July 2010Archive

The act or process of washing in Japanese

 

<Japanese washing machine >:
Japanese wash machine is so silence and you can use at midnight in an apartment.
Wash machine and dryer are combined so that it can be compact size.
Inclined laundry sink conserves water.
New machine has washing without water by ozone.

The word "Washing machine" is "せんたくき/洗濯機(sentakuki)" in Japanese.

Because "Washing machine" in kanji is very complex, the Japanese is often using the character of "せんたく機(sentakuki)".

Japanese automatic washing machine 全自動洗濯機 [zenjidou sentakuki]	Japanese drum washing machine ドラム式 全自動 洗濯機 [doramushiki zenjidou sentakuki]>

 

<Japanese washing detergent >:
This washing detergent is popular recently in Japan.
A small amount of the detergent liquid wash the stain of clothes.
Moreover, the rinse is only one time.
The name "Kao Attack Neo".
The word "Detergent" in Japanese is "洗剤(senzai)".

English	Hiragana	Katakana	Kanji	Pronunciation
ｗashing/wash	せんたく	センタク	洗濯	sentaku
Washing machine	せんたくき	センタクキ	洗濯機	sentakuki
Detergent	せんざい	センザイ	洗剤	senzai

*Because the kanji "Washing machine" is a character that it is difficult to write, the Japanese writes kanji and the hiragana mixing.

<Example sentence of word of washing >:

My mother washes our dirty clothes every day. 母 は 僕たち の 汚れた 服 を 毎日 せんたく します。 [haha wa boku-tachi no yogoreta fuku wo mainichi sentaku shimasu]

This sweater will not shrink if washed. この セーター は洗濯 しても 縮まない んだよ。 [kono sētā wa sentaku shitemo chijimanai ndayo]

I washed the dirty clothes by hand. 私は汚れた服を手で洗たくしました。 [watashi wa yogoreta fuku wo tede sentaku shimashita]

He does the washing twice a week 彼は１週間に２回洗濯します。 [kare wa isshuukan ni nikai sentaku shimasu]

If you have washing to do, put it in the washing machine. 洗濯物 が あったら、洗濯機 に 入れて ください。 [sentakumono ga attara, sentakuki ni irete kudasai]

This material will be damaged if you wash it in the washing machine. この生地は洗たく機で洗うと傷みます。 [kono kiji wa sentakuki de arau to itamimasu]

If it rains, bring the wash in. 雨が降ってきたら、せんたく物を取り込んでおいてね。 [ame ga futtekitara, sentakumono wo torikonde oitene]

Dry the clean clothes in the dryer. 洗たく物を乾燥機で乾かしてね。 [senntakumono wo kansouki de kawakashitene]

*Sentakumono[せんたくもの/せんたく物/洗たく物/洗濯物] = wash/washing/laundry. The word "sentakumono" is "The dirty clothes or the washed clothes or the clean clothes".

<About the word "sentaku">:
There are various forms in the character of the word "sentaku" in Japanese.

せんたく/センタク/洗たく/洗濯

Generally, you may use any of these though the form that the Japanese often uses is "洗たく or せんたく".

 

Well, please learn the words concerning wash in Japanese.

• The dark gray characters is "送りがな[Okuri-gana]".
• The image expands by click.

English	Washing with the washing machine.
Action
English	washing with the washing machine.	Washing by hand.
Hiragana	せんたくき を まわす。 せんたく を する。	てあらい を する。 てで あらう。
Japanese	洗たく機 を 回す。 洗たく を する。	手洗い を する。 手で 洗う。
Pronunciation	sentakuki wo mawasu. sentaku wo suru.	tearai wo suru. tede arau.

English	Rinsing	Twisting
Action
English	rinsing clothes out.	Twisting the wet clothes.
Hiragana	せんたくもの を すすぐ	せんたくもの をしぼる
Japanese	洗たく物 を濯ぐ	洗たく物 を絞る
Pronunciation	sentakumono wo susugu	sentakumono wo shiboru

English	Dry
Action
English	Hanging the washing on a line.
Hiragana	せんたくもの をほす	せんたくもの をつるす せんたくもの をかける
Japanese	洗たく物 を干す	洗たく物 を 吊るす 洗たく物 を 掛ける
Pronunciation	sentakumono wo hosu	sentakumono wo tsurusu sentakumono wo kakeru

English	Wet or dry?
Action
English	The washing is wet.	The washing have dried.
Hiragana	せんたくもの が ぬれている。	せんたくもの がかわいた。
Japanese	洗たく物 が 濡れている。	洗たく物 が 乾いた。
Pronunciation	sentakumono ga nureteiru.	sentakumono ga kawaita.

English	Taking in the laundry	Folding the laundry
Action
English	Taking in the laundry.	Folding the laundry.
Hiragana	せんたくもの を とりこむ。	せんたくもの を たたむ。
Japanese	洗たく物 を 取り込む。	洗たく物 を 畳む。
Pronunciation	sentakumono wo torikomu.	sentakumono wo tatamu.

English	Putting away laundry in chest.	Ironing the laundry.
Action
English	Putting away laundry in chest.	Ironing the laundry
Hiragana	せんたくもの を タンス に しまう。	せんたくものにあいろんをかける。
Japanese	洗たく物 を タンス に 仕舞う。	洗たく物にアイロンをかける。
Pronunciation	senntakumono wo tansu ni shimau.	senntakumono ni airon wo kakeru.

 

<Example sentence of word of washing >:
*There are three scripts "Hiragana, katakana, and Chinese character" in Japanese.
And, the mix type character of those three scripts is often used in Japan.
I wrote "The word of the type often used in Japan" in the table.

Other terms

English	Japanese		Pronunciation
soap	せっけん	石鹸	sekken
detergent	洗剤		senzai
Washing detergent	洗たく 洗剤		sentaku senzai
	洗たくせっけん		sentaku sekken
Kitchen detergent	台所 洗剤		daidokoro senzai
	キッチン 洗剤		kicchin senzai
bleach	漂白剤		hyouhakuzai
	ハイター		haitā
clothespin	洗たく ばさみ	洗たく バサミ	sentaku basami

 

Hararie

Sanshodo-Kotoba tsukaikata ejiten

三省堂ことばつかいかた絵じてん [sanshoudou kotoba tsukaikata e jiten]   In this page, I used the image of this book. This is a book for children in Japan to learn basic Japanese. In this book, the word of Japan that we use in daily life is explained with the image, and it is very convenient. This book will be very useful for you who is learning Japanese. *You can buy this book in Japanese Amazon. (It is not sold outside Japan.)

 

*Category: カテゴリ(kategori), Tag: タグ(tagu)

Concept of plural form in Japanese

 

First, a Japanese noun doesn't have the concept of the plural form basically.

For instance, there is no plural form of "Apple" in Japanese though the plural form of "Apple" in English is "Apples".

"An apple, the apple, apples"

In Japanese, the word to these has only "りんご(ringo)

For instance, question; "What is this?"
If it is not a question "How many apples are there?", the Japanese will answer only as "ringo".
In Japanese, "Singular and plurals" is not important for other "Noun that can be counted" either".

 

Second, though "Number" and "Article" should be attached to the noun in English, they are not so necessary for Japanese.

1. For instance, five apples are here.
If you are asked to someone "What this is?", you will answer like this surely.

"They are five apples."

But, almost all Japanese will answer, "That is an apple".
(Strictly speaking, Japanese people's concept is "That is apple")

 

2. For instance, here is a word "an apple".
If the Japanese are asked to someone "What this is", almost all Japanese will answer, "that is apple".

"How many are the number of these apples?"
The Japanese answer the number of apples if it is questioned like this.
When "Number" is not a subject, the Japanese doesn't think about the number so much.

"Noun" and "Number of nouns" are irrelevant as long as "Number of things" is not a purpose in Japanese.

 

Third, the distinction between "Word" and "Object" doesn't exist in Japanese.

In other words, in English, it is said to be "The word isn't the object" , but Japanese doesn't have such concept.

Therefore, even if it is "Object", it is "りんご(ringo)[Apple]" in Japanese.
And even if it is "Word", it is "りんご(ringo)[Apple]" in Japanese.
"Is this a object or a word?"
If it is not such a question, they are all "ringo" in Japanese.

 

 

Particular plural form in Japanese

I said Japanese noun doesn't have the concept of the plural form.
But, the plural form in a very particular form exists in Japanese.

That's a particular noun that is called 畳語(jougo)[Reduplication].

They are two or more expressions of Japanese, and the shape used only in a specific word in the narrow scope.
Reduplication, in linguistics, is a morphological process by which the root or stem of a word, or part of it, is repeated.

畳語(jougo); the plural form in a very particular form in Japanese

Japanese noun jougo		Pronunciation	English
	山々	yama yama	Mountains
	人々	hito bito	People
	国々	kuni guni	Countries
	村々	mura mura	Villages
	家々	ie ie	Houses
	我々	ware ware	We
	神々	kami gami	Gods
	木々	kigi	Trees
	皆々	mina mina	All
	日々	hibi	Every day
	品々	shina jina	Articles
	節々	hushi bushi	Joints

Above-mentioned Jougo is often used in Japan.

 

Japanese concept to "Thing and person who can count".

The rule in expression to the following exists in English, but it doesn't exist in Japanese.

• Apple juice ... it is not counted.
• Apple ... it is counted.
• Specific apple ... it is counted.

In Japanese, these are all "りんご(ringo)"

 

The rule in the expression to "Thing that cannot be counted", "Thing and person who can count", and "Specific thing and specific person who can count" doesn't exist in Japanese.

By the way, there is three kinds of scripts of "Hiragana", "Katakana", and "Kanji" in Japanese.
Almost all the Japanese uses the hiragana and the katakana about the character "Apple".

It is because it is easy to write.

Three kinds of scripts of "Apple" in Japanese

Japanese Scripts		Pronunciation
Hiragana	りんご	ringo
Katakana	リンゴ
Kanji	林檎

"Scene for which Japanese uses plural form of noun" and "Convenient word to express plural form of noun in Japanese"

I described, "Almost all Japanese do not express the number of nouns".

"How does the Japanese talk without using the plural form ?"
"How does the Japanese write sentences without using the plural form?"

You might have such a doubt.

And there is a convenient word that supplements the inconvenience though the noun in Japanese doesn't basically have the plural form.

That's "tachi" and "ra".

 

In general, "tachi" is used by living creatures and the fish, etc.

たち/達 [tachi]

English	Japanese
The teachers were surprised.	その 先生たち は 驚いた。 sono sensei-tachi wa odoroira
The men were thief.	その 男達 は 泥棒 だった。 sono otoko-tachi wa dorobou datta.
A lot of dolphins are swimming in the sea.	たくさん の イルカたち が 海で 泳いでいる。 takusan no iruka-tachi ga umide oyoideiru.
All pandas in this zoo are full of energy.	この 動物園 の パンダたち は みんな 元気 いっぱい です。 kono doubutsuen no panda-tachi wa minna genki ippai desu.

*Both "たち[tachi]" and "達[tachi]" are the same meanings.
*It is not used besides the living thing.

 

ら/等 [ra]

English	Japanese
They have been all arrested.	彼ら は皆、逮捕 されました。 kare-ra wa mina, taiho saremashita. written language
The students were ordered to stay on the campus.	学生ら は 構内 に 足止め された。 gakusei-ra wa kounai ni ashidome sareta. written language
I questioned them in detail about the source of the money.	俺は 奴ら に 金 の 出所 を 問いただした。 ore wa yatsu-ra ni kane no dedokoro wo toitadashita. slang word
To Diet members in Japan; You are all fools.	日本の国会議員たちへ；おまえらはみんなアホだ。 nihon no kokkai-giin tachi he; omae-ra wa minna aho da. slang word

*Both "ら[ra]" and "等[ra]" are the same meanings.
*It is not used besides the living thing.
*"ra" is used by chiefly two scenes.

1. Case used in written language by newspaper, magazine, and news report, etc.
2. Case used as slang word.

 

"Article" doesn't exist in countries of a lot of Asia.

Clear difference of Japanese and English; it is existence of "Article".
Because there is not an article in Japanese, the sign word that corresponds to "a" and "the" doesn't exist.

So, Japanese's usage of the article in English is very unskilled generally. (I am also similar.)

Such a grammar doesn't exist in Japanese though the article in English is put on "Specific thing and person".
Look at the example sentence, please.

 

Because the article such as "a" and "the" doesn't exist in Japanese, concept of article isn't necessary on your learning Japanese.

 

<To Japanese teachers>: 日本人の数に対する感覚

日本人以外の方で日本語教師をされておられる方で、「日本語の複数形」について疑問をお持ちの方がいらっしゃいましたら参考になさって下さい。
（何しろ、私の英語は「英語」と呼べないくらいのヘタクソな英語なので。）

日本語には「決まった形の複数形」の名詞が無いということは当然わかってらっしゃると思います。
考えてみると、私たち日本人は非常にあいまいな表現ばかりを使って事物に対する説明をしています。

「今日さぁ、すっごいカラスがいてさぁ」(I have witnessed a lot of crows this morning.)
「ちょっとだけケーキ食べちゃった」(I ate the cake just a little.)
「輪ゴム何本かとってくれる？」(Could you pass the few rubber bands to me?)

などと、敢えて質問しなければ具体的な数量がわからないような表現ばかりを使っています。

そんなだから、学校で英語の学習をし始めるようになると、英語の数に対する規則正しさに違和感を覚えたりもします。

「だいたい」、「若干（じゃっかん）」、「くらい（ぐらい）」、「けっこう」、「マジ（若者言葉）」、「すごく（すごい）」などどいったあいまいな言葉を日本人は好んで使いたがります。

「それはなぜ？」
と聞かれたところで、それはきっと【そういう国民性】としか説明のしようがありません。

言えることは、「はっきりと断言すること（特に意見や主張に対しては）」を日本人は無意識に避けようとする癖を持っているからでしょう。
それはものの数量に対しても同様です。

ですから、日本語の場合、具体的な数が本題でない限りは上記のような「あいまい表現」を使って話すのが日本ではふつうです。（正しい日本語であるかどうかは別として）

そして聞き手が「何人ぐらい？」「何本くらい？」と質問してはじめて「具体的な数量（それでもしつこくあいまいさを残しながら）」を答える、といった具合です。

何かを「ただでもらう時」などは、人にもよりますが、

「何枚差し上げましょうか？」と聞かれた場合、日本人はたいがい
「じゃあ、２～３枚下さい」とあいまいに答えます。

【２～３枚欲しい】と言われたらどうします？

「２枚なのか３枚なのかハッキリしてくれよ！」と思うのではないですか？
さてその場合、日本人同士はどのようにしているのでしょう。
日本人は【２～３枚欲しい】と言われると、たいがい「３枚以上」くれるんですね。

本当は３枚欲しいけど、相手に遠慮して【２～３枚欲しい】と言うのです。
そういう気持ちはお互いにわかってるので、「３枚以上」くれるんです。

なぜか「じゃあ３枚下さい」とハッキリ言う人は少ないのです。

話が少し逸れてしまいましたが、日本人ってホントに変な人種だとつくづく思います（笑）

 

Hararie

 

 

In Japan, there is a peculiar cleaning expression.

 

First of all, I introduce the feature of a Japanese house to you.

One common feature of Japanese houses is that they have many sliding doors.
This is the style seen in modern Japanese houses today.

 

<Japanese style room (Tatami room) >:

たたみ/畳[tatami]

In the old Japan, the almost all houses were Tatami room.
Tatami mats are a traditional Japanese flooring.

Tatami is made of woven rush straw, and packed with straw, and Tatami are made in individual mats of uniform size and shape, bordered by brocade or green cloth.

At Tatami room we sit on the Tatami mat and sleep in futon (Japanese bedding) put down on a Tatami floor.

Though nowadays a wooden flooring room is the main style, there are usually one Japanese style room in the Japanese house.

At Tatami room, we take off slippers.
In the wooden flooring room, we (Japanese) sleep in bed.

 

<Wooden flooring room>:

At the flooring rooms, we use a desk, a table, chairs and a sofa and the bet to sleep.
Flooring rooms are kitchen & dining, living room, bet room (right picture), child room and so on.

Because a Japanese house has such a feature, there is peculiar cleaning in Japan.

 

Well, the following are "Various cleanings in Japanese."

• The dark gray characters is "送りがな[Okuri-gana]".
• The red characters is often omitted on the conversation.
• The image expands by click.

English	Running a vacuum cleaner.	(Vacuum cleaner) inhales garbage.
Action
English	Running a vacuum cleaner.	(Vacuum cleaner) inhales garbage.
Hiragana	そうじき を かける	(そうじき が）ごみ を すいとる
Japanese	掃除機 を かける	（掃除機 が）ゴミ を 吸い取る
Pronunciation	soujiki wo kakeru	(soujiki ga)gomi wo suitoru

English	Mopping the floors.	Cleaning the window.
Action
English	Mopping the floors.	Cleaning the window.
Hiragana	もっぷ を かける	まど を ふく/まどふき を する
Japanese	モップ を かける	窓 を 拭く/窓拭き を する
Pronunciation	moppu wo kakeru	mado wo fuku/madofuki wo suru

English	Sweeping with a broom.	Wiping a table clean.
Action
English	Sweeping (with a broom).	Wiping a table clean
Hiragana	（ほうき で）はく	てーぶる を ふく
Japanese	（ほうき で）掃く	テーブルを拭く
Pronunciation	(houki de) haku	tēburu wo fuku

English	Putting wastepaper into a wastebasket.	Picking up trash.
Action
English	Putting wastepaper (into a wastebasket).	Picking up trash.
Hiragana	（ごみ を）すてる	ごみ を ひろう
Japanese	（ゴミ を）捨てる	ごみ/ゴミ を 拾う
Pronunciation	(gomi wo) suteru	gomi/gomi wo hirou

* All these are expressed in Japanese as "ごみ/ゴミ[Gomi]".

English	Using a duster and dusting the shelves.	Repapering the Shouji.
Action
English	Using a duster and dusting the shelves	Repapering the Shouji
Hiragana	はたき を かける	しょうじ を はりかえる
Japanese	はたき を かける	障子 を 張り替える
Pronunciation	hataki wo kakeru	shouji wo harikaeru

*Usually, both "Hataki" and "Kakeru" are hiraganas.

 

<はたき/ハタキ[hataki]>:
A hataki is a type of household cleaning tool, originating in Japan.
Similar to a feather duster, it is not to be confused with an O-nusa.

But, Hataki is hardly used in recent Japan.

 

<障子[shouji]>:

This a "Shouji" screen used in most traditional Japanese houses as a kind of curtain.
Before glass was introduced, these shoji screens were the only means to have privacy in the house with still enough light coming in to see things clearly.

Bit, since they are made from paper, when a strong wind or storm came over town the shouji screens would be destroyed.
These days we have them inside of the glass windows and they stay much longer.
Direct sun exposed Shouji screens will change color in one season and the Washi paper might need to be replaced new washi.
(In Japan, the Washi paper is called "障子紙[Shouji-gami]" .)

The number of Shouji screens is decreasing at a Japanese house of recent years due to such an inconvenience.

English	Wring a duster.	Wiping with a duster
Action
English	Wring a duster	Wiping with a duster
Hiragana	ぞうきん を しぼる	ぞうきんがけ を する
Japanese	雑巾 を 絞る	雑巾がけ を する
Pronunciation	zoukin wo shiboru	zoukingake wo suru

 

Hararie

Sanshodo-Kotoba tsukaikata ejiten

三省堂ことばつかいかた絵じてん [sanshoudou kotoba tsukaikata e jiten]   In this page, I used the image of this book. This is a book for children in Japan to learn basic Japanese. In this book, the word of Japan that we use in daily life is explained with the image, and it is very convenient. This book will be very useful for you who is learning Japanese. *You can buy this book in Japanese Amazon. (It is not sold outside Japan.)

*Category: カテゴリ(kategori), Tag: タグ(tagu)