Lesson 49
Base 4 + ba ii
In this lesson we are going to cover three Base 4 endings: ba ii and its handy cousins ba ii noni and ba yokatta. As we learned in the last lesson, Base 4 + ba gives you a conditional "if" meaning. Ii is Japanese for "good," and adding it to the Base 4 ba is a very easy way to convey the meaning "it would be good if..." as shown in these examples:
- Soto de asobeba ii. (It would be good if you played outside.)
- Ima benkyou sureba ii. (Now would be a good time to study.)
- Watashitachi wa karui shokuji o tabereba ii to omou. (I think it would be good if we ate a light meal.)
Adding noni (covered briefly in Lesson 41) adds "in spite of the fact that" to ba ii, and is usually used to show that you're bugged by someone or something not doing what you ask or wish, as in these example conversations:
- Mom: Tenki ga ii kara, soto de asobeba ii. (The weather's nice, so it would be good to play outside.)
Kids: Terebi mitai. (We want to watch TV.)
Mom, in a slightly discouraged or angry voice: Soto de asobeba ii noni. (Even though it would be nice to play outside. [I still wish you would play outside.])
- Naoko: Nanji ni kuru? (What time are you coming?)
John: Goji goro. (Around five.)
Naoko, slightly disappointed: Motto hayaku kureba ii noni. (It'd be nice if you could come earlier.)
As you can see, ba ii is for making suggestions or giving advice. It's like Base 3 + hou ga ii covered in Lesson 26, but not quite as strong. Adding noni shows your feelings regarding someone else's decision, especially when there's little chance of the decision being changed.
Adding yokatta to Base 4 + ba shows regret for a decision made after it's too late to change it:
- Hachiji ni kureba yokatta. (We should have come at 8:00.)
- Kouen ni ikeba yokatta. (I wish we had gone to the park.)
- Suteeki o chuumon sureba yokatta. (I wish I had ordered the steak.)
For those who may be wondering about the adjectives ii and yoi: yes, they both mean "good"; no, they are not completely interchangeable. Yoi can be used with ba instead of ii: Ima benkyou sureba yoi is fine and sometimes used. However, yoi is not used with noni. It's one of those things that feels okay in a grammatical sense but just isn't done. While most adjectives in Japanese have a past tense, quirky ii does not. When showing regret for mistakes, the past tense of yoi, yokatta, is used after ba — there is no such Japanese as ikatta.
Please bear in mind that the above explanation applies to familiar settings, and would not go over well when talking to superiors at work or anywhere where special respect is due. In those situations different constructions would be used.
By this stage of Japanese study, I trust that you are familiar with the wonderful convenience of being able to delete the subject when it is known. I have done this with most of the examples on this page. In the actual situation the subject(s) would be implied and known to all concerned, and therefore unnecessary in the sentence. This is very handy when you get used to it.
Word Check
soto: outside
ima: now
benkyou suru: to study
karui: (adjective) light
shokuji: food, a meal
tenki: the weather (This is sometimes used with the honorific o-: o-tenki.)
terebi: TV
nanji: what time (nan [what] + ji [hour])
goro: around (used with times and periods)
motto: more
hayaku: early (adverbial form of hayai)
suteeki: beef steak (wasei eigo)
chuumon suru: to place an order
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
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