Confusion Confounded...
Some 8 or so years ago.. the same thing which i studied today still confuses me somewhat. BUT, it's getting better~
I'm talking about a certain set of Japanese grammar. And really, if there's anything difficult about Japanese grammar, then i think maybe this set of rules ranks as one of the tougher ones up there.
I dunno why but the Japanese have many ways to say, 'give' or 'give me' or 'receive from' and there are many ways to bring forth the same meaning but yet write it in a totally different way with different implications.
For example, consider the following sentences:
"I give a book to my teacher."
"I give a book to my younger sister."
These sentences only show the differences in the 2nd subjects, which are 'younger sister' and 'teacher'. However, in Japanese, there is more than just dat difference. There is also a difference in status; the teacher being more superior, and the younger sister being a social equivalent. Thus, the Japanese sentences for these two will be different. The likes of which will be discussed below.
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First, let's talk about the use of 'agemasu' (上げます).
Meaning: Agemasu means 'to give'. I.e to give something to somebody.
Social Status: The 1st subject of the sentence is always the social inferior, i.e the giver, while the 2nd subject or recipient of the action is always the social superior.
Therefore, the sentence "I give a book to my teacher.", should be translated as "Watashi wa Sensei ni hon o agemasu." (私は先生に本を上げます。)
There is however an even more honorific word of the same equivalent meaning as 'agemasu' which is 'sashiagemasu' (さし上げます). This is used when the giver (inferior) wishes to give even more honour to the recipient (superior).
------
Next is the usage for the other social status involved. The word in discussion is 'yarimasu' (遣ります).
Meaning: exactly the same meaning as 'agemasu'; which is 'to give'. I.e to give something to someone.
Social Status: This is different from 'agemasu' because the 1st subject or the giver, is now the social superior! The recipient or 2nd subject is the social inferior.
Therefore, the sentence "I give a book to my younger sister.", should be translated as "Watashi wa imouto ni hon o yarimasu." (私は妹に本を遣ります。)
Ok so now dat does it for the term 'I Give'.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, but maybe you're saying, alright, so far it's 'I' who has been doing the giving. So what if someone else gives me instead?
Yes, there are two terms that are used for the meaning '(someone) give me'.
But first let's use 2 sentences for examples:
1. My teacher gives me a book. (Sensei wa watashi ni hon o kudasaimasu).
(先生は私に本を下さいます。)
2. My younger sister gives me a book. (Imouto wa watashi ni hon o kuremasu).
(妹は私に本を呉れます。)
Again, the difference is obvious. And more so the Japanese sentences.
Let's analyse sentence 1.
The word in discussion here is the word 'kudasaimasu' (下さいます).
Meaning: 'Kudasaimasu' means '(someone) give me (something)'
Status: The social superior is the 1st subject or giver, while the social inferior is the 2nd subject or recipient.
In this case, the 1st subject is the teacher, aka the social superior, while the 2nd subject is 'I' the social inferior. Therefore, it means my teacher (the superior) gives me (the inferior) a book.
Let's hop over to sentence 2. The word used now will be 'kuremasu' (呉れます).
Meaning: 'Kuremasu' means '(someone) give me (something)'
Status: Now, the social inferior becomes the 1st subject or giver, while the social superior is the 2nd subject or recipient of the action.
Therefore, in sentence 2, my younger sister aka the inferior, is the first subject because she is the applicator of the act of giving, while 'I' the social superior becomes the recipient of that action, and thus become the 2nd subject.
Simple? Dat basically sums it up for the term 'Give Me'.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great! So now we've come thus far, and we understand the meanings of 'to give' and 'give me or to be given'. It's just a matter of who is the subject and who is the recipient, and who is of lower or higher social status!
Yeah, i know, those variables are enough to confuse the heck out of anybody.. I know, it confounded me for a long time too! But hopefully, dat better explains things.
BUT, dat's not the end!!! YES! Since we've learnt how to use the terms 'I Give' and 'Give Me', then wat if i RECEIVE SOMETHING FROM SOMEONE? How do i yet say dat?
*PULLS HAIR* Yeah, now this comes the tricky tricky bit, and if you did not understand the previous 4 words, then don't read the following :D
------------------------------
NOW NOW NOW... let's talk about the words used for the meaning 'to receive (something from someone)'.
Again, there are 2 counterparts used. Firstly, 'itadakimasu' (頂きます). Secondly, 'moraimasu' (貰います).
But before i explain further, let's use once again, 2 sentences to illustrate the point:
1. I receive a book from my teacher. (Watashi wa sensei ni hon o itadakimasu)
(私は先生に本を頂きます)
2. I receive a book frommy younger sister. (Watashi wa imouto ni hon o moraimasu)
(私は妹に本を貰います)
In both sentences, now, the 1st person subject 'I' becomes both the main subject and recipient of the action while the agent of the action is the 2nd subject or source of the reception!
Dat means, in sentence 1, I (subject and recipient) receive a book (object) FROM my teacher (the agent/source of the action). Since 'I' over here is the social inferior while my teacher is the social superior, thus the word itadakimasu is used here to express my honour to my teacher.
I.e, you can also say dat 'itadakimasu' is used by the 'inferior subject/recipient' to honour the 'superior agent/source of action'.
Likewise in sentence 2, I (subject and recipient) receive a book (object) FROM my younger sister (the agent/source of the action). But right now, since 'I' over here is the social superior while my younger sister is the social inferior, thus the word moraimasu is used here. Moraimasu is used when you receive something from someone who is of lower or equal status than you are.
I.e you can say dat 'moraimasu' is used by the 'superior recipient/subject' to denote status over the 'inferior agent/source of action'.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, in summary, we can see that by observing the ending verb, whether it's kuremasu, kudasaimasu, yarimasu, agemasu, moraimasu or itadakimasu, we can tell alot about the subjects involved; who or wat the main subject is; who is the social superior/inferior etc~
Anyway, this is just PART ONE. I'll blog some other day about part two and we'll continue to expound on these new words. The next level will be using these words in connection with other verbs using the 'te-form'. For example, 'mise(te moraimasu)' (見せて貰います）.
It expresses a different meaning altogether but yet the inherent meaning behind the auxiliary word (moraimasu) is expressed in the given sentence.
So, yeah there's my 2 cents worth of grammar dissection :) Hopefully, if you're learning some Japanese, you'd find these worth more than 2 cents :) Ganbatte!
I'm talking about a certain set of Japanese grammar. And really, if there's anything difficult about Japanese grammar, then i think maybe this set of rules ranks as one of the tougher ones up there.
I dunno why but the Japanese have many ways to say, 'give' or 'give me' or 'receive from' and there are many ways to bring forth the same meaning but yet write it in a totally different way with different implications.
For example, consider the following sentences:
"I give a book to my teacher."
"I give a book to my younger sister."
These sentences only show the differences in the 2nd subjects, which are 'younger sister' and 'teacher'. However, in Japanese, there is more than just dat difference. There is also a difference in status; the teacher being more superior, and the younger sister being a social equivalent. Thus, the Japanese sentences for these two will be different. The likes of which will be discussed below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
First, let's talk about the use of 'agemasu' (上げます).
Meaning: Agemasu means 'to give'. I.e to give something to somebody.
Social Status: The 1st subject of the sentence is always the social inferior, i.e the giver, while the 2nd subject or recipient of the action is always the social superior.
Therefore, the sentence "I give a book to my teacher.", should be translated as "Watashi wa Sensei ni hon o agemasu." (私は先生に本を上げます。)
There is however an even more honorific word of the same equivalent meaning as 'agemasu' which is 'sashiagemasu' (さし上げます). This is used when the giver (inferior) wishes to give even more honour to the recipient (superior).
------
Next is the usage for the other social status involved. The word in discussion is 'yarimasu' (遣ります).
Meaning: exactly the same meaning as 'agemasu'; which is 'to give'. I.e to give something to someone.
Social Status: This is different from 'agemasu' because the 1st subject or the giver, is now the social superior! The recipient or 2nd subject is the social inferior.
Therefore, the sentence "I give a book to my younger sister.", should be translated as "Watashi wa imouto ni hon o yarimasu." (私は妹に本を遣ります。)
Ok so now dat does it for the term 'I Give'.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, but maybe you're saying, alright, so far it's 'I' who has been doing the giving. So what if someone else gives me instead?
Yes, there are two terms that are used for the meaning '(someone) give me'.
But first let's use 2 sentences for examples:
1. My teacher gives me a book. (Sensei wa watashi ni hon o kudasaimasu).
(先生は私に本を下さいます。)
2. My younger sister gives me a book. (Imouto wa watashi ni hon o kuremasu).
(妹は私に本を呉れます。)
Again, the difference is obvious. And more so the Japanese sentences.
Let's analyse sentence 1.
The word in discussion here is the word 'kudasaimasu' (下さいます).
Meaning: 'Kudasaimasu' means '(someone) give me (something)'
Status: The social superior is the 1st subject or giver, while the social inferior is the 2nd subject or recipient.
In this case, the 1st subject is the teacher, aka the social superior, while the 2nd subject is 'I' the social inferior. Therefore, it means my teacher (the superior) gives me (the inferior) a book.
Let's hop over to sentence 2. The word used now will be 'kuremasu' (呉れます).
Meaning: 'Kuremasu' means '(someone) give me (something)'
Status: Now, the social inferior becomes the 1st subject or giver, while the social superior is the 2nd subject or recipient of the action.
Therefore, in sentence 2, my younger sister aka the inferior, is the first subject because she is the applicator of the act of giving, while 'I' the social superior becomes the recipient of that action, and thus become the 2nd subject.
Simple? Dat basically sums it up for the term 'Give Me'.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great! So now we've come thus far, and we understand the meanings of 'to give' and 'give me or to be given'. It's just a matter of who is the subject and who is the recipient, and who is of lower or higher social status!
Yeah, i know, those variables are enough to confuse the heck out of anybody.. I know, it confounded me for a long time too! But hopefully, dat better explains things.
BUT, dat's not the end!!! YES! Since we've learnt how to use the terms 'I Give' and 'Give Me', then wat if i RECEIVE SOMETHING FROM SOMEONE? How do i yet say dat?
*PULLS HAIR* Yeah, now this comes the tricky tricky bit, and if you did not understand the previous 4 words, then don't read the following :D
------------------------------
NOW NOW NOW... let's talk about the words used for the meaning 'to receive (something from someone)'.
Again, there are 2 counterparts used. Firstly, 'itadakimasu' (頂きます). Secondly, 'moraimasu' (貰います).
But before i explain further, let's use once again, 2 sentences to illustrate the point:
1. I receive a book from my teacher. (Watashi wa sensei ni hon o itadakimasu)
(私は先生に本を頂きます)
2. I receive a book frommy younger sister. (Watashi wa imouto ni hon o moraimasu)
(私は妹に本を貰います)
In both sentences, now, the 1st person subject 'I' becomes both the main subject and recipient of the action while the agent of the action is the 2nd subject or source of the reception!
Dat means, in sentence 1, I (subject and recipient) receive a book (object) FROM my teacher (the agent/source of the action). Since 'I' over here is the social inferior while my teacher is the social superior, thus the word itadakimasu is used here to express my honour to my teacher.
I.e, you can also say dat 'itadakimasu' is used by the 'inferior subject/recipient' to honour the 'superior agent/source of action'.
Likewise in sentence 2, I (subject and recipient) receive a book (object) FROM my younger sister (the agent/source of the action). But right now, since 'I' over here is the social superior while my younger sister is the social inferior, thus the word moraimasu is used here. Moraimasu is used when you receive something from someone who is of lower or equal status than you are.
I.e you can say dat 'moraimasu' is used by the 'superior recipient/subject' to denote status over the 'inferior agent/source of action'.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, in summary, we can see that by observing the ending verb, whether it's kuremasu, kudasaimasu, yarimasu, agemasu, moraimasu or itadakimasu, we can tell alot about the subjects involved; who or wat the main subject is; who is the social superior/inferior etc~
Anyway, this is just PART ONE. I'll blog some other day about part two and we'll continue to expound on these new words. The next level will be using these words in connection with other verbs using the 'te-form'. For example, 'mise(te moraimasu)' (見せて貰います）.
It expresses a different meaning altogether but yet the inherent meaning behind the auxiliary word (moraimasu) is expressed in the given sentence.
So, yeah there's my 2 cents worth of grammar dissection :) Hopefully, if you're learning some Japanese, you'd find these worth more than 2 cents :) Ganbatte!
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