今日 IMABI - Veteran I

Etymological Confusion

The root /obo-/ is the same thing as /omo-/. Meaning, 思う, 覚える, and the like are etymologically related. Japanese once had /mb/ as a phoneme. As for 思しき, many sources claim that it comes from the verb 思す. This verb comes from 思ほす, which comes from 思はす （思わす）. 思しい comes from attaching /–shi/ to this. This is similar to other words like 願わしい (desirable) from 願う. 思しい is clearly etymologically the same as 思わしい. The only difference is that the former form shows sign of extra sound change than the latter. 

 Definitions

First, we will look at several dictionary endings for the two to see if we can deduce any important information. The first dictionary to look at is Edition 5 of the 広辞苑 .

思しい・覚しい

①    （…と）思われる。そのように見受けられる。
②    こうありたいと思われる。 

思わしい

（多く打消の語を伴って）好ましく思われる。気にいる。

Google’s dictionary says the following.

▽思しい／覚しい

①    （「…とおぼしい」「とおぼしき」の形で）…と思われる。…のように見える。
②    こうありたいと望まれる。希望している。 

思わしい

①    好ましい状態である。よく思われる。現代では、多く否定の表現を伴って用いられる。
②    そう思われるようすである。

 Qualification of Usage

Some speakers try saying that 思しい is only for showing appearance and that 思わしい is for showing what is hoped for. Yet, these entries show that both meanings exist for both. So, we will learn about how they are practically used and grammatical differences that they have to differentiate them. 

思しい is going to almost always be used in an attribute phrase and is most often in the form of 思しき in the written language, but it is often 思しい in more spoken language contexts. The form 思しい is not really common, but it does show up periodically in literature. 思わしい doesn't have this restriction, but it’s mainly going to be in the negative form.

Using 思しい to mean こうありたいと思われる is not used anymore and is only found in older/classical texts. It is listed in dictionaries because of its historical existence. This meaning, though, has been taken over by 思わしくない. In 国語 tests, such questions regarding this usage come up, and you would not get points for choosing 思しい. This is because current language usage does not include this definition. Also, 望まれる or the definition こうありたいと思われる may be more common overall.  

As for the meaning of showing resemblance, many prescriptive people say that 思しい should be the only one to mean this. Although overall it is what most often appears rather than 思わしい, many speakers use this word to show resemblance. This is reflected in the dictionary definitions above. Thus, this is when textbook definitions and actual usage in society don't match up. 

Examples

Now it’s time for example sentences to get a sense of the somewhat literary/formal/書き言葉的 style that these phrases are used in and what sorts of phrases fit well with them. 

1. 犯人と思しき人物を見失う。
    To lose sight of a person thought to be a criminal.

2. 一見、画家と思しき人　　（Uncommon usage)
    A person who in one look seems to be an artist

3. 私の町でも、英語指導助手と思しき人たちを見かける。
    I also come across people in my town who appear to be assistant English teachers. 

4. おととい浅草へ行ったら、団体旅行の外国人と思しき人たちが大勢歩いていた。
Two days ago when I went to Asakusa, there were a lot of people walking around who looked to be foreigners in a group vacation.

5. この町では外国人と思しき人を見かけません。
    I don't come across foreign-looking individuals in this town. 

6. 逃走中と思しき女性
　　A woman who appears to be on the run

7. 危険物と思しき物を見たら、すぐに警察に知らせてください。
If you find something that appears to be a hazardous material, immediately contact the police.

8. 最近、景気が悪くて、外国人労働者と思しき人が多くなった。
The economic has been bad recently, and the number of people who appear to be foreign workers has increased. 

9. この手紙には暗号と思しき文字が書かれている。
     There is lettering in this letter that appears to be coded. 

10a. 線路と車輪から出ると思わしい音　　??
10b. 線路と車輪の間から出ていると思われる音　　
10c. 線路と車輪の擦れる音
A sound resembling what comes from between the tracks and the car wheels (of a train)

Sentence Note: Because 思わしい is used 90% with the negative, this sentence may sound strange to many Japanese speakers. 10b is a more natural version of 10a that means the same thing, but 10c is a more practical sentence which just lacks the sense of "resembling". 

11. 病状が思わしくない。
      The disease's condition is not satisfactory. 

12. オリンピックの成績が思わしくなかった。
      The Olympics' results were not satisfactory.  

13. やはり手首の状態が思わしくなかったですね。
       My wrist's condition was just not satisfactory, you know.  

14. 近頃体調があまり思わしくない。　
　　 I haven't been so well recently. 

15. 絶滅 ( ぜつめつ ) 危惧 ( きぐ ) 種 ( しゅ ) と思しき動物もちらほら見かける。
　　　I even glimpse animals that appear to be endangered species here and there. 

16. 脊索 ( せきさく ) 動物 ( どうぶつ ) と思しき化石
      Fossils that resemble chordates

17. 人類の祖先と思しき生物が地球上に登場したのは2000万前といわれている。
It's said that creatures resembling the ancestors of mankind appeared on the earth 20 million years ago. 

18. 人類の 祖先 ( そせん ) と思わしき化石がアフリカの各地で次々と発見されている。
Fossils of human species thought to be those of man's ancestors are continuously being found all  across Africa. 

19. 寝起きと思しく乱れた髪　 ?　　　　（書き言葉）
      寝起きと思しき乱れた髪  
　　 Missed up hair like one has woken up from bed

Grammar Note: Using 思しい in the 連用形 as 思しく is rather rare, but it is still possible.  

20. テストの結果が｛〇 思わしくなかった・△/X 思しくなかった｝。
     My test results were not satisfactory. 

21. 犯人と思しい人相の人　　　（やや書き言葉的）
　  A person with the looks of a criminal 
From the 広辞苑第5版の397ページ

22. 観光客と思しい人たちが結構乗っています。　　　（Not conversational)　　  
There are quite a few people riding who appear to be tourists.

The following are most certainly possible in the spoken language. After all, と思しき is still occasionally used in the spoken language. It's just not used a whole lot.  

23. Aさんと思しき人物を駅で見た。
 　 I saw a person that looked like A-san at the train station.

24. 犬の餌と思しき物体が落ちている。
      Something what appears to be dog food has fallen.

25. 犯人と思しき人物を見た。　　
      I saw a person that appeared to be a criminal. 

     In this lesson we will learn about the adverbial particles やら, なり, and きり. Some of them have usages that have different classifications. So, always be careful.

The Adverbial Particle やら

 This particle is rather interesting. Some phrases such as どうやら shown below in sentences are used all of the time. However, when used to list things vaguely (usage 2), it is not so common and generally mainly found in books. Despite this, it is not impossible to hear someone say it every now and then because it is more emphatic than typical means of expression. 

• Shows uncertainty
• やら lists things very vaguely and emphatically. May be rude as it should not be used in reference to someone above you. 
• とやら shows obscurity without any particularity.

Examples 

1a. 雨 ( ) が 降 ( ) るのやら 降 ( ) らないのやらよく 分 ( ) からない。
1b. 雨が降るのか降らないのかよく分からない。（もっと一般的な言い方）
      I don't know whether it's going to rain or not rain.

2. どうやら 留守 ( るす ) のようです。
    It looks like they're somehow not at home.

3. えっと、英之とやらだったかな。（ちょっと失礼な言い方）
    Uh, it was a person called Hideyuki.

4. どうやら一荒れ来そうだ。
    It looks like we're going to have a storm.

5. モウリさんはどうやら置いてきたものが多いらしかった。わたしは、一つか二つしか、置いてきたものはない。その一つ二つでさえ持て余しているのだから、モウリさんの疲れかたをや、だろう。
Mouri somehow seemed to have come with a lot of things. As for me, I've only came with one or two things. Since even those one or two things are hard to deal with, I guess you could say that's her way of fatigue. 
From 溺レる by 川上弘美.

Particle Note: をや is a combination of the case particle を and the adverbial particle や. It is more common in things like 漢文訓読. It is often seen with いわんや (Let alone)、～において～をや. The phrase itself is a rhetorical device used to add a sense of lament. So, with the example, the author chose it to give the impression that the speaker might get fatigued thinking about his partner's things. 

The Final Particle やら

　　　Questions oneself with a sense of uncertainty. This is rarely used nowadays. The variant patterns in the first example apply for the second as well, but they are meant to show you how this has been absorbed by other speech patterns. 

6a. 彼は勝 ( ) った（の）やら。　　　　　（May sound old to some）
6b. 彼は勝った（の）かな（あ）　　　（一般的な言い方）
6c. 彼は勝ったのかしら。　　　　　　  (Feminine)
6d. 彼は勝ったんだろうか。　　　　　（Somewhat masculine)
      I wonder if he won.

7. 行 ( ) ったやら。　　　（古風）
    I wonder if he went.

8. 私もどれほど 安堵 あんど しましたことやら。　　（Literary)
    Oh how I was relieved too.
From 光の雨 by 立松和平. 

The Adverbial Particle なり

1. In "AなりBなり" meaning "either...or...". B may be a question word hinting at other options. This is normally replaced by other things. In this case, though, it's not necessarily old-fashioned. 

9a. 俺 ( ) なりあんたやりが 行 ( ) かなきゃ。（Masculine)
9b. 俺かあんたが行かなきゃ。（Masculine)
      Either I or you have to go.

10. 大 だい なり 小 しょう なり 欠点 はある。
      There is either a fault in being big or in being small.

Sentence Note: Ex. 10 is more common as it is a common expression. 

11a. フランスなりどこなりへ 引 ( ) っ 越 ( ) したらいい。
11b. フランスかどこかに引っ越したらいい。(Better choice)
        It would be nice to move to France or somewhere.

2. A more literary variant of ～なければ～ほど.

12. 「なんで君はある金全部を使ってしまうの」とユキヲは言うのだが、どうやって金の始末をうまくすればいいのか、私には見当もつかないのだ。少なければ少ないなりに、多ければ多いなりに、私はいつでもぴたりと使いきってしまう。体が、あり金にあわせて 伸 の びたり 縮 ちぢ んだりするような感じだった。
Yukio asks "why do you end up using all the money?", but I can't guess on how to dispose of the money well. Whether it be less or more, I always completely use it up. I felt as if my body stretched and　contracted with [how much] money I had.
From 溺レる by 川上弘美. 

3. Shows an example with the implication of the possibility of other options.

13.  

Aくん「どこか海外に行きたいかな。」
Bくん「なんか西洋の空気を感じたいな。」
Aくん「じゃ、ヨーロッパへなり行きましょう。」　　　　　　
A: I kind of want to go overseas.
B: I'd like to feel the West and what not.
A: Let's go to somewhere like Europe.

14. 運動 ( ) するなりしてみてはどうか。
      How about trying to drive or something?

なりと

This is a very interesting combination particle that has several usages. In its first usage, it sets up something as a bare minimal condition, making it essentially a humble でも. This usage, though, has become quite old-fashioned. Some exceptions to this include 何なりと which is used frequently. 

15. 何なりとお申し付けを 
      Whatever I instruct...

16. よろしかったらお茶なりと 召 め し上がってください。
      If it's all right, please have something like tea.

17. どうなりと好きにせよ！　(Rude , old-style command)
      Do what you'd like!  

Speech Note: Using something humble like this in a command results in a rather rude command.  

　　～なりと may also be seldom seen abbreviated as ～なと. However, this is out of use in mainstream Japanese and is viewed to be dialectical.  

18. 「まことに申し訳ございません。お腹が減ったでしょうから、どうぞ、これなと召し上がって下さい。いずれあとから主人がご挨拶に参ります」
"I sincerely apologize. I'm sure you are hungry, so please have this. The owner will come by to greet you sometime later."
From 翳った旋舞 by 松本清張. 

In other contexts, it can show that one may choose voluntarily, but this doesn't always have to be in nice contexts. It can also be used in the pattern AなりとBなりと and function just like なり above. It may be seen as なと, which is somewhat dialectical and very old-fashioned, and なりとも.

19. 死ぬなり(と)生きるなり(と)勝手にしろ。
      Whether you die or live, do whatever you want.

20. 願わくは一言なりとも知らせてほしゅうございます。（すごく古い言い方)
      I wish to be informed at least one word.   

The Conjunctive Particle なり

　　 After the 連体形 of a verb, it shows that something is done as soon as something else is done. So right when someone does something, they do something next in sequence to the first action. The subject is normally third person, and the subject is the same in both clauses. The second part has a little sense of unexpected strong will.

21a. 宿題を済ませるなり、すぐに彼らはインターネットを使った。
21b. 宿題を済ませるとすぐに彼らはインターネットを使った。(More natural)
        They used the Internet as soon as they finished their homework.

22. 彼は帰るなり、トイレに行った。
      He went to the bathroom as soon as he got home.

23. 社長は入ってくるなり、大声で 怒鳴 ( どな ) りました。
      As soon as the company president came in, he shouted in a big voice.

After the past tense, it shows a situation that is still in play as another action begins. There shouldn't be any movement involved by the individual.

24. 机の椅子に座ったなり、眠ってしまった。
      I feel sleep in my desk chair. 

The Suffix ～なり

     ～なり may attach to nouns to give a meaning of "like". It may attach itself to nominal phrases or the 連体形 of adjectives to show the means by which something is done like. It may also be after the 連用形  of verbs to be like the phrase ～まま (as is). 

25. 彼は親 ( ) の 言 ( ) いなりになった。
      He did as his parents told (and never changed).

26. 道 ( ) なりに 行 ( ) く。
      To go along the road.

27. 私 ( ) なりに 努力 ( ) します。
      I will put effort into it a way that suits me.

28. 体 ( ) を 弓 ( ) なりに 反 ( そ ) らす。
      To lean one's body back in an arch-like shape.

きり is generally used to limit things. In this sense, it is just like だけ. The sense of limitation is stronger. Consider this. だけ comes from 丈. But, きり comes from 切り. With this alone, you can see how they would have slightly different nuances. 

きり may also follow ～た followed by a negative expression to refer to something that has not surpassed a limit meaning "after doing...". It may also be in 丸 まる っきり which means "at all" in a negative potential expression.

Variant Notes:

1. きり may be seen as っきり a lot in the spoken language.
2. ぎり is an old-fashioned variant.

Etymology Note: This particle comes from the noun 切り, which means "limit" in this instance.  

 Examples

29. 二人 ( ) きりで 話しましょう 。
      Let's talk just the two of us.

30. たった 二人 ( ) きりで 国 ( ) を 征服 ( せいふく ) した。
      The two of them conquered the country.  

31. 寝 ( ) たきりになる。
      To become confined to continuously lying down.

32. ｛座 ( ) りっきりで・座ったまま（で）・座りっぱなしで｝ 仕事 ( ) を 続 ( ) ける 母 ( ) はいつも 肩 ( ) が 凝 ( こ ) っている。
      My mother, who continuously sits while working, is stiff in the shoulders.

33. 中国 に 行 ( ) ったきり、彼の 行方 ( ゆくえ ) が分からない。
      After going to China, we don't know his whereabouts.

34. まるっきり 飲 ( ) めない。
      I can't drink at all.

35. もうこれ（っ）きりだよ。
      Make this the last time. 

36. 俺 ( ) の 手元 ( ) にあるのは１ 円 ( ) これきりだぞ。（男性語)
      This is my very last yen.
Literally: The last thing in my hands is just this yen.

37. 二階の彼女の―そして彼のともなる部屋は、通りに向いた窓際に、安い 塗 ( ぬ ) り 薬 ( ぐすり ) の 匂 ( にお ) いがする 粗末 ( そまつ ) な机があるきりで、その外は灰色の 壁 ( かべ ) と押入れの 襖 ( ふすま ) だけだった。
Near the window in her room on the second floor--the room he and she had together--facing the street, there was just a crude desk with the smell of cheap ointment, and aside from that there was only a gray wall and the closet fusuma. 
From 死体紹介人 by 川端康成.  

37. 「父や母は忙しいからたまにきり来ないだろうがね。よかったら君も泊りがけに来たまえ」　 (ちょっと古風)
"But my mom and dad don't come but occasionally because they're busy. If it's alright, come stay over".
From 友情 by 武者小路実篤.

Grammar Notes:

1. たまにきり is an instance where this particle can be seen with an adverb, but in today's speech, the phrase would be replaced with たまにしか．
2. ～たまえ is now old-fashioned and normally used by middle aged men and older in various situations, of which none are polite to say. However, given that the book in which this sentence is from was published in 1920, the users would be of the same generation. This is a clear instance of a generational shift.  

連体詞 are simply adjectival words that are stuck in the 連体形 or are modifier phrases treated as a single unit. 

              There are also 連体詞 that come from two defunct classes of 形容動詞: ナル形容動詞 and タル形容動詞, which still possess functional 連用形, に and と respectively. They can be viewed as adjectives with just dormant bases. In some expressions, their former past as completely functional adjectives can be more obvious. These words, though, will be discussed later on. 

     Below is a chart of most of the 連体詞 in Japanese followed by example sentences. This list is not exhaustive, and the defunct adjectival classes are discussed later in this lesson.  

Usage Notes:

1. All adjectival こそあど words are 連体詞. Many 連体詞 are created from classical grammatical items.

2. Many of these are uncommon and rather archaic. 

3. 無理からぬ comes from the からぬ from よからぬ, the classical negative attribute form of よい, attached to 無理.

 Examples

1. 色んな文書を 揃 ( そろ ) える。
    To arrange various documents.

2. 大きな 亀裂 ( きれつ ) が入っている。
    There is a large crack (in the wall).

3. 無理からぬ話ですね。
    It's a reasonable story, isn't it?

4. 奇 く しき出来事
    A strange incident

5. 明 あ くる日
    The following day

6. ものの見事に
    With great success

7. 素 そ 知らぬ顔
    A pretending face 

8. あらゆる努力をして新たな計画を 練 ( ね ) った。
    With every effort he created a new plan.

9. ひょんなことから明くる日の出来事が大きな問題になった。
    From sheer chance the following day became a serious problem.

10a. 永 なが の別れとなった。
10b. 永遠の別れとなった。(More spoken and also more common)
       It became an eternal separation.

11. 飽 あ くなき欲望がありますね。
     You sure have a persistent desire don't you?

12. 残 のこ んのお月を見よ。　　（雅語）
      Look at the remaining moon.

13. ウォルマートにはありとあらゆる品物が 並 ( なら ) んでいます。
      Everything that you can think of is at Walmart.

14. 心ある市民の 怒 ( いか ) りを買うなんて 悪行 ( あくぎょう ) だ。
     Buying the hatred of sensible citizens is an evil act.

15. 新たな 冒険 ( ぼうけん ) が始まる。
     A new adventure begins.

16. 彼はあらゆる努力を尽くした。
     He made every effort.

17. ぼんやりとあらぬ方を見やる。
     To vaguely gaze at an improper way. 

     In this lesson, we will learn about the conjunctive particles ども and だの. 

ど（も） is attached to the 已然形 of verbs to mean "even though". As for だ, use either であれど（も） or なれど（も）. This will be very old-fashioned with some exceptions.

1. 行けども、行けども、砂ばかりだった。　　　（普段）
    Even though we kept going and going, there was only sand.

2. しかし、結果は一そう悪く、待てど暮らせど何の返事も無く、自分はその 焦燥 ( しょうそう ) と不安のために、かえって薬の 量 ( りょう ) をふやしてしまった。
But, the result was even worse, and having waited and wanted and not received a response of any sort, I ended up increasing my dosage all the more out of impatience and anxiety.  
From 人間失格 by 太宰治.

3. 自ら 顧 ( かえり ) みて 縮 ( なお ) くんば 千万人 と 雖 ( いえど ) も 我 ( われ ) 往 ( ゆ ) かん。
Upon reflecting on my actions, I continue to go forward regardless of what the masses may say.
Famous, frequently quoted statement made by 吉田松陰. 

4. 同じ秘書経験者といえども、菅と安倍を分けるものはまさしくそれだった。
Despite both being experienced secretaries, it was that very point of commonality which separated Suga and Abe from each other. 

 The Particle たりとも

The conjunctive particle たりとも is closely related etymologically to であっても. It is composed of another copula verb of older-style Japanese and the particle とも. In actual practice, its usage is restricted to set phrases. 

5. なにより、自らの「同志」の一人が政権に参画したのだ。しかも彼は事務方の官房副長官という、過去一度たりとも民間人の就いたことのない重要ポストに座っている。
More than anything else, there was one person who took part in planning in the administration with the same sentiments as [the Prime Minister]. Furthermore, he was sitting in a high-level post, the administrative Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, for which no civilian had been appointed to even once in the past. 

6. 一瞬たりともおろかにはできぬ。
    You can't even neglect it even for a moment.

7. 2001年、同じ場所で演説をした前首相の小泉純一郎は、街宣車から降りた途端、一歩たりとも動けなくなった。
The moment Former Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro stepped out from the propaganda vehicle onto the same spot he had given a speech in 2001, he was unable to make even a step. 

     The particle だの, similar to other particles such as と, や, and とか, enumerates parallel things. For the most part, its usage implies that the sentence is not completely enumerating all interrelated/parallel things, and in doing so, it usually has negative connotations. It is more correct, though, to say that rather than labeling these sentences as having a negative nuance, we can say that it is typically used for certain things that the speaker doesn't wish for and or have some sort of psychological distance. 

              The pattern ～だの～だの is used with two or more nouns, adjectives, or verbs, and other case particles may be found after the final instance of だの. If you can only think of one thing and wish to use ～だの, ～だのなんだの would have to be used to avoid sounding unnatural. It's also important to note that dropping any だの is ungrammatical. 

 Examples

8. 大学に入ると、教科書だの定期券だのを買わなければならない。
    When you enter college, you have to buy textbooks, a commuter pass, and so on.  

9. 十歳の息子にアイフォンだのパソコンだのとうるさくせがまれて困ってます。
I'm troubled over the fact that I'm being pestered by my 10 year old son for an iPhone, computer, and who knows what all.  

10. 書類だの本だのが 散乱 ( さんらん ) している。
   Things such as documents and books are scattered.

11. 目のつけどころが素晴らしいだの文章の構成が 優 ( すぐ ) れているだのと、自分でも信じられないような 褒 ( ほ ) め言葉が並 んでいるのはわけがわからない。
These accolades lined up that even I myself can't believe like the focal points being wonderful and the   sentence structure being superb are incomprehensible.  

12. まずいだのきらいだのと、あんたは文句ばっかり言ってるんだよ。(Masculine; vulgar)
    All you're ever complaining about is how bad it tastes and how much you hate it. 

13. 辛 つら いだの面白くないだの、文句ばっか言うのよ！（Feminine)
      All you ever complain about is stuff like it being miserable or uninteresting.

14. その国では、 神童 ( しんどう ) だの天才だのと呼ばれる才能ある子供たちは、 幼少期 ( ようしょうき ) から 既 ( すで ) にエリート教育を 授 ( さず ) けられ、成長するに伴いその能力を 存分 ( ぞんぶん ) に開花させていくらしい。
In that country, children with talent that are considered prodigies or geniuses are already given elite education from early childhood, and along with growth, their potential is fully opened to their content.
From 日本教育121号 in an article by 鈴木智美. 

15. 実施費 じっしひ が高すぎるだの、非実用的だのといわれますが、それでも私はX議長の 政策 せいさく を支持しております。
Though it is said that the implementation costs are too high or that it is not practical, I am still in support of Chairman X's policy.  

16. 大学に入ると、教科書だの定期券だの必要なものを買わなければならない。
When you enter college, you have to important things such as textbooks and a commuter pass.

Grammar Note: Notice that 教科書 and 定期券 are examples of 必要なもの. The three phrases are treated as being of the same grammatical "case/function", and given their relationship, no additional particle is needed.  

17. 最近の中学生は、iPhoneだの 端末 ( たんまつ ) タブレットなどを欲しがるそうだ。
     Junior high students these days apparently wish for iPhones and other tablet devices.

Particle Note: The pattern ～だの～だの may change to ～だの～など under the condition that the pair of words are in the same "category". As categorization of things widely varies from person to person, there is variable opinion on grammatical acceptance of this change, which is even more apparent with more complex examples than this. However, the default pattern is always correct so long as you are using だの correctly in the first place. 

The 五段 verb  堪 たま る means "to endure". In this lesson, we will see it used after the て form to show the speaker's utter intolerance for something. 

～て堪る is followed most frequently by either か or ものか to show that one would never let something happen. The speaker is showing a strong resolution of not having something be in such a state/condition. As you can imagine, this isn't used in polite speech. 

This is synonymous with 断じて～など（し）ない. 断じて ≒ 決して. ～ものか shows a strong sense of negation, and it can also be seen in more casual speech as ～もんか. It literally creates a strong negative rhetorical question. 

Examples

1.  落第 らくだい などして 堪 るものか。
    I would never fail! 

2. 負 けてたまるか。
    I would never be defeated!

3. 死 んでたまるものか。
    I would never die!

4a. そんなことを断じて許せない。
4b. そんなことを許してたまるものか。 
      I would never allow this. 

Sentence Note: 4a shows the speaker's incapability of allowing such. 4b shows a strong negative emotional reaction of allowing such, and the latter as with all of the other sentences with ～てたまる（もの）か  invoke emotions such as anger. So, although the sentence with 断じて could be reworded to be even polite, that's impossible with ～てたまるものか. It's a phrase that should be limited to one's ウチ.  

 ～てたまらない

たまらない can be translated as "to die for", "ache", "kill for", etc. You literally can't stand it, and as you see below, this is often used in a positive sense. When it's not, it should be obvious by what's being used. For instance, in the first example, the speakers really want to go, and you get the sense that they just can't stand waiting any longer. This phrase is sometimes seen in polite speech as Ex. 4 illustrates.

 Examples

5. 私たち は 行 きたくてたまらないのです。
    We are eager to go.

6. あまりの 暑 あつ さに 一休 ひとやす みしたくてたまらない。
    I'm dying for a break from the heat.

7. 一杯飲 みたくてたまらなかった。
    I couldn't stand not having a drink. 

8. 今夜 こんや の 彼女 はたまらなく 美 しい。
    She is irresistibly beautiful tonight.

9. 腹 はら が 立 ってたまらない。
    To get furiously mad.

10. 旅行 りょこう したくてたまらないよ。
    I'm aching to travel.

11. 負けて悔やしくてたまらない。
      I can't stand but regret losing.

12. 負けてたまらない。
      I can't stand losing.

Grammar Note: Although the subject of the last sentence could be different, both sentences show the speaker's/subject's not standing the fact of losing. The positive/negative associations of this pattern clearly fall on semantic lines of what you're using in combination with it.  

     This lesson is the second of five lessons that focus on nominal phrases that deserve special attention. 

       As a noun, きかっけに means "trigger" or "prompt". In the speech modal きっかけに it means "take the opportunity to...". 

1. 日本語を勉強し始めたきかっけけは何ですか。 
    What was it that triggered you to begin studying Japanese? 

2. この事件をきかっけに、反対の声を上げる。
    To raise opposition in taking advantage of the case. 

3. 事故をきかっけに、家族の 結束 ( けっそく ) を 固 ( かた ) める。
    Take the accident to bring the family back together.

     契機 means "opportunity" and is in the speech modal を契機に meaning "taking the opportunity". 

4. それを契機に、新しい商売を始める。
    Taking the opportunity and starting a new business.

5. 言論弾圧を契機に暴動が起こる事がバーレーンに生じています。
    Violence is occurring in taking the opportunity of suppressing speech in Bahrain. 

The seasons in Japan occur at the same time as the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. In this lesson we will learn about events and vocab concerning the seasons. The four seasons, 四季, are recited as "春夏秋冬" in Japanese. A season (季節) has a native and a formal term.

     The Japanese proverb 我が世の春を謳歌（おうか）する means "enjoy the height of one's prosperity", referring to the lovely attitude towards spring. In literature spring is often emphasized with the epithets 梓弓 and 弓を張る. 

     As the proverb 秋の日は釣瓶落とし says, fall sets as soon as a bucket drops into a well. There are many proverbs and words in relationship to fall. Below are some of the most important of these phrases.

     Winter is a wonderful time. Winter starts on the winter solstice (冬至). 暖冬 means "warm winter" and 厳冬 "means "cold winter". People throw 雪玉 (snowballs) and make 雪だるま (snowmen). As people wait for 真冬日, the day that the temperature drops below 0, many others wait for the holidays and events like 冬の祭り. 

     Japanese national holidays used to all have names based off of Shintoism and Buddhism. But, after World War II, the terms became secularized. Holidays were established in Japan by the Public Holiday Law, 国民の祝日に関する法律. The practice of a Monday becoming a holiday because Sunday is one is called 振替休日. A holiday made when a holiday is before and after a day is called a 国民の休日. 

      The are five 節句 (seasonal festivals) observed in Japan, and their dates are based off of the lunar calendar. The dates are now confused because the Western calendar is in standard use. 

     The Japanese New Year used to start at the same time as it does in China. Now, it happens on January 1st. The New Year is called 正月. January 1st is 元旦, and New Year's Eve is 大晦日. 

     People send 年賀状 (New Year cards), except to those that have had a lost loved one in the year. For those that have lost someone, they send out a 喪中葉書き saying not to send 年賀状. What is written in a 年賀状? You could see some of the following.

     On December 31 the つらがね is rung 108 times to ward off evil spirits.　There are a lot of things that are only eaten at New Years.  餅 is a rice paddy cake that a lot of people choke on and die each year. 餅 becomes a decoration called 鏡餅. It consists of two 餅 with a 橙 (bitter orange). Some more お節料理 (New Year dishes) include:

     Kids receiving money is called お年玉. People play games such as the card game カルタ, kite flying (凧揚（たこあ）げ), etc. This last game involves blindfolding and decorating  someone with paper face parts. カルタ involves figuring out what line of poetry comes from which poem of the  百人一首, a Classical Japanese compilation.

     To mark the first event of something in the new year, use 初-. 

There isn't anything hard about 雨, but it is actually one of many words potentially from the Austronesian language family (which formed in Taiwan and spread throughout the Philippines, Indonesia, the Pacific and elsewhere). A growing number of Japanese scholars believe these speakers had contact with Japanese speaking populations in the ancient period. 雨 is just one of the resultant words from this probable cultural exchange. 

When words evolve, they often create offshoots with related meanings. Before you start thinking this is just like Inuit having tons of words for snow, remember that English is just as guilty. First, we'll have fun figuring out where 雨 came from. Then, we'll look at all the words for kinds of rain as well as sounds for rain. In the end, you'll have enough rain words at your disposal to make rainy poetry... 

The Kanji 雨 has four readings: ウ, あめ, あま-, -さめ. The first is from Chinese, so we won't need it until later. The last three, however, are clearly related to each other, but the lack of "s" in the first two poses a problem to naive natives or learners that think native words have changed little. 

 To those that think Japanese and Korean are related to each other, 雨 really causes problems because the Korean word for rain is /pi/. How can /pi/ possibly have any connection to something in Japanese? This, too, will be looked into. 

sebu/(n)sepu: The Beginning of 雨  

 Early constructed Austronesian words for rain include sebu and (n)sepu.This word in Austronesian had several related words, all of which appear to have contributed to Japanese. It appears that sebu made it to Japanese as sopo and sabu. It appears that there was free variation between b and p in the ancient period, and given that similar words are being borrowed, vowels can easily shift around. 

 sopo →　そぼ降る, どぼん, ぽとぽと, ほとばしる, ほとびる

In Poem 3883 of the 万葉集, the oldest work in Japanese, the phrase 小雨そほ降る appears. そほ is sopo. The pronunciation of o-sounds is contested. Some posit that Japanese had two o-vowels similar to Modern Korean. Sopo would eventually become sofo and then be found as sobo in the phrase そぼ降る (to drizzle), basically just as it is seen 2,000 years in the past.  

The s in sopo became replaced with the t. A direct derivative of topo is どぼん, which means "plop".  The the two syllables would then flip to produce poto. This poto survives in ぽとぽと, which is an onomatopoeia that describes the trickling down of heavy tears. It also survives in the verbs ほとばしる (to gush out) and ほとびる (to swell from absorbed moisture).  

sabu  → ざぶざぶ, さばさば, ざぶん, さめざめ, -さめ, あめ, あま-

The form sabu can be seen today in words like ざぶざぶ (onomatopoeia for gushing), さばさば (candid), さっぱり (refreshing). ざぶん (splash/plop), however, is a clear descendant of sabu. The ba in "saba" would be interchanged with ma. This should not be surprising because b and m remain interchangeable in many words to this day like つぶる・つむる (to close one's eyes).

With time, the さめざめ in さめざめ（と）泣く (crying sorrowfully) was born. Thus, we finally have -same. Drop the s and you get 雨! あま- would then be a given derivative due to the noun compounding rules established by that time.    

The Korean /pi/ 

If we want to look for a pre-sebu word for rain in Japanese of Korean origin, we would need to find something that looks like /pi/. It turns out that this is very easy to do. 樋 is a word for gutter and water pump, and it so happens to have the readings とひ and ひ. If we take the と to be related to 戸 and focus on the ひ, we see a resemblance to /pi/. In fact, if we consider ancient pronunciation, they're the same. The readings とゆ and とよ came much later, so they pose no problem to this analysis. 

 Conclusions

Is anything of this fact without a shadow of a doubt? No, but that's not the main point that you should take from this. Rather, if you as a learner had gathered up these words in your vocabulary and pondered on them, you'd probably find similar connections. Finding patterns in words that are similar that you know will only help you retain what things mean and make sense of the language as a whole.

Citation Note: It would do no justice to not mention 川本崇雄, whose brilliant research led to these discoveries. His book 南から来た日本語 is a truly fascinating book that any person who is interested in the origins of Japanese words should read.   

It appears that Japanese is now the new target for having too many words for the same thing: 雨. Is that really the case? Sure, there are definitely many words derived from or with 雨, but so what? When you type 雨 into an online dictionary like jisho.org, you will find tons of words with 雨. Not all are commonly used words. Some are very formal. If a rain word doesn't have 雨 in it, you probably won't think to look elsewhere to find other such words.

Sure, it rains a lot in Japan. It also rains a lot in other parts of the world. By no means should you ignore the relationship between language and geography, but the overwhelming majority of "rain" related words come from Chinese. Yes, the language does have many words for rain, but it's no more than other languages spoken in areas with similar climates.

Speech Styles Note: "Written language" simply refers to literary contexts. Some words may be used in the spoken language, but they may be more formal or typical of a news report. The descriptions will try to account for all of this, but each word will have its unique but ever changing use.  

Reading Note: Remember that ウ is the Sino-Japanese reading for 雨. It is typically an indicator that a word is formal. It is used constructively to make many rain related words, some of which may be commonly used in the spoken language like 雨量（うりょう） for rainfall. 

 The Many 'Rain' Words

雨: Not having 雨 in a list of 'rain' words would be stupid. It's used in all sorts of settings in speaking and writing. It is the basic word for rain in Japanese. For origin, reread the start of this lesson. 

小雨(こさめ): This refers to a little rain falling or rain falling that is very thin. It is very common in the spoken language, but it has the rare reading こあめ. I would advice not to use this, but its existence does bring to mind the struggle for the initial s's existence. In the written language, this word can also be read as しょうう. しょうう may also be spelled as 少雨. This can be translated as either "light/slight rain", "drizzle", or even "sprinkle".

晴一時小雨（はれいちじこさめ): This is a brief 小雨.  

大雨(おおあめ): This is rain that falls in large quantities. It is the opposite of 小雨, and it is also very common in the spoken language. In the written language, it may also be read as たいう. This may be translated as "downpour" or "heavy rain". 

小降り（こぶり): This word refers to rain or snow falling with weak intensity. It is appropriate to relate this to "rain letting up". This word is a commonly used word in the spoken language.

大降り（おおぶり): This is the antonym of 小降り. It refers to rain coming down with great intensity, and it can be translated as "downfall", "heavy rain", "torrential rain", but remember that it is referring to intensity rather than quantity. Though large amounts of rain come with great intensity, the angle the word takes is different than with 大雨. This word is also commonly used in the spoken language.

小粒（こつぶ）の雨: This is small drop rain. This word is very common in the spoken language. 

大粒（おおつぶ）の雨: This is big drop rain. This word is very common in the spoken language.

土砂降り（どしゃぶり）: Usually followed by the copula although the colloquial verb form 土砂降る does exist, this is a very natural way of saying "downpour". The rain in a 土砂降り is of 大粒 size.

豪雨（ごうう): This is a slightly more technical word for "downpour", which is why it is found in more technical words like 集中豪雨 (localized torrential flooding). This word refers to large amounts of rain coming down with great intensity. It's like a combination of 大雨 and 大降り.  

雨脚・雨足（あまあし）: This very common word means "passing shower". The word may uncommonly be read as あめあし.

涙雨（なみだあめ）: This can be used to refer to rain akin to sad tears or it can refer to a light amount of rain falling.  

弱雨（じゃくう）: This is a made-up word that no one uses, and it's meant to compliment the opposite, 強雨, which does exist. In the spoken language, you would just say 弱い雨, which is used in meteorology as well.  

強雨（きょうう): This would be 強い雨 in the spoken language, but this word does exist in technical situations. The wind related term 強風 is used in the spoken language whereas 強雨, which is not that congruent, but what do you expect?  

微雨（びう）: This is a literary word for 細か｛な・い｝雨. This is light, drizzly rain. 

細雨（さいう): This is a literary word for 細か｛な・い｝雨. Though also referring to a drizzle, it may also refer to misty rain. However, this is expressed in the spoken language as 霧雨.

（小）糠雨（（こ）ぬかあめ): This is rain where the rain drops are incredibly thin and misty. This is acceptable in the spoken language, though it isn't something that you would casually drop in a conversation. 小- is used as an intensifier. 

霧雨（きりさめ）: This is the spoken language word for "misty rain".

煙雨（えんう): This is a literary word that comes from a comparison of smoke to misty rain.  

俄雨（にわかあめ）: A combination of にわか (sudden/abrupt) and 雨, 俄雨 refers to a rain that suddenly pours and then just ends. This is somewhat specific, but it doesn't prevent it from being used in the spoken language.

夕立（ゆうだち）: This is a shower that lasts into the evening that starts in the latter part of the afternoon in the summer. The rain comes down hard and suddenly, and lightning typically accompanies it.  

急雨（きゅうう）: This is a rare word for 俄雨. 急な雨 would be used in the spoken language to replace this.  

白雨（はくう): This is a very literary term for the same thing as 俄雨.    

驟雨(しゅうう): This is an insanely rare, literary word for the same thing as 俄雨.  

長雨（ながあめ）: This is a commonly spoken word meaning "long rain" in the sense that rain continues on for several days.

霖（ながめ): Coming from a contraction of ながあめ, this word can often be found in things like poetry. 

霖雨（りんう）: This is rather literary term that means the same thing as 長雨. 

陰霖（いんりん): This is a very rare word for 長雨.  

陰雨（いんう）: This is a literary word referring to gloomy rain. This can be expressed in the spoken language with 陰気な雨. 

淫雨（いんう）: This is a literary word that refers to long lasting rains, but bad consequences are implied to crops.  

時雨（しぐれ）: This is a somewhat poetic word that refers to the scattered rains that start in late autumn and end in early winter. It is seen in a lot of compound expressions such as 時雨空, 秋時雨, 初時雨, 村時雨, etc. It even has the verb form 時雨れる, although 時雨が降る is far more common. 

梅雨（つゆ・ばいう): The first reading is native and the second reading is Sino-Japanese, but both are extremely common words in both the written and spoken languages. Though the latter may be slightly less frequent, both words refer to the rainy season which lasts in Japan from June to July. ばいう may also be rarely spelled as 黴雨. ばいう does get used more in technical phrases such as 梅雨前線 (rainy season front). Some years, the rainy season may be dry, 空梅雨（からつゆ). Entering the rainy season is called 梅雨入り・入梅（つゆいり). A dry spell in the rainy season is called a 梅雨晴れ（つゆばれ). The end of the season is called the 梅雨明け（つゆあけ).

雨季（うき): This is another commonly used word for "rainy season", but the main difference is that this is not Japan-specific. When stressing on a particular part of the year, this word may alternatively be spelled as 雨期.  

五月雨（さみだれ): Also rarely read as さつきあめ, this somewhat common word refers to continuous long rains in the fifth lunar month. This is the same as 梅雨, but the basis of meaning is slightly different.  

春雨（はるさめ): In relation to rain, this word refers to the thin rain that quietly falls in spring. This word is common in the spoken language, but it can also be read as しゅんう in the written language. Aside from rain, it can also mean "thin bean starch noodles". This is clearly analogous to the shape of "spring rains".

春霖（しゅんりん）: This is a rare literary word for 春雨. 

菜種梅雨（なたねづゆ）: This is a rare, literary, yet native word for 春霖. 

夏雨（かう): This is very rare and practically only found in the technical phrase 温暖夏雨気候 (temperate rainy summer climate). なつさめ is a viable phrase, but it is not particular common, and not all speakers will agree that it is a word. 

秋雨（あきさめ）: Read as あきさめ in the spoken language and as しゅうう in the written language, this word refers to autumn rain. This especially refers to long autumnal rains, and it is not appropriate to refer to 俄雨 in this season. The word itself in the spoken language is common, especially in autumn...

秋霖（しゅうりん）: This is a rare literary word for 秋雨. 

冬雨（ふゆさめ): This is not a word to many speakers, but it does sometimes gets used. People assume that if you can say はるさめ and あきさめ, then there shouldn't be any problem with ふゆさめ. As it is a contested word, use something else for school assignments.   

春の雨; 夏の雨; 秋の雨: 冬の雨: Aside from just specific terms like above, you could just use these phrases to just mention rain in a certain season.  

氷雨（ひさめ): This means "freezing rain", referring to really cold rain, but t can also mean "hail". Hail, though, is typically the next two words.

雹(ひょう): Equivalent to "hail(stone)", 雹 fall down from cumulonimbus clouds in a thunderstorm. The diameter of one is at least five millimeters. 

霰（あられ）: These is regular, small-sized hail as the result of mist crystallizing in the air. This is far more common in the spoken language than 雹. Both words are typically spelled in ひらがな. 

霙（みぞれ）: This word means "sleet" and is a rather common word, although it is typically spelled in ひらがな.

雨混（ま）じりの雪: Rain-mixed snow. This phrase and the next one are both common expressions.

雪混じりの雨: Snow-mixed rain. The major precipitation is opposite of the previous expression.

雨後雪（あめのちゆき）: Often seen in weather reports, this means "snow after rain”.

雨下（うか）: A rare written language word for raining, which is typically 雨が降る in the spoken language.

風雨（ふうう): Literally "wind and rain", this is actually a rather common word. However, it's a tad bit too formal to be seen in colloquial conversations.  

暴風雨（ぼうふうう）: This is a technical yet still frequently used word for "storm". 

雨模様（あまもよう）: Also read as あめもよう, this is the most common way to refer to "signs of rain".

雨催い（あまもよい）: This is an old-fashioned way of saying the previous thing, and it can be alternatively read as あめもよい.

雨気（うき）: This is the Sino-Japanese word for "signs of rain", and as you can guess, it's very formal and basically not used. This can also be read as あまけ, which is more common. 

雨氷（うひょう): This is rain that is colder than 0℃, and it quickly hardens when it hits the surface of something. Though translated as "freezing rain", it is quite technical and practical only used in meteorological formats.   

横降り(よこぶり): This word is a commonly spoken word meaning "driving rain". However, it can also refer to snow. The point is that it refers to rain being made to fall slanted due to gale winds.  

吹き降り（ふきぶり）: This word is a commonly spoken word that refers to strong wind accompanied with heavy rain, thus making it synonymous with 横降り. In this case, however, the emphasis is on the wind itself, not the direction of the rain.  

天泣（てんきゅう）: Though more natural to just say 雲がないのに雨が降る, this is not as esoteric as some of these other words. 

晴後雨（はれのちあめ): Often seen during news weather reports, this means "rain after being clear".  

雷雨(らいう): This word means "thunderstorm" and is an extremely common word. 

降雨（こうう): This is "precipitation" and is just as formal as the English word. The spoken word for this is 雨降り.　

人工（降）雨（じんこう（こう）う）: Artificial precipitation. 

放射能雨(ほうしゃのうう): More naturally read as ほうしゃのうあめ, this word means "radioactive rain". Highly polluted/radioactive rain can also be called 黒い雨, which is used in the spoken language. 

酸性雨（さんせいう）: ”Acid rain".

流星雨（りゅうせいう）: ”Meteor shower". 

雨露（うろ）: This word means "rain and dew", but it is usually reading as あめつゆ for the spoken language, which can also be more naturally worded as 雨と露.    

涼雨（りょうう): 涼しい雨 in the spoken language, this word refers to lovely rain in the summer that cools everything down. 

冷雨（れいう): This word means "cold rain", but it is a formal word and would be replaced with 冷たい雨 in the spoken language. 

寒雨（かんう): This is a literary word for "wintry rain". This could also be expressed as 寒々とした雨, but this is still not totally colloquial.

夜雨（やう）: If used in the spoken language it would be 夜の雨, and to be more poetic, you could read 夜雨 as よさめ and 夜の雨  as よのあめ. These words simply mean "night rain". A "rainy night" would be 雨夜（あまよ).

緑雨（りょくう）: This word refers to rain that falls in the season when new greens grow. However, this is relative to what part of the world you live in, and although you would assume this would be used for around April and May, the word is just uncommon and literary. 

甘雨(かんう）: Homophonous yet even rarer than 寒雨, this word refers to rain that graciously falls to replenish greens.  

慈雨・滋雨（じう）: This is a slightly more common word for the same thing as 甘雨, though it would be more appropriate in the spoken language to say something like 草木を育てる雨. Notice how it is often more common to use the definition of a more technical word in the spoken language. This phrase is actually short for 干天慈雨. 

喜雨（きう): Joyful, pleasant rain that can help with the crops. This is just as rare and literary as the other words for the same thing.  

恵雨（けいう）: This word also refers to blessed rain for crops, but it's not used in the spoken language either. This would naturally be expressed as 恵みの雨. 

十雨（じゅうう）: This means "refreshing rain once in ten days", but this is never used. The similar four character idiom 十風五雨・五風十雨 (halcyon weather) is more common. Just saying 十日ごとに雨が降る will be fine. 

凍雨（とうう）: This somewhat technical word may either refer to rain as cold as ice or ice pellets. However, both concepts in the spoken language would most likely be expressed as 凍るほど冷たい雨・氷のように冷たい雨 and 氷の粒 respectively.  

晴雨（せいう）: This is a technical word for clear and rainy weather.

弾雨（だんう）: This is a shower of bullets. It is a literary word, so you will more than likely hear the definition used in the spoken language instead. This is a contraction of 弾丸飛雨（だんがんひう）. 

法雨（ほうう）: ”Shower of Dharma", also known as のりのあめ. This is not a common word.

快雨（かいう）: This is a rare word for rain that makes oneself feel refreshed.

穀雨（こくう）: This literally means "grain rain", and it is a solar term for ~April 20th.

祈雨（きう）: This is a very rare word for praying for rain. 雨乞い is used in the spoken language.

止雨（しう）:  This is a very rare word for praying for rain to stop. 

樹雨（きさめ):  This is a rather easy word describing raindrops that fall of the leaves and branches of trees. This is not, though, a common word. 

私雨（わたくしあめ): An obscure and hardly used term used to refer to rain that mainly hits a certain area. 

遣（や）らずの雨: This is rain that seems to be preventing you or someone from leaving something. This is an interesting phrase, but it isn't really common.

黒風白雨（こくふうはくう）: This is an uncommon four character idiom that means "sudden rain shower in a dust storm".  

篠突く雨（しのつくあめ): This is a rather literary word referring to heavy rain that looks as if it is bamboo bound together and dropped. Something like ざあざあ降る would replace it in the spoken language. 

Common Rain Associated Words 

The table below lists many rain associated words that you can add to your vocabulary. Most of these words are quite practical and can be used in everyday language.

 Rain Onomatopoeia 

What about onomatopoeia for rain? Along with the ones you got from earlier, plenty exist to describe the exact sound of rain/water/tears falling. This list isn't exhaustive, but after all of these rain words, you probably can't stand any more.

Burial customs in Japan are very serious and complex. In this lesson, you will learn a lot about what is appropriate and what is not.

When a person dies,  香典 こうでん  is usually given as a funeral gift of money to the family at the vigil or funeral. This is given in an envelope called a  熨斗袋 のしぶくろ . This is a general term for envelopes for giving money, so you'll see more specific terms later in this section. This envelope looks different depending on religion, so you will need to be careful and ask for what is appropriate. For instance, if there is a picture of a lotus on it, it should only be used for those who follow Buddhism. What is put in the inscription is not an easy question, and it depends heavily on the religious beliefs of the deceased. It also doesn't help that there isn't unilateral decision on what to do. 

 What is 香典?

In 香典, there is this meaning of 持ちつ持たれつ・ 相互扶助 そうごふじょ  (give-and-take). The amount of money you give is based on your relation to the person. The most common amounts are ５０００円, ３０００円, and １０，０００円, but the latter may be avoided as it is deemed unlucky by many to give an amount with an initial even digit. If you are unable to give much money, you should write  菊一輪 きくいちりん . The money should also be new bills found at a bank or 郵便局. What to put on the top of the paper envelope (表書き) is no easy matter.

Grammar Note: This つ is an old particle equivalent to たり.  

 The 中包み

In the inside, the front side of the card (中包み) should have the amount to be given in old-style characters (大字). So, 壱, 弐, 参, 四, 五・伍, 六, 七, 八, 九, 拾, 百, 千, and 萬 should be used instead. 円 should be spelled as 圓. The name and address of the individual should be written on the back side. This is to keep the sadness of the death to be underneath. 

 御香典

The first thing to note is that ご・お should be written in 御 to show more respect. 御香典 may be safe if you don't know the religion. It may be read as either おこうでん or ごこうでん, but the first is the most common, and the decision may also deal with specific sect. Regardless of reading, this is not appropriate for Shinto followers. So,  御霊前 ごれいぜん  is felt by many others as the most appropriate heading. 

For Shinto Followers

     If the person is a Shinto believer,  御神前 ごしんぜん  or  御玉串料 おんたまぐしりょう  may be used.  御榊料 おさかきりょう ,  御神饌料 ごしんせんりょう , and  御供物料 おそなえものりょう  may also be acceptable.  初穂料 はつほりょう  is written in an envelope addressed to the Shinto shrine.  幣料 ぬさりょう  may be used on the 金包み with the money for the お 祓 はら い (purification) costs.

 For Christians

For Christians,  御花料 おはなりょう  or  御 おん ミサ料・御弥撒料 (for Catholics) may be used. Using 漢字, of course, makes things more formal. You may also see  御花環料 おんはなわりょう . For design-less  不祝儀袋 ぶしゅうぎぶくろ , which equates to 熨斗袋 in the sense that it is an envelope for a misfortunate occasion,  ご霊前 may be acceptable.

For Buddhists

御霊前 can be possibly used even if a person is Buddhist, Shinto follower, or Christian. However, if the person is of the  浄土真宗 じょうどしんしゅう  sect, you should use 御仏前 instead. If you can't find this out, 御霊前 is acceptable. So, it can be used if you don't know the religious of the person. You can also use this for 御供物 (flowers).

御霊前・御香典 can be used on the vigil or funeral, but  御仏前 ごぶつぜん ・御佛前 should be used after the Buddhist service on the 49th day the person has died.  御香料 ごこうりょう ・ 御香華料 ごこうげりょう  is also acceptable for this occasion. However, as mentioned earlier, 御仏前・御佛前 is acceptable for all the above in the 浄土真宗 Buddhism. 佛 is the old form of 仏, which makes it more formal.

 Contacting the Family

If the person is a loved one of your family or a close family, you should contact the family as soon as you can. If it is an acquaintance of some sort, you should wait until after the vigil to give your condolences. When you do receive contact, make sure to not only give your condolences but also find out the time and place of the vigil and funeral as well as the person's religion. If you already gave your 香典 at the vigil, you should only write your name in the register at the funeral. 

 弔電

If you unable to attend either or if it is business related, you should send a  弔電 ちょうでん , This is literally a "condolence telegram", but there ways of doing this through phone and fax. The 表書き for this should be  御弔料 おとむらいりょう  along with the name of the company/organization. However, you should consult others for this as well as practices vary in acceptability. In it, you should have  故 こ 〇〇〇〇様ご遺族様 in it. The prefix 故 means “late” as in “the late Mr. Smith”. 遺族 means “the family of the deceased”. 様 is attached to show respect.  

 Not Knowing the Person

It is also appropriate to  御悔 おくやみ  if the person is not someone you are close or related to. However, using one of the more appropriate, religious focused headings is more respectful.

Thanks to the お寺・僧侶

      There are also phrases to show thanks to the temple/monks.

御布施 おふせ : Used to give thanks to the temple and or monks for a Buddhist funeral.

御経料: This is the same as 御布施.

読経御礼 どきょうおんれい : It is used in the same sense as 御経料. おれい may be used a lot instead, but おんれい is more formal. Don’t pronounce 読経 as どっきょう.

戒名料 かいみょうりょう : This is used for showing thanks for the posthumous Buddhist name being given to the deceased.

御回向料 ごえこうりょう : This is used for showing thanks for reading out a sutra at the funeral.

御車料 おくるまりょう : This is used for travel expenses.

御膳料 おぜんりょう : Used for food costs. It may also be 御食事料.
御足衣料 ごそくいりょう : This may also be used for travel expenses. 

 配り物

If you were to be in the position of presenting a gift for a funeral offering, there are a few phrases for this.

志 こころざし : Used in Buddhist and Shinto styles. This is used as a return gift for 香典 or  法要 ほうよう  (Buddhist service).

粗供養 そくよう : Present from a 法要. 

Final Note: As you can see, funeral arrangements in Japanese culture is very complex. However, this also shows us just how complex お～ and ご～ phrases may be. As this section illustrates, you may even see おん～.

君が代, which is usually translated as "His Majesty's Reign", is the 国歌 (national anthem) of the great nation of Japan. The song first started out as a 和歌 from the Heian Period (平安時代). After the 明治維新 (Meiji Restoration) in 1880, it was turned into a song and then eventually treated as the national anthem, but this only became official in 1999 despite most Japanese people already thinking it was. The anthem happens to be the shortest in the world with only 32 characters. 

Lyrics: 

 君が代は
千代に八代に
さざれ石の
巌となりて
苔の生すまで

かな Version:

 きみがよは
ちよにはちよに
さざれいしの
いわおとなりて
こけのむすまで

Standard English Translation:

 May your reign
Continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations,
Until the pebbles
Grow into boulders
Lush with moss

The song originated from a 短歌 in the 古今和歌集. The song describes how the Imperial Household will continue forever. One main difference between the current version and the original was that 君が代 was わが君, reflecting how it used to be a song sung on formal occasions to wish for a long life. Many disapprove of the strong implications of revering the Emperor as figure of worship. Others view it as a piece of history and that the politics is a separate matter.

Given that there is quite a bit of old grammar in such a small song, it's important to note those differences. First, let's look at the lyrics again.

君が代は
千代に八代に
さざれ石の
巌となりて
苔の生すまで

The first issue is 君. This word at the time the song was written could refer to someone like the Emperor, but it could also be used to anyone of high status. In fact, Genji, the main character in the famous story 源氏物語, is often referred as 光の君 in it.

The case particles が and の used to be completely interchangeable in Classical Japanese. This is explains essentially most of the differences. Another is that the て形 contractions are not seen at this time, and if they were, it would not have been indicative of literary language just yet. Even to this day when things are purposely made classical, such contractions are almost always completely avoided.

This is often called the Japanese alphabet song, despite that かな are syllabaries. The いろは first appeared in 万葉仮名 but brilliantly uses each basic sound only once. The song was attributed to 空海, who founded the 真言 sect of Buddhism. However, due to a rather interesting hidden message in the poem, it's likely that it was actually written after his death.

 万葉仮名 Version

 いろはにほへと
ちりぬるを
わかよたれそ
つねならむ
うゐのおくやま
けふこえて
あさきゆめみし
ゑひもせす

 As you can see, there is no marking of voiced sounds. The pronunciation of words has also changed just as much as the grammar. ん was not standard as a specific character for N' until Modern times, so it shouldn't be expected to be in here. It also has the obsolete ゐ and ゑ as these sounds were used in Japanese at the time. However, once the current 五十音 ordering, which is based off the Sanskrit ordering of sounds, was adopted in the Meiji Restoration, this became out of use for most situations to list the sounds.

いろはにほへど　＝　色は匂えど　　Although the scent lingers
ちりぬるを　　　　＝　散りぬるを　　　It (the flowers) will eventually blossom 
わかよたれそ　　＝　我が世誰ぞ　　Who in our world
常ならむ　　　　　＝　常ならむ　　　 Never changes?
うゐのおくやま　＝　有為の奥山　　The deep mountains of vanity
けふこえて　　　＝　今日超えて　　 Today we cross
あさきゆめみし　＝　浅き夢見じ　　And we shall not see superficial dreams
ゑひもせす　　　＝　酔ひもせず　　Nor be drunk 

 The particle ど follows the 已然形 and has the same function as けれど, which is a derivative of it with an auxiliary. -ぬる is the 連体形 of the intransitive perfective auxiliary verb -ぬ, which is no longer used in Modern Japanese and followed the 連用形 of verbs.

The ぞ is a 係助詞 here, which is particle class with rather difficult usage. Essentially, it would be at the end of the sentence in Modern Japanese, ignoring the fact that the particle in question is only archaically used in Modern Japanese to be used in conjunction with the old volitional ending -む to make a rhetorical question.

けふ means "today" and it used to be pronounced as /kepu/. This would eventually become /keu/, which eventually become a diphthong and turn into /kyo:/, which it is today in Standard Modern Japanese. The word is a combination of け, the original word for today and ふ, which is the 終止形 of the Classical form of the verb 経る (to pass time).

～じ is a negative auxiliary that means ～ないだろう. Thus, it naturally follows the 未然形. Lastly, もせず ＝ もしないで.

 五十音順

For many things in life, though, the 五十音順 is used instead. But, have you ever wondered how you would arrange 濁音 and 拗音?  If you had たかた and たかだ, you would list them in that order, but if you had かわさきじろう (川崎次郎)　and かわざきいちろう (河崎一郎), you would start with 河崎一郎. This is because you have to think of the order of the 五十音. い comes before し・じ. You look at 濁音 last. As for 拗音, there is no single convention, but non-拗音 are usually first.  

This lesson introduces more difficult/less common phrases for showing similarity. 

You may also seldom see  如 ごと . ごと is 如くwhen used adverbially, 如き when used adjectivally in the 連体形, and 如し when used adjectivally in the 終止形. ごと is largely replaced by 如くだ. This is old-fashioned and often used for poetic reasons or in set expressions.

1. 月の如く
　　Like the moon

2. 天使の如く
　 Like an angel

3. 人生はあたかも春の夜の夢の如しということではないと思うんだ。
 　 I don't think that human life is as if it was like a dream of a spring night.

4. 我々ごときが坐っていてアンケートと本で調べた（だけでもないが）点に致命的弱味がある。
There is a fatal weak point in the like of us who sat and researched questionnaires and books (though that isn't all we did). 
From 大分方言 by 高田一彦.

Grammar Note: Notice how ごとき is used. It is not connected to 我々 with の, and it is treated as a nominal phrase. The reason for this is that in older forms of Japanese, the 連体形 of adjectives could take on case particles such as が to be used as nominal phrases. The result here is the very formal, written expression for "the like of us".  

5. 売れ 行 ゆ き 甚 はなは だ 振 ふ るわざるがごとし。(Classical)
　 It appears that sales are really not flourishing.

Word Notes: 売れ行き comes from the combination of 売れる (to be sold) and 行く. 
～ざるがごとし is Classical Japanese for ～ないようだ.

This is an infrequently used word that means "just like". It is rather literary and is not really used in the spoken language. Even its Kanji spelling is not particularly known. However, it is a topic on the JLPT NI, so it is something that you need to take note of.

When さながら  attaches to a noun, it shows that something is just as something else. In this sense, it is similar to 同然. In other contexts, it is an adverb meaning まるで. This, again, would not be something used in 話し言葉.

6. 本当の戦争さながら
　 Just as a real war 

7. あの人の姿はさながら死骸のようだった。
　 That person's figure was just like that of a dead body.  

8. 王 宛 さなが らの 大歓迎

　 A royal welcome

しかず, frequently spelled as 如かず, comes from an old verb no longer used anymore to show that something is the same thing as and or does not exceed a certain point. This, though, is not in a negative sense but in a good meaning. A similar phrase is ～には及ばない. Though 如かず is still used, it's normally used in set phrases. 　

9. 百聞は一見に如かず。
　　Seeing is believing.

10. 尽く書を信ずれば則ち書なきに如かず。
　　 If you believe what is in a book fully without hesitation, it is as if there is no book at all.

Set Phrase Note: This is a proverb from Mencius lecturing people that if they believed everything in the Book of History, 書経, without having any critical judgment on it, it would be best if the book didn't exist at all. 

We have already learned well before how to make the date in Japanese. Unlike in American English, in Japanese, the data begins with the year, which is then followed by the month and then the day of the month. You can then go further and add the name of the day of the week after this in various ways. 

What we have not addressed so far is the fact that Japanese has another way of representing the date. We are used to using the Western Calendar, but the Japanese have their own calendar system. Also, Japan used to follow the lunar calendar. So, this lesson will address both of these things.  

For review, look at the following dates written in various fashions.

1. 2014年3月11日
    March 11, 2014

2. ２２００年１０月１３日 
    October 13, 2200

3. １７４５年４月９日
    April 9, 1745

4. 一九五四年一一月二五日
    November 25, 1954

5. １３年４月３日発売予定！
     Release 4/3/13! 

Abbreviation Note: Just as in English, the year may be abbreviated likewise. As such, 95年 almost always means 1995. Also, as we are in the 21st century, 13年 = 2013年. 

6. 四百五拾六年壱拾弐月参日　
    December 3rd, 456

Spelling Note: This last example uses 大字 numeral variants, which are often used in official documents as well as on money. This convention is closer to how numbers are used in Chinese. Although December would still be read off as じゅうにがつ, it is spelled as if it were read as いちじゅうにがつ. You will hardly ever encounter this convention, but it is important to know that it exists.

Orthography Note: Japanese numerals are written in various fonts in printed material. You will notice that people will have their own preferences. Some may use English fonts like in Ex. 1 or  some will use a Japanese font as in Ex. 2-5.  

 There are two calendar systems in use today in Japan. The most common is the Western Calendar ( 西暦 せいれき ) but the traditional calendar based on the era ( 年号 ねんごう ) of a political time period ( 改元 かいげん ) is used heavily in formal/official situations. Each period in the traditional calendar starts with  元年 がんねん  and then continues as you would expect. The current era is the  平成時代 へいせいじだい , which will end presumably when the current sitting emperor passes away. 

7. 昭和 しょうわ 47年
    1972

8. 平成元年
    1989

Era names extend all the way to the beginning of Imperial reign in Japan, beginning with 神武天皇. For the majority of these first eras, the name of that era matches the traditional name of the emperor in question, which is usually a posthumous name coined with Buddhist influence. 

Later on, a tradition of coining a new term to commemorate an era takes shape. This practice continues to this day. Many speakers don't know era names older than the 明治時代, which began in 1868. Although speakers are exposed to many era names throughout the course of their education, knowledge about them is rather scattered. As such, it is not imperative of you to remember any of them but perhaps the last four.

The chart below, although quite long and extensive, shows all era names from the beginning (660 B.C.) to the present. Again, you don't have to memorize its contents. Use this as a reference whenever you come across a date you can't comprehend.  

Chart Note: Although the chart indicates what year each era begins, each era technically begins once the reign is switched to said emperor of that era. As such, you will need to do research regarding the month and day the transition would have taken place to create an accurate date for the years in which a new era begins.

The original Japanese calendar was based off the Chinese lunar calendar, which starts 3 to 7 weeks later than the Western calendar. The traditional names of these months are still popular in poetry, names, etc. You don't have to memorize them or how to write them. 

Have you ever wondered how you would say things like “I’ve been gone for three, four days”? These round number expressions are called 概数, and this lesson will teach you how to read them. So, it’s important to mention this separately. In reading out, though, you would usually hear ＃から＃ or ＃か＃ for many situations.

After learning about how to read 概数, we will learn how to read the multiplication table in Japanese, which is called 九九.

 The chart below shows how to create 概数 in Japanese, but then the majority of this lesson will be about the difficulty of reading these phrases when counters are put into the mix. 

 The Inconsistency of Reading 概数 Phrases

Just as in English, these phrases would be pronounced with the expected word breaks. Unlike English, however, there is no single pronunciation for the majority of these phrases. The information below will address many of the most important things to know, but listening to what people actually say around you is the best way to acquire these phrases.

When dealing with larger numbers, you would not attach いちに to 十 or 百. When さんし is used before 十, 百, 千, 万, 億, or 兆, it is usually realized as さんよ（ん）. In fact, さんしひゃく and さんしせん are almost completely got.

しご is oddly enough never changed to よんご. ろくしち to ろくなな will probably become more common as time goes by, but it is currently not widespread.

8~9 is はっく for the majority of people. はちくis usually realized as はちきゅう with はっきゅう coming at a far second in the following cases. 8,000~9,000 can be はちくせん or はっくせん or even はっきゅうせん, but it is usuallyはちきゅうせん. As for 80~90, most people say はちきゅうじゅう but はっきゅうじゅう, はちくじゅう, and はっくじゅう are minority readings. As for 800~900, most people say はちきゅうひゃく. はっきゅうひゃく, はちくひゃく, and はっくひゃく are used by a very small percentage of the population.

What about something like 3~4回? さんよんかい. For 3~4人 and 3~4時間, it is common practice to read them respectively as さんよにん and さんよじかん. Ultimately, さんし has disappeared with counters. 3~4枚 is usually さんよんまい. Another potential reason for this is that さんしまい would sound like 三姉妹.

What about 6~7回? ろくしちかい or ろくななかい are both OK, but just as has been said about, replacing しち with なな has not spread this far as し → よん has in this same environment. So, people overwhelmingly use ろくしちかい. You also use ろくしち in other phrases such as 6~7冊 and 6~7人.

For 8~9回, it’s most common to hear はちきゅうかい instead of はっきゅかい, はちくかい, or はっくかい. In 18~19の少年, it’s common to say じゅうはちく. There’s also the set phrase 十中八九 read as じゅうちゅうはっく meaning “8 or 9 cases out of 10”.  For 8~9時間, はちくじかん is most common. Likewise, 8~9人 is usually はちくにん. Replacing さんし with さんよん・さんよ is not so problematic, but replacing はちく with はちきゅう in phrases in which はちく is most common does pose a problem. As for 80~90円 and 800~900円, many people would read them out by using か or から.

Other things to note include what happens with日 and 概数. It has so many exceptions , but you can still say いちににち, にさんにち, しごにち, and ごろくにち. 3~4日 is さんよっか. This could also be read as さんよんにち by a small amount of people, but さんしにち because people would think死日. There’s also ついたち、ふつか and いちにちふつか for 1~2日. This is often rephrased to 一両日 ( いちりょうじつ ) .

Then, 1~2人  read as いちににん is uncommon and usually ひとりかふたり. 2~3人 read as にさんにん, though, is very common. 

Oddly enough, 九九 refers to the multiplication chart and is read as くく. In simplified multiplication speech, 被乗数 (the thing being multiplied) and the 乗数 (multiplier) have special pronunciations for certain numbers. In Japanese the thing being multiplied gets stated before the multiplier.

It’s also possible to have 促音 being inserted or shown up as a result of sound change.

Let’s look at a more complete list. Though you could say things in a more Western fashion as いち かける　いち　イコール　いち, the following manner is perhaps the most important. This is especially the case in reference to the 九九の表. 

Below are all of the multiplication table combinations and their special readings.  

１の段
１×１＝１ いんいちがいち
１×２＝２ いんにがに
１×３＝３ いんさんがさん
１×４＝４ いんしがし
１×５＝５ いんごがご
１×６＝６ いんろくがろく
１×７＝７ いんしちがしち
１×８＝８ いんはちがはち
１×９＝９ いんくがく

２の段
２×１＝２ にいちがに
２×２＝４ ににんがし
２×３＝６ にさんがろく
２×４＝８ にしがはち
２×５＝１０ にごじゅう
２×６＝１２ にろくじゅうに
２×７＝１４ にしちじゅうし
２×８＝１６ にはちじゅうろく
２×９＝１８ にくじゅうはち

３の段
３×１＝３ さんいちがさん
３×２＝６ さんにがろく
３×３＝９ さざんがきゅう
３×４＝１２ さんしじゅうに
３×５＝１５ さんごじゅうご
３×６＝１８ さぶろくじゅうはち
３×７＝２１ さんしちにじゅういち
３×８＝２４ さんぱにじゅうし
３×９＝２７ さんくにじゅうしち

４の段

４×１＝４　　しいちがし
４×２＝８　　しにがはち
４×３＝１２　しさんじゅうに
４×４＝１６　ししじゅうろく
４×５＝２０　しごにじゅう
４×６＝２４　しろくにじゅうし
４×７＝２８　ししちにじゅうはち
４×８＝３２　しはさんじゅうに
４×９＝３６　しくさんじゅうろく 

５の段

５×１＝５　　ごいちがご
５×２＝１０　ごにじゅう
５×３＝１５　ごさんじゅうご
５×４＝２０　ごしにじゅう
５×５＝２５　ごごにじゅうご
５×６＝３０　ごろくさんじゅう
５×７＝３５　ごしちさんじゅうご
５×８＝４０　ごはしじゅう
５×９＝４５　ごっくしじゅうご 

６の段

６×１＝６　　ろくいちがろく
６×２＝１２　ろくにじゅうに
６×３＝１８　ろくさんじゅうはち
６×４＝２４　ろくしにじゅうし
６×５＝３０　ろくごさんじゅう
６×６＝３６　ろくろくさんじゅうろく
６×７＝４２　ろくしちしじゅうに
６×８＝４８　ろくはしじゅうはち
６×９＝５４　ろっくごじゅうし 

７の段

７×１＝７　　しちいちがしち
７×２＝１４　しちにじゅうし
７×３＝２１　しちさんにじゅういち
７×４＝２８　しちしにじゅうはち
７×５＝３５　しちごさんじゅうご
７×６＝４２　しちろくしじゅうに
７×７＝４９　しちしちしじゅうく
７×８＝５６　しちはごじゅうろく
７×９＝６３　しちくろくじゅうさん 

８の段

８×１＝８　　はちいちがはち
８×２＝１６　はちにじゅうろく
８×３＝２４　はちさんにじゅうし
８×４＝３２　はちしさんじゅうに
８×５＝４０　はちごしじゅう
８×６＝４８　はちろくしじゅうはち
８×７＝５６　はちしちごじゅうろく
８×８＝６４　はっぱろくじゅうし
８×９＝７２　はっくしちじゅうに 

９の段

９×１＝９　　くいちがく
９×２＝１８　くにじゅうはち
９×３＝２７　くさんにじゅうしち
９×４＝３６　くしさんじゅうろく
９×５＝４５　くごしじゅうご
９×６＝５４　くろくごじゅうし
９×７＝６３　くしちろくじゅうさん
９×８＝７２　くはしちじゅうに
９×９＝８１　くくはちじゅういち 

Using various numbers and or including が seems to be rather random, but one could say that about similar conventions in other languages including English. If you look more closely, you can see that there is regularity. For instance, がis no longer used when the product is 10(+). 8 as a multiplier doesn't change when after 1 or 2. にん is only used after に. The other oddities are in the ３の段.

Not all speakers may pronounce these all the same way, but these would be the "correct" answers you would find in a textbook, and for the most part, educated individuals will pronounce them as such. 

Way back when numbers were first discussed, you learned the basic information about numbers in Japanese. However, the Sino-Japanese numbering system can go much farther. This lesson will also consider things not mentioned before such as decimal fractions. 

Decimals, 小数 しょうすう , aren't difficult to make at all in Japanese. First, you need a number before the decimal point, which is simply read out as 点. The actual name for decimal point is 小数点. If you have zero before the decimal point, then you should say ゼロ・れい・まる. If you have a full number before the decimal point, you should say it correctly. So, if there is 300 before the decimal point, say さんびゃく. After the decimal point, you can simply read out the numbers. So, 4.56757 = よん てん ご ろく なな ご なな.

 Decimal Fractions

As you can imagine, this is not the traditional way of dealing with decimal values. Decimal fractions, which break up things by negative powers and referred to in simple English as tenths, hundredths, etc. place, are represented in Japanese with a set of decimal fraction units that stand for each place from the decimal point and back.

This seems easy enough, right? Sadly, Japanese doesn't make this 100% straight-forward. There are two different decimal fraction systems in use in Japan today. They are not completely interchangeable and are used in their respective situations.  

 First Decimal Fraction System

The first decimal fraction system has many units, but practical use ends at 10-2. Even 厘 is not that common. This system is used in batting averages, idioms, etc. Given how important baseball and set expressions are, remembering four small things isn't that bad. The chart below, though, lists all of the possible units in this system for completeness. 

1. 七分袖
　 Three-quarter sleeves/Sleeves 7/10 the size of a long sleeve.

Second Decimal Fraction System

The second system is not all that different. This one is far shorter and is only used up until 10-5. This is mainly due to the fact that it is used for showing discounts, and prices don't need to be exact as say a scientific finding. This system introduces a different unit for 10-1 and pushes the others from the first system down a power. Realistically, you would never need to go past 分.

2. 五分五分の確率
    Even odds

3. 九分 くぶ 九厘 くりん
     Basically 99% chance, this is used to mean that something is basically so.

4. あの 小旅行 しょうりょこう での 往 い きの汽車のなかの気楽な対話は、その八九分を隣りのお 喋 しゃべ りや小さな妹たちに 負 お うていたものだとわかった。
I realized that our carefree dialogue on that brief train journey was largely due to the chatterbox behind us and the two little sisters. 

Reading Note: 八九分 is read as はっくぶ and literally means 80, 90%, but it is used to mean "largely".  

5. 九分九厘勝てる。
    We'll almost certainly be able to win.   

Reading Note: 9割 is always read as きゅうわり.  Also, no one says よわり. It's よんわり.

Percentage

Hopefully you know that .5 = 50%. So, how exactly do you express percentage in Japanese? Thankfully, it's the same as in English. You just have a number and パー(セント)・％.

6. 4.5%
     よん てん　ご　パー(セント) 

 Fractions

 For a fraction ( 分数 ぶんすう ) take a number, add " 分 の" and follow it with another number. This creates phrases such as "三分の二" meaning "two of three parts" or "two thirds".　

7. ケーキの四分の一
    A quarter/fourth of the cake.

8. 五分の六
    Six fifths

Vocabulary Note: Improper fraction in Japanese is " 仮分数 かぶんすう ".　

Reading Note: 1/4th is always read as よんぶんのいち. 

大字 are formal 漢字 for numbers created to prevent counterfeiting. That sounds like a noble thing to do, but for those that don't like complicated for simple things, they can be annoying additional characters for things you already know. Thankfully, most have become obsolete, so you will only be introduced to the ones pertaining to Japan today. 

The only ones that you are responsible for knowing are  1 (壱), 2  (弐), 3 (参), 10 (拾), and 10,000 (萬). The latter is not actually used on currency anymore in Japan, but it does have unofficial usage. 

Japanese, with the aid of Sino-Japanese numerals, can be used to count all of the particles of sand on the Earth with greater success. Again, in Japanese big numbers are grouped into powers of four. We stopped in the first lesson concerning numbers at 10^12 (trillion), 兆.

Now, you'll get to see the limit of this system, which is 10^68 until some genius decides to add to this insane list. By no means should you remember any of this as even I only remember a few of these on the spot, but it is some more frivolous and trivial knowledge for fellow Japanese nerds that want to know more about something than the average Japanese speaker. There is some good out of this seemingly nonsensical information. You get to an uncommon reading of 京. You also get to see a weird usage of 不可思議.

なゆた is actually a rather fun word that happens to be used practically to refer to an endless quantity. It sounds fitting, but at look at this system, it is somewhat a misnomer. Well, it's not as bad as the native equivalent of such a concept which treats  千 ち and 万 よろず as numerous.  

If you never remember 秭, don't feel bad. If you tried to use this in practical use--how it would be practical is beyond reason--people will probably think you meant 一助 or that you just made an error. 

The commonality that America has with Japan is that there are two competing systems of measurement with one being far more prevalent than the other. The majority of measurements that you will see in Japan will be in the universal metric system. However, there are situations in which native measure words are used instead. Rarer ones, as you can imagine, still live on in literature, set phrases, and other parts of life. 

This lesson's primary purpose is to showcase these systems. Whether individual words are used or not will still be mentioned, but the entire lists will be given for those who wish to be pedantic.   

Before the advent of standardized units, the Japanese used a system of units called the 尺貫法. Remember that these are all 助数詞 (counters)!

Length: The 尺

     The 尺 is the basis of the 尺貫法. The 曲尺 was used in carpentry, the 鯨尺 (25% larger than the 曲尺) in clothing, and the 呉服尺 (1.2x larger) in Japanese traditional dress.

Word Notes:

1. 広 is used for depth.

2. 里 previously stood for 600 meters.

Idiom Note: 一寸先は闇, literally "an inch ahead is darkness" is equivalent to "Who knows what tomorrow will bring?".  

Area: The 坪

Word Notes:

1. The 歩 is used in agriculture whereas the 坪 is used in construction. For units larger than 1, they are used for large areas such as forests.

2. 歩 is often added to 畝, 反, and 町 when reading out measurements. For example, 6反8畝歩.  

Volume: The 升

      In this lesson, we will learn about even more compound verb endings. As the title indicates, all of these endings are in reference to missing out on doing something. 

残 ( のこ ) す means "to save/leave". In compound verbs it builds upon this meaning to show that "something important was not done before leaving". 残る, the intransitive form, can similarly appear with some words to imply a sense of "being left" in a certain state. 

1. その仕事はやり残したんです。
    I left the work undone.

2. ソーダを残しておいて。
    Save me some soda.

3. 動物の数え方は食べ残る部分からきたと思われる。
　　It is believed that the method of counting animals comes from the parts left over after eating (them).

4.  食べ残りを排水口に捨てない方がいいと聞いたんですが、本当ですか。
     I heard that it is best not to put scraps in the disposal, but is this true?

5. お客さんが食べ残しを持ち帰って体調を崩した場合、飲食店はどのような責任があるのですか。
In the case a customer brings home left overs and gets ill, does the food establishment have any responsibility? 

Word Note: 食べ残り and 食べ残し both exist, but the former refers to scraps that aren't suitable for eating later. The latter is "leftovers". As a society, Japanese people don't like for there to be leftovers. Businesses are weary of customers getting sick from leftovers and customers feel a responsibility not to order more than they can eat. Nonetheless, more places in Japan are beginning to add guidelines as to how to make sure leftovers can be taken home safely. 

6. 食べ残したご飯を翌日に食べるようにすればよいのでは？
    Wouldn't it be good to try to eat left over meals the next day?

7. 食べ残して捨てるのはもったいないです。
     Throwing away what you have left over from eating is wasteful. 

8. 飲み残したワインを味を落とさないで保存する方法はありますか。
    How do you preserve left over wine without losing its taste? 

9. 耐乏生活に生き残る。 
    To live through austerity.   

  漏 も らす means "to leak" and is in compound verbs to show that one ends up not doing something important due to carelessness. 

10. 必要なことを言い漏らす。
      To end without saying something necessary. 

11. うっかりして 年月日 ( ねんがっぴ ) を書き漏らした。
      I carelessly forgot to write down the date. 

12. 大事なところを聞き漏らした。 
      I failed to listen to a crucial part. 

Contrast Note: The last word is not exactly the same as 聞き逃す, which implies that you didn't listen to the entire thing.  

      損 そこ なう means "to spoil/ruin" and what happens is always the subject's fault. In compounds it shows what one missed out on doing, and it may be interchangeable with the suffix ～そびれる. Another similar ending is ～ 損 そん じる which may show that one misses out on or fails in doing something. ～ 逃 のが す is also possible. 

漢字 Note: 損なう is often left in かな. 

13. ボールを 捕 ( と ) り 損 ( そこ ) なう。
      To miss the ball.

14a. 彼 ( ) の 言 ( ) ったことを 聞 ( ) き 損 ( ) なった。
14b. 彼の言ったことを聞きそびれた。(More natural)   
      I missed out on what he said.

Variant Note: 聞きそびれた would have been a better choice in the sentence above. This is because 聞きそこなう can also mean "mishear".

15a. 健康 ( ) を 害 ( そこな ) った。
15b. 健康を損なった。（Normal spelling)
15c. 健康を害した。(Alternative phrase)
        He ruined his health.

16. 急 せ いては 事 こと を 仕損 しそん じる。（ことわざ）
      Haste makes waste.
      Literally: Rushing fails things.

Orthography Note: 仕損じる means "to blunder". It is often spelled as し損じる, but it can also be seldom spelled as 為損じる.  為る is actually how you would spell する as in "to do" in 漢字. The normal spelling 仕損じる is actually  当 ( ) て 字 ( ) .

17. 手紙 ( ) を 書 ( ) き 損 ( ) じた。
      I made a mistake in writing the letter.

18. 言 ( ) い 損 ( ) ずる。 (Old-fashioned)
      To miss out saying.

Word Note: The following is normally 言い 損 ( ) なう or 言い 損 ( ) ねる. 

Variant Note: Remember that ～じる and ～ずる are variants of each other and that both are voiced forms of する. ～ずる is typically rarer and more formal. 

19a. 遊 ( ) ぶ 機会 ( ) を｛ 逸 ( ) した・逃してしまった｝のは 残念 ( ) です。(Most natural)
19b. 遊びそこねたのは残念です。(OK)
        It's a shame that he missed out on playing.

20. 死 ( ) に 損 ( ) なって生き恥をさらす。
      To fail to die and live on with one's shame exposed. 

21. 寝坊 ねぼう したとき、学校に来る前に何をしそびれましたか。
      What did you not do when you came to school after having overslept?

22. 演説 えんぜつ を 聞 き 逃 のが す。
      To fail to listen to the speech.

23. 見逃 ( ) してしまうよ。
      You’re missing it/you're going to miss it! 

Orthography Note: For the meaning of "ruin", 損なう may also be written as 害う. However, because this is not a reading in the 常用漢字表, unversed speakers will not know how it is read and assume it is an error. As such, it is best to only recognize it for when it does show up in literature.

Speech Style Note: ～損ずる is the same as ～損じる etymologically, but the latter is slightly less literary but still unlikely to be used in the spoken language.

果てる means "to come to an end" and is intransitive. Due to its meaning, it may also be a euphemism for "to die". When attached to the 連用形 of a verb, it shows that something has been done completely or up to a given limit. It is often used in a negative fashion. 

1. 精 せい も 根 ね も尽き 果 は てる。
    To use up all of one's energy.

2. その 宮殿 ( きゅうでん ) は 荒 ( あ ) れ果てている。
    The palace is falling into ruin. 

3. 処置 しょち に困り果てる。
    To be completely perplexed in measures (being taken). 

4. 変わり果てた 姿 ( すがた ) だな。
    It's truly a completely different appearance...

5. 忙しくて 疲 ( つか ) れ果ててしまいました。
    I was so busy that I ended up exhausting myself.

6a. 自害 じがい して果てる。
6b. ｛自害・自殺｝する。（More Natural)
      To commit suicide.

Similar Ending Note: ～果せる・遂せる・おおせる is similar to ～果てる in spelling, but it actually means "to successfully do". Its usage is rather limited and most commonly seen in literature with verbs such as 死ぬ, 盗む, 生きる, 逃げる, 隠す, etc. As you can see, the connotations are usually quite negative.

7. ネズミのように逃げ遂せる（の）か。
    Are you going to successfully run away like a rat?

～付ける derives from its usages as an independent verb on the lines of "attaching".  It either shows something out of habit like いつも...する and しなれる or something very firmly or aggressively. The intransitive form is ～付く. 

8. 真っ先に駆けつけよ！ 
    Run straight forth!

9. 怒鳴りつけるのは失礼じゃん。
    Isn't shouting at someone rude?

10. 彼女の言葉は頭に焼きつけられた。 
      Her words were burned into my mind. 

11. 記憶に焼きついた。
      It’s branded into my memory. 

12. 彼はふと押し付けた。
      He suddenly pushed it on me.

13. この靴を履きつけている。
      I'm always wearing these shoes.

14. 銀行は貸し金を貸し付けまくりました。
      The banks overly lent out loans in a fury.

  尽 ( つ ) くす either means "to administer" or "to work with all one's might". An important set phrase is  筆舌 ( ひつぜつ ) に 尽 ( つ ) くしがたい" meaning "indescribable". ～尽くす builds upon the latter usage to mean "to do...exhaustively". ～尽くす follows the 連用形. 

15. お医者さんは 避難民 ( ひなんみん ) のために尽くしています。
      The doctor is administering to the refugees.

16. 彼女は 周 ( まわ ) りを走り尽くし続けた。
      She continued to exhaustively run through the neighborhood.

17. 最善 さいぜん を尽くす。
      To do one's best.

18a. 洪水 こうずい は 町全体 まちぜんたい をなめ 尽 つ くした。? 
18b. 洪水は町全体を 襲 おそ った。〇
        The flood wiped the entire town away. 
        Literally: The flood licked (away) the town completely.

Sentence Note: There is one problem with 18a. なめ尽くす is used with  炎 ( ほのお ) ・ 火事 ( かじ ) . For example, 山火事はふもとの町をなめ尽くした　＝ The mountain fire licked away the town at the foot of the mountain. 

全て　VS　全部　VS　全体 VS　全員　VS　総員　VS　皆

 　　　Since the last sentence used 全体, this is a perfect time to contrast these six very similar words. 

The differences are minor, but they can make a difference. 全部 suggests that there are individual parts. 全体 refers to all of a perimeter. 

立てる and 立つ are the transitive and intransitive verb pairs for to stand. ～立てる shows that one does an action energetically. ～立つ shows that an emotion of some sort rises. 

19. 僕の心が｛浮き立った・ときめいた｝。
      My heart was enlivened.

20. 声援 せいえん に勇み立つ。
     To be encouraged by support. 

21. 責め立てても無理だよ。
      It's useless even if you reproach him. 

22. 炎 ほのお が燃え立つ。
       For flames to blaze. 

23. 記者を質問で攻め立てた。
      I bombarded the reporter with questions. 

こなす may be used to mean "to sell out", "to handle easily", "to break to pieces/digest", or "to use a learned skill at will", and ～こなす means "to do...completely/well".

24. 馬を乗りこなす。
      To ride a horse well.

25. 彼女は舞踏会に着こなした。
      She was dressed stylishly at the ball.

     Some of these endings are a little difficult, so be sure to study hard. 

     返る means "to return" and is used in compounds to mean "to become completely/extremely". The transitive form of 返す is used after the 連用形 of verbs to show that one does something again starting from the very beginning.  

1. 観客はすぐに静まり返った。
    The audience automatically fell over. 

2. 冴 さ え返った光を見よ。 （ちょっと古風）
    Look at the light that has become completely clear. 

3. 悄気返 しょげかえ った彼女は自殺してしまった。
    She committed suicide completely disheartened. 

4. 思い返して 断念 ( だんねん ) した。
     I reconsidered it and abandoned the plan. 

5. もう一度繰り返して下さいませんか。（とても丁寧）
    Could you repeat it one more time? 

6. 彼は 噎 む せ返り続けた。
　  He continued to sob convulsively. 

漢字 Note: 噎 and 悄 are 表外字. 

～殴る is used to show that one is doing something rather violently. ～腐る can be used to show disgust in what someone is doing. 

7. 記事を書き殴る。
    To rapidly write down an article. 

8. ぶち殴る。
    To beat hard.

9. つまらんことばっかり言い腐ってるやつだな、あんた！　（Vulgar)
    You're just a guy that just says useless things! 　 

     捲る means "to roll up". In compounds it shows something recklessly done without an end in sight. 

10. 高校生の時にマンガを読みまくりました。 
     When I was a high school student, I would do nothing but read manga.

11. 最近パソコンを使いまくってるよ。
      I've recently been doing nothing but using the computer.

12. コーラを飲みまくるのは健康のために悪いですよ。
     Drinking nothing but cola is bad for your health!

13. しゃべりまくるのはむかつくよね。
     Talking on and on is annoying, isn't it?

14. 食べまくるのは人間の性質の短所である。
      Eating greedily is a fault in human nature.

15. 電車の中で高校生がしゃべりまくっているのを聞いていた。
      I listened to the high school students talked their jaws off on the train.

16. 部屋は荒れまくり。
      ~My room is just a mess. 

      通す, following the 連用形 of a verb, it means "to continue to do...until the end". Below is a chart of some common verbs utilizing it.

Spelling Note: 透 may be used instead of 通 when showing the transmitting of something such as light. In a more physical sense, 徹 may be used.

     This lesson is about the compound verb endings of direction. Not everything is common, but it is important for you to understand things that you may come across.

     One of the most unique things about the verb 渡る is its usage in に渡せられる・渡らせ給う, which are rare, literary alternative ways to express ある and いる in honorific speech.

In compound verbs after the 連用形, ～渡る is used to show the extent of a perimeter over a large area. When used in a transitive sense for the same purpose, it is replaced with its transitive form 渡す.

2. 空が晴れ渡った。
    The sky is clear.

3. 城 しろ を明け渡すな。
    Do not surrender the castle.

4. 悪魔 あくま に 魂 たましい を売り渡すのは 愚 おろ かことだ。
    Selling your soul to the devil is a foolish thing to do.  

5. 判事 はんじ は判決をそろそろ言い渡すだろう。
    The judge will probably pass a sentence soon. 

6. インターネット中に知れ渡っている。
    To be well-known throughout the internet. 

7. 祝砲 しゅくほう が｛鳴り渡る・ 轟 とどろ く｝。
    For gun salutes to resound.

     ～出る expresses that something is going out and is, with few exceptions, intransitive. Unlike ～出す which expresses great emphasis that doesn't have to infer direction, ～出る always does.

8.  遺体 いたい から 突 つ き出ている 刃 やいば
     A sword protruding from a body 

9.  溢 あふ れ出る血が土に 溜 た まった。
    The flowing blood pooled on the ground. 

10. 涙が 湧 ( わ ) き出た。
      Tears welled up. 

11. 彼は外へ走り出た。
     He ran outside. 

12. 海底 かいてい から 石油 せきゆ が 浮 う き出た。
      Oil stood out from the sea floor. 

13. 目の 玉 ( たま ) が飛び出るような値段だよ。
      It's a price that can make your eyeballs pop out!

     上がる and 上げる may be used in compound verbs to show that things are being lifted/raised. As we have learned, 上がる is intransitive and 上げる is transitive. ～上がる and ～上げる may also show the completion of something. 

14. 浮き上がっているように見えませんか。
      Does it not appear that they're standing out? (As in being visible)

15. そんなにでかすぎる岩持ち上げれるのかい？（Rude）
      Can you even lift such a humongous rock?

16. スーツケースを引き上げる。
      To lug suitcases up.

17. 彼はボールを投げ上げた。
     He threw the ball up into the air.

18a. メモに書き上がる。(More formal)
18b. メモに書いてある。
       To be written up in a note. 

19. 商品 しょうひん の値段を 押 お し上げる。
      To boost product prices. 

20. 斜面 しゃめん を 這 は い上がる。
      To crawl up a slope.

21. 武器 ぶき を取って立ち上がる。
      To take up arms. 

22. やれやれ、新たな難問が持ち上がったのー。（Old person)
      Oh my, a new problem has come up.

     ～入る and ～入れる are the intransitive and transitive verbal pairs for "to enter". In compound verbs they refer to something completely done or done deeply or ardently. 

23.  味方 みかた に引き入れる。
      To win over.

24. 恐れ入りました。
      I am much obliged.

25. 痛み入る。
      To be greatly obliged. 

26.  見事 みごと な能力に感じ入る。
      To be greatly impressed by astounding abilities. 

27.  恥 は じ入りました。
      I was ashamed. 

28.  絶 た え入るような顔
      A dead looking face

29.  私たちは買い入れるペースを 急激 ( きゅうげき ) に上げています。
      We are suddenly raising the pace of purchasing. 

30. 赤ちゃんが寝入っているうちに両親は買い物に行った。
      The parents went shopping while the baby was in a deep slumber. 

31. 立ち入ったことを聞くようだが。
      If I'm not being too inquisitive. 

32. 立ち入り禁止
      Keep Out

33. 空欄 くうらん に書き入れる。
      To fill in blank spaces. 

34. 意見を聞き入れる。
      To accede an opinion.

35. 新しい 方針 ( ほうしん ) を取り入れるつもりはない。
      There is no plan to bring in a new policy. 

     下がる and 下げる are the verbal pairs for "to hang down/fall" and are intransitive and transitive respectively. The nuances of the verbs that are created with ～下がる and ～下げる are negative. 

36. あいつは引き下がるだろう。
      He will probably back down.

37. 彼らは｛ 訴願 ( そがん ) ・ 不服 ( ふふく ) 申し立て・ 異議 ( いぎ ) 申し立て｝を引き下げた。
      They pulled down the petition. 

38. 垂 た れ下がってる 氷柱 つらら は明日落ちるだろうな。
      The hanging icicles will probably fall tomorrow. 

39a. 言ったことを取り下げるはずだ。?
39b. 言ったことを｛取り消す 撤回 ( てっかい ) する｝はずだ。〇
        You should retract what you said.

Word Note: 取り下げる should be used in reference to things like documents/written statements.  

     Meaning "to go down/drop", おりる and おろす are used in compound expressions to show a sense of going down, but a negative emphasis is not always the case. おりる is typically written as 降りる and おろす is typically written as 下ろす. 

40. 舞台 ぶたい から引き下ろす。
      To pluck someone done from a stage. 

41. 東京を見下ろす。
      To look down at Tokyo.

Word Note: 見下ろす can be used literally and metaphorically. 

42. 私の友達は小説を書き下ろしました。
      My friend wrote a new novel.

Nuance Note: This suggests that your friend is a professional novelist.  

43a. 山頂 さんちょう から 駆 か け降りる。
43b. 山を駆け下りる。
        To run down the peak of a mountain. 

44. 舞 ま い降りてきた。
      It came flying down. 

45. 強風が吹き下ろしていた。
      A strong wind was blowing down. 

    落ちる and 落とす are the verbal pairs for "to fall/drop" and are intransitive and transitive respectfully. These verbs show a downward sense of direction in a compound verb. 

46. この世に生れ落ちなくてよかったのに。
      If only I had not been born in this world.

47. 焼け落ちるのにほんの五分もかからなかったぞ。
      It only took a mere five minutes to burn down. 

48. 俺の皿から 滑 ( すべ ) り落ちちまった。（Mature male; vulgar）
      It slipped from my plate. 

49. 彼が水を 払 ( はら ) い落とした。
      He shook off the water. 

50. ｛見落とされた・見過ごされた｝のかな。
      I wonder if it was overlooked.

51. 銀行口座から引き落とす。
      To charge from one's bank account.

52. 果物 くだもの を振り落とそう。
      Let's shake some fruit off.

53. 家を 崖 ( がけ ) から 突 ( つ ) き落とすのは 危 ( あぶ ) ないよ。
      Pushing a house off of a cliff is dangerous.

     回る and 回す are the verbal pairs for "to turn/rotate" and are intransitive and transitive respectively. When used in compounds, they show movement while doing something. ～回る can be seen attached to both intransitive and transitive verbs, but ～回す is limited to transitive verbs. It is to be expected that a nuance difference is present when both ～回る and ～回す can be used. You will see this more clearly in the examples below. 

54. あちこちを駆け回る。
      To run around here and there. 

55. 仕事を探し回るつもりがあるのか。
      Do you have any intentions of looking about for a job?

56. 自分の周りを見回した方がよいです。(ちょっと古風; Formal)
      It is best to look around one's surroundings. 

57. 私は新車を 駐車場 ( ちゅうしゃじょう ) に乗り回したいです。
      I want to ride around a new car in a parking lot. 

58. 警備員 ( ) は 輪番 ( りんばん ) で見回ります。
      The guards patrol in rotations.

Nuance Note: This infers that there are a lot of guards patrolling in rotation. You may consider using 交代で instead of  輪番で. 

59. 犯人 ( ) を 追 ( お ) い回す。
      To chase about a criminal.

These will be the final set of endings that you'll have to go through. 

     こける means "sink/collapse in". ～こける means that something continues on for a long time. 

1. 眠りこける。
    To sleep deeply.

2. 笑いこける。
    To laugh heartily.

     ～さす either shows that you stop in the middle of something that you have just started or that something is being delayed that has been going on.

Word Note: ～さす comes from 止す.

 途中

途中 means "during" and is a noun. It can refer to being on the way to somewhere or something not yet completed and is in a state of progress. In the above sentences, it was followed by being stopped mid-way.

6. 買い物に行く途中で・・・
    In the middle of going to go shopping...

7. 演奏を途中でやめる。
    To end a performance midway.

8. 来る途中で事故がありました。
    There was an accident on my way.  

     ～倦む・倦ねる follows the 連用形 and shows that something is too much for somebody or that one is tired of something. The verb and the resultant verbs are intransitive. 

9. 考え倦んだ結果、私は辞職します。
    As my plans haven't shaped out, I will resign. 

10. 待ちあぐむ。
      I can no longer wait.

11. 攻めあぐねる。
      To lose the fighting initiative.

     逸れる means "to stray" and -逸れる shows that "one has missed out on something". It is also more emphatic as ～っぱぐれる. 

12. 逸れた羊を捜し求めていた。
      I searched for the stray sheep.

13. 取りはぐれた宝石
     Jewelry missed taking 

14. 僕はデザートを食いっぱぐれちゃった。
      I ended up missing out on desert.

15. 行きはぐれる。
     To miss out on going.  

     成す has a few related meanings, of these are "to form", "to do", "to accomplish", "to establish", "to give birth to", etc. In compound verbs it shows a meaning of intention and deliberate action. 

16. 織り成した人生模様
      Interwoven facets of life

17. 思いなしか。
      Maybe it's my imagination?

18. 我々は彼を指導者と見なした。
     We looked at him as our leader.

     古す means "to wear out" and is attached to the 連用形 to create compound verbs that depict that "time and time again, X loses its newness". Two common verbs that you will see this ending used with are 着る "to wear" and 言う "to say". 

19. 着古して大分擦り切れてた。
      It was worn-out and quite threadbare.

20. あのおやじー、いつも使い古した言葉をいって使い古した帽子を被ってんのさ。（砕けた）
      That old guy's always saying worn-out phrases and is always wearing worn-out hats.

21. 着古しの上着だな。（Masculine)
      That's an old worn-out jacket, isn't it?

22. ちょっと言い古されてるが、光陰矢のごとしは本当だよ！
      It's a little cliche, but time really does fly like an arrow. 

Usage Note: 言い古す is always seen in the 受身形.

Now that you have learned a lot about the volitional and negative volitional form with verbs, you need to learn about how to make an adjectival volitional phrase and know what it can mean. Furthermore, there are old-fashioned ways of saying things that you'll still encounter and need to know.

The auxiliary ～う can also attach to the 未然形 of adjectives. Now, we haven't ever had to use this so far. So, we will first look at what this conjugation looks like.

Pronunciation Note: Remember that ”ろう" is pronounced as "ろー".  

For 形容詞 this pattern has become longer but easier to use. So, instead of 新しかろう, you use 新しいだろう. Why the original pattern became old-fashioned is not certain, but だろう・でしょう are far more prevalent now. And, using them instead makes the conjugation the same for 形容詞 and 形容動詞.  

Now, rather than meaning "let's...", which is verbal by nature, the adjectival volition's main meaning is to show guess. This is equivalent to "probably", but according to context, it can be closer to guess about the future rather than present state.

1. 安かろう悪かろう。(Set Phrase)
    Cheap is rubbish/You get what you pay for.

2. 早かろう悪かろう。 (Set Phrase)
    Finishing early surely means a worse off result. 

3. 一人きりは寂しかろう。(Old-fashioned)
    It must be lonely being all alone.

4. あの紙が黄色かろう。(Old-fashioned)
     That paper {is/will} probably be yellow.

5. 水面の下を泳ぐ魚たちは悲しかろう。 (Old-fashioned)
     The fish swimming beneath the water's surface are surely sad.

6. 喜ばしかったでしょうに、お旅は残念でした。(Somewhat vague)
    Even though one would have thought it to be delightful, the trip was regrettable.

7. 遠かったでしょうに、歩いてきたのですか。
    Although one would think it to have been far, you came here by walking?

If you want to say something like "let's have it easy", you would need to use ～｛く・に｝する＋Volitional. So, you would need the adjective in its 連用形 to be used as a 副詞 and then used with a verb. After all, "volition", the will to do something, naturally requires a verbal element. So, why not use する?

8. それを簡潔にしましょう。 
     Let's make this simple. 

9. 試験を合格することをもっと難しくしましょうか。
    How about we make it harder to pass the exams.  

10. このぶす女郎、クアグマイアにきれいにしてもらおうか。(Vulgar)
      How 'bout we have Quagmire clean up this ugly whore. 

Personal Note to Disregard: Yes, watching Family Guy gave me inspiration to make this sentence.  

The one time that the traditional adjectival volitional form for 形容詞 is used often in Modern Japanese aside from set phrases is in the pattern ～かろう｛が・と｝～かろう｛が・と｝. This is equivalent to "whether...or...", and the adjectival phrases that you choose should be reasonably contrastive, and antonymous phrases are your best options.  

11. 休日であろうが、なかろうが、仕事をしなければならない。
      A holiday or not, you have to do your job.

12. 彼女が実の犯人であろうとなかろうと、中国で有罪の判決が言い渡されたから、 もうすぐ処刑されるだろう。
Whether or not she's the true criminal or not, because she's been found guilty in China, she will probably be executed soon. 

13. 寒かろうが暑かろうが、試合を中止しないよ。
      Whether it's hot or cold, I won't postpone the game.

14. 古かろうが新しかろうが、そんなもの買ったとしても、あてにならないよ。
Whether it's old or new, even if you were to buy something like that, it won't do you any good. 

15. 母さんが夜なべをして、手袋、編んでくれた。木枯らし吹いちゃ、冷たかろうに、せっせと編んだんだよ。
Mother knitted mittens for me on her night ship. Even though it was supposed to be cold with the wintry breeze blowing, she diligently knitted it.
From a song entitled 母さんの歌. Original lyrics have been changed to more standard Japanese. 

16. 美しかろうが醜かろうが、人間は人間だ。
      Whether beautiful or ugly, a human is a human.

17. 黒かろうが白かろうが、蝶を俺のトカゲのエサとしか思えない。
      Whether it's white or black, I can only think of butterflies as food for my lizard.

As ～ない conjugates as a 形容詞, ～なかろう　＝ ～ない｛だろう・でしょう｝ for verbs as well.

18. 富山氏は当選しなかろう。(Old-fashioned).
      Mr. Toyama will probably not be elected.  

In polite speech (and thus more rare) as ～ましたろう, this is equivalent to ～ただろう. Of course, because だろう has been becoming more vulgar, ～たでしょう is usually the better equivalent. 

19a. 新しくなかったろう。(Old-fashioned) 
19b. 新しくなかったでしょう。(Natural)
        It probably wasn't new.  

20. よろしかったろう。(Old-fashioned)
      It was surely good. 

21. もう少し注意したなら、成功したろうに。→　もう少し注意したなら、成功しただろうに。 （もっと自然）     
If you would have payed just a little more attention, you would have succeeded. 

When you use less contracted forms, you are naturally being more polite/formal. When you use であろう instead of だろう, you are most likely writing down your statement. Even so, this is rather formal, and in this case, it makes the statement sound more definitive and objective. Thus, it isn't surprising that it has been used a lot in the Bible. 

22. 努力の甲斐があれば 成功 せいこう するであろう。
      Success will surely reward you for availing efforts. 

23. 必 かなら ずや 成功 するであろう。
      You will absolutely succeed.

24. エジプトでは 反政府派 はんせいふは のデモ 隊 たい は 逆境 ぎゃっきょう にあっても、 挫 くじ けないであろう。
      Even in adversity, the anti-government demonstrators in Egypt will surely not crumble. 

25. すると、ペテロが答えた、「悔い改めなさい。そして、あなたがたひとりびとりが罪のゆるしを得るために、イエ ス・キリストの名によって、バプテスマを受けなさい。そうすれば、あなたがたは聖霊の賜物を受けるであろう。       …」
Then, Peter said unto them, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
使徒行伝  第2章38節  Acts 2:38 

～でありましょう is the polite form and is not necessarily literary. This is because でしょう may not cut it for being formal enough in some situations, and this would be your next alternative before using something like でございましょう・でいらっしゃいましょう (both of which are possible). Like with everything in this lesson, this is not used anymore. 

26. あちらの方をご存じでありましょうか。 →  あちらの方をご存じですか。　(Natural)
      Do you know that individual? 

27. 極めて良心的な店でありましょう。 　→　極めて良心的な店でしょう。   (Natural)
      My, isn't it an extremely upright store. 

The negative で（は）なかろう is the negative form, and it is literary with the same nuances as its positive counterpart. The polite form of this, でありますまい, is extremely old-fashioned and is essentially only preserved in the most elegant 敬語 and literature from by-gone eras. 

28. 純粋な月影石でなかろう。　　→　純粋な月影石ではないでしょう。 (Modern)
      It is probably not a genuine moon rock. 

29. テロでなかろうがデモは規制する。
      Though it may not be terror, we'll control demonstrations.
Infamous poor words of 石破茂.

ら抜き is the dropping of ら in the auxiliary verb ～られる when used to show potential. Although it is deemed improper by many speakers, it is important to point out that the independent potential verb forms of 五段 did not exist as ‘standard’ Japanese 150 years ago. This lesson will be about how ら抜き is being used in the current speech of a growing majority. 

ら抜き, again, is the dropping of ら in the auxiliary  ～られる. The ease of conjugation is quite obvious. ～れる attaches the exact same way as ～られる does.

Grammar is a living entity defined by current speakers. It is not surprising that this innovation came about because ～られる has three other usages! It is also used to make passives, phrases of spontaneity, and light honorific phrases. These things are complicated enough to require separate lessons.

One could say that the grammar is just too different for each usage to ever confuse them. For instance, in addition to ら抜き being bad, others will also point out that the use of を with potential phrases is traditionally incorrect. Thus, if people were using traditional, correct grammar, one would never confuse the potential in particular with any of the other three usages because of the use of が to mark the object. There is a reason for this particle choice, but we will treat が and を here as being interchangeable as the number of speakers who do not distinguish them at all in this situation is increasing.

 Mistaking Words?

Because ～れる only has the potential meaning, there is assurance that you are only purveying the potential meaning. Furthermore, if the phenomenon is so well known that speakers refer to words with it as ら抜き言葉, there is no chance that someone won’t understand you. That is not say that there are no examples of once separate phrases now being homophonous. For example, 切れる (to be able to cut) and 着れる (to be able to wear) may not even be distinguished by intonation in some reasons. This problem, though, can be viewed as very rare. For the sake of bringing this sort of problem up, there is also 寝れる VS 練れる, and 送れる VS 遅れる. 

1. 古い服を着れた！
    I was able to wear my old clothes! 

2. ハサミでよく切れた！
     I was able to cut it well with scissors!

3. あの人は、ある程度練れた文章を書けました。 
    That person was able to write to a certain degree a well-rounded composition.

4. 寝れない夜を過ごしてる。
    I'm spending sleepless nights. 

5. とりあえず何とか完成して送れた。
    For the time being, I somehow finished it and was able to send it.  

6. ひどい交通渋滞で遅れた。
    I was late due to horrible congestion. 

Word Form Note: Ex. 5 and 6 show us that this talk of confusion is void. 送れる is not ら抜き and is the proper potential form of 送る. No speaker is ever going to confuse it with 遅れる in context.  

7. 大雨が降ってこんなとこに居れるわけない。
     There's no way I'll be able to stay here in this rain. 

8. サクランボを容器に入れる。 
     To put cherries in a container. 

 More Info on ら抜き言葉

In formal writing, ら抜き言葉 are almost non-existent, but in day-to-day writing, it is appearing more frequently. However, the fact that people typically don’t like characters in books featuring these words is rather interesting.

With the percentage of the population which doesn't use ら抜き言葉 at all being a small minority, and with the existence of politicians and the like using it frequently on the air, one can easily imagine this solidifying as “new correct Japanese” in the near future. Change is often hated when in progress. So, for this reason, an actual news anchor or journalist will never use it unless quoting the words of an interviewee. Subtitles and tel-ops often reinsert ら if missing in speech, which is perhaps the media’s way of reversing the change, though they are clearly losing the battle with such tactics. It is also a fact that ら抜き言葉 are readily type-able, which will only facilitate the spread of this change.

 Treating it as Dialectical?

What about the dialects in which ら抜き is the standard? They are probably under influence from regions which say it’s backward, but because it is the standard in these regions and it is becoming standard elsewhere, it’s hard to imagine any of these regions reverting to the current ‘standard’.

 Frequency of Use

Some verbs will be more commonly used with ～れる than others. For instance, in casual speech, one may easily say 見れる, 来れる, 食べれる, しゃべれる and the like. It may, though, be the case that you are not prone to extending this to any verb including compounds (for instance, saying 出かけれる).

9. いつまで続けれるのか。
    How long can...continue?

10. なかなか準備し始めれないのだ。
　　 I can't seem to start preparing. 

 Speech Style

We've touched upon register just now. Register refers to speech style in social context. Say you are the boss of a company and wish to enforce ‘proper language’ habits on your employees. This is a very understandable situation in modern Japan, and in honorifics, new colloquialisms are not easily accepted, and in the case of honorifics, potential phrases are avoided to begin with. Some people go so far as to say ～れます instead of ～られます in casual, polite speech is an abomination. Continue to see more examples of this as years go by. Some claim that people are beginning to use this in honorifics, but this is hard to believe. It is more likely the person intended to use the potential form to his boss, which is a マナー違反 to begin with.

11. 何時に来れますか。
　　 When can you come?

Relation with other Auxiliaries

It is important to note that ら抜き would not be used in 共通語 with older (usages of) auxiliaries.

12. 見られよう　→　見れよう　X 

In speaking of other auxiliaries, people very frequently use the ～よう conjugation to correct people. So, you may find people saying, if you use ～よう then you should use ～られる. Another example is using the 命令形. If you drop る from the potential and don’t get a valid command form, then you can't use ～れる. As 五段 verbs would only work, 見れる is invalid because 見れ is invalid. This opinion is cute, but there are dialects which allow for the imperatives of 一段 verbs to end in れ. So, for certain regions of Japan, this analogy would not work.  

 Odd Dialectical Phenomena

In some dialects such as 広島弁, corruptions such as 行けれる can be found. This resembles the slang phenomenon by a minority of speakers to take ～られる and attach it to the 連用形 of the 短縮形 (shortened form) of the potential. Ex. 出す →　出せられる.　This, though, like 行けれる are deemed to be errors by most Japanese speakers.  

More Examples

13. 早く 起 ( お ) きれねーよ。（Vulgar)
       I can't wake up early!

14. お金払わないと、得れないもんだ。
　　 It's something you can't get without paying money.

15. ハイしか答えれないんだ。
　　 All I can response with is "ハイ”.

16. こうして食べると野菜もたくさん食べれるね。
　　If you eat this way, you can eat a lot of vegetables. 

17. いつもよりたくさん食べれた。
　　 I was able to eat a lot more than usual. 

18. （Aさんは）きのうの雨で熱が出て来れないようだ。
　    (A-san) doesn't seem to be able to come because he got a fever from the rain yesterday.

19. 出かけれそうにない。
      It doesn't seem I have a chance at going out. 

20. うまくボールを蹴れない。
      I can't kick the ball well. 

21. あと一歩で教室から出れるところで、ドアが突然閉まった。
Just when I was one step away from being able to leave the classroom, the door suddenly shut.  

The next wave of verbs that are transitive but created from a causative element are verbs ending in the suffix ～かす. The first thing that comes to mind when seeing these two sounds together is カス (scum). This is a very useful insult, but leaving jokes aside, this lesson will be about a somewhat productive ending that you will inevitably come across most frequently in casual situations. 

The majority of verbs with ～かす are rougher/stronger phrases limited to casual contexts, but this is not the case for all of them. The frequency of this suffix depends on the dialect, but Standard Japanese has plenty of examples for us to study.  

When confronted with examples of verbs ending in the suffix ～かす, some think that is a casual ending of recent origin. In reality, though, verbs with it have existed for as long as Japanese has been written down.  The かす we see appears to derive from the transitive form of できる, でかす. This verb comes about from simply adding す to deki-. でかす is equivalent to うまくやる. If speakers misinterpreted this as inserting a か before す, then this explains its appearance in other verb forms. 

Next we have the similar looking しでかす, which is used in almost completely contrary situations of contriving and failing. Although しでかす is most often written as 仕出かす in 漢字, it may also be spelled as 為出かす. The original meaning of しでかす was し(い)だす. This verb, which still exists as しだす, means "to start to do something". The intransitive form of 出す is 出る. This makes it more obvious that か is what was inserted. From here, we have a motivation for inserting か into other verbs. 

For the most part, か optionally appears in transitive forms to create a rougher expression. The vulgar nature of カス as in the noun should not be ignored as a motivation for most of the examples being rough in nature today as folk etymology can do wonders.

Rarely is it an integral part of the phrase in Standard Japanese, but such examples do exist (寝かす, 唆す). However, its appearance in a variety of words throughout the language's dialect suggests that かす has indeed been used as a rather productive ending. Whether or not it has a causative meaning or is used to simply make a transitive verb depends on the individual verb. If a verb with かす has no 自動詞形, it's fair to say that the form has since disappeared. 

 More Example Words

1. また同じ失敗をやらかしたくない。
    I don't want to make the same mistake again. 

Word Note: 遣らかす is a ぞんざいな言い方 for やる and is generally fully written in ひらがな. It may also be a rough way of saying 食べる・飲む, but this is really rare and unheard of to many. 

2. 内緒にしてたんだけど、コロラド州にいたときに、大麻を1服やらかしたんだ。 
    I've kept it as a secret, but when I was in Colorado, I smoked a joint of weed. 

3. 真面目な話を茶化してごめんなさい。
    I'm sorry for making a joke out of something serious.

Spelling Note: 誤魔化す・胡麻化す are both 当て字.

4. おちゃらかすんじゃありません。 
     I'm not making a joke of anything.

5. 部屋を散らかさないで。
　　Don't mess up the room.

Word Note: 散らかす can be viewed as the transitive form of 散らかる, but it is often interchangeable with 散らす. Both 散らす and 散らかす can be used as supplementary verbs to describe rough, random, and or disorderly conduct. 散らかす has a rougher feeling. It fits very well when making a mess of things. 

6. ゴミを撒き散ら（か）す人がいっぱいいる。 
 　There are a lot of people who scatter trash. 　 

7. 魔法を駆使して群がる敵を蹴散ら（か）そう。 
　　Let's scatter our gathering enemies by commanding our magic.

8a. お茶碗うるかしといて。　(北海道弁)
8b. お茶碗冷やしといて。 　(茨城弁)
8c. お茶碗浸しといて。
     Soak the tea cups.

方言 Note: 冷やす means to "cool down", but in some regions it oddly means 浸す (to soak). In 北海道, we can find the ～かす verb うるかす for 浸す. This appears to come from the verb 潤す (to moisten). 冷やかす either sounds somewhat archaic, slangish, or dialectical for the meaning of "to cool down", but it is frequently used with the meaning "to ridicule", undoubtedly from the original sense of the word.  

使い分け Note: 冷やかす is very similar to からかう and 茶化す. All of these words are used for describing when you say something to amuse oneself that makes someone mad, embarrasses and or troubles someone. からかう can mean "to ridicule" towards non-human things and via actions other than words, which is not the case for 冷やかす and 茶化す.

語源 Note: 茶化す’s origin is uncertain, but it does have other forms like おちゃらかす and ちゃらかす and can be viewed as a ～かす verb. Some think that it is from チャルメラ (an oboe used at ramen stands) turned into a verb by using チャ. Some think it is merely a contraction of 茶と化す (to turn into something of ridicule). This use of 茶 to mean "ridicule" comes from 茶にする which started from meaning "to take a break" to "to make fun of". This could still be the origin even with the other forms because if people were to then treat 化す as ～かす and know it should be used with the 未然形, ちゃらかす would naturally come about. Regardless of origin, these '～かす verbs' are relatively new. 

9. あんた、人の話をおひゃらかすなよ。 　　(Dialectical)
　　　Don't be ridiculing what others are saying.

10. 全く犯罪を行う意思がない人を唆すことは教唆犯となります。 
      Alluring someone with absolutely no criminal intent is criminal instigation. 

Form Note: 唆す does not have a 自動詞. Neither does 見せびらかす, 誑かす, or ちょろまかす.   

11. 誑かされる人が存在する限り、哲学はなくならない。 
      For as long as there are those who are deceived, philosophy will not go away.

12. 教師というのは知識をひけらかしているわけではないのだ。
      It's not that a teacher is flaunting knowledge. 

13. あの人は、質問をほとんどはぐらかした。
      That person dodged almost all of the questions. 

14. 人の目を盗んでちょろまかす。
　　  To deceive and steal without being noticed.

15. ちょっとあいつをだまくらかしてやれ。
 　　Swindle that guy! 

16. 弟はまた宿題を途中まで（やって）ほったらかしたよ。
　　 My little brother left his homework half-done again.

17. 人前で自分の富を見せびらかす。
　    To show off one's riches in front of others. 

18. 赤ん坊を寝かす。
      To lay a baby down. 

There are few instances in Japanese grammar where さ gets inserted for apparently no reason. There are three different instances of this in Japanese. 

One application of さ入れ言葉 is found within the causative conjugations. The causative conjugation is believed to be derived from the auxiliary す, which is etymologically the same as する attaching to the 未然形. When used with 一段動詞 and 来る, さ would be inserted, which gives us ～さす・～させる today.

Here, it is clear that the inclusion of さ in the right-hand column is a completely natural and correct. Now, consider what’s happening now (at least for a small subset of people).

This is what is now meant by さ入れ言葉 because an unnecessary さ is being inserted. This phenomenon only affects 五段動詞, as you can imagine if it’s already occurred in 一段動詞 in the past. Therefore some people have proposed that this phenomenon has come about from an analogical leveling with the causative element “sase” found with 一段動詞.

A few things have come to light about the use of さ入れ言葉.

1.    It is a language change that has begun to increase in usage in recent years.

2.    Its use is spreading and will continue to be used more frequently.

3.    There is a tendency for it to appear in ceremonious speech. The more formal the situation, the more likely it is to be used. It does not appear in idioms or nominalized expressions.

4.    Sometimes, there are combinations where a combination may be considered a correct usage of the causative or an instance of さ入れ言葉. For example, consider the word 飛ばす. If treated as a transitive verb pair of 飛ぶ, 飛ばさせる is the logical causative form. If you analyze it as the causative form of 飛ぶ, then this form would be an example of さ入れ言葉. This all depends on whether there is an object for the verb or not. In the following example, it is a clear case of さ入れ言葉.

Ex. ちょっと時間の関係で飛ばさしていただきまして…
I would like to skip through with a small concern of time.

5.    It possesses nuances not necessarily found in the “correct usage” of the causative.

6.    It is becoming grammaticalized with ～させていただく. It is used with this pattern more than anything else. It is marginally seen with ～てもらう, ～た, ～ない, ～る. However, every other conjugation is not really attested. Thus, it may become the case that さ入れ言葉 will only occur with ～させて｛いただく・もらう｝ within a few decades and potentially become standard. Nevertheless, its usage as a long way to go before it is used equally with the current standard form.  

7.    It is only used with verbs that imply speaker self-control.

8.    It does not appear when double さ would occur.

9.    It hardly ever shows up with verbs at or above five morae. This is understandable because if this change is believed to be in the beginning stage, you would expect it to pop up in short but very frequently used verbs.

10.  Overall, women use this slightly more than men, which is evidence that this phenomenon is its beginning stage as women are the pioneers of language change. It is important to note, though, that there is a tendency for women to use this more the more formal of a situation they find themselves in, and the opposite trend can be said for men, which is probably due to a prescriptive grammar take on things

11.  People born before 1940s don’t really use this. People born after this time are progressively using it more. Nevertheless, the percentage of people who use さ入れ言葉 is still quite small.  

12.  This pattern is spreading via the 関東地方, but whether it is being spread through people after relocation or it’s something being picked up through other means is uncertain.

13.  It is most frequent in spontaneous speech. Meaning, if there is any preparation involved in the delivery of a message, it is more likely not going to be used. Thus, there is no trend suggesting that this pattern has started to seep in 書き言葉. This is further evidence to suggest that it is overall in the beginning stage of diffusion.

14.  This pattern is still viewed as an error that should be fixed. However, because it is used to elevate politeness, when it is used, the context requires more elaborate honorific speech. This explains the demographic demonstrations mentioned thus far.

With the adjective ない, さ must be inserted. This gives なさすぎる. ～すぎる should attach directly to the stem of ～ない. The inclusion of さ to the auxiliary ～ない to make it more flowing is catching on among some young people, but it is not deemed to be correct Japanese.

1. 彼は何もできな（さ）すぎる。 　
    He can't do anything.

2. 彼は世間をあまりにも知らな（さ）すぎる。　
    He knows too little of the world.  

Using さ入れ with 少ない or 汚い because they naturally end in /nai/ is not correct. This misuse has not caught on. This is also the case for any other words that happen to end in /nai/. 

With ～そうだ meaning "to seem", it is obligatory that さ be inserted when used with the adjectives よい and ない. Nowadays, it is common to use さ with ない even when it is used as an auxiliary, which is traditionally not correct.  

Though percentages of speakers who add さ to these additional words is small, there are natives who attach it to other adjectives only two morae long. For instance, 濃い ＋ そう → 濃そうだ is standard, but a very small minority uses 濃さそうだ. This is no doubt dialectical, but it's fascinating that it exists.

Another example is 憂い. This adjective is normally replaced by 物憂い. What's interesting is that さ is often seen inserted when 物憂い is used with ～そうだ. Now, because of the limited use of 憂い, 憂さそうだ would be hard to attest. So, it is safe to say it practically does not exist. 酸い, now usually 酸っぱい except in set phrase or some dialects, would also fit into this category, but 酸っぱさそうだ is not valid, and it is unclear whether 酸さそうだ is.  

Classroom Usage: You should only use さ with 良い and 無い. Although it is linguistically correct to say other instantiations exist, your teachers seek what is thought to be true Standard Japanese. Thus, it is best to avoid things that may be given an X on test. 

     Prefixes, 接頭語, are key to understanding hundreds of phrases in Japanese. If you are unable to find a word in a dictionary, it is probably because the word you are looking for has a prefix or a suffix.

     Although there are some that may have a few possible purposes, prefixes are generally one phrase definitions or are taught as such. The chart below illustrates the most common and easy prefixes you will see and should know in Japanese. Definitions of example words should show whether the word is a noun or an adjective.

     Unlike for nouns, there aren't that many prefixes that attach to verbs. Of the ones that do exist, there are often variants. Below is a chart that illustrates basically all the prefixes you'll see before a verb in Japanese--there's just not that many of them. 

Note: あい- from above may also be used with verbs. 

     With the influx of foreign expressions, so have the amount of foreign prefixes. Below is a list of some of the most commonly seen prefixes for loan words in Japanese.

     The next couple of lessons will be about suffixes. 

1. 荒し （あらし） means "troll". 

1. 墓荒し
    An internet troll

2. 顔 （がお）shows the "face" or "look" of something. 

3. 掛かり （がかり） attaches to nouns to show that something is dependent on or resembles something. With verbs it means "with these course of events".

2. 行きがかり上、そうなってしまった。
    After going to this course of events, it became so.

3. 一人掛かりでやった仕事だ。
    It's only a one-man job.

4. 芝居 しばい 掛かりな声
    A voice resembling theatre

5. 親掛 おやが かりの 位 くらい 。
    A position dependent on one's parents.

6. 神がかり的な能力
    Exceptional ability 

4. 掛け （かけ） attaches to nouns and the 連用形 of verbs. With verbs it shows that something is in the middle of happening/being done. With nouns, it means "rack". 

7. タオル掛け
    Towel rack

8. 壊れかけ
    In the middle of collapsing

5. 掛け （がけ） with nouns means "to put on". With intransitive verbs it shows something is in the middle of doing something. With  一人（ひとり）, 二人（ふたり）, etc., it shows how many people can sit. With numbers it means "tenths".

9. 襷 たすき 掛け
    Tucking up sleeves

10. 帰りがけに店に 寄 ( よ ) ってきた。
      I came by the store on the way home.

11. １０人掛けのソファを見たところだよ！
       I just saw a sofa that could fit 10 people!

12. 定価の６掛けで古本を買いました。
      I bought used books 40% off.

13. 7人掛けシート
      Seven person seat

Culture Note: In the majority of trains in Japan, seats often sit seven people and three seats separated by doors on both sides of the train is the norm.  

6. がし attaches to the 命令形 of verbs to create phrases that push an opinion. 

7. ～方（かた） → Lesson 81. 

8. 柄 （がら） attaches to nouns to show a suitable condition. 

14. 土地柄
      Local color

15. 時節柄 じせつがら ご 自愛 じあい 下さい。
      Please take care of yourself during these times.

16. 商売柄 しょうばいがら 朝が早い。
      The morning is early for the nature of this business.

9. 絡み （がらみ） is used after words expressing age or price to show "about" or "around". And, it's after nouns to show there is a close connection with something. 

17. 厚生 こうせい がらみの国際的な問題です。
      It's an international problem concerning welfare.

18. バッテリーがらみの問題
      Problems concerning batteries

19. 1万円がらみの品物だ。　（ほとんど使われていない）  
      These are goods around 10,000 yen in worth.

10. 刻み （きざみ） is equivalent to "-毎に" and "-置きに" and means "every...". 

20. 五センチ刻み。
      Every 5 centimeters.

21. 百円刻みに 料金 ( りょうきん ) が上がります。
      The fee goes up every 100 yen.

11. きって attaches to nouns and shows what is the most...in something. 

22. 彼は 我 ( わ ) が校きっての 秀才 ( しゅうさい ) です。
      He is the brightest student in our school.

23. 当代きっての名優。
      Great actor of our time.

12. 競 （くら） attaches to the 連用形 of verbs to show some sort of contest. 

13. ぐるみ shows that the subject is completely included. 

24. 家族ぐるみでその 難問 ( なんもん ) に取り 組 ( く ) みました。
      The entire family dealt with the difficult problem.

25. 村ぐるみ　＝　村人が全員で
      Forming a crowd

14. くんだり, which comes from the word 下り, attaches to names or words of place to show a far distance from a certain reference point. This is not widely used. 

26. 青森くんだりまで行ってしまった。
      I ended up going as far as Aomori.

27. こんな田舎くんだりまで、よく来てくださいました。
       I'm very grateful that you have come all this way to the country for us. 

15. 気 （け） attaches to nouns and the stems of adjectives/verbs to show sensing of a certain condition. 

28. 嫌気 いやけ がさしてるぜ。
      I'm tired of it.

29. 寒気 さむけ がする。
      To feel chilly.

30. 毒気 どくけ に当てられる。
      To be overwhelmed.

31. 人気 ひとけ のない町。
      An abandoned town.

16. 子 （こ） shows a child of a particular nature. With either nouns or the 連用形 of verbs, it shows a person of a certain occupation. When attached to a place, 子 shows  birthplace. This suffix also helps create female names. 

32. 明治っ子  
      A person of the Meiji Period

33. 恵美子
      Emiko

34. 彼は売れっ子の作家ですね。
      He's a popular writer, isn't he?

17. -っこ is a colloquial version of すること. It's often attached to verbs in the potential form and then followed by ない to explosively show incapability. It may also show competition with the 連用形 of verbs, smallness with onomatopoeia, and make slang variants out of common nouns.

35. あいつには分かりっこないな。
     He'll never understand.

36. にゃんこ
      Kitty cat

37. 慣 な れっこになる。
      To become used to.

38. 僕は 駆 ( か ) けっこで一番になった。
      I got first in a race.

39. 睨 にら めっこしよう！
      Let's have a staring contest!

40. ほら、台風が学校をぺしゃんこにしたんだ。
      Look, the typhoon leveled the school!

41. 彼には日本語が話せっこない。
      He'll never be able to speak Japanese.

42. 歌えっこない！
      I can't sing!

43. お腹がマジでぺしゃんこだぞ。　　　
      I'm so hungry!

Sentence Note: The last sentence would be most likely used by someone really thin.  

18. ごかし ＝ one is actually planning one's own interests while pretending the other.

44. おためごかし
      Self-aggrandizement under pretense of aiding another

45. 親切ごかし
      Acting nice while actually playing the devil's advocate.

19. -越し means "over" and may be used in a sense of doing something over some sort of distance such as one's shoulders or in a time sense where it shows a condition continuing throughout a given time period.

46. 窓越しに話しかける。
      To talk out the window.

47. 肩越 かたご しに 覗 のぞ き 込 こ む。
      To look over one's shoulders.

48. 私たちは１０年｛越し・来｝の付き合いです。
      We've known each other for over 10 years.

20. ごっこ　＝　game of mimicry. 

21. ごと attaches to nouns showing inclusion in "all". 

49. リンゴを 皮 ( かわ ) ごと食べる。
      Eat the apple with all of the skin.

50. 服 ふく ごと放り込む。
      To shovel off all clothes.

51.  枷 かせ ごと 果 は てない空へただ飛び立つ。
      All of the shackles will just fly away into the endless sky.

22. 沙汰（ざた）  is often after nouns and the 連用形 to mean "affair" or "gossip". 

23. 様（ざま） can attach to nouns to show a certain direction. After the 連用形 of a verb, it either shows the course of a condition or action or give a sense of "just as...".

52. 卑怯 ひきょう な生き様
      A cowardly way of living

53. 授業が続け様に3つあります。
       I have three classes back to back.

54. 逆 さか さまの夢へと堕ちる。　（Unvoiced example)
      To fall in a backwards dream.

55. 木々 きぎ が風で 横様 よこざま に 倒 たお れた。
      The trees fell down sideways by the wind.

Reading Note: 横様 ＝ よこざま・よこさま

56. 振 ふ り 向 む き 様 ざま に彼をにらみつけた。
      I turned and glared at him.  

57. 

「あっ。 小蝶 ( こちょう ) さんが帰る、小蝶さんが帰る」
と、 金彌 ( かなや ) はぱっと起き上がって、 喜 ( よろこ ) びいっぱい 叫 ( さけ ) びながら部屋を飛び出しざま、
「小蝶さん」
賑 ( にぎや ) かな笑い声に続いて、

雨、雨、降れ降れ
母さんが
蛇 ( じゃ ) の 目 ( め ) でお迎え
うれしいな
ピッチピッチ
チャップチャップ
ランランラン

陽気 ( ようき ) に調子づいた 幼 ( おさな ) い歌声が、玄関の方へ遠ざかって行った。

"Ah! Kocho-san's coming home, Kocho-san's coming home!", Kanami yelled full of joy as she sprang up, and just as she dashed out of the room yelling "Ko-chan", she continued with a lively laughter singing:

Rain fall, rain fall! 
Mom has come to see me with her umbrella 
How happy am I!
Splishy splishy splashy splashy 
Lalala

Her warm, young, melodious singing voice went all the water to the entrance. 
From 童謡 by 川端康成. 

Passage Note: That song is the first part of a famous 童謡 (children's song) called あめふり. The onomatopoeia is rather unique to the song itself, so it is rather difficult to adequately translate them into English.  

24. しな attaches to the 連用形 of verbs to mean "at time of doing...". 

58. 寝しなに酒を飲むと、 二日酔 ( ふつかよ ) いがかかる。
      If you drink sake when you're going to sleep, you'll get a hangover.

59. 出しなに電話がかかってきた。
      I got a call on my phone when I was leaving.

60. 泣きしなに転んでしまった。
      I fell at the time I was crying.

61. 隣りの男は横浜を出しなに薄目をあけただけで、だらしなく居眠り続けた。
The man right by just halfway opened his eyes leaving Yokohama, and he continued to carelessly   doze.
From 山の音 by 川端康成. 

25. 凌ぎ（しのぎ）= "to tide over" and is idiomatic in translation. It follows nominal phrases. 

62. 退屈 たいくつ しのぎ
      To kill time

63. その場しのぎの手段で切り抜ける。
      To get over at half measures.

After this lesson, we will transition to native endings that result in non-nominal phrases. 

26. ～ 好 ず き follows nouns to describe people that like a certain think a lot or a character that is liked a lot by people.

1. 夫は外出好きです。
    My husband likes to go out. 

2. 「あの人は、よく外国旅行をしますね」「よほど 冒険好 ( ぼうけんず ) きなんでしょう」
    "That person often travels overseas" "He must be quite adventurous"

3. 人好きの 性質 ( せいしつ )
    An amiable personality 

27. ～ずじまい means that something wasn't done and something accidentally ended up happening--しないで終わってしまった. As you can see, it comes from the combination of the old negative auxiliary ず and 終い (end) voiced.

4. 結局彼と会わずじまいだった。
    I ended up not meeting with him.

28. ～尽く attaches to nouns and the stems of adjectives. It either shows that something relies entirely on something, something has the sole purpose of something, or what something is based off of. Most of the words used with this are uncommon and are becoming restricted to formal writing. 

5. 納得ずくで解約する。　（経済）
    To dissolve with mutual consent.

6. 腕ずくで強い相手を倒す。
    To beat a strong enemy by might.

7a. 算盤 ( ) ずくで戦う。
7b. 計算ずくで戦う。 （より自然）
      To fight calculatively.  

8. 欲得 ( ) ずくで引き受けた仕事ではない。
    This is not a job I took on just for gain.

9. 欲得ずくの結婚をする。
    To marry for the money.  

10. 力ずくで家に押し入る。
      To enter a house by force.

11. 腕ずくで捩じ伏せる。
     To hold down someone's arms with brute force. 

29. ～ 攻 ( ぜ ) め means "offense/attack" and attaches to nouns to show bombardment. In doing so, 攻め becomes voiced as ぜめ. 

12. 守りから攻めに転じる一手は賢いのか。
      Is switching to the offensive from the defensive a wise move?

13. 次の一手で守りから攻めに転じる！
      I'll switch to offensive from defensive with this next move!

14. 兵糧攻 ひょうろうぜ めで敵を 降伏 こうふく させる。
      To force surrender with starvation.

15. 質問攻めにする。
      To bombard with questions.

16. 我々は広告攻めに 遭 ( あ ) っている。
      We are bombarded with advertisements.

17. 誰もが毎日電子メールに｛やられています・ 辟易 ( へきえき ) しています｝。
      Everyone is being overwhelmed by e-mails every day.

30. ～だてら shows that something is unfitting of normal quality. This is old-fashioned and essentially not used. 

18. 女だてらってよく言われますが、男だてらって言いませんね。
      "Unladylike" is used frequently, but we don't say "unmanly-like".

19. 親だてらにいらぬ世話を焼く。（古い言い方）
      To meddle unlike that of a parent.

31. ～ 垂 ( た ) れ is a pejorative equivalent to "-ass" and attaches to nouns or adjectives.

20. しみったれ
      Stingy a**.

21. 馬鹿垂れ
      Dumba**

22. くそったれ 
      S%*#head

32. ～付（つ・づ）け  may either be attached to the 連用形 of a verb to show what one always does or attached to a day as "づけ" to show a schedule. 

23. こちらは行きつけの図書館です。
      This is the library that I always go to.

24. 六日 ( ) 付 ( ) けの 発令 ( はつれい )
     Proclamation for the sixth

25. 掛 ( ) かり 付 ( つ ) けの医者
      Family doctor

33. ～ 詰 ( づ ) め shows that an action or condition is continuing. Attach to the 連用形 of verbs.

26. 歩き詰めでくたくただ。
      I was exhausted due to continuous walking.

27. 立ち詰めで働いていた。
      I have been working while continuing to stand up.

34. ～ 連 ( づ ) れ shows a company of people.

28. 旅の道連れ
      A traveling companion.

29. 三人連れでいればいい。
      It's good to be in groups of threes.

30. 家族連れでハイキングに行く。
      To go hiking with one's family in tow.

35. ～手 is attached to the 連用形 of verbs and denotes the action doer. 

31. あいつはくどい話し手だな。
      He's a windy speaker, isn't he?

32. 彼はいつも 注意深 ( ちゅういぶか ) い聞き手です。
      He is always an alert listener.

33. 書き手
      Writer

36. ～ 通 ( どお ) し, like ～詰め, shows that something continues as such. It too attaches to the 連用形 of verbs. 

34. 雪は 夜通 ( よどお ) し降り続いた。
      It snowed all night long.

35. 立ち通しでした。
      I was kept standing.

37. ～ 通 ( どお ) り　follows nouns meaning "Street/Avenue" or "in accordance with". Do not confuse with ～通し. 

36. 彼女の住所はウェスト・パーク通り6番です。
      Her address is 6 West Park Street.

37. サンセット大通り
      Sunset Boulevard

38. 自分の思い通りにする。
      To have it one's own way.

39. 求刑 ( ) の 結果 ( けっか ) だが、 予想通 ( よそうどお ) りだ。
      These are the results of the prosecution; it was just as expected. 

40. 概 ( ) ね 平常通 ( へいじょうどお ) りです。
      Things are basically just as normal.

38. ～並み means "average/ordinary" As a suffix, it may show a line of similar things such as houses, everything in the same condition, or something of a same level or kind. 

41. ウィキペディアはブリタニカ並みに正確だと思います。
      I think that Wikipedia is as accurate as Britannica.

42. 軒並 ( ) みが 壊滅 ( かいめつ ) した。
     The row of houses were completely destroyed.

43. 世間並み
      Ordinary

44. 山並み（の 輪郭 ( りんかく ) ）が見える。
      To be able to see the outline of the row of mountains.

45. 七月並みの気温です。
      This is average July temperatures.  

46. この種の顔写真は、誰でもひとしなみに指名手配犯のように見せてしまう。
      This kind of face photo ends up showing anyone equally like a wanted criminal. 
From 火車 by 宮部みゆき.

Word Note: ひとしなみ, spelled in 漢字 as 等し並, is a 形容動詞 made with the combination of 並み and the stem of 等しい 

39. ～抜く as a suffix in the form ～抜き means "without".

47. 塩抜きのポテトチップを買えるかな。
      I wonder if you can buy potato chips without salt.

48. 砂糖抜きでお願いします。 
      Without sugar please.

49. 昼飯抜きで仕事をすると、健康を 損 ( そこ ) なってしまう。
      If you work without lunch, you'll end up losing your health.

50.  染 し み 抜 きをする。
     To remove stains.  

40. ～ 栄 ( ば ) え attaches to the 連用形 of verbs and is used to show a heard or shown advantage. It is limited to the verbs 見る and 聞く. 

51. 音楽は聞き栄えがしなかった。
      The music was not pleasing to the ears.

52. 彼女は一向 ( ) に見栄えがしないよ。
      She's not anything to look at at all.

53. あのドレスは見栄えがしました。
      That dress was much to look at.

41. ～ 端 ( ばな ) attaches to the 連用形 of verbs and means "about to start". Its usage is very limited. The first example is a very common phrase with it, but other than that, it is extremely rare. Use on with things you find it used with. 

54. 出端
      Moment of departure

55. 寝入 ( ) りばなに弟が泣き出した。 
      My little brother began to cry as I was falling asleep.

42. ～っ 放 ( ぱな ) し comes from 放す meaning "to unchain". ～っ放し strengthens this meaning by showing how "you leave something...". It's most associated with frequent careless forgetting.

56. テレビをつけっぱなしにするな！
      Don't leave the TV on!

57. 私は昨夜テレビをつけっぱなしにして寝てしまった。
      Last night I fell asleep leaving the television on.

58. 部屋を出るときは 電灯 ( でんとう ) をつけっぱなしにしないようにしてくださいね。
      Try not to leave the lights on when you leave the room, OK?

43. ～ 張 ( ば ) り attaches to personal nouns and means "reminiscent of". 

59. 雷電張 ( ) りの 空模様 ( そらもよう ) だった。
      It was weather reminiscent of thunder and lightning.

60. セザンヌ張りの 風景画 ( ふうけいが ) 。
       Landscape paintings reminiscent of Cezanne.

61. シェイクスピア張りの文体。
      Writing style reminiscent of Shakespeare.

44. ～ 日 ( び )  means day. It is sometimes unvoiced. 

45. ～ 辺 べ is attached to geographical nouns to mean "-side". 

62. 水辺に 並 ( なら ) んでいる町。 
     Towns lining the waterside.

63. 海辺で休日を過ごしたよ。
      I spent the holiday at the seaside.

64. 嵐 あらし がその 大船 おおぶね を岸辺へと押しやった。
      The storm impelled the big ship to the shoreline.

65. 山辺
      Mountainside 

Historical Note: It's interesting to note that some scholars believe this ending is actually an ancient borrowing from Ainu.  

46. ～っぺ is used after names to show familiarity, but it can also be used in a hurtful way. It all depends on context. If you're called a 田舎っぺ, that's not a nice thing. These sorts of nuances don't translate well into English, so keep in mind what this stands for. 

66. 花っぺ (Nickname for Hanako)
     Hana-ppe 

67. 太郎っぺ
      Taro 

47. ～（っ）ぽ（っ）ち attaches to demonstrative pronouns or numbers meaning "merely but". This ending is very casual, which explains the speech styles of the example sentences.

68. 1ドルぽっちでは買えねー。(Casual; vulgar)
      I can't buy anything with just a dollar.

69. これっぽっちでは足りないもんだ。
      This is just merely lacking.

48. ～ 前 ( まえ ) attaches to words of number or person to show portion or suitable amount. This suffix oddly does not follow any exception to any counter rules.

70. 一人前になる。
      To come to age.

71. 二人前を 平 ( たい ) らげる。
      To consume food enough for two people.

49. ～向け: See Lesson 151. 

50. ～目 has three usages. It is seen in the pattern ”Counter phrase + 目” to create ordinal expressions (#th). You also see it after the 連用形 of verbs to show the point or place of partition in something. The last usage is just as important. In its third usage it is after either after the stem of adjectives or the 連用形 of verbs to show tendency/disposition/degree. Of course, given that there are two usages when after the 連用形 of verbs, you will have to consider the meaning of the verbs themselves to differentiate the usages.

72. 今年の15冊目を読みきりました。
      I've completely read through my 15th book of the year.

73. このレストランでまったく切れ目のない列ができています。
      There is a line with no gaps at all.

74. 縫 い目が 綻 ほころ びる。
      For seams to split. 

76. 袂はやや長めであった。
     (Her) sleeves were quite lengthy.
From 不死 by 川端康成.  

77. 若い女の答えはあいまいだったが、白粉の濃いめの顔を赤らめもしないで、もううしろを見せるとフォウムへ出て行った。
The young woman's answer was vague, but she left to the platform and had already shown her backside doing so without ever having her strongly powdered face blush.  
From 山の音 by 川端康成.

Exception Note: 濃い + 目 should result in 濃目, but this is very rare. Instead, 濃い目 is used.  

51. ～もの, either 物 for things or 者 for people, attaches to the stem of nouns to show things or people "to...".

78. 動物に食べ物を与えないでくださいませんか。
      Could you please not give food to the animals?

79. 何か飲み物がほしい。
      I want something to drink.

80. 乗り物に 酔 ( よ ) う。
      To have travel sickness.

81. この本はためになる読み物です。
      This book is good reading.

82. 生き物一つもいない。
      There is not a living thing.

83. 壊れ物！
      Fragile objects!

84. 彼女は本当に働き者だよ。
      She is a really hard worker.

85. 彼はまったく 怠 ( なま ) け者だぞ。
      He is completely lazy.

86. 聞き物はない。
      To not have something worth listening to.

52. ～ 屋 や  may be added to a type of trade to show a kind of shop. In the same vein, it may also be the end of an alias. As an extension of showing one's trade, it can pinpoint people with certain dispositions like being sarcastic, shy, or what not. In this last case, it is often with the auxiliary ～がる.

53. ～や is a suffix that attaches to nouns of person to show intimacy. 

87. じいや
      Gramps

88. 坊やが天使のような表情を持った。
      The little boy possessed an angelic expression.

89. ねえや
      Sis'