Lesson 44
Base 3 + to
There are four basic uses for to. (Remember, that's pronounced "toh.") It can mean and, with, when, or if. After a plain (Base 3) verb it is roughly the same as when or if, or even both:
- Massugu iku to Ritsurin Kouen ga miemasu. (If you go straight you'll see Ritsurin Park.)
- Natsu ni naru to kodomotachi wa umi ni ikitakunarimasu. (When summer comes the kids want to go to the beach.)
- Watashi wa soba o taberu to byouki ni naru. (I get sick whenever I eat buckwheat noodles.)
For the curious, here are sample sentences with to as and and with:
- Kimiko to Bob wa tanjou paateii ni kimashita. (Kimiko and Bob came to the birthday party.)
- Kimiko wa Bob to kimashita. (Kimiko came with Bob.)
Word Check
massugu: straight
mieru: to be able to see (something)
natsu: summer
naru: to become (something); to turn into (something)
kodomotachi: children
umi: the sea; the beach 1
ikitakunaru: to begin to feel like going (somewhere) 2
tanjou paateii: birthday party 3
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
Notes
1. Literally, umi is "the sea." There is a Japanese word for beach (sunahama), but it is not generally used. When referring to "the beach" in Japanese, use umi.
2. Ikitakunaru belongs to the branch of Base 2 + tai/taku (to want) endings which were covered in Lesson 8. Although not specifically covered, takunaru puts tai and naru together, meaning "become to want; begin to want." Iki (Base 2 of iku, to go) + taku (tai, to want to do, with the ku connector) + naru (to become) = ikitakunaru, or "to become to want to go." It's as simple as that.
3. Paateii is wasei eigo, Japanese English, for "party."
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