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Showing posts with label - Japanese vocabulary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label - Japanese vocabulary. Show all posts

Sep 12, 2018

September 12, 2018

Light and Dark in Japanese

Hello! I'm Kosuke!

How is your Japanese study going?


In this article, let's study how to say Light and Dark in Japanese!

I recommend you to check the video below before reading this article!




Light and Dark also have meanings for personality or prospect.

However, the way to use it is a little different when using Japanese or English.

Let's also check about them in this article!


Below is the index of this article!





1. Summary table

Please remember the table for Light and Dark below!


EnglishJapaneseRomajiKanji
light
(adjective)
あかるいa ka ru i明るい
light
(noun)
ひかりhi ka ri
dark
(adjective)
くらいku ra i暗い
dark
(noun)
やみya mi

If you want to remember adjectives for JLPT N5 including "light" and "dark", please try this:
  Japanese Vocabulary Quiz - JLPT N5 I-Adjectives >>

If you still don't remember all Hiragana characters, please check these:

If you want to test your memory of Hiragana, please use this:

If you don't know what Romaji is, please check this:



"あかるい(akarui)" and "くらい(kurai)" are adjectives.

If you study Japanese, you will see many words where the last character is "い(i)", like "あかるい(akarui)" and "くらい(kurai)".

In most cases, they are adjectives.

They are words describing the status of a word.

If you want to check other adjectives, please check these:


(You don't need to care about the name "adjective" so much here.)

In this article, we will study adjectives to describe the brightness of a noun.





2. Light

Below is the table for "light"!

EnglishJapaneseRomajiKanji
light
(adjective)
あかるいa ka ru i明るい
light
(noun)
ひかりhi ka ri


Light is "あかるい" in Japanese.

As I explained above, this is an adjective.

If we say a "light room", this is an adjective because "light" is explaining the noun, "room".




However, in English, "light" can also be a noun, which means a flash.

Example:
"light reflected from the mirror"

In this case, "light" is "ひかり" in Japanese.




Examples:

1. かすかなひかり
 ka su ka na hi ka ri

Meaning: "a glimmering light"

かすかな: glimmering

In this example, "ひかり" is used because this "light" is a noun.




2. ひかりがみえます。
 hi ka ri ga mi e ma su

Meaning: "I can see the light."

みえます: can see

If you don't know "ます(masu)", please check this:

In this example, "ひかり" is used because "light" is a noun.




3. あかるいへや
 a ka ru i he ya

Meaning: "a light room"

へや: room

In this example, "あかるい" is used because this "light" is an adjective explaining about the room.




4. そとはまだあかるいです。
 so to wa ma da a ka ru i de su

Meaning: "Outside is still light."

そと: outside
まだ: still

If you don't know about "は(wa)" in the example, please check this:

If you don't know "です(desu)", please check this:

In this example, "あかるい" is used because "light" is an adjective explaining about outside.




For the English word "light", please remember "あかるい(akarui)" and "ひかり(hikari)"!







Below is the table for "dark"!

EnglishJapaneseRomajiKanji
dark
(adjective)
くらいku ra i暗い
dark
(noun)
やみya mi


Dark is "くらい" in Japanese.

As I explained above, this is an adjective.

If we say a "dark night", this is an adjective because "dark" is explaining the noun, "night".



However, in English, "dark" can also be a noun.

Example:
"Humans cannot see anything in the dark."

In this case, "dark" is "やみ" in Japanese.



Examples:

1. にんげんはやみのなかではなにもみえない。
 ni n ge n wa ya mi no na ka de wa na ni mo mi e na i

Meaning: "Humans cannot see anything in the dark."

にんげん: human
なかでは: in
なにも: anything
みえない: cannot see

In this example, "やみ" is used because this "dark" is a noun.




2. ひかりとやみ
 hi ka ri to ya mi

Meaning: "Light and dark"

と: and

In this example, "ひかり" and "やみ" are used because these "light" and "dark" are nouns.




3. くらいへや
 ku ra i he ya

Meaning: "a dark room"

へや: room

In this example, "くらい" is used because this "dark" is an adjective explaining about the room.




4. そとはもうくらいです。
 so to wa mo u ku ra i de su

Meaning: "It is already dark outside."

そと: outside
もう: already

In this example, "くらい" is used because this "dark" is an adjective explaining about outside.



For the English word "dark", please remember "くらい(kurai)" and "やみ(yami)"!







Sometimes, Light and Dark are used to explain a person's personality.

You can say, "light person" or "dark person" for someone.


In Japanese, "あかるい(akarui)" and "くらい(kurai)" are often used for explaining someone's personality.


However, regarding these words, English and Japanese have different meanings.





"Light" and "あかるい" for personality:

In English, a "light person" is:
Honest, self-sacrificing, generous, noble, helpful, etc.


In Japanese, you can also say, "あかるいひと(akarui hito)".

As we learned above, "あかるい(akarui)" means "light".

"ひと" is a Japanese word which means a "person".


So does "あかるいひと(akarui hito)" mean a "light person"?



Actually, in Japanese, "あかるいひと(akarui hito)" is:
Cheerful, outgoing, and extroverted.

It doesn't include the meanings of honest or self-sacrificing.

Maybe, "cheerful" is the best English word to explain it.

It is different from English.



If "light" or "あかるい(akarui)" is used for explaining a personality, please be careful because their meanings are a little different.


"あかるいひと(akarui hito)" is a cheerful person.





"Dark" and "くらい" for personality:

Do you think a "dark person" and "くらいひと(kurai hito)" have the same meaning?


Actually they are different, too.


In English, I think a "dark person" is:
bad, evil, and scary.



However, in Japanese, "くらいひと(kurai hito)" is:
shy, introverted, pessimistic, and gloomy.


Basically, "くらいひと(kurai hito)" just means a person who is not very social.


"くらいひと(kurai hito)" is not a bad person.

He/she is just not so cheerful.



If "dark" or "くらい(kuri)" is used for explaining a personality, please be careful because their meanings are a little different between English and Japanese.


"くらいひと(kurai hito)" is a person who is not very social!







Bright and Dark can be used for explaining future prospects.

Regarding this usage of "bright" and "dark", English and Japanese are the same.


If we have a bright prospect, it means our future will be good.

If our future is dark, maybe, something bad will happen.



Examples:

1. あかるいみらいがわたしをまっている。
 a ka ru i mi ra i ga wa ta shi wo ma t te i ru

Meaning: "A bright future is waiting for me."

みらい: future
わたしを: for me
まっている: is waiting

If you don't know about "を(wo)" of "わたしを(watashi wo)", please check this:

In this example, "a bright future" and "あかるいみらい(akarui mirai)" have the same meaning.




2. らいねんのみとおしはあかるい。
 ra i ne n no mi to o shi wa a ka ru i

Meaning: "The prospects for next year are bright."

らいねん: next year
みとおし: prospect
らいねんのみとおし: prospects for next year

In this example, "bright" and "あかるい(akarui)" have the same meaning.




3. わたしのみらいはくらい。
 wa ta shi no mi ra i wa ku ra i

Meaning: "My future is dark."

わたしの: my
みらい: future

If you don't remember "わたしの(watashi no)", please check these:

In this example, "dark" and "くらい(kurai)" have the same meaning.







Please remember the table for Light and Dark below!

EnglishJapaneseRomajiKanji
light
(adjective)
あかるいa ka ru i明るい
light
(noun)
ひかりhi ka ri
dark
(adjective)
くらいku ra i暗い
dark
(noun)
やみya mi


"あかるい(akarui)" and "くらい(kurai)" are adjectives.

"ひかり(hikari)" and "やみ(yami)" are nouns.


When you use "あかるい(akarui)" and "くらい(kurai)" for someone's personality, please be careful because they have different meanings between English and Japanese.


"あかるい(akarui)" and "くらい(kurai)" can also be used for future prospects.
It is the same as English.



I hope this article helps you to study Japanese!
Please enjoy studying Japanese!



Sep 8, 2018

September 08, 2018

Country names in Japanese


In this article, let's check the country names in Japanese!




What is your country called in Japanese?


After you remember what your country is called in Japanese, please remember how to introduce your country:
How to introduce yourself in Japanese - I am from ... >>



In Japanese, Katakana is basically used for country names, because they are loan-words from foreign countries.
For further information, please check this:
When should we use Katakana? - Loan-words from foreign countries >>


Also, if you still don't remember all the Katakana, please check this:

  Katakana chart >>


After you remember all the Katakana characters, please use this to confirm your memory of Katakana:

  Katakana quiz >>




Below is the list of the country names in Japanese!


EnglishKatakana
Hiragana
Romaji
Afghanistanアフガニスタンa fu ga ni su ta n
Albaniaアルバニアa ru ba ni a
Algeriaアルジェリアa ru je ri a
Andorraアンドラa n do ra
Angolaアンゴラa n go ra
Antigua and Barbudaアンティグア・バブーダa n tei gu a
ba bu da
Argentinaアルゼンチンa ru ze n ch i n
Armeniaアルメニアa ru me ni a
Australiaオーストラリアo su to ra ri a
Austriaオーストリアo su to ri a
Azerbaijanアゼルバイジャンa ze ru ba i ja n
Bahamasバハマba ha ma
Bahrainバーレーンba re n
Bangladeshバングラデシュba n gu ra de shu
Barbadosバルバドスba ru ba do su
Belarusベラルーシbe ra ru shi
Belgiumベルギーbe ru gi
Belizeベリーズbe ri zu
Beninベナンbe na n
Bhutanブータンbu ta n
Boliviaボリビアbo ri bi a
Bosnia and Herzegovinaボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナbo su ni a
he ru tsu e go bi na
Botswanaボツワナbo tsu wa na
Brazilブラジルbu ra ji ru
Brunei Darussalamブルネイbu ru ne i
Bulgariaブルガリアbu ru ga ri a
Burkina Fasoブルキナファソbu ru ki na fa so
Burundiブルンジbu ru n ji
Cambodiaカンボジアka m bo ji a
Cameroonカメルーンka me ru n
Canadaカナダka na da
Cape Verdeカーボベルデka bo be ru de
Central African Republicちゅうおうアフリカきょうわこくchu o a fu ri ka kyo wa ko ku
Chadチャドcha do
Chileチリchi ri
Chinaちゅうごくchu go ku
Colombiaコロンビアko ro m bi a
Comorosコモロko mo ro
Congo (Republic of the)コンゴko n go
Costa Ricaコスタリカko su ta ri ka
Cote d'Ivoireコートジボワールko to ji bo wa ru
Croatiaクロアチアku ro a chi a
Cubaキューバkyu ba
Cyprusキプロスki pu ro su
Czech Republicチェコche ko
North Koreaきたちょうせんki ta cho se n
Democratic Republic of the Congoコンゴko n go
Denmarkデンマークde m ma ku
Djiboutiジブチji bu chi
Dominicaドミニカdo mi ni ka
Dominican Republicドミニカきょうわこくdo mi ni ka kyo wa ko ku
Ecuadorエクアドルe ku a do ru
Egyptエジプトe ji pu to
El Salvadorエルサルバドルe ru sa ru ba do ru
Equatorial Guineaせきどうギニアse ki do gi ni a
Eritreaエリトリアe ri to ri a
Estoniaエストニアe su to ni a
Ethiopiaエチオピアe chi o pi a
Fijiフィジーfui ji
Finlandフィンランドfui n ra n do
Franceフランスfu ra n su
Gabonガボンga bo n
Gambiaガンビアga m bi a
Georgiaグルジアgu ru ji a
Germanyドイツdo i tsu
Ghanaガーナga na
Greeceギリシャgi ri sha
Grenadaグレナダgu re na da
Guatemalaグアテマラgu a te ma ra
Guineaギニアgi ni a
Guinea-Bissauギニアビサウgi ni a bi sa u
Guyanaガイアナga i a na
Haitiハイチha i chi
Hondurasホンジュラスho n ju ra su
Hungaryハンガリーha n ga ri
Icelandアイスランドa i su ra n do
Indiaインドi n do
Indonesiaインドネシアi n do ne shi a
Iranイランi ra n
Iraqイラクi ra ku
Irelandアイルランドa i ru ra n do
Israelイスラエルi su ra e ru
Italyイタリアi ta ri a
Jamaicaジャマイカja ma i ka
Japanにほんni ho n
Jordanヨルダンyo ru da n
Kazakhstanカザフスタンka za fu su ta n
Kenyaケニアke ni a
Kiribatiキリバスki ri ba su
Kuwaitクウェートku e to
Kyrgyzstanキルギスタンki ru gi su ta n
Lao People's Democratic Republicラオスra o su
Latviaラトビアra to bi a
Lebanonレバノンre ba no n
Lesothoレソトre so to
Liberiaリベリアri be ri a
Libyaリビアri bi a
Liechtensteinリヒテンシュタインri hi te n shu ta i n
Lithuaniaリトアニアri to a ni a
Luxembourgルクセンブルクru ku se m bu ru ku
Madagascarマダガスカルma da ga su ka ru
Malawiマラウィma ra u i
Malaysiaマレーシアma re shi a
Maldivesモルディブmo ru di bu
Maliマリma ri
Maltaマルタma ru ta
Marshall Islandsマーシャルしょとうma sha ru sho to
Mauritaniaモーリタニアmo ri ta ni a
Mauritiusモーリシャスmo ri sha su
Mexicoメキシコme ki shi ko
(Federated States of) Micronesiaミクロネシアれんぽうmi ku ro ne shi a re m po
Monacoモナコmo na ko
Mongoliaモンゴルmo n go ru
Montenegroモンテネグロmo n te ne gu ro
Moroccoモロッコmo ro k ko
Mozambiqueモザンビークmo za m bi ku
Myanmarミャンマーmya m ma
Namibiaナミビアna mi bi a
Nauruナウルna u ru
Nepalネパールne pa ru
Netherlandsオランダo ra n da
New Zealandニュージーランドnyu ji ra n do
Nicaraguaニカラグアni ka ra gu a
Nigerニジェールni je ru
Nigeriaナイジェリアna i je ri a
Norwayノルウェーno ru e
Omanオマーンo ma n
Pakistanパキスタンpa ki su ta n
Palauパラオpa ra o
Panamaパナマpa na ma
Papua New Guineaパプア・ニューギニアpa pu a
nyu gi ni a
Paraguayパラグアイpa ra gu a i
Peruペルーpe ru
Philippinesフィリピンfi ri pi n
Polandポーランドpo ra n do
Portugalポルトガルpo ru to ga ru
Qatarカタールka ta ru
Republic of Koreaかんこくka n ko ku
Republic of Moldovaモルドバmo ru do ba
Romaniaルーマニアru ma ni a
Russian Federationロシアro shi a
Rwandaルワンダru wa n da
Saint Kitts and Nevisセントクリストファー・ネイビスse n to ku ri su to fa
ne i bi su
Saint Luciaセントルシアse n to ru shi a
Saint Vincent and the Grenadinesセントビンセントおよびグレナディーンしょとうse n to bi n se n to o yo bi gu re na di n sho to
Samoaサモアsa mo a
San Marinoサンマリノsa m ma ri no
Sao Tome and Principeサントメ・プリンシペsa n to me
pu ri n shi pe
Saudi Arabiaサウジアラビアsa u ji a ra bi a
Senegalセネガルse ne ga ru
Serbiaセルビアse ru bi a
Seychellesセイシェルse i shi e ru
Sierra Leoneシエラレオネshi e ra re o ne
Singaporeシンガポールshi n ga po ru
Slovakiaスロバキアsu ro ba ki a
Sloveniaスロベニアsu ro be ni a
Solomon Islandsソロモンしょとうso ro mo n sho to
Somaliaソマリアso ma ri a
South Africaみなみアフリカmi na mi a fu ri ka
South Sudanみなみスーダンmi na mi su dan
Spainスペインsu pe i n
Sri Lankaスリランカsu ri ra n ka
Sudanスーダンsu da n
Surinameスリナムsu ri na mu
Swazilandスワジランドsu wa ji ra n do
Swedenスウェーデンsu e de n
Switzerlandスイスsu i su
Syriaシリアshi ri a
Tajikistanタジキスタンta ji ki su ta n
Thailandタイta i
The formar Yugoslav Republic of Macedoniaマケドニア・きゅうユーゴスラビアきょうわこくma ke do ni a
kyu yu go su ra bi a kyo wa ko ku
Timor Lesteひがしティモールhi ga shi te i mo ru
Togoトーゴto go
Tongaトンガto n ga
Trinidad and Tobagoトリニダード・トバゴto ri ni da do
to ba go
Tunisiaチュニジアchu ni ji a
Turkeyトルコto ru ko
Turkmenistanトルクメニスタンto ru ku me ni su ta n
Tuvaluツバルtsu ba ru
Ugandaウガンダu ga n da
Ukraineウクライナu ku ra i na
United Arab Emiratesアラブしゅちょうこくれんぽうa ra bu shu cho ko ku re m po
United Kingdomイギリスi gi ri su
United of Republic of Tanzaniaタンザニアta n za ni a
United Statesアメリカa me ri ka
Uruguayウルグアイu ru gu a i
Uzbekistanウズベキスタンu zu be ki su ta n
Vanuatuバヌアツba nu a tsu
Venezuelaベネズエラbe ne zu e ra
Vietnamベトナムbe to na mu
Yemenイエメンi e me n
Zambiaザンビアza m bi a
Zimbabweジンバブエji m ba bu e


Sep 6, 2018

September 06, 2018

Fast and Slow in Japanese


In this article, let's study about how to say Fast and Slow in Japanese!


In addition to that, I would like to explain about Early and Late in Japanese.


In Japanese, Early and Late are very similar to Fast and Slow!


Please choose an item from the index below!






1. Summary table

Below is the summary of this article!


EnglishJapaneseRomajiKanji
fastはやいha ya i速い
earlyはやいha ya i早い
slowおそいo so i遅い
lateおそいo so i遅い

If you still don't remember all Hiragana, please check these:

If you want to test your memory of Hiragana, please use this:

If you don't know what Romaji is, please check this:



They are all adjectives.

If you study Japanese, you will see many words where the last character is "い(i)", like "はやい(hayai)" and "おそい(osoi)".

In most cases, they are adjectives.

They are the words describing the status of nouns.

If you want to check other adjectives, please check these:


(You don't need to care about the name "adjective" so much here.)

In this article, we will study adjectives to describe the speed of a noun.






In English, Fast and Early are different words.

In Japanese, they are also different words.

However, they sound the same.


But their Kanji characters are different.


EnglishJapaneseRomajiKanji
fastはやいha ya i速い
earlyはやいha ya i早い

As you can see from the table, the Hiragana is the same.

However, only the Kanji is different!




Let's check the examples!


1.
shi n ka n se n wa ha ya i de su


     Meaning :  "The bullet train is fast."
     
しんかんせん bullet train


If you don't know why "は(wa)" makes the sound "wa" instead of "ha", please check this:

If you don't know what "です" is, please check this:
  です(desu) >>


In this example, "はやい(hayai)" is used.

If we write this "はやい(hayai)" in Kanji, it is "速い".

If you are talking about the speed, the Kanji, "速い" is used.


2.
go ze n yo ji wa ha ya i de su


     Meaning :  "4 A.M. is early."
     
ごぜん4じ 4 A.M.


If you want to know more about how to say 4 A.M. in Japanese, please check this:
  Time of the day >>

If you don't know how to count number in Japanese, please check this:



In this example, "はやい(hayai)" is used.

If we write this "はやい(hayai)" in Kanji, it is "早い".

If you are talking about the time, the Kanji, "早い" is used.





3. Slow and Late

In English, Slow and Late are different words.

However, if we translate them into Japanese, they are the same word.

slowおそいo so i遅い
lateおそいo so i遅い

Both Slow and Late are "おそい(osoi)" in Japanese.

In the case of "はやい(hayai)", we need to be careful when we write it in Kanji.

However, in the case of "おそい(osoi)", the Kanji is also the same.



Isn't it easy?

Let's check the examples!


1. しゃ
ji n ri ki sha wa o so i de su


     Meaning :  "The rickshaw is slow."
     
じんりきしゃ rickshaw


In this example, "おそい(osoi)" is used.

Even if you want to write it in Kanji, you can just write "遅い".

You don't need to care whether it is about speed or time.


2. 11
go go ju u i chi ji wa o so i de su


     Meaning :  "11 P.M. is late."
     
ごご11じ 11 P.M.


In this example, "おそい(osoi)" is used, too.

Kanji is also the same as in the previous example.

It is "遅い".



Like above, both Slow and Late are "おそい(osoi)" in Japanese.



4. Conclusion

Please just remember the table blow!

You can remember Fast and Early are almost the same in Japanese.

Slow and Late are completely the same in Japanese.

Only when you write Fast and Early in Kanji, you should be careful!


EnglishJapaneseRomajiKanji
fastはやいha ya i速い
earlyはやいha ya i早い
slowおそいo so i遅い
lateおそいo so i遅い


Do you remember?



I hope this article helps you study Japanese!
Thank you for reading!