Time References
Hello everyone! Today we will be reviewing Time References! In my previous lesson we talked about the particle に.
Today we will be going more in depth about this particle.
When you are talking about doing something “on a day of the week” or “at a certain time” or “during a certain month” this is when you will use に.
For example:
私は水曜日に勉強します。わたしはすいようびにべんきょうします。
I am going to study on Wednesday.
私は二月に行きます。わたしはにがつにいきます
I am going in February.
九時ごろに寝ます。きゅうじごろにねます。
I go to sleep around nine.
There are some restrictions to using に however. One of these restrictions is using に to mark a word relative to the present tense. When I say this, I mean you cannot use it in certain sentences when describing something that will occur “tomorrow”, “today” or yesterday”.
For example:
This sentence is incorrect: 明日に読みます。あしたによみます。
This is the correct sentence: 明日読みます。あしたよみます。I will read tomorrow.
You will also not use に when talking about something that happens on a regular interval.
For example:
This sentence is incorrect: 毎日日本語を勉強します。まいにちにほんごをべんきょうします。
This is the correct sentence: 毎日日本語を勉強します。まいにちにほんごをべんきょうします。I study Japanese everyday.
I know there is a lot to keep up with with grammar but trust me, once you get more experienced with Japanese you will know when something does not sound grammatically correct. Trust me!
There’s also some nuance varying from person to person but generally these are the rules with に.
~ませんか。
Now that we have the somewhat difficult lesson out of the way let’s move on to something simpler! You use ~ませんか when the speaker wants to invite someone to an activity.
You can attach it to any verb by using the present tense negative conjugation with か。Inviting someone using this grammar point cannot be used with the present tense positive conjugation, ますか. ますか is only used as a question. Of course, the answer will be either an affirmative or negative.
For example:
A: 勉強しませんか。べんきょうしませんか。Will you study with me?
B: いいですね。Yes I will.
A: 運動しませんか。うんどうしませんか。Will you exercise with me?
B: いいですよ。Yes I will.
Frequency Adverbs
The final lesson for today is frequency Adverbs! This is the simplest lesson today since we will be learning some vocabulary words. The words we will use today are 毎日, よく, ときどき. These words are used to express how often you do something.
For example:
毎日 – every day
私は毎日日本語を勉強します。わたしはにほんごをべんきょうします。 I study Japanese everyday.
よく – often
私はよく運動します。わたしはうんどうします。I exercise often.
ときどき – sometimes
私はレストランに行きます。わたしはレストランにいきます。I go to restaurants sometimes.
Now we will discuss two words that describe how infrequently you do something. Those words are: ぜんぜん and あまり. If you use these words to describe how infrequently you do something you need to use the negative form of the verb you choose.
For example：
ぜんぜん – never or not at all
私はぜんぜんテニスをしません。わたしはぜんぜんテニスをしません。I never play tennis.
あまり – not often or not very much
私はあまりコンピューターを使いません。わたしはあまりコンピューターをつかいません。I do not use the computer often.
Thanks for sticking with me through those lessons! Please try to make your own sentences below in the comments.
じゃあね！！
