells. Then write short dialogues about the weather.

A. How are you?
B. I'm fine.
A. It's a nice day today, isn't it?
B. Yes, it's a nice day.

Then branch out into various topics until you have covered a wide variety of topics.

A. Are you sitting?
B. Yes, I'm sitting.
A. Who are you sitting next to?
B. I'm sitting next to you.

Write dialogues for all of the important grammar points: present tense, past tense, present perfect, subjunctive mood, etc. (Present perfect can be particularly tricky in Japanese.)

Work with a partner and write a dialogue in English. Then work as a team to translate it into Japanese. Practice speaking the dialogue with both people looking at a written version of the dialogue. Then have one person speak the dialogue while looking at the paper while the other person speaks the dialogue but does not look at the paper.

For the Japanese written versions of the dialogues, you may wish to first write them in Kanji, but you may wish to also write out a Romaji version to speak from. Using a Romaji version might make it easier to use a dialogue for speaking practice.

You can also have one person write a dialogue, the person reads it to the other person, then the other person writes it down in hiragana and katakana as 'dictation practice'. This is a good way to practice writing hiragana and katakana. Put in words that are difficult to write in katakana, for example, "water', "forum" and "Wake Island".

These dialogues are a very effective way to review grammar and vocabulary while building listening and speaking skills at the same time.

 

[seaDonkey]

SD,

I want to talk more about dialogue-writing. Write short, four-sentence dialogues. Here is an example:

Bentaro. I have had time to think about your post. A slow process for me . I realized that 'conversational Japanese' is the foundation of communication. The only way I see to progress is to attend an evening class. Making dialogues and practice would follow from there. I like this idea a lot. The methods you outlined have given me possibilities. So thanks.

Put in words that are difficult to write in katakana, for example, "water', "forum" and "Wake Island".

I can see how practicing tough katakana would be useful as katakana creates sounds that are not possible with hiragana. In order to understand it must be studied. Good point.

After chores I will do some studying. It has been too long.

 

[seaDonkey]

I did it. Now enrolled in a 12 week course in Beginners Japanese starting in January. A London based organisation called Citylit runs the courses( who cares ). Japanese for busy people is the textbook used and the focus is speaking and listening so it sounds perfect for my needs. I will wait until then to shift my focus to conversational japanese. Sorry Bentaro. It will be a little while yet before I am ready to attempt anything as scary as language exchange.

 

[Buntaro]

SD,

It's Bunny not Benny. (When you say 'Bentaro', it sounds like Honorable Mr. Toilet!)

Congratulations on signing up for your class. Right now the most important thing for you is to move towards your mastery of hiragana and katakana. For hiragana, make sure you have the right stroke order for all of the characters. Watch this video:

Writing Hiragana - Stroke Order


You may wish to buy hiragana and katakana workbooks. Inside the workbooks there should be large-print examples of all of the hiragana and katakana. Trace each character many times until you have each stroke order down cold.

The next video is is a hugely popular video (over 64 million views) of several katakana words.

Tokyo Bon 東京盆踊り2020 (MakuDonarudo) Namewee 黃明志 ft.Cool Japan TV @亞洲通吃2018專輯 All East Asia


Here is a list of the katakana words in the video:

マクドナルド Makudonarudo McDonald's
グーグル Guguru Google
イレット toiletto toilet
キットカット Kitto Katto Kit Kat (chocolate bar)
ディズニーランド Dizunilando Disneyland

タクシー・ゴー・ホテル takushi- go- hoteru taxi go hotel
セブン・イレブン Sebun Elebun 7-11 (convenience store)
ミルク miruku milk
バス basu bus
ビール bi-ru beer
スターバックス Suta-bakkusu Starbucks

サラダ sarada salad
ハンバーガー hanba-ga- hamburger
サンドイッチ sandoittchi sandwich
ソーセージ so-se-ji sausage
コーヒー ko-hi- coffee
ケーキ ke-ki cake
アイスクリーム aisukurimu ice cream
コンビ二 konbini covenience store

フライド・ポテト furaido poteto French fries
エスカレーター esukare-ta- escalator
アルコール aruko-ru alcohol
バレボール bareboru volleyball
ベースボール be-suboru baseball
バスケットボール basukettoboru basketball
ゴルフ gorufu golf

See how well you can write out each word in katakana.

The only way to master both types of kana is to write them over and over again. Try to spend at least ten minutes everyday writing out kana. A good idea is to do 'dictation practice', where you record kana onto a computer sound file, then later write them while listening to them on the sound file.

Let us know how your class goes. (January is a long way off…)

 

[seaDonkey]

Apologies Buntaro it will not happen again.

For hiragana, make sure you have the right stroke order for all of the characters. Watch this video:

I watched the corresponding katakana video too. Tidy work. My stroke order needs work so I shall practice practice.

It is a little messy and the stroke direction/order may not have been perfect. Also I missed out n and reversed the order of y- and r-. Doh!

I am ahead on my kana. I used an app called Hiragana - Learn Japanese which lets you practice by tracing on the screen and uses spaced repitition. My other method for learning the kana.. well if I told you I would have to kill you. ( I spent many hours making pictograms).

See how well you can write out each word in katakana.

Both catchy and educational. An instant nostalgic classic. Beautiful. It would be rude not to practice writing these loan words at least twice.

I will put it on the list of things to do. It is satisfying to strike things off that list.

Transcribe the loanwords.
Practice kana.
Study the grammer terms.
Finish Genki.
Did I miss anything?

Write dialogues for all of the important grammar points: present tense, past tense, present perfect, subjunctive mood, etc. (Present perfect can be particularly tricky in Japanese.)

I can see how this format teaches, for example, adjective past negatives which I am keen to practice.

６V A
１）
先週は大変でした。コンピューターと歴史の宿題がありましたから。
sennsyuu ha daihenndeshita. konnpiuutaa to rekishi no shukudai ga arimaskara.
I had a tough weekend because I had computer and history homework.
２）
あの映画を見ません。怖い映画が大嫌いですかれ。
ano eiga wo mimasenn. kowaieiga ga daikiraidesukara.
I did not watch that movies because I hate scary movies.
３）
よくあのレストランに行きます。ハンバーガーは美味しいだから。
yoku ano resutorann ni ikimasu. The hamburgers there are delicious.
４）
昨日テストを休みました。先週, 毎晩勉強しましたから。
kinou tesuto wo yasumimashita. sennshuu, maibann benkyoushimashitakara.
Yesterdays test was easy because I studied for it every night last week.
５）
メアリーさんが大好きです。ジョークは面白いだから。
meariisann ga daisukidesu. jyooku ha omoshiroidakara.
I like Mary a lot because her jokes are funny.
６）
友達に教科書を借りました。アレの教科書を忘れましたから。
tomodachi ni kyoukasho wo karimashita. are no kyoukasho wo wasuremashitakara.
I borrowed my freinds notebook because I had lost mine.

 

[bentenmusume]

I can see how practicing tough katakana would be useful as katakana creates sounds that are not possible with hiragana. In order to understand it must be studied. Good point.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Katakana does not "create sounds that are not possible with hiragana". Any words in the Japanese language can be written with kanji, hiragana, katakana, or even romaji. The readings/sounds do not change at all. The point Buntaro-san is trying to make is that loanwords (words borrowed from English or other languages) are most often written in katakana, so you should practice writing and recognizing them the way they are usually written. And if you do not know a certain Japanese word, (i.e. 水／みず meaning "water"), you might be able to get by using a pseudo-loanword (ウォーター/"uootaa"/water).

Anyhow, it is not about "creating sounds not possible with hiragana" but learning the katakana characters so you can recognize loanwords when you encounter them.

先週は大変でした。コンピューターと歴史の宿題がありましたから。
sennsyuu ha daihenndeshita. konnpiuutaa to rekishi no shukudai ga arimaskara.
I had a tough weekend because I had computer and history homework.

大変 is たいへん, not だいへん。 先週 does not mean "last weekend". The reading of ありましたから is not arimaskara.

あの映画を見ません。怖い映画が大嫌いですかれ。
ano eiga wo mimasenn. kowaieiga ga daikiraidesukara.
I did not watch that movies because I hate scary movies.

"mimasen" (not "mimasenn") does not mean "did not watch". When expressing a negative sentiment, あの映画は観ません is more common/natural than あの映画を.

美味しいだから。

だ here is ungrammatical.

昨日テストを休みました。
kinou tesuto wo yasumimashita. sennshuu, maibann benkyoushimashitakara.
Yesterdays test was easy because I studied for it every night last week.

The verb 休む means "to rest" or "to take off", as in, to take a day off from classes or work. It can never mean "was easy". The particle を also indicates the direct object, so for example,. 昨日、会社を休みました would mean "Yesterday, I took the day off from work." Hopefully you can see from that why テストを休みました simply cannot mean anything like "the test was easy".

ジョークは面白いだから。

Ungrammatical for the same reason 美味しいだから is ungrammatical.

アレの教科書
tomodachi ni kyoukasho wo karimashita. are no kyoukasho wo wasuremashitakara.
I borrowed my freinds notebook because I had lost mine.

あれの教科書 is unnatural, and あの教科書 would be preferred.
Still, neither one means "my textbook", yes? (あの does not mean "my", right?)

 

[Buntaro]

...katakana creates sounds that are not possible with hiragana...

This is an important point that needs to be covered. There are many sounds in English that do not exist in Japanese. As a result, it was necessary to establish corresponding katakana characters and character-combinations for these 'English-only' sounds Here are a few examples.

1. ti --> chi: plastic --> プラスチック purasuchikku

2. the --> ji: the earth --> ジ・アース ji a-su

3. the --> zah: the earth --> ザ・アース za a-su

4. er --> ah: (1) the earth --> ザ・アース za a-su; (2) hover ホバー hoba-

5. V --> B: of --> オブ obu

6. V --> bui: Kevin --> ケヴィン Kebuin

7. di --> ji: radio --> ラジオ rajio

8. 4-syllable abbreviations: sexual harrassment --> セクハラ sekuhara

9. too --> トゥ Toulouse (city in France) --> トゥールーズ To~ūrūzu

10. wə --> ooh: woman --> ウーマン u-man

11. jə --> jah: Japan (Jə pæn) --> ジャパン Japan (Ja: pa :n)

12. æ --> ah: Japan (Jə pæn) --> ジャパン Japan (Ja: pa :n). (I always hear Japanese people say "jah pahn" instead of Jə pæn.)

13. wih --> in: penguin --> ペンギン pengin

14. using kya to distinguish /ae/ as in "cat" from /ah/ as in "caught": casting (in a movie) --> キャスチング kyasuchingu, which differentiates the sound of "casting" from "costing" when they become words in Japanese

15. double vowels (sometimes called diphthongs) are often reduced into one vowel in Japanese.
coordinator --> コーディネーター ko-dine-ta-

16. u plus small e to make 'wake', etc.: Wake Island --> ウェーク島 ue-ku tou

17. fu plus small o to make 'fo': forum --> フォーラム fo-ramu

18. for non-British-English speakers, using uo- for 'wah': water --> ウォーター uo-ta-

 

[seaDonkey]

This is an important point that needs to be covered. There are many sounds in English that do not exist in Japanese. As a result, it was necessary to establish corresponding katakana characters and character-combinations for these 'English-only' sounds Here are a few examples.

Thank you Buntaro. I will take my time and listen to examples. It was the small ユ in コンピューター that had me wondering about the pronounciation.

大変 is たいへん, not だいへん。 先週 does not mean "last weekend". The reading of ありましたから is not arimaskara.

Sorry about my mistakes. I rushed and the result is embarrassing.

The verb 休む means "to rest" or "to take off", as in, to take a day off from classes or work. It can never mean "was easy". The particle を also indicates the direct object, so for example,. 昨日、会社を休みました would mean "Yesterday, I took the day off from work." Hopefully you can see from that why テストを休みました simply cannot mean anything like "the test was easy".

I have no excuses.

To make matters worse I misread the question. Here is how it should have been layed out.

6 V A
Give reasons to the following sentences.
4.
Q:きのうクラスを休みました。
A:具合が悪かったから。

"mimasen" (not "mimasenn") does not mean "did not watch".

2.
Q:あの映画を見ません。
I have not watched that movie.

あれの教科書 is unnatural, and あの教科書 would be preferred.
Still, neither one means "my textbook", yes? (あの does not mean "my", right?)

I was trying to be cool and use おれ instead of わたし but failed...
俺の教科書。
僕の教科書。
私の教科書。

だから。being ungrammatical. I was trying to be cool and use だ instead of です。I think all these are ok.

具合が悪いから。
具合が悪いですから。
美味しいですから。
美味しいから。

Thanks for checking my work.

 

[Toritoribe]

It was the small ユ in コンピューター that had me wondering about the pronounciation.

That's an important point. You need to differentiate ヤユヨ and ャュョ strictly. びよういん and びょういん are completely different in meaning.

2.
Q:あの映画を見ません。
I have not watched that movie.

Your translation is still wrong. 見ません shows future tense, or the speaker's will "not to do".

I was trying to be cool and use おれ instead of わたし but failed...
俺の教科書。
僕の教科書。
私の教科書。

Keep in mind that 俺 could sound rude depending on the situation. I recommend using standard ones until you grasp the correct nuance of words.

だから。being ungrammatical. I was trying to be cool and use だ instead of です。I think all these are ok.

具合が悪いから。
具合が悪いですから。
美味しいですから。
美味しいから。

Yes, all correct.

怖い映画が大嫌いですかれ。

typo: 大嫌いですから.

６）
友達に教科書を借りました。アレの教科書を忘れましたから。
tomodachi ni kyoukasho wo karimashita. are no kyoukasho wo wasuremashitakara.
I borrowed my freinds notebook because I had lost mine.

教科書 is textbook, not notebook.
Speaking strictly, "I borrowed my friend's textbook" is 友達の教科書を借りました。. 友達に教科書を借りました。 is "I borrowed a textbook from my friend." Can you see the difference?

1. ti --> chi: plastic --> プラスチック purasuchikku

7. di --> ji: radio --> ラジオ rajio

These conversions do not always occur. There are other transliterations, for instance ティ for "ti" or ディ for "di". プラスティック is also common for "plastic", or "tea" and "tee (golf)" is always written as ティー, not チー. Similarly "disc" is ディスク, not ジスク.

 

[Buntaro]

SD,

You wrote,

It was the small ユ in コンピューター that had me wondering about the pronounciation.

Small ユ can be confusing to pronounce. ピュー is only one syllable (in the Japanese way of forming syllables) and is pronounced 'pyu-'. コンピューター (computer) has three syllables, com・pyu-・ta-.

---

Look at the following three examples. Note the large よ, small よ, and number of syllables. These are three different words:

きよし Kiyoshi (three syllables, ki・yo・shi) (common boy's first name) (also, first word in the Japanese version of the song Silent Night)

きょし kyoshi (two syllables, kyo・shi) 《invest》 a huge amount of capital for investment; 巨資

きょうし kyoushi (two syllables, kyou・shi) teacher; 教師

---

きょ is a 'short' syllable whereas きょう is a 'long' syllable. These are completely different syllables.

These rules are the same for small ya (や/ヤ), small yu (ゆ/ユ), and small yo (よ/ヨ). You must get to the point where you can distinguish these different forms quickly and easily.

----

Here are a few more tricky katakana, 'just for fun':

LARGE TSU, SMALL A USED TO MAKE TSA ツァ
モッツァレラ mottsarera mozzarella (cheese)


SMALL KE PRONOUNCED AS GA
かすみヶせき ("Kasumi ga seki") Kasumigaseki (neighborhood in Tokyo) 霞ヶ関
(I used to work in one of the tall skyscrapers in Kasumigaseki.)


WHITE HOUSE
ホワイト howaito white
ホワイト・ハウス howaito hausu The White House
("White House" is rendered into katakana as ホワイト・ハウス not ワイト・ハウス. I have no idea why…)

 

[seaDonkey]

Speaking strictly, "I borrowed my friend's textbook" is 友達の教科書を借りました。. 友達に教科書を借りました。 is "I borrowed a textbook from my friend." Can you see the difference?

I can. I must slow down, read, read again and visualise. I am aware that Japanese is not ambiguous and I must work hard to develop the abilty to properly translate.

Your translation is still wrong. 見ません shows future tense, or the speaker's will "not to do".

I have spent a few hours thinking on masu. I have included my workings out below, I hope I will not get caught out again by ます and ません .

Genki states: "action verbs", and the "present tense" ... (1) That a person habitually or regularly engages in these activities, or (2) that a person will, or is planning to, perform these activities in the future. (3) Translate 'present tense' Japanese into past tense English.

I had failed to grasp the meaning of ます and now need to find a translation for it. Not a translation but an intermediary step, a translation aid. A placeholder is needed for ます to help visualise the sentence before translation.

Impetus - something that makes a process or activity happen. Impetus comes from Latin, where it means "attack or assault" <-- cool.
Will ( as in will 'not to do') and desire were considered as placeholder words too

(2) that a person will, or is planning to, perform these activities in the future.
あの映画を見ます
I have the impetus to view that movie. -> I am going to watch that film.
あの映画を見ません
I lack the impetus to view that movie -> I am not going to watch that movie.

(1) That a person habitually or regularly engages in these activities,
私は映画を見ます。
I have the impetus to view movies. -> I watch films.
私は映画を見ません。
I lack the impetus to watch film -> I do not watch movies.


The examples for (1) would be better with frequency adverbs and perhaps as a response to a question. ぜんぜん/あまり are exeptions that requre 'have' instead of 'lack' for ません eg. "I never/rarely have the impetus to watch films". -> "I never/rarely have the desire to watch a film."



6 V B - Pair Work - ask each other why you think the following.
Example:
昼ご飯を食べません。
A：私は昼ご飯を食べません。
B：とうしてですか。
A：あまりお金がありませんから。Bさんは。
B：私も古ご飯を食べません。くらすがありますから。

A: I am going to skip lunch.
B: Why is that?
A: I do not have a lot of money. How about you?
B I am going to skip lunch too because I have a class.

 

[Buntaro]

SD,

You wrote:

"あの映画を見ません。"
"I have not watched that movie."

The translation into English is not correct. It should be, "I do not watch that movie." You are now entering into the realm of Present Perfect! Congratulations!

The English present perfect phrase "have not…" is ..shite imasen" in Japanese.

Here is the translation:

I have not watched that movie.
あの映画を見ていません。

This type of English sentence is usually expanded into a sentence that contains "not yet". The word for "not yet" in Japanese is "mada".

Now let's put the pieces together. In English we say "have not…yet". In Japanese we say, "mada…shiteimasen".

"Have not eaten yet" is "mada tabeteimasen".

"Have not watched that movie yet" is "ano eiga wa mada miteimasen".

CONFUSION WARNING

The sentence "I have not watched that movie." can also be translated into Japanese another way, because this sentence in English actually has two different meanings. Tricky, eh? Welcome to Present Perfect!

"SLANG" WARNING

You may come across this structure in manga where they say "tabetemasen" instead of "tabeteimasen", where an i is omitted. This structure is commonly used in conversational Japanese, but it is not used in polite, "good" Japanese.

-------------------

Now that you are all excited about present perfect, I want you to read my post, #6, in this thread:

Present, past form confusion?

Ok, a friend has just confused me. I wanted to say "I m studying Japanese", this is how she wrote it! "日本語を　べぬきょお　しています。" So how should I look at all these forms of します？ しました　＝　I have done (Past) します　＝　I'm doing (Present) して　います　＝　I'm currently doing (Continuous) するでしょう　＝　I'm going to do...

jref.com

Please focus on the part in the post that focuses on a train that is stopping, has stopped, etc. All of this relates directly to present perfect in English and Japanese. You should also read the next several posts in the thread, as Elizabeth et. all jump in, to give more ideas.

 

[seaDonkey]

The translation into English is not correct. It should be, "I do not watch that movie." You are now entering into the realm of Present Perfect! Congratulations!

I was so sure I was correct but I got it wrong again! A piece of the puzzle was missing it seems. I am happy to be studying the present perfect. Thank you Genki! and Jref Learning Japanese forum members for helping those who wish to study. I guess I can come back to Chapter 6->Practice->5B later. Re: Present, past form confusion? I read the whole thread and managed to understand 90%. Your post #6 is very informative. I will pay close attention to tense when translating and forming Japanese as I work my way through Chapter sevens exercises. Late evening study and Godan keyboard I will try to avoid from on. Windows IME is proper word processing

Chapter 7->Practice-> 1.
A: Look at the pictures and answer the questions.
Example
Q：メアリーさんは何をしていますか。
A：メアリーさんはテレビを見ています。
１）。。。本を読んでいます。hon o yonde imasu.
２）。。。泳いでいます。oyoite imasu.
３）。。。花を撮っています。hana o totte imasu.
４）。。。勉強しています。benkyoushite imasu.
５）。。。歌っています。utatte imasu.
６）。。。はなしてます。hanashite imasu.
７）。。。待っています。matte imasu.
８）。。。ゲームをしています。 geemu o shite imasu.
９）。。。テニスをしています。 tenisu o shite imasu.
１０）。。。お茶を飲んでいます。 ocha o nonde imasu.
１１）。。。電話をかけています。denwa o kakete imasu.

B: Pair work- What were you doing at the following times yesterday? Be as specific as possible (where, with whom and so on).
Example:
A：午後二時ごろ何をしていますか。
B：友たちと部屋で勉強しています。

１）A：午前六時。。。B：私の部屋で寝ています。
A: gozenrokuji... B: watashi no heya de nete imasu.
２）A：午前八時。。。B：朝ご飯を食べています。
a: gozenhachiji... B: asagohan o tabete imasu.
３）A：午前十時。。。B：私の家で勉強しています。
A: gozenjuuji... B: watashi no ie de benkyouushite imasu.
４）A：午後十二時半。。。B：昼ご飯を食べています。
A: gogojuunijihan... B: hirugohan o tabete imasu.
５）A：午後六じ。。。B：友たちとテニスをしています。
A: gogorokuji... B: tomodachi to tenisu wo shite imasu.
６）A：午後八時。。。B：加速トプ部にベールを飲んています。
A: gogohachiji... B: kazoku to pubu ni beeru wo nonde imasu.
７）A：午後十一時。。。B：ベッドで休んでいます。
A: gogojuuichiji... B: beddo de yasunde imasu.

Chapter 7->Practice-> 2(II)

Father, lives in N.Y, works for an american company, 48 years old.
Mother ,...., hign school techer, 45 years old.
Sister, lives in Seoul, Works for a bank; married, 27 years old.
Brother, lives in London, student: not married, 18 years old.
A:
Example
Q：お父さんはどこに住んでいますか。
A：お父さんはニューヨークにすんでいます。

１）お姉さんはソウルに住んでいます。
oneesann wa Seoul ni sunde imasu.

２）いいえ、弟さんはロンドンに住んでいます。
iie, otoutosan wa london ni sunde imasu.

３）お母さんは高校の先生です。
3 caught me out by not having a います ending. I cheated and listened to the mp3 audio answers.
Q：お母さんは何をしていますか。
okaasan wa koukou no sensei desu.

４）お姉さんは銀行が働いています。
Tenjin dictionary gave me the verb for work and I might not have guessed ga.
oneesan wa ginkou ga hataraite imasu.

 

[Toritoribe]

Chapter 7->Practice-> 1.
A: Look at the pictures and answer the questions.
Example
Q：メアリーさんは何をしていますか。
A：メアリーさんはテレビを見ています。
１）。。。本を読んでいます。hon o yonde imasu.
２）。。。泳いでいます。oyoite imasu.
３）。。。花を撮っています。hana o totte imasu.
４）。。。勉強しています。benkyoushite imasu.
５）。。。歌っています。utatte imasu.
６）。。。はなしてます。hanashite imasu.
７）。。。待っています。matte imasu.
８）。。。ゲームをしています。 geemu o shite imasu.
９）。。。テニスをしています。 tenisu o shite imasu.
１０）。。。お茶を飲んでいます。 ocha o nonde imasu.
１１）。。。電話をかけています。denwa o kakete imasu.

just only two simple typos
2. 泳いでいます。oyoide imasu.
6. はなしています。hanashite imasu.
(はなしてます is correct as a casual form, as mentioned above, though.)

The rest are OK.

B: Pair work- What were you doing at the following times yesterday? Be as specific as possible (where, with whom and so on).
Example:
A：午後二時ごろ何をしていますか。
B：友たちと部屋で勉強しています。

１）A：午前六時。。。B：私の部屋で寝ています。
A: gozenrokuji... B: watashi no heya de nete imasu.
２）A：午前八時。。。B：朝ご飯を食べています。
a: gozenhachiji... B: asagohan o tabete imasu.
３）A：午前十時。。。B：私の家で勉強しています。
A: gozenjuuji... B: watashi no ie de benkyouushite imasu.
４）A：午後十二時半。。。B：昼ご飯を食べています。
A: gogojuunijihan... B: hirugohan o tabete imasu.
５）A：午後六じ。。。B：友たちとテニスをしています。
A: gogorokuji... B: tomodachi to tenisu wo shite imasu.
６）A：午後八時。。。B：加速トプ部にベールを飲んています。
A: gogohachiji... B: kazoku to pubu ni beeru wo nonde imasu.
７）A：午後十一時。。。B：ベッドで休んでいます。
A: gogojuuichiji... B: beddo de yasunde imasu.

Notice that the question is "What were you doing at the following times yesterday?" and the given example in Genki is actually
A：午後二時ごろ何をしていましたか。
B：友たちと部屋で勉強していました。.
Try again. (Incidentally, in #6, "kazoku" is 家族（かぞく）, not 加速（かそく）, and "beer" is ビール, not ベール. What do you mean by "pubu", by the way?)

３）お母さんは高校の先生です。
3 caught me out by not having a います ending. I cheated and listened to the mp3 audio answers.
Q：お母さんは何をしていますか。
okaasan wa koukou no sensei desu.

Notice that 高校の先生 is a noun, whereas います is attached to the -te form of verbs in other examples. The sentence constructions are different.

４）お姉さんは銀行が働いています。
Tenjin dictionary gave me the verb for work and I might not have guessed ga.
oneesan wa ginkou ga hataraite imasu.

Why did you choose が? What do you think the function of が is?

 

[Buntaro]

お姉さんは銀行が働いています。

SD,

I, too, am puzzled by your use of が in the sentence お姉さんは銀行が働いています. Are you trying to use が to modify 行が? Are you trying to construct a dependent clause with 働 as the relative pronoun? Let's use the "as for" technique to translate your sentence:

"As for my sister, the bank has steady employment."

Or should we just assume the obvious, that you meant to say, ""銀行で "at a bank". meaning "銀行で働いています" "working at a bank".

 

[seaDonkey]

SD,

I, too, am puzzled by your use of が in the sentence お姉さんは銀行が働いています. Are you trying to use が to modify 行が? Are you trying to construct a dependent clause with 働 as the relative pronoun? Let's use the "as for" technique to translate your sentence:

"As for my sister, the bank has steady employment."

Or should we just assume the obvious, that you meant to say, ""銀行で "at a bank". meaning "銀行で働いています" "working at a bank".

I had a case of crossed wires and で became が. I hope this sort of mistake will not happen again.

Notice that the question is "What were you doing at the following times yesterday?" and the given example in Genki is actually
A：午後二時ごろ何をしていましたか。
B：友たちと部屋で勉強していました。.
Try again. (Incidentally, in #6, "kazoku" is 家族（かぞく）, not 加速（かそく）, and "beer" is ビール, not ベール. What do you mean by "pubu", by the way?)

Pub is an abbreviation of public house. I apologise for using an obscure loanword. A public house consists of a bar and seating area, serves food and drink and can double as a hotel. Re: Chapter 7->Practice-> 1->B I will try again. Alongside my answers I will give a kana only version (instead of romanji ) to serve as furigana.

１）Q：午前六時ごろ何をしていましたか。
A：午前六時、寝ていました。
／ごぜんろくじ、ねていました。
２）Q：午前八時ごろ何をしていましたか。
A：朝ご飯を食べていました。
／あさごはん を たべていました。
３）Q：午前十時ごろ何をしていましたか。
A：顧客の家で働いてました。
／こきゃく(customer) の いえ で はたらいていました。(work)
４）Q：午後十二時半ごろ何をしていましたか。
A：昼ご飯を食べていました。
／ひるごはんをたべていいました。
５）Q：午後六時何をしていましたか。
A：晩ご飯を食べていました。
／ばんごはん を たべていました。
６）Q：午後八時何をしていましたか。
A：家族と家で映画を見ていました。
／かぞく と いえ で えいが を みていました。
７）Q：午後十一時何をしていましたか。
A：ベッドで休んでいました。
／ ベッド でやすんでいました。

7->2(II)->A

Father, lives in N.Y, works for an american company, 48 years old.
Mother ,...., hign school techer, 45 years old.
Sister, lives in Seoul, Works for a bank; married, 27 years old.
Brother, lives in London, student: not married, 18 years old.

４）お姉さんは銀行で働いています。
Should this be お姉さんは銀行に勤めています。？
おんえさん は ぎんこう で はたらいていますか。
５）お姉さんは結婚しています。
おんえさん は けっこんして います。
6）弟さんは結婚していません。
おとうとさん は けっこんして いません。
７）お父さんは四十八歳です。
おとうさん は よんじゅうはちさい です。
8）弟さんは十八歳です。
おとうと は じゅうはちさい です。
9）Q：お父さんは日本の会社に勤めていますか。
Is your Father currently working for a Japanese company?
I would have expected で not に. Is the meaning 'serving toward a Japanese company'?
A：いいえ、アメリカの会社です。
／いいえ、アメリカ の かいしゃです。

Apologies for some of my more careless errors and thank you for your patience.

 

[bentenmusume]

I had a case of crossed wires and で became が. I hope this sort of mistake will not happen again.

Understandable. Anyway, で is indeed correct.

Pub is an abbreviation of public house. I apologise for using an obscure loanword. A public house consists of a bar and seating area, serves food and drink and can double as a hotel.

"Pub" exists as a loanword in Japanese, but it is パブ, not プブ. Loanwords are (more often than not, though I won't say "always") based on pronunciation. プブ sounds like the Japanese equivalent of "poob", which isn't a word.

ベッドで休んでいました。

If you mean "resting (i.e. taking a break)" (but not yet sleeping), this is fine. If you mean "sleeping", 寝ていました is preferred.

銀行で働いています。
Should this be お姉さんは銀行に勤めています。？

Both Xで働く and Xに勤める are fine. The fact that these two (similar in terms of English glosses) verbs take different particles is honestly something that isn't worth obsessing over too much, and probably just worth memorizing. If you need some sort of logic to help rationalize it to yourself, you can think of it as 働く referring to all the daily actions you perform as part of a job (hence で, marking location of an action, attaching to the company), where are 勤める refers to being a position of employment.

A similar example is Xに住んでいる versus Xで暮らしている. The former focuses more on the location where you exist (because you live there), hence taking に like いる, whereas the latter's focus is on the place where you perform daily activities of life, hence で.

Is your Father currently working for a Japanese company?
I would have expected で not に. Is the meaning 'serving toward a Japanese company'?

See the above explanation re: different particle use between 働く／勤める and クラス／住む. Thinking of it as "serving towards" is a bit unnatural and not particularly accurate. Again, the difference is more on whether it's focusing on the actions/work you perform there or your "existence" as a member of the company.

 

[Buntaro]

SD,

I have been thinking about these two examples:

(1) 会社に働く
(2) 会社で働く

Apparently, 会社に働く is the correct form. Quite frankly, I am perplexed at this just as you are. I thought I'd compare this to some English examples.

(3) work in a company
(4) work at a company

Examples (3) and (4) are both correct and have different meanings, but (4) is the widely used form. "Work at a company" seems to refer to comings and goings as part of a person's job, whereas "work in a company" does not (with all the work being done inside that building).

Another example:

(5) have lunch in the cafeteria
(6) have lunch at a restaurant

Once again, the two examples are correct and have different meanings.

I wonder if these types of ambiguity are what have us say 会社に働く in Japanese.

 

[Toritoribe]

Apparently, 会社に働く is the correct form.

Actually, 会社で働く is correct, as jt_san already explained.

In addition to jt_-san's explanation, "location で働く" (e.g. 東京で働いている) also works fine other than "companyで働く" since で indicates the location of action, whereas "location に勤める" is invalid. I recommend remembering particles and verbs as a set, like で働く, に勤める, で暮らす and に住む.

Pub is an abbreviation of public house. I apologise for using an obscure loanword.

You can also check loanwords in dictionaries, instead of transliterating foreign words by yourself, which quite often doesn't make sense as you can see so far.

goo

NTTドコモが運営するポータルサイト「goo」。今話題のニュースやドコモのキャンペーン、サービス紹介などお役立ちコンテンツを展開しています。

dictionary.goo.ne.jp

goo

NTTドコモが運営するポータルサイト「goo」。今話題のニュースやドコモのキャンペーン、サービス紹介などお役立ちコンテンツを展開しています。

dictionary.goo.ne.jp

３）Q：午前十時ごろ何をしていましたか。
A：顧客の家で働いてました。
／こきゃく(customer) の いえ で はたらいていました。(work)

Not wrong, but お客さんの家 is more appropriate.

４）お姉さんは銀行で働いています。
Should this be お姉さんは銀行に勤めています。？
おんえさん は ぎんこう で はたらいていますか。
５）お姉さんは結婚しています。
おんえさん は けっこんして います。

typos: お姉さん is おねえさん, not おんえさん.