Today, we studied Lesson 20 of Genki. We practiced several polite Japanese expressions. One very useful expression was 「NAMEともうします」. This is a very polite way to introduce yourself, so when you say your own name, it would be very nice and polite to say, 「クリスともうします」.
We also studied 「〜ないで」, which means “without doing something.” You practiced many sentences very well, such as:
たけしさんは ひげを そらないで かいしゃに いきました。 Takeshi went to work without shaving.
たけしさんは あさごはんを たべないで かいしゃに いきました。 Takeshi went to work without eating breakfast.
メアリーさんは ばんごはんを たべないで ねました。 Mary went to bed without eating dinner.
ジョンさんは てんきよほうを みないで でかけました。 John went out without checking the weather forecast.
You did a great job making and saying many different 〜ないで sentences today.
I look forward to seeing you again in the next class. Thank you again for coming to class today!
Thank you for joining the lesson as always. It was great to see you again! In today’s lesson, we learned more adjectives and practiced making sentences with them, as well as some new key phrases such as: Somebody wa donna hito desu ka? — What kind of person is somebody? → Totemo shinsetsu na hito desu. (They are a very kind person.) New York wa donna machi desu ka? — What kind of city is New York? → Urusai machi desu. (It’s a noisy city.) → Kirei na machi desu. (It’s a beautiful city.) → Ōkii machi desu. (It’s a big city.) Konbini wa donna mise desu ka? — What kind of convenience store is it? → Konbini wa benri na mise desu. (It’s a convenient shop.)
Majime na hito and benri na mise are examples of na‑adjectives used to modify nouns. They add information about the noun, and when a na‑adjective appears before a noun, the particle na is required.
These questions and answers describe or add information to a noun. When a na‑adjective comes before a noun, it must use the na‑form. Although ookii is originally an i‑adjective, replacing the final‑i with ‑na allows it to function like a na‑adjective, creating a natural expression such as ookina machi.
You understood the lesson very well and shared many good examples. I really enjoyed our lesson today, and I hope you did too. Thank you for your hard work! See you on Friday!
