How to Understand Japanese: Your Secret Weapon for breaking down sentences | Lesson 47

[@JeanOfmArc]

Hi Dolly-sensei! Great video as always! I still stumble around when there is a sentence with too many modifiers, but your methods definitely help to "solve the mystery" of the sentence! :) I still sometimes have the whole は vs が battle in my head. In the example you gave, the ugly foreigner was given a visible は particle, and is then understood to be marked by the invisible が . By why not just mark the ugly foreigner with が and forget about the は ? Is it because, prior to the conversation, there was no topic, and so は was used to define it?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

It is difficult to explain は vs が in English because it is a phenomenon that really doesn't exist, so while we can draw analogies in English they really are only analogies. In this sentence you could say that one is beginning it with "You know that ugly foreigner who hit Sakura?" in order to set the topic and tone of the sentence. This is more or less true except for the _very important_ fact that は is _far more agile_ than the corresponding English "you know....?" I discuss the question of agility here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJWwlounrMp1gJI and while it may seem like a linguistic side-issue it really isn't. It is _crucial_ to understanding things like は in sentences like this. The other thing we need to understand is that every sentence really has both a topic _and_ a subject , which may or may not be the same entity. So in choosing "は vs が" (in which case of course they must be the same entity) we are making a relatively subtle (but often important) choice to stress either the topic nature or the subject nature of the entity. I did a two-parter on this very crucial concept that as far as I know is unmentioned anywhere: Pt 1: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ-7eaOhibmZfdU Pt 2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pV7LfGdjpttsj80

[@JeanOfmArc]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 Thank you so much for your detailed reply!! I understand how hard it is to explain the は vs が thing. It's one of those concepts that every time I think I get it, some new example comes along that makes me wonder why it was used. I still appreciate efforts to figure it out, though! I'll watch or re-watch those videos you pointed out to see if I get any closer. Thank you!!

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

@@JeanOfmArc Ultimately explanations only take us so far. Well they can take us nearly all the way but they still don't become "intuitive" except through a lot of exposure. I think the topic vs subject and "new" vs "old" information models are the ones to think in terms of mostly (they come to the same thing really). And we also need to know that "new" = "salient". So for example in this sentence, the ugly foreigner and his dark history are taken to be "old" information to the listener, and the salient information is what we have to say next.

[@japanese2811]

This lady was honestly something else. This concept of teaching the structure of Japanese is truly worlds apart from what you see in grammar books or even classrooms. It is so sad that she is no longer producing content. Thank you Cure Dolly, you made a massive impact to my Japanese learning, and I will always be grateful.

[@DavieMacTunes]

I've been trying to learn Japanese for over 3 years now, and while my vocabulary is pretty reasonable, I've found that even though I can know every word in a sentence or paragraph, I still can't translate it properly much of the time. Having recently found your channel, and working my way through your lessons from the start, I already have much more of a grasp of the structure and grammar. It will take a while to stop trying to think in English language terms, but your level of grammatical detail, and explanation is extremely helpful. I've never found anything that translates directly to English, and I now know why. I shouldn't even be trying to do that. These videos are a definite game changer. Thank you.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I'm so happy to be able to help. It takes time and exposure to start thinking in correct structure. But _getting_ the correct structure is the first step!

[@xxfourtunecookiexx]

I've gotta say, your videos are so well thought out that I almost don't trust any other sources at this point. Truly the most helpful channel I've managed to find, as well as being the main reason i haven't lost confidence yet :'D.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Thank you so much. I am very happy to be helping you so much and if you have problems, please don't hesitate to ask me.

[@eliefin]

Absolutly amazing as always. My Japanese is improving so much only because Cure dolly has answers for my questions. Although I think I had a minor heart-attack when the "witch" at the beginning started to laugh.

[@LordOfEnnui]

This to me was a particularly important video

[@Randhrick]

I need to start analyzing sentence this way when I read, at least, until I become better at reading. I think this is the key for beginners to understand Japanese sentences, identify the engine cars and from there, it will makes more sense than try to tackle the sentence from the start. Thank you Sensei these videos.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Yes, in my video on analysis I suggested that while not actually working backwards, it can be useful to take a look at the engine first to get an idea where it's all leading kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqjGhXxvptuCY7c Obviously this is a temporary strategy because one can't do that when someone is talking, but it can help to orient one while one is still having some difficulty.

[@bosslan543]

thank you so much dolly sensei! your content is really solid! much appreciated

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Thank YOU!

[@hedgelord0]

0:43 Holy shit, Dolly, why? You didn't have to scare me like that.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Sacred waste material? Does not compute.

[@julisonmanawatao301]

Thank you for all the valuable lessons, Dolly-sensei. Are you familiar with the similarities of Japanese and Korean in terms of grammar? I watched videos saying that the word order of both languages are close to each other. I plan on studying Korean after I get into a comfortable level with my Japanese. I think these rules are applicable. Do you think so too, Dolly-sensei? ありがとうございます。😊

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I don't know a lot about Korean, but I understand that it has various close structural similarities to Japanese - for example logical and non-logical particles and similar ways of expressing subjectivity. I don't know if it has a similar stem system. It is hard to be sure without actually studying the language because no one gets these things right when describing Japanese in English so I doubt they would with Korean either. But from what I can tell certainly some key elements are very close and will almost certainly be as misdescribed as Japanese is. So a knowledge of Japanese structure should certainly be of help.

[@ムネタ]

I am really content with all these lessons. As of now, the main problem with understanding Japanese sentences now is the fact that my vocabulary is crippling... Other than that, when I look up the words and make sense of A, B and the particles, I manage to understand them nearly always! There are some rare instances where I see を hanging weirdly at the end of a logical clause, but now that I have watched this video I might be able to understand even more now. By the way, thank you so much for your yomichan recommendation. I got all the dictionaries and have been learning tons of words and expressions from Kaichou wa meido sama! I dropped Shirokuma Cafe because it really wasn't my style. Now I enjoy myself more... and learn like 150 new words per chapter unlike 70 or 80 as how it was in Shirokuma Cafe haha :s I'm content because I have run across a couple of sentences where I happen to know all the words, and breeze through them. I was so surprised because I managed to get them instantly. So thanks again. I just want to finish this one anime, rack up vocabulary and start binge-reading novels and the like, then I will reinforce all the words learnt with listening. Another Cure Dolly video, another wig snatched...

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Vocabulary is really the single biggest part of learning Japanese and it does take quite a while to get to the point where you aren't learning lots of words all the time. Switching anime is a good idea if you aren't that interested in one. It really is best to have something you seriously enjoy.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Oh and hanging をs are essentially implying an end to the sentence that isn't there - we are talking about doing something to the を-marked noun that is considered obvious enough to be left off. To take a very simple example, 楽しい一日を = 楽しい一日を過ごしてください。

[@ムネタ]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 not only did you reply hastily, you also solved my doubt!!! Yes, it makes sense now! Thank you

[@kenedy6925]

ほんとにありがとう人形先生。人形先生のビデオで前に難しい分かった日本語は簡単になれています！！ i modified 日本語 correctly?

[@ozielspace673]

thank you so much, I finally could write a setence on my own

[@Giraffinator]

このチャネルは大好きだ

[@alfonzoboral60]

Please make full lesson for all particles.thank you

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

My approach is to group things where it is helpful to people to have them together in order to compare and see what is going on, but to avoid long "learning lists" just for the sake of them the way textbooks somtimes present things. So my main lesson on the Logical Particles explains and compares the five main Logical particles, and also compares logical particles in general to the two particle groups that aren't logical - the non-logical topic-markers は and も, and alogical particles that do other things (mostly linking things together). This I think is a good overview of all the particles and it's here kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqjGhXxvptuCY7c It doesn't explain の and only explains one of the alogical particles, と (and only the "and" と, not the quotaition と). It is just giving an example of an alogical linking particle. That is deliberate because the more complex uses of の, and quotation-marker と are too complex to cover in one video and need videos devoted to them, (sometimes more than one) which I have made. Even は needs more than one video all to itself (one on its basic nature and one on its more advanced implications). So trying to crowd all that into one video just wouldn't work. But for an overview of particles as a whole I would definitely watch the video linked here.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Ah I just remembered. Here is a playlist that deals with the main particles (you'll see why one video wouldn't have been enough) kzbin.info/aero/PLg9uYxuZf8x-FpkArMEoVVfw10TDT9I1h

[@eselamor]

This video really helpful, as always! I do have one question ... Up to now, reading this example sentence on my own, I suspect that I would have become confused by the watashi-ga immediately following the topic and thought the sentence was about something the speaker did in relation to the ugly foreigner. Now that I've watched this video, I might realize that watashi-ga is part of the modifier of doresu. My question: Is determining whether or not watashi-ga is part of a modifier the only way to know that it's not the "A car"? Thank you so much!

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

わたしが is always _an_ A-car - it just may not be the overall A-car of the sentence. So you need to find its B-engine. If that ends the sentence or a logical clause within then it was the overall A-car, but if it bumps into a noun, then the clause was a modifier for that noun.

[@eselamor]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 Right! Once you say it, it seems so obvious. Thank you again! I actually came back to cancel this comment, since I think you're about to explain this in the next video, and was surprised to see that you already answered me. You're a very dedicated teacher and I appreciate it so much!

[@jimharris6213]

Thank you for this information. But, when listening to a Japanese speaker, I have trouble picking out the A and B, especially when B is at the end of a sentence. I pick out the wa or ga then listen for the o object but by time I figure out the verb and tense the speaker has moved on. I like listening to either very young people or seniors that do not speak fast.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Yes this is difficult. I would suggest for consolidating structure plenty of reading (anything really) and for building up listening speed - well just listening. This really is a speed issue. f you can find speakers that you can mostly follow this will help you to build speed.

[@LinkFromCdi]

I still have a slight problem with intuitively grasping the 2nd large sentence with the foreigner punching sakura. My immediate reaction was that it was 'I' who gave the dress, since it is marked by ga. I understand that the ga in this instance is meant to tell you 'who' it was that bought the dress, but when not knowing that the 'zero ga' exists, like it would be the case usually, it seems like thinking 'watashi ga' could be the subject of the whole clause and thus watashi could be the giver of the dress. In that case the information about the foreigner would seem really out of place though. Could it be that things given as the topic serve to give the listener a clue as to what the subject of the whole clause actually is?

[@9Kino3]

Also confused by this. When we write two sentences like the 2nd large sentence, but start the first one with [modifiers]AはØが... and the second with [modifiers]Aが, do they both have the same meaning? Do they have contrasting meaning? If they are the same, is one more common than the other?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Someone else raised this point with me and after thinking about it quite a lot I decided to make a video about it. Not just this exact point, but the whole principle behind it, which affects quite a lot of things. So that's coming next week and I hope will help. To answer for the time being. Your guesses are spot on. Firstly if 私 (わかし) were the subject of the sentence the foreigner would have no relation to it at all and since は-marked clauses are a part of Japanese grammar (even though a non-logical part) this would not be correct grammar. Even in English, saying something like "speaking of the moon, I had oatmeal for breakfast" wouldn't make sense - but since は marks an actual structural element - the topic that the rest of the sentence is a comment on - this is not just absurd but also ungrammatical. The second point you make is also correct. Right back in the は video (lesson 3 kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2rChWebhMeBjsk ) we learned that the は particle can, and often does, define the zero-pronoun subject, as in 私はアメリカ人だ, although it is important to know that it doesn't always do so. However the "default setting", if it isn't from context doing something else, is that it will do so.

[@j-immersionaccount5300]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 unless you had oatmeal for breakfast while on the moon.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

@@j-immersionaccount5300 Very true. This is covered by the absurdity rule. You can say the most unlikely things in any language but (unless context renders them more probable) the onus is on the speaker to force the absurd interpretation. More on ambiguity and absurdity here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZTFk4aNYrCoirM

[@LycanFollow]

I think that one thing I get confused by, with sentences, is when any of the modifiers or clauses also have a "ga" actor in them. Is there an easy way to know which "A Car" links to which "B Car" (and, I guess, also know which ones are the invisible ones, and which ones aren't)? Thank you for all of your wonderful videos also

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Thank you so much for your kind appreciation. The answer to your question is that you have to get a grip on the structure of sentences. Japanese is extremely logical, so most of the time there is only one way that makes sense. When that isn't the case we use the disambiguation rules: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZTFk4aNYrCoirM However it is necessary to become familiar with structure and that is what I am working on here. My most recent videos are tackling this problem through working through real Japanese text. The latest one is here and we have another complex sentence breakdown: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4CUo3uZrM90eqM The follow-up to this will be available On Saturday (or late Friday in East Asia). By guided working through real Japanese we can pick up the experience needed to apply structural knowledge to real situations. The invisible question is super easy. If you can see the A-car it's visible and if you can't it's invisible.

[@darkestholy74]

Hello there ! You need to take care of yourself, you're forgetting to sleep while you make these videos! ( 13:05 )

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Slight problem with the eye mechanism there. It can indeed be caused by a low-charge state.

[@attilagoijra54]

I came across this sentence 古代種は至上の幸福が約束された土地へ我々を導いてくれるのですand fir some reason i made the mistake of thinking至上の幸福did the 導いてくれる Instead of古代種 any way i can stop making such mostakes again or is that just practice

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I think the receptive tripped you up here. The が-marked doer of a receptive clause is the receiver> される is する+れる. It is easiest to translate this as "got" though the most natural English would in some cases be the English "passive" which is what leads people into the dangerous misconception that the Japanese is also structurally passive. So 至上の幸福が約束された土地 = supreme happiness got-promised land or in more natural Englsh "land whereof supreme happiness was promised" (yes it's slightly fancy old-sounding English - but it's slightly fancy old-sounding Japanese too). So 至上の幸福が約束された is modifying 土地. If it weren't what would that 古代種 actually be doing. I should note that this is not an easy construction because it is intentionally a bit pseudo-archaic. If it's the Ancient Back-Story at the start of an anime or something the rest may be in more regular Japanese.

[@barrydanser4334]

I am a poor student but I am starting to get it. Thank you

[@sqda]

お金がないんだ？

[@barrydanser4334]

@@sqda 😊いえ！私はわるいの学生!そして、お金がありません

[@SpecialKapson]

In this "sentence" or should I say "a-modified-noun": あのさくらを殴った醜い外国人 from around 14:14... How come 殴った precedes 醜い? Wouldn't 殴って make sense in this case? (was thinking about something like "hit-sakura and is-ugly foreigner") Anyway... thanks for another great video Dolly sensei!

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

And thank you. The tendency in Japanese is that each thing modifies what comes after it and the whole entity then modifies what comes after that. This means that a simple modifier like an adjective will tend to come last when it isn't a part of the more complex modifier. In this case, if the あの were not there (which it doesn't have to be) and we put 醜い first, it would be modifying Sakura, not the foreigner. As it stands it is grammatically possible to put 醜い first but a little less natural-feeling.

[@RustieMcHogg]

I’m trying to work out where counters and words like ‘takusan’ fit in to the word order rule. They seem to modify nouns (well, thinking in English they do) but often come after them.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

たくさん is an interesting example because we can see that it can be used in two ways.We can say たくさんの花がある or (more usually) 花がたくさんあるn (same with similar quantifiers like いっぱい)。There is a small difference in nuance here because in the first case たくさん is modifying 花 and in the second case it is modifying ある. In other words we can use it to describe the flowers or their manner of being. The difference is like saying plenty of flowers were growing or flowers were growing in plenty (I use "growing" here as English doesn't tend to use "existing" in this way). They describe the same situation, but with a very slight difference in nuance. I think we have a similar situation with counters. We can say 3匹のネクがいた or ネコが3匹いた. In the first case 3匹 is telling us more about the cats (how many of them) very similar to the English counter "head" in "a dozen head of cattle". The second case is doing something that does not have a direct English equivalent but I believe It is doing the same as the second たくさん or the second "plenty" - telling us the way the cats existed which was four-ly (itself impossible in English but we can say things like "troubles never come singly" The difference in nuance is often that in the first case the cats would be seen as a pre-existing group while in the second they might have no connection with each other beyond all being there. This goes with the idea that in the first one the number is modifying the cats (a group of four cats) and the second is modifying their action (that's how many were existing, running, yowling, etc.).

[@k_alex]

Unrelated to the content of the video (perhaps): If you go to Twitter and search for "を好き" What exactly is happening that the usage of certain adjectives (nouns) as verbs is so common?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

There is a lot of deliberately wrong English grammar on Twitter too, used for slang/"cool" reasons. There is a tendency among some young Japanese people to use this formation, and some people think it to be influenced by English - rather the way English and pseudo-English words are considered "cool" or in some cases cute. Having said that there are also some cases where を好き can appear in a legitimate (or at least accepted by more people than straight ○○を好き constructions) sentence. For example さくらを好になる where the を actually modifies なる rather than 好き.

[@chaz3421]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 Maybe I am forgetting something easy, but how would を be used in the context of a になる sentence? I am having trouble conceptualizing it and I can't find any help from my normal grammar sources.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

​@@chaz3421 It wouldn't normally be used, which is why I was somewhat circumspect in saying that this formation is "accepted" rather than necessarily "correct". However it is used in non-slangy contexts. I would say that the thinking behind it is that it is using the compound 好きになる as a verbal phrase and so treating it like a verb with が for the なるer and を for the なるee. Since a sentence is always determined by its head (or Engine), it really would not be possible to use the particles differently assuming that we can treat 好きになる as a verbal in the first place - and certainly some people do. I don't think this is an important piece of grammar and I am not even sure that it would be supported by Japanese grammarians, but I thought I should differentiate it from slangy usages which even the users probably don't consider to be "real" Japanese.

[@chaz3421]

Organic Japanese with Cure Dolly I see, thank you for the help!

[@osuosuosaka2590]

Hi Doll Sensei, I think modern song lyrics are particularly hard for beginners like me to grasp. I suspect they are left poetically vague; half the time they seem to trail off, ending with a particle and an implied ellipsis (に...), and they also seem to be phrased back to front. In any case, to lift from a song lyric, what does this mean: きっと動き出したその先に 憧れた場所が待っていた I’m going to assume ugokidashita modifies sono saki ni. With much poetic licence, I think this means: Surely the place of my dreams waits in the past that has gone. Or am I completely wrong??

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I have to admit that I can't do songs. They are too human for me. However 動き出す generally means "start in motion, get going" and having a clause modify a noun preceded by この, or その is normal (that is to say that contrary to English where we never say "beautiful that girl" in Japanese it is the usual order). I don't know if that helps.

[@osuosuosaka2590]

Organic Japanese with Cure Dolly I’d say it’s an important interpretive key! Thanks so much.

[@CrimsonDawn-ou4og]

My bran just. Just.... Opened. 👏

[@新しい風-l4i]

How do you know for sure if the subject is the 0が or 私が in the last example?

[@gabrielsoares-bh2fv]

The subject of the sentence is marked by the wa particle

[@niket527]

@@gabrielsoares-bh2fv は never marks the subject, it only flags the topic.

[@niket527]

You don't know for sure. But from context it wouldn't make much sense to say "As for that ugly foreigner that hit Sakura, I gave the dress I bought at the market to the girl wearing glasses."

[@y9tw0t]

lol (13:02) what's goin' on with your eye; you alright?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I think the tiny motor that operates that eyelid was slightly malfunctioning.

[@okavu]

My limited understanding is that あげる can only be used as by "I", i.e. "I gave". If somebody else gave something, shouldn't it be くれた?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Only if the giving is to oneself, one's own group or someone one is identifying with - if one is personally involved at all. If one isn't one might use it for giving to one of two unrelated persons that one is somewhat more identifying with. It is not true that あげる can _only_ be used of oneself, it can be from a member of one's group or between two unrelated people if one is (even slightly in some cases) identifying with the giver.

[@1984Joby]

How about a sentence like this: さくらは日本で嬉しい。Would this be an A is B sentence with a で particle?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

What is the intended meaning of this sentence? It would mean "Sakura is happy that it is Japan" with the で being the で-form of だ. Of course the zero-pronoun "it" of "it is Japan" can mean various things depending on context. For example it might mean she is happy that it is Japan that won the match. Or that she is happy that it is Japan she is going to.

[@1984Joby]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 I thought it could be "Sakura is happy in Japan". I guess if it was さくらは日本に嬉しい that is still using a non が particle in an A is B sentence. I think of it kind of like how you could say 日本での仕事 for a job located in Japan. Is that not right?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

@@1984Joby I think 日本での仕事 would be referring to the job as an activity that is being done (or will be done) in Japan, so this would be the particle で。

[@1984Joby]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 yes I agree that is what i meant. さくらは日本で嬉しい。 sakura is happy in Japan. The logical particle で being used in an A IS B sentence.

[@a.m.4479]

Every logical clause is made of just the A and B black cars (core sentence) and the modifying clauses that modify the A and B black cars, that is, anything that's not the black A car or the black B car is telling us more about those cars; if there is anything modifying the A car, it comes directly before it; if there is anything modifying the B car, it comes directly before it Remember that whether we can see it or not, the black A car is always there Remember that we only have two types of sentences: A is B or A does B Tip: always try to look for the core sentence, that is, the black A and B cars, and then see how they are being modified Example ano Sakura wo nagutta minikui gaikokujin wa watashi ga ichiba de katta doresu wo megane wo kakete iru shoujo ni ageta = that ugly foreigner who hit Sakura gave the dress I bought at the market to a girl wearing glasses

[@attilagoijra54]

I still have trouble with sentences where there us an invisible topic Like for example (zeroは)さくらが買った本を盗んだ always assume that さくら does the盗んだ in these cases whule it is actually the zero doing the 盗んだ any way I can somehow stop making this mistake

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I don't think you often see a sentence exactly like this because it is too ambiguous. What it means on the face of it is that Sakura stole the book that was bought. Since a zero は is invisible there would be no way of knowing that it was intended to be there. Also the zero は would have to be a zero が if it referred to the person who actually stole the book, since it would be the black car (subject) of the sentence.

[@attilagoijra54]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 i guess it would be more like zero は zeroがさくらが買った本を盗んだ

[@cR33dful]

Is this your real voice or is it altered / processed for the video?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

It's tidied up a bit to sound clearer and more human but fundamentally it's my voice.

[@yahboisquishy5561]

I have a question about the ugly foreigner sentence. Why does it start with あのさくら? I know its says the foreigner THAT did something, but why would it be written that way instead of just さくら. I'm curious about what it does to the clause.

[@καλαμ]

「さくらを殴った醜い外国人」is a construction that modifies「外国人」and now the entire thing is basically a noun. The あの is attached to that modified noun, not さくら. Hopefully that makes sense.

[@yahboisquishy5561]

@@καλαμ I think that makes sense. Thank you!

[@καλαμ]

@@yahboisquishy5561 You're welcome! I just edited my comment so hopefully it makes a little more sense now haha.

[@zehaha]

Omg the cackling woman scared the hell out of me! D:

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Just a steampunk gothic-loli from an alternate universe. Nothing to worry about there.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

My apologies, minasama. I take the point. I didn't realize it might really bother people. I'll try not to do anything like that again. 申し訳ありません。

[@arpitkumar4525]

可愛そうさくらな

[@deedanner6431]

Whoa!!!!!

[@TIMRUM]

what is it kfc opened up across your house?

[@deedanner6431]

@@TIMRUM nope, it was the banana stuck in your tailpipe.

[@夏樹花]

I was watching this at 2am to learn japanese and the girl laughing scared me so i dont think i can sleep :(

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Oh gosh, I am sorry.

[@mancheezethegreat8617]

Hi Dolly! My fave Sensei!

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

My mousey friend! Good to see you as always!

[@mancheezethegreat8617]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 My wild mouse SugarPuss says hello. I will rub her belly for you tonight when I feed her her snacks.Rubbing her belly brings good luck! She's a little Buddha Mouse! Last night she had freshly whipped cream and whole grain crackers and seeds. Here's another fun fact: mice CAN eat chocolate. They LOVE chocolate. I give my mouse homemade chocolate mousse for a treat sometimes. It has lots of protein (eggs) and fat content and it makes her fur super shiny and healthy. If you ever want to befriend a wild house mouse. I'm the woman to see about that. I've befriended over a dozen of them. I live in an old heritage building and mice come with the rent. LOL

[@supechube_k]

bcz the て form isn't a verb tense itself and needs other verbs to help it form tenses what do u do when the verbs r different tenses? like for example, "i bought bread and i'll now make a sandwich"

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Japanese generally indicates tense only at the end of a sentence. Languages don't work identically and use different strategies. Just because English says things in a particular way doesn't mean that Japanese will do exactly the same. It will use other strategies to express the concept. Breaking it into two sentences is one obvious one.

[@kppassion5201]

Dolly Sensei, it bothers me that what I've learned from some other video it says the particle を is just made to mark the direct object of a verb and it literally just meant 'object' which means a thing and that if it is person then we shouldn't mark it with を. I've been seeing japanese sentences marked with を being a person and your examples added to that. So, I just want confirmation that を could mark both thing and living thing. Hope you could help me erase this hindrance of me successfully understanding all particles through your vids. Thanks in advance.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

That is correct. The English grammatical term "object" is confusing because the object (which is marked by を) can in fact be a person or an animal. The "grammatical object" is not necessarily an object in the everyday sense of the word.

[@kppassion5201]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 Thanks a lot, sensei! Your confirmation clears up this mislearned idea I have about を。

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

@@kppassion5201 I am happy to have helped,

[@TokyoXtreme]

Sounds effects are always a few degrees of magnitude louder than your normal speaking voice; RIP to headphone listeners.

[@mikomichael9555]

Hey dolly! can you help me translate this sentence? 書類は形式を守って作ってください Thanks in advance

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

It says "please make the document(s) in the correct manner (in accordance with the proper form)"

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

PS - I was kind of assuming that you wanted it translated for practical reasons, so I just said what it means. I can break it down a bit more if you want.

[@mikomichael9555]

Organic Japanese with Cure Dolly Thanks dolly i think i understand it well enough, however it may be out of context but can you tell me the difference between “Aida” and “Aida Ni” all i know is that A 間 b Means while A took place B was also happening And A間 に B Means while A took place B happened But i still can’t differentiate between the two Also can’t differentiate between まで and までに

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

A, B の間 means throughout the time between A and B. We don't necessarily need to specify the two bounding points. We could say, for example 夏休みの間 "throughout the summer vacation". 間に means that the action happened at some point during the time period rather than throughout the whole of it. Similarly, まで means _until_ a certain time (ie throughout the time between now and then) while までに means _by_ a certain time (i.e. at some point between now and then). And of course まで is regularly used of place as well as time, but までに isn't.

[@mikomichael9555]

Organic Japanese with Cure Dolly sorry for asking too much but can you give me an example with made and made ni?

[@Char_Aznable_Red]

HOLY SHIT this is a game changer god damn!!

[@GojoSatoru-jy9qb]

Foreigner took two wrongs make a right way too literally

[@1984Joby]

This is a classic video I keep coming to. The mean foreigner example is making me thing more this time... あのさくらをなぐった and みにくい are both modifying 外国人 but not in a way I would expect. If you wanted to modify the noun with 2 descriptors it would be みにくくて無礼な外国人。Why can we modify 外国人 in the way you have in the video?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

さくらをなぐった is a logical clause turned around to modify its subject. The subject itself is a noun modified by an adjective. We don't put modifying clauses like this into て-form or use other connectors. Just as we can say みにくい外国人がさくらをなぐった we can turn it around and say さくらをなぐったみにくい外国人。 It is good that it works this way because we often need to indicate the tense of the modifying clause. We need to know if we are talking about an ugly foreigner who hit Sakura in the past, is hitting her now, will hit her in the future etc.

[@1984Joby]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 this makes sense, it does follow the "to the left" modifier rule. Thanks again for the help!

[@firmnstrongfitness7637]

I cant do the voice. It's sounds too much like a robot. Unless there's something about this person I'm not aware of?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I am an android. Didn't you read the opening screen?

[@seventhsheaven]

桜に守りましょう！😠👏🤜🤛

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

そうですね。私たちは誰もをさくらに指一本も触れさせません。

[@BackiNator123]

i completely understand this standpoint with the 外国人 sentence but wouldn't it be more straight forward to just give him the ga in the first place? and address the dress you bought somehow else x3 あのさくらをなぐったみにくい外国人が　私に市場で買ったドレっスを　メガネをかけている少女にあげた。(dress bought by me) i might just dont get it ... i feel bad even asking this omg... xD how am i supposed to know in the beginning of my thought process that the only が im gonna use is in the middle of the sentence modyfining the dress bought by me from the marked... i cant see how anyone thinks so advanced when the gaijin is obviously the subject here xD i might think to complicated... im just frustrated that i seem to dumb to get it xD dont even answer to this xD just explaining my thought process. great explanation still. just not sure if i can come up with this in a conversation x3 EDIT: someone asked the exact same thing. i will refer myself tho his answer thank you very much :3

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Ok. If this continues to be confusing please refer to the word-order video. There are only two laws of word order in Japanese and the second is: _anything that modifies anything goes before it._ That really is the answer to your question. In English we want to throw more complex modifiers (whole events modifying a noun etc.) _after_ what they modify. But Japanese doesn't do that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/imazdWSihLecrc0

[@新しい風-l4i]

[@PhuongLe-hb9ig]

Some how KZbin recommend this for me

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Happy to know that. I'm hoping we can slowly spread the message.