How to say, "I Think So..." in Japanese

A Lesson in Basic Japanese Grammar

To say the English phrase, I THINK SO in Japanese, you would say

SOU DA TO OMOIMASU そうだと思います.

To say you think or believe something in Japanese the following grammar can be used for plug and play style sentence construction for Japanese phrases “ I think that …P.F.”

P.F. + TO OMOIMASU と 思います

P.F. or plain form can be any verb, or adjective in plain dictionary form with an ai あい,iiいい, ui う,いeiえい,oiおい ending; what is known as Base III or Plain form of a verb.

“TO” OMOIMASU と 思います - “TO” と(Pronounced like toe or tow) acts as a “”quotation device for the Japanese verb OMOU 思う. It quotes whatever comes before the “TO”, so that a Japanese sentence like iku to omoimasu 行くと 思います,would translate into I think “He is going” or I think “He is going to go”. In a similar fashion this “TO” quotation marker is used in phrases to say, as in iku to iu 行くと言う- He says, “He is going”. The only difference between iku and iu, a difference of to go and to say, the quotation marker TO stays the same.

P.F. + TO IU と言う- It is said that… or They say that…etc.

“TO” とbecomes “TTE” って, and dewa nai では ないbecomes ja nai じゃ ない in colloquial Japanese

OMOU思う - v. to think (of, about).

IU 言う - v. to say

OMOU 思う and IU言う are definitely two Japanese verbs that you will want to remember when studying Japanese. Even without purposefully seeking to understand the meaning of the words, OMOU思うor IU言う , you will eventually run into their utility. They are smack dab in the center of Japanese conversation a whole lot of the time. So take special care to notice how these two Japanese words are used. These are two words not to exclude in your studies. It is the word for what you believe in sometimes. It is the word for what you feel sometimes. In English, we may say I feel such and such a way, or I believe in this and that a way; In Japanese the verb OMOU 思うand IU言うhelp us express these things. These two Japanese verbs cover a lot of ground for their size.

OMOIMASU思います is polite form of OMOU思うin Base II + Masu ます

IIMASU 言いますis polite form of IU言う in base II + Masu ます

Examples:

1.Kirei da to omoimasu. きれいだと思います - “I think it is pretty.”

1a. Kirei da to iimasu きれいだと言います - “He says she is pretty”, or “They say it is pretty”

2.chigau to omoimasu. 違うとおもいます- “I think it is different.”, or “ I beg to differ”; more literally “I think that it may differ.”

2a.Chigau to iimasu 違うと言います - “They say it is different.”

3.muzukashii to omou*. 難しいと思う- “I think it is difficult “

3a.muzukashii to iu 難しいと言う- “They say it is hard. “

4.sugoi to omou! 凄いと思う! - “I think that is great!”

4a. sugoi to iu 凄いと言う- “They say it is great!”

5.O kotowari suru to omoimasu. お断りするとおもいます- “I think that I will humbly bow out of this one”, or “I think I pass on this one”, or “ I think I'll humbly reject this”.

5a.O kotowari suru to iu お断りすると言う- “He'll say no!”

•The Japanese verbs OMOU思うand IU言う, in dictionary form, are not as polite as the verb Base II + Masu construction. Always keep your language in crispy polite shape by using Base II + Masu construction.

Another use of OMOU 思うcomes in the form of suspicion. DEWA NAI KA TO OMOUではないかと思う- means to suspect that something is true, or more literally “I think it might not be…or that it isn't.”

Examples:

1.Okii dewa nai ka to omotta 大きいではないかと思った- I thought it was big, or I suspected that it might have been big.

2.Iku no dewa nai ka to omoimasu 行くのではないか と思います- I didn't think he was going to go, or I suspect he is probably going.

Good luck making new sentences with this Japanese Grammar Lesson

As Always,

Ganbatte Ne!

Do Your Best!

Makurasuki.

TransPacific flight katakana and Japanese foreign writing systems, just kidding

To survive Japan on short notice, it will be helpful to know one of the three Japanese writing systems used in their shared communications. The third system of Japan's attempt to facilitate a writing system. It is called katakana and is used for any foreign words or any ultra modern or new words. It is to be distinguished from the other writing system, or hiragana which is used the learning tool for kanji, Japans words that are transmutable between two languages as vast apart as English and Japanese.Everyday business names especially the big car manufactures like Daihatsu, Mitsubishi, Toyota can be written in katakana, and they are more common than other types of words. Anything foreign is written in katakana. Even the word for bread, which the Japanese borrowed from the Portuguese, pan, is written in katakana. That is everything which is foreign from traditional Japanese, occurring. The giant advertisements on billboards throughout the USA and Japan seem to ride on the same trans-pacific airway. Any place you would suspect or can actual see a product that looks like it then those are the first places you will be seeing the script--o-moji.

To survive Japan on short notice, it will be helpful to know one of the three Japanese writing systems used in their shared communications. The third system of Japan's attempt to faciltate a writiing system. It is called katakana and is used for any foreign words or any ultra modern or new words. It is to be distinguished from the other writing system, or hiragana which is used the learning tool for kanji, Japans words that are transliquable between two languages as vast apart as English and Japanese.Everyday business names especially the big car manufactures like Daihatsu, Mitsubishi, Toyota can be written in katakana, and they are more common than other types of words. Anything foreign is written in katakana. Even the word for bread, which the Japanese borrowed from the portuguese, pan, is written in katakana. That is everything which is foreign from traditional Japanese, occurring. The giant advertisements on billboards throughout the USA and Japan seem to ride on the same trans-pacific airway. Any place you would suspect or can actual see a product that looks like it then those are the first places you will be seeing the script--o-moji.

Japanese Grammar Te oku

Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar or JPPGG©
Lesson #101: Verb (base TE) + Oku – To verb for later
By Makurasuki Sensei, Brett McCluskey

When translating from Japanese to English, whether text or spoken conversation, there are times when it is quite impossible to extract an exact equivalent or expression having the same meaning in both languages. Today’s lesson is will focus on one such grammar principle. This particular bunpo will take a little more time for westerners to absorb than some of the easier Japanese grammar.

Today’s bunpo uses the verb oku. Knowing the meaning of this verb and how it is used by itself will help in understanding the meanings of the sentences and phrases we can make with today’s grammar construction, however as I have said before this particular grammar has nuances and meaning which cannot be expressed with an exact equivalent. As Always, Do Your Best. Ganbatte Ne!

Verb (base TE) + Oku - To verb for later

Oku means to put, place; lay down, leave (it as it is), or the biggie in relation to how we will use it in today’s bunpo is to pawn. Oku, the verb, in and of itself, is easy to understand. For example, to say,

“I will place the cup on the table” you could say, “Te^buru no ue ni kappu o oku”, or “Te^buru no ue ni kappu o okimasu.” Polite version

Here is another example of using oku the verb.

“Please put it over there.” or, “Asoko ni oite* kudasai”.

*If you need a refresher of how to put verbs into base TE, please see. http://ezinearticles.com/?Learn-Japanese-Grammar-To-The-Tune-Of-Silver-Bells&id=493900. In general the verb oku means to place an object somewhere or to put something in its place, or spot etc. However, when sentences are constructed using the verb (base TE) + oku bunpo, the meanings of the possible sentences are not so easily derived. When a verb is put into base TE followed by oku the meaning extract to pawn. Let us go over in our minds how we ue the word pawn in English. We pawn jewelry at the pawn shop etc. People use other people as pawns in their grand scheme. Pawning means in the base Te + oku sense to give something to someone to hold as a sort of ransom for return later on. I hope you get my drift, or wakaru? (See http://squidoo.com/japponics/

Ex. 1. Sara o aratte okimasu – (I, he, she, it etc.) will do the dishes (so that I will have clean ones to use later on) for later.

Ex. 2. Te^buru no ue ni kappu o oite okimasu – I’ll set the cup on the table for later (just in case). This uses the verb oku inside of the verb (base TE) + oku bunpo. Yes lot’s of interesting ways to use this bunpo. Oku in base TE is oite + oku = oite okimasu

Ex. 3. Azukatte okimasho^ ka? Shall I hold this for you for later? Shall I take this in my care and hold it for you until you come back?

Ex. 4 Shitokan to akan yo! *see http://squidoo.com/ghettogrammar/ – You better frikkin' do this or things ain’t going to be good later on! This is an abbreviated version of what should be shite okanai to ikemasen in Hakata Dialect, but is often heard in that region.

Japanese Grammar 101 again

GhettoGrammar Lesson #100 - Have you ever ... verbed... (before)?
The koto ga aru construction will be useful in many different situations where you may want to strike up a conversation with someone. Through this construction you will be able to ask questions like, "Have you ever been to Hokkaido", or "Have you ever snowboarded, windsurfed, hang glided, sky jumped, base jumped, bungie jumped, eaten a rhubarb pie or seen a bear in the woods?"
In different scenarios. a very useful grammar construction that I find myself using quite a lot. This bunpo will come in handy in your daily Japanese conversations.
The construction is as follows:
Verb (Base TA) Koto ga arimasu ka? Have you ever ...verbed...?
Put the verb in your question into base TA then add koto ga aru where aru can assume various levels of politeness. I think it will be better understand through examples so here goes.
ex.1 Have you ever been to Disneyland? Dizunirando ni itta koto ga arimasu ka?
The verb in example 1 is iku - to go. Put into base TA iku becomes itta. Add koto ga aru where aru has been changed to it's more polite form arimasu and presto instant have you ever verbed.
ex. 2. Have you ever drank sake before? Sake o nonda koto ga arimasu ka?
notice that in this grammatical construction the verb is always in past tense, so in the first example we have to go in past tense or its equivalent been while in example 2. we have drink in its past tense of drank followed by the addition of koto ga aru which literally means to have such a thing of...etc
If you need to reply to such a question as, "Have you ever drank sake before?" with a negative response simply change aru to its present negative form either in plain form or in any of its levels of politeness ever gozaru. So that one response to example 2. could be Iie, sake o nonda koto ga arimasen, or, No, I have never taken a drink of sake before.
Possible responses to example 1.
a. Dizunirando ni itta koto ga arimasu (I have been to Disneyland before) or
b. Dizunirando ni itta koto ga arimasen. (I haven't been to Dinsneyland Before)
As always, Do Your Best! Ganbatte Ne!
Makurasuki Sensei and the Jappermon Grammatical Society Unorthodox Civilians for Careful Considerate obvservation of Japanese language learning

Japanese Vocabulary

Japanese Vocabulary Blaster #25
15 Words Every 2 Days.
Learn, Memorize, Study, Ponder
Rinse, Get Quizzed, Repeat
Now Blast!

1. boeki - trade
2. teian - suggestion
3. teian suru – to suggest
4. kemushi - caterpillar
5. kitai hazure – let down
6. kigen ga kireru – time limit, expiration date
7. kyo^ryo^ku suru – to cooperate
8. doryo^ku suru – to try
9. giri no oto^san* – father-in-law
10. nokogiri – a saw
11. jika – ear doctor
12. jibika – ear and throat doctor
13.songai - damage
14. tsune = itsumo, usually, always, commonly
15. noritsu - efficicient




As Always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki Sensei

*To see the list of the last 15 words you should have already memorized go to
Japanese Vocabulary 24 or go on to memorize your next 15 here at

Japanese Vocabulary 26

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