Understanding JapaneseVerbs & Adjectives(U.J.V.A.)
a comprehensive and systematic programme
designed to help students to recognize,classify and use the inflection patternsof Japanese verbs and Adjectives

is an interactive computer programme
U.J.V.A.
(Macintosh) for learners of Japanese. This
text is a manual accompanying the CD and is not primarily

designed as a standalone text book. It contains material from theCD which is appropriate for presentation on paper.

iMay 2002
This material is the property of:Paul Knight,JapanEd,©
43 Burn StreetLevin, 5500
New Zealand

Ph: 64 6 368 9192
fax: 64 6 368 9193
eMail:
paul.knight@internet.co.nz
P.S.Knight@massey.ac.nz

ISBN 0-473-08509-7

ii

Understanding Japanese Verbs & Adjectives
Installing & Using the CD
1“U.J.V.A.” runs on Macintosh Computers and needs HyperCard Player (included on the CD) and the Japanese
Language Kit, or, the Japanese language functions that come with O/S 9 or later.
The programme will run from the CD. It is set to open automatically, if you have set QuickTime Settings to “Enable CD
ROM autoplay.” To do this, go to Control Panels and open the QuickTime Settings control panel and select that option.
If Auto Start does not work, double click on the CD icon and then double click on “Start UJVA.” This should activate thefull HyperCard programme if you have it on your Hard Disk, or if not, it should activate the HyperCard Player on the CD.
If this fails, double click on the “HyperCard Player” stack in the CD. This will open the Player version of HyperCard.
When this is open, go to File > Open Stack and then select “Start UJVA” and click “OK.”
Note that when you open UJVA this way, the “Start-Up” may look a horrible mess. However after you click on the “Start”
button, behaviour becomes normal.
Strange Behaviour:
Exercises C 1-4 give you the option of working from English to Japanese or from Japanese to English. If you choose towork from Japanese to English, you may find that if you attempt to type in the English translation, you are unable to do so
and the screen shows the message that “This stack is Read Only.” This will not prevent you from showing the answer bypressing the [Return] key in the normal way when the cursor is in the Answer Field. I have not found a real solution tothis problem yet, though I am trying. It is not so critical in that typing in the English is not crucial to the learning process.
When working from English to Japanese the problem does not occur. Strange. Neither does it occur if you copy thewhole CD onto your desktop or HD, though you may lose some of the paths or links if you do this and navigation becomes difficult.
2

Card size on the screen:
The dimensions of the UJVA window were set to 640 x 480 pixels. If your monitor is set to a very high resolution (e.g. above 1024 x 768) then the UJVA window may be too small to read the Japanese script. To make thecard size larger select a lower resolution on your monitor. If you set the resolution to 640 x 480 pixels, the card
will fill or nearly fill the screen. To change the screen resolution, go to the “Monitor” control panel.

3Help
If you turn on the “Help” balloons from the Menu and put the cursor over the buttons, in many or most cases
the balloon will tell you how they function. Each stack also has its own “Help” card. To return back to where
you were before going to the “Help” card, press the “bent arrow.”

4Kanji:In exercises A, B, C and the verb chart, you can choose to operate with or without kanji using the button for thatpurpose. On the Verb Chart you make this choice by going to the Title Card of the stack. To do this from someplace inside the stack, use the “Re-configure” button.

5Revise:If you get an answer wrong, or want to return to a card later for revision, mark it with the button provided. You
can then revise marked cards by holding down the “Shift” key as you press the forward or back butons, or bypressing the “Revise” Button instead.

6Random:
If you select this button, then the forward and back buttons will take you other cards in the stack in random order.
We hope to incorporate a level of randomization which will allow randomization across stacks as well.

7

Dictionary: This function is not reliable yet. It is intended to provide meanings for words in Exercises A, B, orC if you click on them. More development is required before it is useful. If you happen to click on a word by
mistake and get the message that “ ‘xxx’ is not found in the dictionary,” close the box by clicking on the“Sorry” button.
In all of the exercises of D and E stacks, kanji and vocabulary you need for that card is supplied on the card.
iii

Preface:
A Note about Learning Japanesei)
the particles and particularly the distinction between
the case particle or kakujoshi (ga, wo, ni ,de etc)
Japanese is partly an inflected language, like
Latin, French, German, Spanish, and many others, but and the kakarijoshi such as wa, mo, sae, koso.
only the verbs and adjectives inflect. Japanese nouns,instead of using inflections, are accompanied by ii) the system of inflections (katsuyo) which govern“joshi” or particles to show what their connection is to how verbs and adjectives are incorporated into sentence
the rest of the sentence. The problem the learner, and structures.
especially a native English speaker, faces in learning
It is this author’s opinion that these two aspects ofan inflected language, is that unless you know how togo from any inflected form to the form that is found in Japanese are difficult for English speaking students ofa dictionary, you are at the mercy of the author of your Japanese because English has neither of them but thattext or of your teacher, as to when and what vocabulary the difficulty has been compounded by the methods of
you are taught.
Furthermore, even if you know the language teaching and aspects of presentation of Japabase form or dictionary form of an inflected word, you nese adopted by textbooks which have been fashionable
will not know how to use the inflections to say what for the last several decades in our education systems.
you want with that word, unless the text or the teacher
This programme is concerned primarily with thehas seen fit to introduce it already.
second, that is with the system of inflections, though aWith UJVA, you learn the patterns of the inflec- student will find that the distinction between and sigtions as a systematic whole. This precisely, is the goal. nificance of substituting a case particle for a kakarijoshi
You will then be able to use dictionaries to find any or vice versa in a sentence is regularly noted.
word you want to use, you will be able to convert it toIt is the author’s opinion that in the longer runthe inflection you need to say what you want and be able
manystudents benefit greatly by learning some at least
to do these things without waiting for your teacher ortext to cover that particular point. (There is a video to of the descriptive rules about the way Japanese sentencteach you how to find words in a Kanji dictionary, see es are put together. I hesitate to admit that I am really“supporting materials” on the opening card.) As you advocating the early teaching and learning of grammar
learn to do this you will come to appreciate how much and syntax as aids to learning, but in fact I am. Thisa systematic approach to the mastery of the inflections text and the computer programme which preceded it
helps you to communicate in Japanese beyond the of- are both unashamed testimony to that philosophy.
ten childlike or artificial sentences of many textbooks
Even if they are difficult to grasp at first, a goodand courses. You learn more quickly to link ideas in anormal adult way and to use the vocabulary you need in knowledge of these systems has many practical advantages for the learner. The learner will no longer be soorder to say what what is of interest to you.
dependant on teachers, texts, or any particular syllabus.
UJVA is different from many Japanese courses He or she can learn to find the dictionary form of inin that it does not need you to learn lots and lots of flected words in dictionaries, can then adapt that formwords. Rather, it shows you how to find any word in to the needs of new sentence structures beyond thea dictionary, even from an inflected form which you do confines of an institution’s syllabus and can begin withnot know, and how to use those words when you have confidence to be creative.
found them. We believe that if you can do this, you
I am not pretending that it is necessarily easy
will soon learn the words you often want to use andyou will not waste time learning words which are not for the student to gain these advantages but more than
three decades of teaching Japanese prove to my satisuseful.
faction that the effort soon has practical rewards for
Ignoring if one can, both the undeniable beauty serious students,
and also the frustrations of the Japanese writing sysOver the page is a chart showing how Japanesetem, there are two other high hurdles for native English
differs
basically from English and other European lanspeakers to clear. They are:guagesiv

EFFECTIVENESS OF LEARNING WILL BE IMPROVEDBY RECOGNIZING THAT:1

our brains absorb and hold information more
efficiently if the information is presented as parts of arecognisable systematic whole rather than as random
bits in obscure surroundings.

2

the presentation of a new language should take into
account the conscious and unconscious linguistic andcultural baggage of the learner.

3

what is taught, the order of what is taught, and theweight given to what is taught must bear a close positive relationship to the reality of usage in the targetlanguage.

Therefore it follows that:
An effective Japanese course should be designed with the linguistic and cultural starting point of the learner in mind.
If that starting point is English or certain other Western European Languages, then certain critical aspects of Japanese should
be given prominence at the beginning of the learning process.
On page (viii) is a chart comparing basic characteristics of Japanese with those of English and some other Western Europeanlanguages.

v

A

About ICHIDAN & GODAN Verbs

lmost all Japanese verbs belong to one of justtwo main types, either ICHIDAN (1-row) orGODAN (5-row) verbs. There are very few irregularverbs in Japanese.

If you understand these two systems, then you
will more easily master a large part of Japanesegrammar, free yourself of reliance on textboooks
and gain the freedom to be more creative andindependent in expressing yourself in JapaneseI

CHIDAN (1-row) verbs are so called

because all the inflections are added to a single
stem or base. ICHIDAN verbs are like a bamboo
with the tip (“-ru”) cut off.

GODAN (5-row) verbs are so called

because the have a trunk and 5 branches towhich the inflections are added. If you learn whichinflections belong on which branch, you will giveyourself the freedom to be much more independentand creative in using Japanese.

The GODAN TREE chart
which belongs here is available as a separate
downloadable file on this web page.

viAbout ICHIDAN & GODAN Verbs

The ICHIDAN chart
which belongs here is available as a separate
downloadable file on this web page.

vii

Comparison of basic elements of JapaneseWith the relevant elements of English��������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
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viii

Contents
ItemPage

Finding the Dictionary Form of Japanese Verbs and Adjectives
Practice
About U.J.V.A
Short summary
Exercise A
Make the Dictionary Form from any inflection
Exercise B
Make inflected forms from the Dictionary Form.
Exercise C1
Use inflections of an ICHIDAN verb to make sentences
Exercise C2
Use inflections of an GODAN verb to make sentences
Exercise C3
The irregular verb “suru.”
Esercise C4
The verb “to be” (da/dearu) and adjectives.
da/de-aru“na-type” adjectives
Formation practice for inflections of adjectives
Sentences with adjectives and the verb “to be.”“no da/n da”
Verb or adjective + soo da (I hear that ....)
Verb or adjective stem + soo da/soo na (It looks/seems ....)
Exercise D
The Passive. 受け身/うけみ�Introduction
Formation and Uses of the Passive in Japanese
Potential of ICHIDAN verbs
Direct or Ordinary Passive
Meiwaku Ukemi
Respect Language
The particles in the Passive Sentence
Summary of Usage
Practice
Exercise D1, D2
These two exercises are not presented here.
They are formation practice on the computer programme
Exercise D3
The Direct or Ordinary Passive
Exercise D4
The “Meiwaku Ukemi” or “Nuisance Passive”
Also known as the “Indirect Passive”
Exercise D5
The Passive as “Keigo” to express Respect
Exercise E
The Causative/Permissive, 使役動詞/しえきどうし�Formation
Usage
The Causative and Inanimate objects
The Causative and Transitive Verbs
The Causative and Intransitive Verbs
The Difference between “make” & “let”
More about the 6 Verbs of giving & receiving
The Difference between を and に when either is possible
The Long and Short Forms of the CausativeTransitive Verbs which are similar in Appearance or Meaning
The Short Causative - a Special Meaning?
The Causative in the Passive
The Verbal Suffix “- garu”
Practice
Exercise E1, E2
These two exercises are not presented here.
They are formation practice on the computer programme.
Exercise E3
The Causative/Permissive and Intransitive Verbs
Exercise E4
The Causative/Permissive and Transitive Verbs
Exercise E5
The causative/permissive with verbs of giving and receiving.
Exercise E6
The causative in the passive
Appendix
The particles and other grammatical matters
An Essay about learning Japaneseix

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