Essential Japanese Vocabulary. Akira Miura
*ここはあまり静かです。
It’s too quiet here.
To express the ideas of the English translations of sentences (7) through (9) above, use -sugiru すぎる.
EXAMPLES:
(10) Anata wa nomi-sugimasu.
あなたは飲みすぎます。
You drink too much.
(11) Kaminoke ga naga-sugiru.
髪の毛が長すぎる。
Your hair is too long.
(12) Koko wa shizuka-sugimasu.
ここは静かすぎる。
It’s too quiet here.
Amari あまり may be used in combination with -sugiru すぎる words also, without changing the meaning.
EXAMPLES:
(13) Anata wa amari nomi-sugimasu.
あなたはあまり飲みすぎます。
You drink too much. (same as 10 above)
(14) Kaminoke ga amari naga-sugiru.
髪の毛があまり長すぎる。
Your hair is too long. (same as 11)
(15) Koko wa amari shizuka-sugimasu.
ここはあまり静かすぎます。
It’s too quiet here. (same as 12)
Anmari あんまり is a more colloquial version of amari あまり. There is no difference in meaning between the two.
A
Anata あなた “you (singular)” has a very limited use. In fact, long conversations between two people may be carried on without anata being used even once. In contexts where it is clear that the speaker is talking about the hearer, no verbal reference to the latter is usually made.
EXAMPLE:
(1) Ogenki desu ka.
お元気ですか。
Are you well?
Even when reference to the hearer is verbalized, anata あなた is usually avoided. The speaker is much more likely to use the hearer’s name with -san attached.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Tanaka-san wa mō ano eiga o mimashita ka. (speaking to Tanaka)
田中さんはもうあの映画を見ましたか。
Have you (lit., Mr./Mrs./Miss Tanaka) seen that movie yet?
If the speaker is lower in status than the hearer, he uses the latter’s title as a term of address.
EXAMPLES:
(3) Sensei wa kōhī to kōcha to dochira ga osuki desu ka. (speaking to one’s teacher)
先生はコーヒーとどちらがお好きですか。
Which do you (lit., teacher) like better, coffee or tea?
(4) Kachō wa ashita gorufu o nasaimasu ka. (speaking to one’s section chief)
課長はあしたゴルフをなさいますか。
Are you (lit., section chief) playing golf tomorrow?
Anata あんた is perhaps used more often by women than by men. Women say anata あ なた, for example, to their husbands or close friends.
EXAMPLE:
(5) Anata dō suru.
あなたどうする。
What are you going to do?
Anata あなた has a more informal and less polite variant, anta あんた. It is wise to avoid using this altogether since it is difficult, especially for nonnative speakers, to determine when it can be safely used. (See also KIMI. For a detailed discussion of Japanese terms of address, see Suzuki, ch. 5 “Words for Self and Others.”)
Ane 姉 older sister
Ane 姉 is a generic term for older sisters. It is used by adults, especially in writing, to refer to older sisters in general.
EXAMPLE:
(1) Nihon de wa ane wa imōto yori meue da.
日本では姉は妹より目上だ。
In Japan, older sisters are of higher status than younger sisters.
This use of ane 姉, however, is generally restricted to written Japanese. In conversational Japanese, onē-san お姉さん is the norm.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Nihon de wa onē-san wa imōto yori meue da.
日本ではお姉さんは妹より目上だ。
(same meaning as 1 above)
When talking to an outsider, an adult refers to his own older sister as ane 姉.
EXAMPLE:
(3) Kinō ane ga kekkon-shimashita.
きのう姉が結婚しました。
My older sister got married yesterday.
An adult talking to an outsider about the latter’s older sister or someone else’s uses onē-san お姉さん.
EXAMPLES:
(4) Kinō onē-san ga kekkon-nasatta sō desu nē.
きのうお姉さんが結婚なさったそうですねえ。
I hear your older sister got married yesterday.
(5) Yoshida-san no onē-san wa eigo no sensei desu.
吉田さんのお姉さんは英語の先生です。
Mr. Yoshida’s older sister is an English teacher.
An adult also uses onē-san お姉さん in addressing his own older sister or in talking to his family about his older sister.
EXAMPLES:
(6) Onē-san, chotto matte.
お姉さん、ちょっと。
lit., Big sister, wait a minute.
(7) Onē-san doko. (speaking to one’s family) お姉さんどこ。
lit., Where’s big sister?
(In corresponding situations in English, one would of course use the sister’s given name.)
The use of ane 姉 is restricted to adult speakers. Children say onē-san お姉さん in referring not only to older sisters in general or someone else’s older sister, but to their own as well, whether they are talking to an outsider or a member of their own family.
Onē-san お姉さん has variants such as nē-san 姉さん, onē-chan お姉ちゃん, and nē-chan 姉ちゃん (the last two being used mainly by children). Ane 姉 also has a variant (though perhaps not a very common one), aneki 姉貴, which is used by young men in informal conversations, primarily with outsiders.
Since ane 姉 sounds very similar to ani 兄 “older brother,” the two words must be pronounced carefully and distinctly to avoid confusion.