Essential Japanese Vocabulary. Akira Miura
and colloquial than odoroku.
In English, a number of verbs relating to one’s emotions are used in the passive, as in “I was surprised/amazed/astonished/touched/moved/pleased/overjoyed.” The Japanese counterparts, however, all occur in the active, as in
EXAMPLES:
(1a) Bikkuri-shita/Odoroita.
びっくりした/驚いた。
I was surprised/amazed/astonished.
(1a) Kandō-shita.
感動した。
I was touched/moved.
Although these Japanese verbs may be used in the causative-passive, as in “Bikkurisaserareta/Odorokasareta/Kan-dō-saserareta びっくりさせられた/おどろかされた/感動させ られた, etc.,” they are wordier that way, sound more translation-like, and occur much less frequently.
Bi
Whereas English poor has several meanings, binbō 貧乏 has only one. It is the opposite of kanemochi 金持ち “wealthy” and is a na-adjective
EXAMPLE:
(1) Kuni no keizai ga akka-suru to, binbō na hito ga fueru.
国の経済が悪化すると、貧乏な人が増える。
When the national economy deteriorates, the number of poor (people) increases.
Unlike “poor,” binbō 貧乏 cannot be used figuratively to describe things such as talent, ability, and knowledge. For that, one must use another word, e.g., mazushii 貧しい “poor” or toboshii 乏しい “lacking.”
EXAMPLE:
(2) mazushii (or toboshii) sainō
貧しい（乏しい）才能
poor talent
Whereas “poor” is often used to express compassion, binbō 貧乏 must be replaced by another word such as kawaisō かわいそう.
EXAMPLE:
(3) Tanaka-san jidōshajiko de kega-shita n datte, kawaisō ni.
田中さん自動車事故で怪我したんだって、かわいそうに。
Mr. Tanaka got hurt in a car accident, poor man.
Unlike kanemochi 金持ち, which can mean both “wealthy” and “wealthy person,” binbō 貧乏 can mean only “poor” and not “poor person.” For the latter, one must say binbōnin 貧乏人.
EXAMPLE:
(4) Binbōnin (not *binbō 貧乏) wa kanemochi yori kokoro ga kiyoi ka mo shirenai.
貧乏人は金持ちより心が清いかもしれない。
The poor might be more pure-hearted than the rich.
Bo
Boku 僕 meaning “I” is used only by males, and most often by boys and young men. Although young boys use boku on all occasions, adult men use it, or are supposed to use it, only on informal occasions. (On formal occasions, they normally switch to watashi 私 or watakushi 私.)
The strangest use of boku 僕 occurs when, in some families, family members of a little boy who calls himself boku start calling him boku as well. This occurs, however, only when the little boy is the only, or the youngest, son in the family. Boku in this case is used, as it were, like the boy’s given name. (In fact, the diminutive suffix -chan ちゃん, which is normally attached to a child’s name, as in Yoshiko-chan よし子ちゃん, is sometimes added to boku 僕, forming boku-chan 僕ちゃん.)
EXAMPLE:
Boku[-chan], hayaku irasshai.
僕［ちゃん］、早くいらっしゃい。
lit., Me, come here quickly.
This “fictive” use of boku 僕 is explained by Suzuki (p. 124) thus: “When she [i.e., a mother calling her son boku ] speaks in this way, she is thinking of the boy as he would be called viewed from the position of the youngest member of the family, in this case the boy himself. The boy would naturally call himself boku. Therefore, by identifying with him, adults in the family can call him boku as well.”
Bukka 物価 prices
Bukka 物価 means “general commodity prices.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Konogoro wa bukka ga takakute komarinasu nē.
このごろは物価が高くて困りますねえ。
Isn’t it terrible that prices are so high these days!
Bukka 物価 does not refer to the price of a specific object. For that, one has to use nedan 値段 “price” instead. In example (2), therefore, nedan must be used.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Gasorin no nedan (not *bukka 物価) ga mata agatta.
ガソリンの値段がまた上がった。
The price of gasoline has gone up again.
Byōki 病気 sick, sickness
Byōki 病気 can be translated into English as either “sick” or “sickness,” or “ill,” “illness,” or “disease,” depending on the context.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Tanaka-san wa byōki desu.
田中さんは病気です。
Mr. Tanaka is sick.
(2) Gan wa iya na byōki da.
がんはいやな病気だ。
Cancer is a nasty disease.
Unlike “sick,” however, byōki 病気 cannot refer to a temporary state of being nauseous. To express that state, other expressions must be used.
EXAMPLES:
(3) Kuruma ni yotte-shimatta.
車に酔ってしまった。
I became carsick.
(4) Chi o mite kimochi (or mune) ga waruku-natta.
血を見て気持ち（胸）が悪くなった。
I became sick at the sight of blood.
Unlike “sick,” byōki 病気 does not refer to boredom or disgust. To express the idea of “I’m sick of parties,” for example, one would have to say something like (5) or (6).
EXAMPLES:
(5) Pātī ga iya ni natta.
パーティーがいやになった。
Lit., Parties have started boring me.
(6) Pātī wa mō takusan da.
パーティーはもうたくさんだ。
Lit., I can’t take any more parties.
Whereas genki 元気 “healthy, well, vigorous,” the opposite of byōki 病気, is a na-noun, byōki is a genuine noun and therefore requires no の instead of na な when used in prenoun position. Note the difference between (7) and (8).
EXAMPLES: