used in a comparable situation in Japanese unless you happened to have been ill. In English, you can also say, “All right!” when something turns out the way you were hoping it would, e.g., your favorite baseball team scores a run in a crucial inning. In Japanese, Ii zo! いいぞ (lit., “Great!”) would be used in that case instead of daijōbu. Likewise, daijōbu may not be used in accepting a suggestion. In English, if someone suggests “Let’s go to a movie,” you can indicate your willingness by answering “All right,” but in Japanese you would have to say Ee, ikimashō ええ、行きまし ょう “Yes, let’s go.”
To summarize, daijōbu 大丈夫 is most appropriate when there is a good reason for concern. The function of daijōbu is to dispel that concern. In other words, it is an expression of reassurance. Study the following examples:
EXAMPLES:
(1) A: Abunai! あぶない。
Look out!
B: Daijōbu desu yo.
大丈夫ですよ。
I’m all right.
(2) A: Tanaka-san ni anna shigoto ga dekiru deshō ka.
田中さんにあんな仕事ができるでしょうか。
Do you think Mr. Tanaka can handle that kind of job?
B: Daijōbu desu yo.
大丈夫ですよ。
He’ll be all right.
In both examples above, Daijōbu desu yo 大丈夫ですよ can be paraphrased as “Although you may have a good reason to worry, you don’t really have to.”
Da
Although dake だけ often corresponds to English “only,” as in sentences (1) and (2) below, it does not carry a negative overtone, as “only” does.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Tanaka-san dake kite, hoka no hito wa konakatta.
田中さんだけ来て、他の人は来なかった。
Only Mr. Tanaka came; nobody else did.
(2) Housewife (to maid): Kaimono ni iku nara, gyūnyū dake katte-kite-moraeba ii wa.
買い物に行くなら、牛乳だけ買って来てもらえばいいわ。
If you’re going shopping, the only thing I’d like you to buy is milk.
The positive overtone in dake だけ becomes clear when dake is contrasted with shika . . . nai しか. . . ない, which always carries a negative connotation.
EXAMPLES:
(3) Tanaka-san dake kita.
田中さんだけ来た。
Only Mr. Tanaka came. (i.e., Mr. Tanaka alone came.)
(4) Tanaka-san shika konakatta.
田中さんしか来なかった。
Only Mr. Tanaka came. (i.e., No one but Mr. Tanaka came.)
In (3), the speaker’s focus is on the fact that Mr. Tanaka came (though he was the only one who came). On the other hand, in (4), the speaker’s focus is on the fact that nobody else came. It is because of this difference between dake and shika . . . nai しか. . . ない that we can use only dake in (5), and only shika . . . nai in (6).
EXAMPLES:
| (5) Hoka no hito wa konakatta keredo, Tanaka-san 他の人は来なかったけれど、田中さん | (a) dake wa kita. だけは来た。 (b) *shika konakatta. しか来なかった。 |
Nobody else came, but Mr. Tanaka, though he was the only one, did come.
| (6) Okane ga ni-doru お金が２ドル | (a) *dake atta だけあった。 (b) shika nakatta しかなかった。 | kara, eiga e ikarenakatta. から、映画へ行かれなかった。 |
Since I had only (i.e., no more than) two dollars, I couldn’t go to the movies.
Da
In English, “who” may refer to other things than just persons, e.g.:
EXAMPLES:
(1) In World War II, whom did Japan fight against?
(2) Who beat the Yankees yesterday?
In Japanese, dare 誰 may not be used in the above circumstances. One would use doko どこ (lit., “what place”) instead, as in
EXAMPLES:
(3) Dainijitaisen no toki, Nihon wa doko to tatakatta n desu ka.
第二次大戦の時、日本はどこと戦ったんですか。
lit., At the time of World War II, what places (i.e., what countries) did Japan fight against?
(4) Kinō wa doko ga Yankīzu ni katta n desu ka.
きのうはどこがヤンキーズ勝ったんですか。
lit., Yesterday, what place (i.e., what team) beat the Yankees?
Dekakeru 出かける to go out
Dekakeru 出かける is usually translated into English as “to go out” and is therefore often confused by American students of Japanese with deru 出る, which is also matched up with “to go out.” Dekakeru, however, is quite different from deru in that it is used only in reference to human beings. For example, in sentence (1), either dekakeru 出かける or deru may be used, but in sentence (2), only deru would be correct.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Chichi wa kyō dekakete-imasu (or dete-imasu).
父は今日出かけています（出ています）。
My father is out today.
(2) Konban wa ku-ji-goro tsuki ga deru (not *dekakeru 出かける) hazu da.
今晩は九時頃月が出るはずだ。
