One of the first batch of words that students of Japanese usually learn is the \u300c\u3053\u300d\u3001\u300c\u305d\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3042\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3069\u300d series of words for things and locations.<\/p>\n
Most will also probably learn the shortened version of \u300c\u3053\u308c\u306e\u300d etc. such as \u300c\u3053\u306e\u300d. And that’s usually about all that’s ever covered even though there’s a bunch more \u300c\u3053\u300d\u3001\u300c\u305d\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3042\u300d vocabulary that are really useful! So let’s look at a few.<\/p>\n
You know how you’re not supposed to use the word “like” all the time. Well, we all do anyway because it’s so useful, right? The \u300c\u3053\u3046\u3001\u305d\u3046\u3001\u3042\u3042\u300d series of words are arguably just as useful.<\/p>\n
If somebody asks you how to do something, one common answer is “do it like this or that” and that’s exactly what \u300c\u3053\u3046\u3001\u305d\u3046\u3001\u3042\u3042\u300d means. Now you see where \u300c\u305d\u3046\u3067\u3059\u300d comes from.<\/p>\n
A: \u3053\u306e\u6f22\u5b57\u306f\u3069\u3046\u66f8\u304f\u3093\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f
\nA: How do you write this Kanji?<\/p>\n
B: \u3053\u3046<\/b>\u66f8\u304d\u307e\u3059\u3002
\nB: You write it like this.<\/p>\n
The real power from these words come when you combine them with \u300c\u3044\u3046\u300d to define what something is like. The English equivalent would be “this\/that kind of thing”. It’s a great way to talk about abstract or complicated matters.<\/p>\n
You can extend this further by attaching \u300c\u98a8\u300d (pronounced \u300c\u3075\u3046\u300d in this case), to describe a certain way of doing things.<\/p>\n
Another incredibly useful series of words are: \u300c\u3053\u3093\u306a\u3001\u305d\u3093\u306a\u3001\u3042\u3093\u306a\u300d. Combined with the \u300c\u306b\u300d particle, these words will allow you to say common things like “Are you that<\/b> hungry?” or “Did you have to buy this<\/b> much?”. You can also use them without the \u300c\u306b\u300d particle but the meaning is a bit hard to explain and is not used as often (in my opinion).<\/p>\n If you’ve learned the grammar for comparisons, you are probably already familiar with the phrase \u300c\u3069\u3061\u3089\u306e\u65b9\u304c\u300d. This literally means “which way” which you can obviously answer with “this or that way”. It can also be used for plain directions as well, of course.<\/p>\n There are others like \u300c\u3053\u3044\u3064\u3001\u305d\u3044\u3064\u3001\u3042\u3044\u3064\u300d that I’m not going to discuss here. I don’t want to be accused of corrupting the pure and proper Japanese that is taught in most classes. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the first batch of words that students of Japanese usually learn is the \u300c\u3053\u300d\u3001\u300c\u305d\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3042\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3069\u300d series of words for things and locations. \u3053\u308c – this \u305d\u308c – that \u3042\u308c – that (over there) \u3069\u308c – which \u3053\u3053 – here … Continue reading Examples<\/h3>\n
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\nAre you that<\/b> hungry?<\/li>\n
\nDid you have to buy this<\/b> much?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nComparison<\/h2>\n
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Etc<\/h2>\n