*Good Teacher*

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by Ayame90

Hey, ur confusing me.

Sorry. In Japanese there are various ways to conjugate a particular verb in order to create a sentence with a specific meaning.

In other words, you start with the dictionary form of a verb. It is called this because that is the form of the verb you find in the dictionary. For the sake of making it easier to explain, let's stick with "To close" or shimau.

Once we know the dictionary form of a verb, we can then conjugate it so it means what we want it to mean:

I close the book
Watashi wa hon wo shimaimasu.
I closed the book
Watashi wa hon wo shimaimashita.
I don't close the book
Watashi wa hon wo shimaimasen. (You can also use the informal conjugation which is shimawanai desu)
I didn't close the book
Watashi wa hon wo shimaimasen deshita. (Which you can also say as shimawanakatta desu [informal])

For each different meaning, you need to conjugate the verb differently. The sentences above are examples of the four basic verb conjugations; Affirmative, Past Affirmative, Negative, and Past Negative.

Now, when I said:

Sono hon wo shimatte kudasai.

I was using the "-te" verb conjugation of the verb shimau. "Te" form is usually used as a gentle command. In other words, the sentence means "Please close that book."

Does this help?

[SamuraiAlchemistNinja]

There is also something called "potential tense" which is used to show that the thing or person has the ability, or potential, to do something. So, using shimau, to put it in potential form:
Watashi wa hon wo shimaeru.
I can close the book.

[Ayame90]

Originally Posted by CrimsonNataku

Sorry. In Japanese there are various ways to conjugate a particular verb in order to create a sentence with a specific meaning.

In other words, you start with the dictionary form of a verb. It is called this because that is the form of the verb you find in the dictionary. For the sake of making it easier to explain, let's stick with "To close" or shimau.

Once we know the dictionary form of a verb, we can then conjugate it so it means what we want it to mean:

I close the book
Watashi wa hon wo shimaimasu.
I closed the book
Watashi wa hon wo shimaimashita.
I don't close the book
Watashi wa hon wo shimaimasen. (You can also use the informal conjugation which is shimawanai desu)
I didn't close the book
Watashi wa hon wo shimaimasen deshita. (Which you can also say as shimawanakatta desu [informal])

For each different meaning, you need to conjugate the verb differently. The sentences above are examples of the four basic verb conjugations; Affirmative, Past Affirmative, Negative, and Past Negative.

Now, when I said:

Sono hon wo shimatte kudasai.

I was using the "-te" verb conjugation of the verb shimau. "Te" form is usually used as a gentle command. In other words, the sentence means "Please close that book."

Does this help?

Oh, now i get what ur saying.
Thanx for the makin' it much more understandable.

[phytomir]

is it free?? is it safe?? do you have msn??

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by SamuraiAlchemistNinja

There is also something called "potential tense" which is used to show that the thing or person has the ability, or potential, to do something. So, using shimau, to put it in potential form:
Watashi wa hon wo shimaeru.
I can close the book.

And there's also imperative, volitional, conditional, provisional, passive, causative, conjectural... the list goes on and on ^_^;

But for those who are starting out, understanding dictionary form, affirmative, past affirmative, negative, and past negative is crucial before you start learning the other tenses and forms.

[AnimeFreak]

wooow... its a good thing i started this year... so many things to learn... im not confident though... im never confident... its my natural-self... i believe tht wenever im confident about something, i get bad luck about it...
and it happens... a LOT of times...

[divad2000]

hi! i'm from mexico my name is david, i like to learn some basics of japanese and practice a lot my english (as you can see it is not the best on the world ) if anyone are interested on any of the two options (japanese or english) here is mi msn (i hope I'm not violating any rule about it, if i do please let me know) [email protected] thanks to all ...

[enyafriend]

Goodness! Get off the post. You're in the wrong thread.

[SamuraiAlchemistNinja]

Originally Posted by CrimsonNataku

And there's also imperative, volitional, conditional, provisional, passive, causative, conjectural... the list goes on and on ^_^;

But for those who are starting out, understanding dictionary form, affirmative, past affirmative, negative, and past negative is crucial before you start learning the other tenses and forms.

That's very true...there are so many different conjugations, but potential I thought was unique, because we really don't have that kind of tense in english, do we? Then again, there are many tenses in english that japanese doesn't have...ah, maybe we'll get into that -- a while from now -- ne?

[SamuraiAlchemistNinja]

I want to steer all of you who are SEROIUS about learning Japanese to a very very helpful and useful sight created by a woman named Kim Allen. Here is the site address:

Japanese for the Western Brain

(if that doesn't work try:"http://kimallen.sheepdogdesign.net/Japanese")

I highly recommend this site!! It is very useful, and especially if you're going to visit Jaoan, you should read about her trips which are located near the bottom of the page, after the language stuff. Oh, and read EVERYTHING:
Top-Level Concepts in Japanese Grammar
Numbers
Nouns and Pronouns
Verbs, Part I
Verbs, Part II
"Adjectives"
Particles
If, When, and Other Uncertainties
Sentence Structure
Politeness Levels
Reading and Writing Japanese
Feedback on English
Various Other Observations