The Self_teacher of Japan language. Lesson 5.

Space (a sequel to the previous lesson).

Lesson 5

Translated from Russian by Svetlana Kyyashko

The Japanese language always carefully considers location of the object spoken of or of the speaker himself.
Remember: accent is marked by capital letters..

"koKO"
(here) "HERE" A place where the speaker is located.

"soKO"
(there) THERE. A place where the collocutor is located.

"aSOKO"
(over there) OVER THERE. A place which is equidistant from the speaker and his collocutor.

"DOko"
(where?) WHERE? In what place?

anata no kuruma wa doko des ka.
watashi no kuruma wa asoko des.

Where is your car?
My car is over there.

Yamada sensei wa koko des ka.
hai. koko des.

Is teacher Yamada here?
Yes, (he is) here.

koko wa doko des ka.
koko wa eki des.

Where are we?
This is a station.

NOTE:

Sore va doko des ka.
Where is it?
Sore va Mosukuva des.
It is in Moscow.
or
It is Moscow (!!!)

imas & arimas verbs of being (there is,
(it) locates, (it) sites) are widely used instead of DES linking verb.
There is an intonation tumble at last U sound
iMASu
aRIMASu
Last U is practically not pronounced.

sore wa Mosukuwa desu. It is in Moscow / It is Moscow. sore wa Mosukuwa ni arimasu. It is located in Moscow.
IMAS & ARIMAS
verbs demand NI particle
after words determining location.

IMAS verb
is used for
determining
location of
living beings.
anata wa doko ni imas ka.
watakushi wa ie ni imas.
hon wa soko ni arimas ka.
hai. koko ni arimas.

Where will you be?
I will be at home.
Is the book here?
Yes, (it is) here.

ARIMAS verb
is generally
used for
determining
location
of stocks.

To be more precise, it should be noted that while speaking about imas and arimas verbs division of objects into “living beings” and “stocks” is not quite correct. Objects’ ability to move in space is decisive in choosing this or that verb.
Speaking about a tree or a house we shall always use arimas verb as these objects cannot change their location unassisted.

While such objects as, say, a car or a train having the ability of self-movement, demand using imas verb. But one should note that, for example, train condemned to long-term immobile stay in a dead-end, will enforce using arimas verb.

INCORRECT :

sore wa Mosukuwa ni des. (! NI does not match DES !)
sore wa Mosukuwa arimas. (! ARIMAS is used without NI !)
neko wa asoko ni arimas. (! A living being demands IMAS !)
hon wa asoko ni imas. (! A book is not a living object !)

anata no *neko* wa doko *ni imas* ka.	anata no neko wa doko des ka.
Where is your cat?
*neko* wa ie ni imas.	neko wa ie des.
The cat is at home.
anata no kasa wa doko ni arimas ka.	anata no kasa wa doko des ka.
Where is your umbrella?
vatasi no kasa wa ie ni arimas.	vatasi no kasa wa ie des.
My umbrella was left at home.

Exercise 1

Read the sentences and translate them into English.

Anata no sensei wa doko ni imas ka.
Ie ni imas.
Tanaka san no kuruma wa koko ni arimas ka.
Hai. Tanaka san no kuruma wa koko ni arimas.
Tanaka san mo koko ni imas.
Tanaka san no hon wa doko des ka?
Asoko des.

Paste
the frame's contents
by cursor for self-test.

Where is your teacher?
At home.
Is Mr. Tanaki’s car here?
Yes, Mr. Tanaki’s car is here.
Mr. Tanaka is here too.
Where are Mr. Tanaki’s books?
Over there.

	"koKO" (here)	"HERE" A place where the speaker is located.
	"soKO" (there)	THERE. A place where the collocutor is located.
	"aSOKO" (over there)	OVER THERE. A place which is equidistant from the speaker and his collocutor.
	"DOko" (where?)	WHERE? In what place?