see, watch -- mimasu listen -- kikimasu read -- yomimasu do -- shimasu learn (with an instructor) -- naratte imasu NOTE: to study by yourself=benkyou teach -- oshiete imasu have -- arimasu (arimasu takes ga instead of o as an object marker) eat -- tabemasu drink -- nomimasu (I) watch TV. -- Terebi o mimasu. (o=object marker) (I) read books every day. -- Mainichi hon o yomimasu. (o=object marker) (I) learn Japanese (with an instructor). -- Nihon-go o naratte imasu. (I) teach English. -- Eigo o oshiete imasu. (I) play tennis on Saturdays. -- Do-youbi ni tenisu o shimasu. what? -- nani something -- nanika *What do you do on Sundays? I play golf. -- Nichi-youbi ni nani o shimasu ka. Gorufu o shimasu. Do you do (lit. have) anything on Wednesdays? Yes, I have a Japanese lesson. -- Sui-youbi ni nanika arimasu ka. Ee, Nihon-go no ressun ga arimasu. (arimasu takes object marker ga) *Do you do anything on Sundays? -- Nichi-youbi ni nanika shimasu ka. almost always -- itsumo (with positive or negative form of verb) usually -- taitei (with positive or negative form of verb) often -- yoku (with positive or negative form of verb) sometimes -- tokidoki (with positive or negative form of verb) occasionally -- tamani (with positive or negative form of verb) not so often -- amari (with negative form of verb) seldom -- mettani (with negative form of verb) not at all -- zenzen (with negative form of verb) *What do you usually (lit. almost always) do in the evening. -- Yoru ni (or:ban ni) itsumo nani o shimasu ka. (NOTE: use "itsumo" when you ask about somebody's routine, use taitei in response) *I usually watch TV in the evening? -- Yoru ni (or: ban ni) taitei terebi o mimasu. How often? -- dono gurai What do you usually (lit. almost always) do over the weekend? I often play tennis (lit. go to). -- Shuumatsu ni itsumo nani o shimasu ka. Yoku tenisu ni ikimasu. *What do you usually (lit. almost always) do in your spare time? I usually read books. -- Hima na toki ni itsumo (or: futsuu) nani o shimasu ka. Taitei hon o yomimasu. *Do you watch TV? -- Terebi o mimasu ka. *My father reads Japanese novels in his spare time. -- Hima na toki ni chichi wa Nihon(-go) no shousetsu o yomimasu. NOTE: hima na toki (=spare time) takes the marker ni. "Nihon no shousetsu" or "Nihon-go no shousetsu" -- both are correct, depends what you want to emphasize Do you often go to (lit. see) the movies? No, I don't go very often. -- Yoku eiga o mimasu ka. Iie, amari mimasen. once -- ik-kai twice -- ni-kai three times -- san-kai four times -- yon-kai five times -- go-kai six times -- rok-kai seven times -- nana-kai eight times -- hak-kai nine times -- kyuu-kai ten times -- juuk-kai once or twice -- ichi-ni-kai two or three times -- ni-san-kai three or four times -- san-yon-kai four or five times -- shi-go-kai How many times? -- nan-kai once a day -- ichi-nichi ni ik-kai twice a week -- is-shuukan ni ni-kai two or three times a year -- ichi-nen ni ni-san-kai once in two days -- futsu-ka ni ik-kai six times in eight weeks -- has-shuukan ni rok-kai 5 days a week -- is-shuukan ni itsu-ka how many hours a day -- ichi-nichi ni nan-jikan *I have Japanese lessons twice a week. -- Is-shuukan ni ni-kai Nihon-go no ressun ga arimasu. (NOTE: use ga arimasu when you talk about lessons, compare: Is-shuukan ni ni-kai Nihon-go naratte imasu.) *How often do you go (lit. see) to the movies? I go (lit. see) about once a month. -- Dono gurai eiga o mimasu ka. Ik-kagetsu ni ik-kai gurai mimasu. (NOTE: gurai indicates approx. extent, it follows a noun which indicates quantity, whereas goro "around" follows specific time) How often? -- dono gurai NOTE: with "dono gurai" you can ask not only frequency but also "how much/far/long" etc. About how many times? -- nan-kai gurai about three times -- san-kai gurai *About how many times a week do you go there? Three or four times a week. -- Is-shuukan ni nan-kai gurai (or: "dono gurai" instead of "nan-kai gurai") ikimasu ka. Is-shuukan ni san-yon-kai desu. *John goes fishing about five or six times a year. -- Jon-san wa ichi-nen ni go-rok-kai gurai tsuri ni ikimasu. *I read Japanese magazines once a week. -- Is-shuukan ni ik-kai Nihon no zasshi o yomimasu. *I read newspapers every weekend. -- Shuumatsu ni shinbun o yomimasu. NOTE: shuumatsu takes ni/shuumatsu ni enough for "every weekend" *I'm taking a Japanese class once a week. -- Is-shuukan ni ik-kai Nihon-go no kurasu ga arimasu (or: e/ni ikimasu). NOTE: naratte imasu should not be used here because the class is mentioned *My mother does the laundry once a week. -- Is-shuukan ni ik-kai haha wa (or: ga) sentaku o shimasu. *My son did not study at all last weekend. -- Senshuu no shuumatsu ni musuko wa zenzen benkyou o shimasen deshita. *My roomate and I sometimes go to Karaoke on Saturday nights. -- Do-youbi no ban (or: yoru) ni rumomete to watashi wa tokidoki Karaoke ni (=purpose) ikimasu. *My younger sister listens to Japanese tapes every day. -- Imouto wa mainichi Nihon-go no teepu o kikimasu. I don't read anything. -- Nani mo yomimasen. (nani+mo=anything) *What did you read yesterday? -- Kino nani o yomimashita ka. I didn't do anything on the weekend. -- Shuumatsu ni nani mo shimasen deshita. *I didn't do anything in particular yesterday. -- Kino tokuni nani mo shimasen deshita. Nobody reads that book. -- Sono hon wa dare mo yomimasen. (dare+mo=nobody) *What kind of books do you read? I read novels. -- Donna hon o yomimasu ka. Shousetsu o yomimasu. What kind? -- donna+noun What kind of things do you do on Sundays? -- Nichi-youbi ni donna koto o shimasu ka. abstract thing -- koto tangible thing -- mono What kind of thing(s)? -- donna mono *That person does not eat sushi. -- Sono (or:ano) hito wa sushi o tabemasen. video -- bideo television -- terebi program (television or radio) -- bangumi What kind of program? -- donna bangumi What kind of program (television) do you watch? -- Donna bangumi o mimasu ka. weather forcast -- tenki-yohou news -- nyuusu music -- ongaku jazz -- jazu classical music -- kurasikku Japanese music -- Nihon no ongaku tape -- teepu radio -- rajio book -- hon essay -- essei novel -- shousetsu magazine -- zasshi Japanese magazine -- Nihon no zasshi newspaper -- shinbun Japanese (language) newspaper -- Nihon-go no shinbun English newspaper -- Eigo no shinbun movie -- eiga Japanese movies -- Nihon no eiga American movies -- Amerika no eiga French movies -- Furansu no eiga comedies -- komedii date -- deeto What kind of magazine? -- donna zasshi What kind of newspaper? -- donna shinbun What newspapers? -- Nani shinbun. I sometimes read books on the train. -- Densha (no naka) de tokidoki hon o yomimasu. *I often listen to my cd's at home at night. -- Yoru ni uchi de yoku shiidii o kikimasu. I listen to music at home. -- Uchi de ongaku o kikimasu. (to indicate the place of action use the marker de) I see movies in Shibuya. -- Shibuya de eiga o mimasu. (to indicate the place of action use marker de) I have a lesson in Ginza. -- Ginza de ressun ga arimasu. (to indicate the place of action use marker de) *I have in English lesson in Shibuya. -- Shibuya de eigo no resson ga arimasu. like -- suki desu NOTE: with "suki desu" you express your general taste, to express that you like something for specific cases use "ii desu" (suki translates as a verb in English, but in Japanese grammar it is a adjectival noun) dislike -- kirai desu NOTE: kirai is also an adjectival noun, kirai is too strong for Japanese people, use AMARI SUKI JA ARIMASEN *I like coffee (in general). -- Watashi wa koohii ga suki desu. NOTE: person wa+item/thing ga+suki desu *I would like to have coffee. -- Koohii o onegai shimasu. *My wife likes country western music. -- Kanai wa kantorii ga suki desu. (I) don't like jazz very much. -- Jazu ga amari suki ja arimasen. NOTE: person wa+item/thing ga+amari suki ja arimasen *What kind of sports do you like? -- Donna supootsu ga suki desu ka. *What kind of person do you dislike? -- Donna hito ga amari suki ja arimasen ka. *I'm still poor at Japanese. That's not true. -- Watashi wa mada Nihon-go ga heta desu. Sonna koto wa arimasen yo. NOTE: person wa+thing ga+heta desu (mada=still can go anywhere) *I'm still poor at tennis. -- (Watashi wa) tenisu ga mada heta desu. *Mr. Smith is good at Japanese. -- Sumisu-san wa Nihon-go ga jouzu desu. NOTE: person wa+thing ga+jouzu desu Mr. Takahashi is good at English. -- Takahashi-san wa eigo ga jouzu desu. Mr. Smith, you are good at Japanese. No, I'm still poor at it. -- Sumisu-san, Nihon-go ga jouzu desu ne. Iie, mada heta desu. NOTE: jouzu desu ne is often used for a compliment NOTE: if s.b. says you are good at s.th., you don't answer "yes, I'am good" (modesty in Japanese) be poor at -- heta desu (heta=adj. noun) be good at -- jouzu desu (jouzu=adj. noun) *I love Italian food but I don't like German food very much. -- Watashi wa Itaria-ryouri ga totemo suki desu kedo Doitsu-ryouri ga amari suki ja arimasen. * Japanese people eat Nori and Natto in the morning, don't they? -- Nihon-jin wa asa ni nori to natto o tabemasu ne. * I usually go home right after work, but on Tuesdays I have dance lessons. -- Taitei shigoto no ato sugu kaerimasu ga ka-youbi ni dansu no ressun ga arimasu. immediately -- sugu after; after work -- ato; shigoto no ato war -- sensou peace -- heiwa such a fact -- sonna koto