LESSON 17

TODAY'S TOPIC: Kawai~ ne!!
" Cute!"

Welcome back to Reiko-chan's Japanese for Anime Lovers fifth week's lessons. This week I will introduce you several adjectives you will hear often in Anime. But first, let me explain some of the basic grammatical rules.

1. Basic Japanese structure is SUBJECT - OBJECT - VERBAL.
Therefore, English sentences such as "Mokona is cute" appear in Japanese as "Mokona cute is."
2. Pronouns are less often used in Japanese compared to English.
Pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, etc.) are very often omitted when understood in the context. Also, other than pronouns, items known in the context are simply omitted. That is why you seldom hear complete sentences in Anime. For example, when I introduce myself, I would just say "Reiko desu" instead of "Watashi wa Reiko desu" as far as there is no need to emphasize "watashi." Also, when everybody is talking about Mokona, and you want to say "Mokona is cute," just say "cute is" or "cute" omitting known part "Mokona." We don't want to repeat known words, even pronouns, in Japanese.
3. Grammatical function is determined by particles.
In English, subject, objects, location etc. are determined by word position or prepositions such as in, at, on, and so on. In Japanese, we put particles (such as "wa" "ga" and so on) after words to indicate the functions of words.

Understand? Good, now let's begin today's lesson. First listen to Hikaru, please.

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Kawai~ ne!
(You are) cute.
The first adjective I want you to know is kawai~. Kawai~ means cute, charming, lovely, tiny and so on depending on the context. Ne is an ending particle (tag question maker, sometimes used just for emphasis, meaning "isn't it," "aren't you," "don't you think so?" and so on. Do you remember?) This is the sentence Hikaru said to Mokona when she first met it. As I explained above, the subject is known, thus, omitted here. The complete sentence should be "Mokona (or Anata) wa kawaii (desu) ne."

NOTE: In Japanese "Mokona is (or You are) cute" appears as "Mokona (Anata) wa kawaii desu." (Mokona cute is) "Wa" functions as the topic marker. Thus, strictly speaking, "Mokona wa kawaii desu" should be translated as "As for mokona, (it is) cute." (Note: Mokona is not a subject, but a topic of the sentence.)

Now, you can create many sentences by just changing "Mokona" and "Kawaii" parts to something else.

Next, listen to Fuu, please.

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Hikaru-san te Yasashi~ desu ne.
Hikaru, you are kind.
Don't worry about "te" here, it just emphasizes "Hikaru." Yasashi~ is the adjective I want you to know. It means, kind (person), gentle (wind), sweet (person), tender (to your stomach), easy (test) and so on depending on the context.

How about this?

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Oishi~!
Delicious!
As always, subject is omitted here because it is known in the context (in this case, a candy Hikaru gave her). This is a very important word, you know? It also means "tasty" "nice" "savory" and so on. Listen carefully to Precea and repeat after her for practice.

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Kuyashi~!
How disappointing!
Kuyashi~ means "vexatious" "vexing" "mortifying" "regrettable" and so on. You can use it when you lose a game in which you expect a triumph and so on.

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Hidoi,,,
Terrible,,, (It's) cruel,,,
Hidoi can mean "cruel" "harsh" "hard" "rough" "inhuman" "merciless" "outrageous" "unjust" "unfair" and so on. You can use it when you feel something is really bad, such as when someone tells you something very bad, your boss gives you more work than you can handle, or your share of delicious cake is smaller than your sister's, etc. Here, Hikaru said this sentence when she saw animals being killed mercilessly. Depending on the context and the way you say, the meaning of hidoi changes.

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Ko, konna, konna hidoi koto wo,,,
H, horrible thing like this,,,
Since Hidoi is an adjective, you can use it to modify nouns. Here, koto means "thing" and "konna" means "like this." Thus, this sentence means "Terrible (whatever ^_^) thing like this,,," (Note: Right now, forget about "wo" part. It is one of the Japanese particles put after a direct object. In this sentence, subject and verb are omitted. )

Now, try this. I think you will understand the meaning.

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Kawai~ Atorante wo
(my) Dear Atlante wo
Same as above, Kawai~ is used to modify Ascot's monster Atlante, who is dear (not cute, I guess) to him (As you may know, Ascot is a monster lover). Don't worry about "wo" right now.

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Urusai!
Shut up!
Literally, urusai means "noisy" "annoying" "bothering" "pesky" "irksome" and so on. But if you shout ususai! it means "Be quiet!" or "Shut up!" Oh, also, you can ask flies and mosquitos to go away by saying "Urusai (annoying)," but I know they won't go away.

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Ita,,,
(It) hurts.
Itai is the adjective I want you to know here, which means "painful" "hard to bear" "sore" and so on. In Anime, you will hear this often when characters get hurt. Ita is more colloquial than itai. (you may hear "tsu" sound whispered between"i" and "ta." It often happens when you scream or shout in Japanese.)

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Yowai na~, one~chan-tachi!
(You are) week, Magic Knights!
As you already know "na" is an ending particle that is used for emphasis purpose. Yowai means "weak" "feeble" "fragil" and so on. Ascot said this when he saw Magic Knights beaten by his monsters very easily. The opposite of yowai is tsuyoi. Please listen to me and practice following complete sentence (I mean, there is no omission in the sentence, it even has an ending particle).
Note: One~chan (colloquial) literally means "elder sister" and tachi is a plural maker. This word is also used when you refer to girl(s) who are (is) older (usually,,,) than you are. Here, Ascot meant Magic Knights.

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Anata wa tsuyoi hito desu ne.
You are a strong person, aren't you.
Hito means a person, in this context.

Well, I guess that's enough for today. One more note though, you may have noticed, but all the adjectives I introduced you today end with "i" sound. That is why they are called i-adjective. (Another type of adjective being na-adjective, which I will explain in Lesson 19) You already know "sugoi" "abunai," and "(kakko) i~," right? They are i-adjectives, too. Tomorrow, let's learn some more i-adjectives. Ganbatte ne!

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Today, let learn some more i-adjectives, and also their past and negative forms. Don't say "(Reiko wa) hidoi!" OK? Reiko wa yasashi~ (sweet person) and these rules are yasashi~ (easy), too!

First, let me introduce you some more i-adjectives. As usual, repeat after characters and practice, please?

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Osoroshi~ mamono
Dreadful monster(s)
Osoroshi~ means "terrible" fearful" "fearsome" "dreadful" "horrible" "frightful" "awful" (such as ghosts, killers, world without Anime, etc.) and so on. Mamono (I hope you remember this word) is a monster or monsters.

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Okashi~ desu wa, Umi-san.
(It is) strange, Umi-san.
Fuu said this to Umi when Hikaru didn't come back from morning walk by breakfast. She thought it was unusual of Hikaru who loves food and suspected something happened to her. Okashi~ means "strange" "unusual" "odd" and so on in this context but it can mean "funny" "improper" or "suspisious" depending on the context.

Note, polite Fuu uses desu at the end. (also ending particle "wa") Okashi~ hito can mean "funny person" (say it with smile) as well as "strange person" (say it with a frowing). Be sure to pronounce "i~" correctly. If you say "okashi," it means "snack" such as candy bars.

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Samishi~ daro?
I will miss you, you know?
Samishi~ (or sabishii) means "lonely" "cheerless" "solitary" and so on. In Japanese, "I will miss you" appears as "I (will be) lonely." Daro at the end means "you know" in this context. This is what Ferrio told Fuu when he had to leave her. (Kyaaaa! kakko i~!)

Note: There is no future tense in Japanese. So, you don't need to worry about "will" "will be" and so on.

All right! Are you ready for PAST tense?
First, let's listen to Fuu-chan.

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Totemo kanashi katta.
(I felt) very sad.
Totemo means "very" and kanashi~ means "sad" "unhappy" "sorrowful" etc. Therefore, totemo kanashi~ means very sad. (in the same way, you can say things like totemo kakkoi~, totemo kawai~, and so on) In Japanese, "I felt sad" appears as "I was sad" thus complete sentence should be "watashi wa totemo kanashi katta desu."

Here is the conjugation rule. When you want a past tense, change the ending "i" (~ part) to "katta." You can think "katta" as the past tense maker for i-adjective. In sentences that have i-adjectives, you don't need to worry about changing be-verb into past tense like you do in English. Therefore,
Non-past Polite: Watashi wa kanashi~ desu. (I feel sad)
Non-past Plain: Watashi wa kanashi~. (I feel sad)
Past Polite: Watashi wa kanashi-katta desu. (I felt sad)
Past Plain: Watashi wa kanashi-katta. (I felt sad)
(Note: There is no future tense in Japanese, thus I used "non-past," here.)

Understand? Good. Sasuga! Now, how about negative?
Listen to Ferio now.

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Che, Kawaiku ne~ no!
Damn, (you are) not cute!
Che is like "damn" in English. "No" at the end is an ending particle as you may remember (?). Ferio said this to mean that Fuu's personality is not cute sometimes (not her face!) because he wanted her to be dependent on him sometimes, but Fu is strong and independent, you know. The important part here is Kawaiku ne~ which means "not cute." This is very colloquial and masculine style. If you want to be polite, say like me. Or you can add "desu" to be polite.

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Kawaiku nai.

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Kowa-ku-nai ya!
I am not afraid.
Kowai is almost the same as osoroshi~. But it also means "be afraid" "be scared." Listen carefully, especially ku-nai part, and repeat after him, please?
Note: "Ya" at the end is an ending particle used for emphasis, like "yo" "wa" etc. It is not used so frequently, though. By using this particle, Ascot sounds kawai~ (cute). He said "kowakunai ya" but actually he is very afraid.

Here is the rule:
When you want a negative sentence, change ending "i" to "ku" and add "nai." ("Nai" has "n" sound as in "no" and "not," so maybe easy to remember?) Therefore,
Non-past Polite: Watashi wa kawai~ desu. (I am cute.)
Non-past Plain: Watashi wa kawai~. (I am cute.)
Non-past Negative Polite: Watashiwa kawai-ku-nai-desu. (I am not cute)
Non-past Negative Plain: Watashi wa kawai-ku-nai. (I am not cute)

For past negative form, things are more complicated.
First listen to me, please. Here I used a new i-adjective ureshi~ that means "glad" "happy" and so on.

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Ureshi~, Ureshiku-nai, Ureshi-katta, Ureshi-ku-na-katta.
(I'm) glad, (I'm) not glad, (I) was glad, (I) was not glad.
Here is the summary.
Past Polite: Watashi wa ureshi-katta desu. (I was glad.)
Past Plain: Watashi wa ureshi-katta.
Past Polite Negative: Watashi wa ureshi-ku-na-katta desu. (I was not glad)
Past Plain Negative: Watashi wa ureshi-ku-na-katta.
As you see, changing "i" to "ku" is same as making non-past negative form. Add "na" instead of "nai" here, then add past tense maker for i-adjective "katta." For all the conjugated forms of adjectives, only "i" changes and other part (root) remains the same.
Is everything clear? Good, then please practice making past, negative, and negative past forms of following i-adjectives by yourself.

Example: Sugoi -> Sugo-katta, sugo-ku-nai, sugo-ku-na-katta
(All plain froms) Dictionary form -> past, negative, negative past

1. Kawai~
2. Oishi~
3. Okashi~
4. Osoroshi~
5. Okashi~
6. Hidoi
7. Abunai
8. Samishi~
9. Yasashi~
10. Kuyashi~
11. Urusai
12. Itai
13. Yowai
14. Tsuyoi
15. Osoi

How did you do today? Too difficult? Well, take your time and ganbatte! Ja, mata Ahita.

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Yasashi katta?
Was (today's lesson) easy?
(Answers)
1. Kawai~ -> kawai-katta, kawai-ku-nai, kawai-ku-na-katta
2. Oishi~ -> oishi-katta, oishi-ku-nai, oishi-ku-na-katta
3. Okashi~ -> okashi-katta, okashi-ku-nai, okashi-ku-na-katta
4. Osoroshi~ -> osoroshi-katta, osoroshi-ku-nai, osoroshi-ku-na-katta
5. Okashi~ -> okashi-katta, okashi-ku-nai, okashi-ku-na-katta
6. Hidoi -> hido-katta, hido-ku-nai, hido-ku-na-katta
7. Abunai -> abuna-katta, abuna-ku-nai, abuna-ku-na-katta
8. Samishi~ -> samishi-katta, samishi-ku-nai, samishi-ku-na-katta
9. Yasashi~ -> yasashi-katta, yasashi-ku-nai, yasashi-ku-na-katta
10. Kuyashi~ -> kuyashi-katta, kuyashi-ku-nai, kuyashi-ku-na-katta
11. Urusai -> urusa-katta, urusa-ku-nai, urusa-ku-na-katta
12. Itai -> ita-katta, ita-ku-nai, ita-ku-na-katta
13. Yowai -> yowa-katta, yowa-ku-nai, yowa-ku-na-katta
14. Tsuyoi -> tsuyo-katta, tsuyo-ku-nai, tsuyo-ku-na-katta
15. Osoi -> oso-katta, oso-ku-nai, oso-ku-na-katta

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This week, we concentrate on adjective. Even if you are having difficulty memorizing all the adjectives I introduce you, please don't give up now. Remembering just a couple of words surely help you understand Anime. Don't you think so? Well, let's begin today's lesson.

Today, we will learn about another type of adjective, that is, na-adjective. As the name implies, this kind of adjectives end with "na" sound (dictionary form). However, you will often hear these adjectives without "na" in Anime and daily conversation.
First, please listen to Umi.

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Kirei!
(It's) Beautiful!
See? You didn't hear "na" sound here. Kirei-na is a na-adjective that means "beautiful" "handsome" "pretty" as well as "clean (room)." You can say like Hikaru, too, with a be-verb.

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Kirei da na~!
(It) is beautiful!
As you may remember, da is a plain form of Japanese be-verb desu. "Na" is an ending particle (emphasis). Hikaru prolonged the sound just to show how impressed she was. If you want to be polite, say "kirei desu ne (or "yo" or "wa")." Now try this.

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Kireina sora da naa!
Beautiful sky!
Sora means "sky." Here, kirei-na is used to modify a noun after it, sora. In this case, you need to say "na" part, please don't say "kirei sora." How about next one.

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Hontouni, kireina mizu ne!
(It's) really clean water! (= The water is really clean.)
Hontouni means "really" or "truly" here and mizu is "water." (you may remember this word, because it is in "Mizu no Ryuu," one of Umi's magic. (see 1st week lesson))

Let me introduce you some more na-adjectives.

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Suteki desu wa!
Fantastic!
Suteki-na means "glorious" "splendid" 'brilliant" "wonderful" "marvelous" and so on and on. Notice there is no na sound here because there is no noun after it.

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Hen?
Strange?
Hen-na means "strange" "suspicious" " queer" "funny" etc. depending on the context. (Didn't I introduce this one already?)

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Omae, Hontoni henna yatsu da na.
You, (you are) truly a funny guy!
A new word here is only yatsu. It means "fellow" "guy," etc. You will hear this word very often in Anime, but it is very colloquial. Polite person like Fuu will never say this, she would say "kata" or "hito" instead. Also, he said "hontoni" instead of "honto~ni." It is more colloquial way of saying "truly."

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Sukoshi hen desu wa ne?
Somewhat strange, isn't it?
Sukoshi is an adverb that means "a little bit" "slightly" "somewhat" and so on. When you use an adverb with an adjective, make sure you put an adverb (Totemo, sukoshi, hontouni, etc.) before an adjective you want to modify.

Next na-adjective is dame-na. It means "no good" "useless" "vain" and so on.
(Note: "dame" alone can be used like a noun, too.)

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Dame da, Fu-chan, dame da, dame da!
No, Fu-chan, no no!
Hikaru was dreaming a dream in which Fuu left a tent secretly to fight against their enemies alone, leaving Hikaru and Umi. So, she meant "it is no good, please don't do." You can just say dame (not "damn it" ^_^) to make someone stop doing things. Different from yamete, (it just means "please stop") in this case, that someone has to be doing something bad, generally or for her/himself, such as eating poisoned food, killing a good person, skipping classes, etc.

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Dame!
No, stop!
Next one is sukoshi (a little bit) softer.

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Dame da yo.
No. (it is no good for you)

OK, this is the last one for today.

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Muda deshita wa ne.
It was useless, wasn't it?
Muda-na means "useless" "fruitless" "ineffective" "vain" and so on. You can use this word when you tried very hard but your effort ended up in vain, such as you study all night, but you get bad scores in the test.
Note that "deshita" is used instead of "desu" or "da" here. "Deshita" is the polite past form of Japanese be-verb "desu" ("da" being plain non-past), thus the translation of this sentence is not "it is useless, isn't it?" but "it was useless, wasn't it?"

The way na-adjectives conjugate is different from that of i-adjective. When you want to make negative or past tense for this kind of adjective, you need to change the form of be-verb that follows it. I did not explain those rules for making past or negative in this lesson because they are the same as rules involving nouns, such as "I am a student" to "I am not a student," which I will explain later.

Well, I hope you are still enjoying my lessons. See you tomorrow, ja ne.

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Today, we will learn more about an i-adjective "i~" as in "kakko i~." This adjective is used in various contexts and the meaning changes a lot. Have fun!

In Japanese, "I feel good" appear as Watashi wa kimochi (ga) i~ (As for me, my feeling is good.). "Ga" is the particle put after the subject of a sentence but it is not important here.

Now listen to Hikaru and repeat after her, please?

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A, Kimochi i~!
Oh, I feel good!
Kimochi means "feeling" here. Hikaru washed her face using clean water and said this. As usual, who is feeling good is known, thus omitted. Now try the opposite of kimochi i~. In natural standard spoken Japanese, you will not say "watashi wa" and "ga" parts. Just say "kimochi i~."

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Kimochi warui.
I feel bad.
As in kakko warui, warui means bad. (hope you remember this word)

Now, let me introduce you various usage of i~. (make sure you just hold on "i" sound one beat longer than just "i")

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I~ kaori.
Good smell.
This is an example that i~ is used to modify a noun. Kaori means "smell" "scent" "fragrance" "aroma" and so on.

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I~ ko da.
Good boy (or girl).
Ko means "child" or "kid."

OK! Try this one.

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Okane wa i~ no yo.
Money is not necessary.
I know that you know all the words in this sentence. But it doesn't mean "Money is good." It means "you don't need to pay money." If you say,"Ore~ wa i~ desu," it means "you don't need to thank me." (O-re~ means words of thanks, or reward) As you see, i~ also means "no need to" "do not have to" "not necessary" etc.

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I~ desu wa.
OK
This one doesn't mean "it is good." Rather, it means "it sounds good to me" or "That is all right for me." But when you say this when someone asks you "something to drink?" s/he may not give you anything. (it is confusing, right?)

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I~ zo i~ zo, Bigaa!
Go, go, Bigor!
You can say this as an encouragement, meaning "you are doing great now, keep on going!" If you use "na" or "ne" instead of "zo" its meaning changes again. You will sound envious or jealous.

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I~ na, i~ na.
(What a) good (thing you have! I am envious,,, I want that, too. )

However, if you change the intonation a little bit, the meaning changes again. Here is an example. This is usually spoken by men.

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I~ na.
Understand? (or OK?)

Next one is similar but different.

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I~ ka.
Look, (listen to me carefully or whatever)
Ka is a question maker, you remember? Good. I~ ka can mean both "is it good?" and "look." When you mean "look," don't raise the intonation at the end. When someone asks you i~ ka meaning "is it OK?" and if you say i~ yo or "i~ desu (wa)" like Fuu above as an answer, it means "I see" "OK" etc.

Omake
Other than i~, yoi also means "good." Here is some of its usage.

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Yoshi!
All right!
You can say this to mean "you did great!" "good for you!" "You did your part wonderfully" and so on. Don't worry about how yoi conjugated to become yoshi here. (also, be careful not to pronounce it as "yosshi~" as in Nintendo game.)

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Yokatta, yokatta!
Thank God! or I am glad! or Good for you! I am glad for you! and so on
This is the past tense of yoi, so, it literally means "it was good." Hikaru said this when she found out Fu and Umi were safe. Say this when you are very happy, glad, relieved when things went very well and danger or worry is gone.

Try followings. I know you understand what she means.

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Yokatta, hontoni yokatta!

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Yokatta ne, Hikari

(answer)
Thank God, I am really glad (to see you safe)
Good for you, Hikari.

How did you do this week? Too difficult? Oh! Too easy!? Yokatta! Sasuga! Sugoi!
Jya, mata raishu~!

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This is the end of Week 5