Essential Japanese Vocabulary. Akira Miura
five siblings.
(4) Yamamoto-san wa kodomo ga san-nin aru sō da.
山本さんは子供が三人あるそうです。
I hear Mr. Yamamoto has three children.
(5) Ii tomodachi ga aru kara ii desu ne.
いい友達があるからいいですね。
Isn’t it good that you have nice friends!
Although to signify the existence of animate beings, iru いる (see IRU) is the verb that is usually used (e.g., Asoko ni inu ga iru あそこに犬がいる “There’s a dog over there”), aru ある is sometimes used, especially (a) if the subject is not a specific person or a specific animal, (b) if where the subject exists is irrelevant, and (c) if the noun signaling the subject is preceded by a relative clause, as in
EXAMPLE:
(6) Yoku benkyō-suru gakusei mo aru shi, asonde bakari iru gakusei mo aru.
よく勉強する学生もあるし、遊んでばかりいる学生もある。
There are students who study hard and there are students who fool around all the time.
There is another important use of aru ある: to refer to happenings or events.
EXAMPLE:
(7) Konban hanabi ga aru sō da.
こんばん花火があるそうだ。
I hear there will be fireworks tonight.
In this case, aru ある does not indicate existence but rather refers to an event. When a location is mentioned, therefore, the particle de で (not ni に) is required.
EXAMPLE:
(8) Konban Ryōgoku de hanabi ga aru sō da.
こんばん両国で花火があるそうだ。
I hear there will be fireworks at Ryogoku tonight.
Compare this with sentence (1), where ni に is used to indicate location.
A
Aruku 歩く means “to walk.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Ano hito wa aruku no ga hayai desu nē.
あの人は歩くのが速いですねえ。
He walks fast, doesn’t he!
When the destination is mentioned, the particle preceding aruku 歩く should be made まで “up to.” When e へ or ni に, both meaning “to,” is used, the verb is changed to aruite iku 歩いて行く (lit., “to go walking”) or aruite kuru 歩いて来る (lit., “to come walking”).
EXAMPLES:
(2) Itsumo gakkō made arukimasu.
いつも学校まで歩きます。
I always walk to school.
(3) Itsumo gakkō e (or ni) aruite-ikimasu.
いつも学校へ（に）歩いていきます。
I always go to school on foot.
When the place along or through which the act of walking takes place is mentioned, aruku 歩く is preceded by the particle o.
EXAMPLE:
(4) Asoko o aruite-iru no wa dare deshō.
あそこを歩いているのは誰でしょう。
I wonder who that person is who is walking over there (lit., along that place).
Other verbs of motion such as iku 行く “to go” and kuru 来る “to come” are also used with o in comparable situations.
When walking takes place up or down a steep incline (e.g., stairs), aruku 歩く has to be either replaced by another verb (such as noboru 登る “to climb up”) or changed to the -te て form and followed by another verb (e.g., aruite noboru 歩いて登る). In the following example (5), therefore, (a) is incorrect while (b) and (c) are correct.
EXAMPLES:
| (5) kaidan o 階段を | (a) *aruku *歩く | |
| (b) noboru 登る | to climb (or walk up) the stairs | |
| (c) aruite noboru 歩いて登る |
Unlike “walk,” aruku 歩く is normally not used in the sense of “to take a stroll.” Sentence (6) is therefore wrong for the meaning intended.
EXAMPLE:
(6) *Kyō wa tenki ga ii kara issho ni arukimashō.
*きょうは天気がいいから一緒に歩きましょう。
Since it’s such a beautiful day today, let’s take a walk together.
Arukimashō 歩きましょう in this case should be replaced by sanposhimashō 散歩ましょ う “let’s take a stroll” (see SANPO).
A
Asa 朝 begins at daybreak and ends at midmorning. This is in contrast with English “morning,” which begins earlier and lasts longer. Eleven A.M. is still morning in English, but in Japanese asa does not normally refer to such late hours. Eleven in the morning is gozen jūichi-ji 午前 11 時 “11 A.M.” rather than *asa no jūichi-ji *朝の 11 時 (lit., “11 in the morning”).
A
In English, breakfast is always breakfast, and there is no other word that can take its place. In Japanese, however, there are at least four words meaning the same thing: asa-gohan 朝 ご飯, asahan 朝飯, asameshi (also written 朝飯), and chōshoku 朝食. Asa-gohan probably is the most common term, asahan is slightly less common, asameshi is used only by men in informal situations, and chōshoku is the most formal of all. All these words come as part of sets representing the three main meals of the day, as follows:
These sets require different verbs meaning “to eat.” To mean “eat breakfast,” for example, one can say asa-gohan/asahan o taberu 朝ご飯/朝飯を食べる, asameshi o kū 朝 飯を食う, or chōshoku o toru 朝食を取る, switching from one verb to another, depending on which noun for “breakfast” is used.
A
In English, “foot” and “leg” are two different words, but in Japanese, ashi 足 might mean either of them or both. Ashi ga itai 足が痛い may therefore mean “My leg hurts,” “My legs hurt,” “My foot hurts,” “My feet hurt,” or some combination