Essential Japanese Vocabulary. Akira Miura
speaking, dekiru できる has two meanings: (a) “to come about, to be born, to be produced, to be built, to be completed,” as in sentences (1) and (2) below, and (b) “to be possible, to be able to, can do,” as in (3) and (4).
EXAMPLES:
(1) Sūpu ga dekita.
スープができた。
The soup is ready. (lit., The soup has come about.)
(2) Asoko ni atarashii depāto ga dekita.
あそこに新しいデパートができた。
A new department store has been built over there. (lit., A new department store has come about over there.)
(3) Watanabe-san wa eigo ga yoku dekiru.
渡辺さんは英語が良く出来る。
Mr. Watanabe is very good in English. (lit., Mr. Watanabe can do English well.)
(4) Ano hito wa gorufu ga dekiru.
あの人はゴルフが出来る。
He knows how to play golf. (lit., He can do golf.)
At first glance, these two meanings do not seem to have much in common; but, on second thought, they are related, for if you know how to do something, it does “come about” for you.
Since the original meaning of dekiru 出来る is “to come about” (Morita, p. 309), the subject marker ga が rather than the object marker o を is used with it even when it means “can do.”
EXAMPLE:
(5) Watanabe-san wa eigo ga (not *o を) dekiru.
渡辺さんは英語が出来る。
Mr. Watanabe is good in English.
Dekiru 出来る in the sense of “can do” is used much less often in Japanese than “can” is in English. The reason is that in Japanese many verbs have their own potential forms. For example, taberu 食べる “to eat” has the potential form, taberareru 食べられる “can eat,” and yomu 読む “to read” has yomeru 読める “can read.” Although it is also grammatically correct to say taberu koto ga dekiru 食べる事が出来る “one can eat” or yomu koto ga dekiru 読む事が出来る “one can read,” these forms are lengthier and are therefore not used as often. In fact, dekiru 出来る is basically used only as the potential form of suru する “to do.” It cannot even be used in place of the potential forms of other verbs. In English, it is perfectly correct to say, “Yes, I can” in response to “Can you read this?” for example. In Japanese, on the other hand, the answer in (6) below would be incorrect.
EXAMPLE:
(6) A: Kore ga yomemasu ka.
これが読めますか。
Can you read this?
B: Hai, *dekimasu.
*はい、出来ます。
Yes, I can.
Dekimasu 出来ます in this case must be replaced by yomemasu 読めます, the same potential verb meaning “can read” that appears in the question.
De
Demo でも meaning “but” is used at the beginning of a sentence, as in
EXAMPLE:
(1) Shiken wa muzukashikatta desu. Demo ganbatta kara, ii ten o moraimashita.
試験は難しかったです。でもがんばったから、いい点をもらいました。
The exam was difficult, but I tried hard and got a good grade.
Do not, however, connect the two sentences above, as in (2) below. That would create an ungrammatical sentence.
EXAMPLE:
(2) *Shiken wa muzukashikatta demo, ganbatta kara, ii ten o moraimashita.
*試験は難しかったでも、がんばったから、いい点をもらいました。
To make this grammatical, one would have to use either ga が or keredo けれど as in (3).
EXAMPLES:
(3a) Shiken wa muzukashikatta desu ga, ganbatta kara, ii ten o moraimashita.
試験は難しかったですが、がんばったから、いい点をもらいました。
(3b) Shiken wa muzukashikatta (desu) keredo, ganbatta kara, ii ten o moraimashita.
試験は難しかった（です）けれど、がんばったから、いい点をもらいました。
Please note that in (3a) desu です is obligatory, whereas in (3b) desu is optional.
Demo でも meaning “even, even though” may not follow a verb or an adjective, but may follow a noun, as in (4).
EXAMPLE:
(4) Muzukashii shiken demo, ganbareba pasu dekimasu yo.
難しい試験でも、がんばればパスできますよ。
Even though the exam might be difficult, you can pass if you try hard.
Denwa 電話 telephone
Denwa 電話 is a noun meaning “telephone.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Kono hen ni denwa wa arimasen ka.
この辺に電話はありませんか。
Is there a telephone around here?
One difference between denwa and “telephone” is that denwa 電話 is often used to mean “telephone call” whereas “telephone” is not.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Kinō Tanaka-san kara denwa ga arimashita.
きのう田中さんから電話がありました。
There was a telephone call (lit., There was a telephone) from Mr. Tanaka yesterday.
In English, “telephone” is also used as a verb; in Japanese, on the other hand, suru する has to be added to change denwa 電話 into a verb, that is, denwa-suru 電話する “to telephone [someone].”
EXAMPLE:
(3) Yoshida-san ni denwa-shite kudasai.
吉田さんに電話してください。
Please call Mr. Yoshida.
De
Denwa o kakeru 電話をかける “to make a phone call” and denwa o ireru 電話を入れる, a fairly new coinage meaning “to give [someone] a call,” may be used in place of denwasuru 電話する, as in
EXAMPLE:
(1) Yoshida-san ni denwa o kakete (or irete) kudasai.
吉田さんに電話をかけて（入れて）ください。
Please give Mr. Yoshida a call.
When