(1) *Amerika no sensei wa gakusei ga shitsumon o kiku koto o hagemasu.
*アメリカの先生は学生が質問を聞くことを励ます。
American teachers encourage their students to ask questions.
Aside from the fact that shitsumon o kiku 質問を聞く should be replaced by shitsumon o suru 質問する to mean “to ask questions,” the above sentence is wrong in that hagemasu 励ます is not used correctly. Hagemasu basically means “to encourage someone who is down-hearted,” as in
EXAMPLE:
(2) Nyūgakushiken ni ochita tomodachi o hagemashita.
入学試験に落ちた友達を励ました。
I encouraged a friend who flunked an entrance exam.
Sentence (1) should probably be rephrased as below.
EXAMPLE:
(3) Amerika no sensei wa gakusei kara no shitsumon o kangei-suru.
アメリカの先生は学生からの質問を歓迎する。
American teachers welcome questions from their students.
Ha
Hageshii 激しい in the sense of “violent” may be used to describe weather-related things such as kaze 風 “wind,” ame 雨 “rain,” arashi 嵐 “storm,” and yuki 雪 “snow.” It may also serve an adjective for kotoba 言葉 “words,” kanjō 感情 “feelings,” etc., as in:
EXAMPLE:
(1) Hageshii kotoba o butsuke-atta.
激しい言葉をぶつけ合った。
They hurled fiery words at each other.
Hageshii 激しい, however, is inappropriate for describing such things as societies and movies. For example, sentences (2a) and (2b) are both strange.
EXAMPLES:
(2a) *Konogoro shakai ga hageshiku natte-kita.
*このごろ社会が激しくなってきた。
Recently society has become violent.
(2b) *Watashi wa hageshii eiga wa suki ja nai.
*私は激しい映画は好きじゃない。
I don’t like violent movies.
To make these sentences appropriate, use bōryoku 暴力 “violence” or its derivatives.
EXAMPLES:
(3a) Konogoro shakai ga bōryoku-teki ni natte-kita (or bōryoku-ka shite-kita).
このごろ社会が暴力的になってきた。（暴力化してきた。）
(3b) Watashi wa bōryoku-eiga wa suki ja nai.
私は暴力映画は好きじゃない。
Ha
Words for “mother” function in parallel to those for “father.” The basic rules are: haha 母 corresponds to chichi 父, okā-san お母さん to otō-san お父さん, and ofukuro お袋 to oyaji 親父 (see CHICHI).
Ha
Hai はい is used in response to questions (also requests, demands, and suggestions) to signal agreement or assent. Although hai is often equated with “yes,” it is not the same as “yes”; it is more like “That’s right.” In fact, it corresponds to “yes” only when used as a response to affirmative questions. In response to negative questions, it corresponds to “no.”
EXAMPLES:
(1) A: Wakarimasu ka. (affirmative question)
分かりますか。
Do you understand?
B: Hai, wakarimasu.
はい、分かります。
Yes, I do. (lit., That’s right. I understand.)
(2) A: Wakarimasen ka. (negative question)
分かりませんか。
Don’t you understand?
B: Hai, wakarimasen.
はい、分かりません。
No, I don’t. (lit., That’s right. I don’t understand.)
From the above examples, the following becomes clear. In English, what determines the choice between “yes” and “no” is what follows; i.e., if what follows is in the affirmative (e.g., “I do”), you use “yes,” whereas if what follows is in the negative (e.g., “I don’t”), you use “no.” In Japanese, on the other hand, what determines the choice of hai はい or iie いいえ (see IIE) is whether you wish to indicate agreement or disagreement with the question. If you agree, you use hai はい, and if you disagree, you use iie いいえ; whether what follows is in the affirmative (e.g., wakarimasu 分かります) or in the negative (e.g., wakarimasen 分かりません) is immaterial.
Hai はい, when used in response to negative questions, usually corresponds to “no,” as explained above. There are some cases, however, where hai はい used as a response to negative questions corresponds to “yes” instead.
EXAMPLE:
(3) A: Genki-sō ni natta ja arimasen ka.
元気そうになったじゃありませんか。
Aren’t you looking perfectly well!
B: Hai, okage-sama de, kono goro wa sukkari genki ni narimashita.
はい、おかげさまで、このごろはすっかり元気になりました。
Yes, I’m perfectly well now, thank you.
The above question, though negative in form, is actually affirmative in spirit. What the question really means is “You’re looking perfectly well, and that’s great!” Speaker
