JPNLessonsOsaka Blog

大阪の緊急事態宣言きんきゅうじたいせんげんが９月３０日まで延長えんちょうになるそうです。

もうコロナにはうんざりです。　

The word “unzari” means fed up with or sick and tired of something.

I have been hearing this word often during the pandemic.

Normaly うんざり sounds very strong, but it has been more than a year , so may be we can’t help using “unzari” these days.

「うんざり」はもう我慢がまんできないくらい嫌な気持ちのときに使います。同じことばかりでもう飽あきたなぁ、本当にがっかりしたなぁというときに使います。

例：毎日暗いニュースばかりでうんざりしている。

　　暗いニュースにはもううんざり！

「と」も「や」も英語えいごの「and」みたいに使うつかことができます。名詞めいしと名詞をつなぐときに使います。

①テーブルの上うえにりんごとみかんがあります。

②テーブルの上にりんごやみかんがあります。

Both と (to) and や ( ya ) connect nouns the way ” and ” in English does. Using と is for a list of all items, while や is for a sample of representative items. ” There are noun1 ‘ ya ‘ noun2 ” means “there are noun1, noun2, and other things.”

③テーブルの上にりんごやみかんなどがあります。

Sometimes you can add など ( nado ) after the last noun. など ( nado ) means etc., so you can emphasize that there are more items.

There are many textbooks for JLPT N2 and N1.

New Kanzen Master is one of the popular series. 

JLPTのテキストで「新完全マスター」シリーズは人気がありますね。

I have been using this series quite often, especially with my students who like studying Japanese in depth.

Since the explanations are all in Japanese, they require a lot of patience and time.

文法の説明は全て日本語で書かれているのでかなり大変ですが、この説明で理解できればかなりのレベルアップになると思います。

I wouldn’t recommend them for people who found N3 or N2 a struggle, but if you enjoy learning grammatical structures, they are very useful.

特に細かい文法を学ぶのが好きな学習者の方ならこのシリーズはおすすめです。N3やN2にギリギリ合格した、という場合はちょっと難しいかもしれません。

It is very important to understand Japanese grammar points as expressed in Japanese.

With only the English explanations, it is difficult to understand the different nuances between similar grammar points.

細かい表現のちがいは英語には訳せないものが多く、日本語で理解することが必要です。JLPTを受けないという人でも、日本語で小説を読みたい、など特に書き言葉を学ぶにはいいかなと思います。

If you don’t have enough time to prepare for the JLPT, or you have a different learning style, I can recommend different textbooks.

Watch this space.

The Japanese language is not so strict about pluralization as English is.

Normally the word ねこ which means cat , can be a cat, some cats or cats in general. There are some specific words and suffixes to pluralize nouns, but when you are a beginner please don’t worry too much about whether they are singular or plural.

ねこが好きすです。　 I like cats ( in general )

あそこにねこがいます。can be “there is a cat over there” or “there are some cats over there”.

友だちと学校へ行きます。　can be ” I go to school with my friend ” or ” I go to school with my friends.”

There has been alot of rain this year.

今年は雨が多いですね。

↓あめのことばです。

雨（あめ）rain

梅雨(つゆ）rainy season 雨期（うき）rainy season

つゆ is the word for rainy season in Japan. We have another word  for the rainy season. It is うき which means “rainy period” . Japanese うき is つゆ so we use つゆ when we talk about Japanese rainy season. 

大雨(おおあめ) →heavy rain

小雨(こさめ)→light rain

霧雨(きりさめ) →drizzle

どしゃ降り(どしゃぶり) →downpour ,heavy rain

洪水(こうずい) →flood　

土砂崩れ(どしゃくずれ) →landslide

注意報(ちゅういほう）→advisory/watch 洪水注意報(こうずいちゅういほう)→flood advisory

警報(けいほう) →warning/alert　洪水警報（こうずいけいほう）→ flood warning

ふります is the verb means “fall “for rain.

やみます is the verb means “stop” for rain.

雨あめがふります。/雨あめがやみます。

“Yo” indicates mild emphasis when the speaker is very sure of what she or he is saying.

このクッキーとてもおいしいですよ。

This cookie is delicious. ( so I recommend this cookie. )

It is often used to convey informarion which the listener doesn’t know.

パーティは何時なんじからですか。→　３時からですよ。

What time does the party start? → It starts at 3:00.　

You can use “yo” to get someone’s attention.

晩ばんごはんですよ！　 Dinner’s ready!!

“Yo” can also be used when the speaker is making a judgment, so be careful not to put too much stress on it, and do not overuse it; otherwise you might sound aggressive.