Lesson 7:
(Verb Tenses: Time & Politeness)
In English, there are 3 Time Tenses
(Past, Present, Future).
In Japanese, there are only 2 Time
Tenses (Past, Present/Future).
The Present & the Future are the same!
Whether someone is talking in the Present or
the Future is determined by the
context
of the conversation, so be sure to pay attention when someone is
speaking with you.
I eat cake.
I wa cake o eat.
Next week, I will
eat cake.
Next week, I wa cake o eat. (Notice, it’s almost the same sentence.)
If
you had not heard “Next week” then you would’ve been at a loss as to
whether the action occurs in the Present or
the Future. So, please pay
attention.
You might miss important information otherwise.
I wa juice o drink. (We know it’s in the future because the
previous
sentence had said ‘Next week’. Thankfully, we had
been
paying attention.)
I will drink juice.
In Japanese, there are also
“Politeness” Tenses.
The 2 Politeness
Tenses are: Polite & Casual
Polite is used with Teachers, Parents, Doctors,
Bosses, and Anyone Else.
Casual is used with Close Friends, Students, Children,
Patients, Employees, etc.
Note: Basically, the Polite tense is used to convey a sense of respect for
someone.
But, it can be used with anyone as a matter of just
normal politeness.
When in doubt, use the Polite tense. Even friends sometimes use
the Polite tense with each other.
For now, we’ll just use the Polite tense (Polite language).
No comments:
Post a Comment