Home › Lesson 6 › Lesson 6 – Grammar Notes

Lesson 6 – Grammar Notes

itgPosted on Posted in Lesson 6
  1. 何と [何て] むずかしいことばだろう (What a difficult language it is!)
    • Expresses one’s deep feeling of being impressed, disgusted, etc.
      1. 山田先生は何とえらい先生だろう。(What a great teacher Prof. Yamada is!)
      2. 今日は何ていい天気だろう。 (What a fine day today is!)
      3. あのレストランの食べ物は何て高くてまずいんでしょうか。 (How expensive and bad the food at that restaurant is!)
  2. Ｘは外来語くらい／ぐらい(のもの)だ (just about the only X are words borrowed from foreign languages)
    1. それが分からなかったのは私くらい(のもの)です。 (I was about the only one who didn’t understand it.)
    2. 今度持ってきたおみやげと言えば空港（くうこう = airport）で買ってきたお酒とチョコレートぐらい(のもの)です。 (Speaking of [ lit., if one were to enumerate] the presents I brought this time, chocolate and liquor bought at the airport are about all there is. / Speaking of the presents I brought this time, about all I have are chocolate and liquor which I bought at the airport.)
  3. 聞かなくては＝聞かなくちゃ (if you don’t listen, unless you listen)
    • Often interchangeable with 聞かなければ. Unlike なければ, however, なくては is always followed by a negative V or adj, or some other negative expression. With an adj, such as 高くては (if it is expensive), やかましくては(if it is noisy), or na-N, such as 不便では (if it inconvenient), or N such as 外国人では (if it is a foreigner), this form is also followed by a negative expression.
      1. 見なくては分かりません。 (Unless you see it, you won’t understand.)
      2. 毎日練習しなくては上手になれません。 (If you don’t practice it every day, you won’t become good at it.)
      3. この薬（くすり）は一日に三度飲まなくてはだめです。 (This medicine will not work unless you take it three times daily.)
      4. こんなにまずくてはだれも食べないはずです。 (It can’t be expected that anyone will eat it if it tastes this bad.)
  4. 研究によってはっきりしている(it has been made clear by the research)
    • によって (due to, owing to, by ). The function of によってis the same as で , but it is more formal than で.
      1. たくさんの車から出るガスによって町の公害がひどくなっている。 (Pollution in this town is worsening due to the gas fumes emitted from all the cars.)
    • C.f. 日によって違う (it differs depending on the day)
    • C.f. Xによると (according to X)
  5. 書く必要がない （it is not necessary to write / there is no need to write）
    • 必要 (necessity )
    • 必要だ: This is preceded by a noun, noun phrase or noun clause such as:
      • 紙が必要だ。 (We need some paper.)
      • 見ることが必要だ。 (It is necessary to look at.)
    • 必要がある: This is preceded by a verb such as:
      • 見る必要がある。 (There is a necessity to look at./ It is necessary to look at.)
      • 見る必要はない。 (There is no necessity to look at. / It is not necessary to look at.)
      1. あの人の荷物は調べる必要がある。 (We need to examine his luggage.)
      2. 青木さんは必要のない物ばかり買う。 （Mr. Aoki buys nothing but unnecessary things.
      3. 先生に相談してみる必要がある。(It was necessary to talk it over with the Professor.)
      4. その店で買い物をするのには IDが必要ですが、今日持って来るのを忘れました。(We need an ID in order to shop at that store, but I forgot to bring it with me today.)
  6. 分かりやすいものもあれば、分からないものもある。 (There are things which are easy to understand, and there are also things which we don’t understand.)
    1. 朝早く起きる日もあれば、十時頃まで寝ている日もある。(There are days when I wake up early in the mornings, and there are also days when I am sleeping until 10 in the morning.)
    2. 学生の中には、よく勉強する人もいれば、遊んでばかりいる人もいる。(Among students, there are people who study often, and people who only play.)