元気

Chapter 3

Verb Conjugation Overview

Japanese verbs fall into three main categories:

いい Exception (Past Tense)

Past Tense Example Sentences

Conversation Example (Continued)

Modifying Nouns with Adjectives

Adjectives can be placed directly before nouns to describe them.

い-Adjectives + Nouns

Pattern: [い-adjective] + [noun]

Simply place the adjective directly before the noun. No particle needed!

な-Adjectives + Nouns

Pattern: [な-adjective] + な + [noun]

You MUST add な between the adjective and noun!

Common い-Adjectives

Common な-Adjectives

Counters

Quick Reference: All Conjugations

1. GODAN Verbs (五段動詞) - "Five-step" verbs
2. ICHIDAN Verbs (一段動詞) - "One-step" verbs
3. Irregular Verbs - Just する and 来る

GODAN Verbs (五段動詞)

The Pattern: う → い

GODAN verbs change their final う sound to an い sound, then add ます for polite form.

Rule: The う-sound becomes its corresponding い-sound

ICHIDAN Verbs (一段動詞)

The Simple Rule: Drop る, Add ます

ICHIDAN verbs are "simpler" - they end in either -いる (iru) or -える (eru).


To conjugate: simply remove る and add ます

いる・える EXCEPTIONS

The Tricky Ones

These verbs look like ICHIDAN verbs (ending in -いる or -える), but they're actually GODAN!
You just have to memorize these.

Irregular Verbs (不規則動詞)

Good news: there are only two truly irregular verbs in Japanese!

Quick Reference Chart

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Chapter 4

Japanese Word Order (SOV)

English = SVO (Subject-Verb-Object)
The cat | will eat | the mouse

Japanese = SOV (Subject-Object-Verb)
猫 | は | ねずみ | を | 食べます
neko | wa | nezumi | wo | tabemasu
The cat | TOPIC | mouse | OBJECT | will eat

Flexible Word Order

However, Japanese word order is actually quite flexible! As long as the verb stays at the end, you can rearrange other elements. Particles (は, を, に, etc.) mark the role of each word, not the word order.

Natural Conversation Example

は vs が: Topic vs Subject

This is one of the trickiest concepts for beginners!

は (wa) = Topic Marker
が (ga) = Subject Marker

は (wa) - Topic Marker

が (ga) - Subject Marker

When to Use Which?

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Chapter 5

Two Types of Adjectives

Japanese has two distinct types of adjectives, each with different conjugation rules:

い-adjectives (i-adjectives) - End in い
な-adjectives (na-adjectives) - Require な before nouns

Present Tense Conjugation

い-Adjectives (i-adjectives)

To make negative: remove い, add くない

な-Adjectives (na-adjectives)

To make negative: add じゃない

The いい Exception

良い (いい) is irregular!

Example Sentences

Conversation Example

Past Tense Conjugation

い-Adjectives Past

To make past: remove い, add かった


To make past negative: remove い, add くなかった

な-Adjectives Past

To make past: add でした


To make past negative: add じゃなかった



Two types of adjectives

い adjectives
な adjectives


| Present | Negative |
| ------- | -------- |
| 楽しいです | 楽しくない |
| 元気です | 元気じゃない |

for present tense you don't need the です is just makes it a little bit more polite.

良い＝いい
良くない

so いい is the conversational version of 良い. so when we need to conjugate is, we conjugate 良い and not the いい
this is why Genki considers this an exception

Sentences:


| 卵は美味しい | Eggs are delicious |
| お祭りはにぎやかです | Festivals are lively |
| その映画は怖くないです | That movie is not scary |
| トマトが好きじゃないです | I do not like tomatoes |
| このパソコンはとても新しい | This computer is very new |
| 夜の町は綺麗です | The town at nightis beutiful |
| ニューシーランドの夏はあまり暑くないです | New Zealand summers are not very hot |
| 今日は元気じゃない | I'm not energetic today |


convo:
A: お腹空いた！
I'm hungry (my stomach became empty)

B: わあ、私もお腹が空きました
ahh, I'm also hungry

A: 一緒にマクドナルドに行きませんか
Won't you go to McDonald's with me?

B: 何が美味しいですか
What is good? (What tastes delicious?)

A: えーと、ビッグマックはとても美味しいですよ！
ummm, Big Macs are really good


| Present | Past | Past Negative |
| ------- | ----- | ------------- |
| たのし（です） | 楽しかった | 楽しくなかった |
| 元気（です） | 元気でした | 元気じゃなかった |

良い＝いい
良かった

Sentences:

テストは難しかった
The test was difficult

昨日は暇でした
Yesterday was not busy

デートは楽しくなかった
The date was not fun

魚が好きじゃかった
I did not like the fish

convo:

B. 美味しくないですよ
This isn't good

A.前は本当に美味しかったですよ！
Before it was really good, seriously

B.ふーん。
それから、マクドナルドは綺麗じゃないですね
Hmmmm. Also, McDonalds isn't clean, is it。

A.前は綺麗でしたよ
Before it was clean, really！

B.フライドポテトも
美味しくなかったですね
The french-fries weren't good either.

#### Modifying nouns with adjectives

い adjectives
adjective(い) + noun

な adjectives
adjective(な) + な + noun


examples:

| 楽しい人 | A fun person |
| 怖い映画 | A scary movie |
| 綺麗な景色 | A pretty view |
| 暇な時間 | Free time |

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counters
1枚 - counter used for thin flat objects, like paper or plates.

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Chapter 6

て Form

How to conjugate GODAN verbs in the て Form

う→って
つ→って
る→って＊

む→んで
ぬ→んで
ぶ→んで

す→して

く→いて
ぐ→いで

う： 歌う→歌って→Sing
る： 乗る→乗って→Get on
つ： 待つ→待って→Wait
く： 聞く→聞いて→Listen
ぐ： 急ぐ→急いで→Hurry
む： 飲む→飲んで→Drink
ぶ： 遊ぶ→遊んで→Play
ぬ： 死ぬ→死んで→Die
す： 話す→話して→Talk

How to conjugate ICHIDAN verbs in the て Form
just cut the last る and add て
見る→見て→Look
ねる→寝て→Sleep
起きる→起きて→Wake up

the いる/える exeptions

入る→入って→Enter
走る→走って→Run
いる→行って→Need
帰る→帰って→Go home
限る→限って→Limit
切る→切って→Cut
喋る→喋って→Talk
知る→知って→Know
蹴る→蹴って→Kick
滑る→滑って→Slide

For botht the GODAN and ICHIDAN verbs, the て can be replaced with た for the past tense.