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Grammar 1B

Adjectival Conjugations
Sentence-Particles: ねえ [nee]
Direct-Form and Distal-Form
Miscellaneous Notes

Adjectival Conjugations

TENSE AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
Imperfective takai desu takakunai desu
(or takaku arimasen)
Perfective takakatta desu takakunakatta desu
(or takaku arimasen desita)

The conjugation of "ii" (good):

TENSE AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
Imperfective ii desu yokunai desu
(or yoku arimasen)
Perfective yokatta desu yokunakatta desu
(or yoku arimasen desita)

れい (Examples)

  1. A: Atarasii desu ne.
    B: Ee, kinoo kaimasita.

  2. A: Takakatta desu ka.
    B: Ie, amari takakunakatta desu yo.

  3. A: Omosirokunai desu ka.
    B: Ee, maamaa desu ne.

れんしゅう (Exercises)

  1. It's expensive/interesting.
  2. Is it new/big?
  3. It's very old/small, isn't it?

  4. A: Is it interesting?
    B: Yes, it's very interesting (I assure you)

  5. It's not expensive/big/good.
  6. It was cheap/small.
  7. It was good/boring, wasn't it?
  8. It wasn't very big/good.

  9. A: Was it interesting?
    B: No, it wasn't very interesting.

Answers

Sentence-Particles: ねえ [nee]

ねえ [nee] may indicate the speaker's exclamatory feeling or subjective reflection.

れい (Examples)

  1. A: Ookii desu nee.
    B: Ee, totemo ookii desu nee.

  2. A: Kaimasita yo.
    B: Aa, ii desu nee.

  3. A: Wakarimasen nee.
    B: Ee, tyotto komarimasita nee.

れんしゅう (Exercises)

  1. A: It's not interesting, is it?
    B: You're right. It's boring, isn't it!!

  2. A: Isn't it possible/Can't you do it?
    B: It is not possible, is it (as I think about it).

Answers

Direct-Form and Distal-Form

The textbook introduces the two important terms "direct-style form" and "distal-style form".

  1. Direct-Form (or Plain-Form) is used in an informal situation (such as among friends, family members, etc.) and this is the form that you'll see in a dictionary (because of this, the Direct-Form is often called the "Dictionary Form" as well).

  2. Distal-Form is used in a formal situation (talking to someone you want to keep some distance from, such as a stranger, your teacher, boss, etc.).

Miscellaneous Notes

  1. Usage of totemo/tottemo, "very":

    totemo takai desu
    It's very expensive.

  2. Usage of amari/anmari: used always with a Negative Form. For example:

    amari takaku nai desu
    It's not so expensive.


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