Heya wa anmari kitanaku nai.
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10. Atama wa itaku nakatta.
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11. Ano chiimu wa totemo tsuyoi desu.
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12. Kore wa mezurashii okashi desu ne.
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13. Sora wa aoi desu ka?
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14. Ano michi wa abunakatta.
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15. Kabe wa shiroku arimasen deshita.
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Answer no to these questions:
1. Kuruma wa kuroi desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
2. Kinoo wa mushiatsukatta desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
3. Nihon no o-cha wa mezurashii desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
4. Atama wa itakatta desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
5. Anata wa ima ureshii desu ka?
Iie.______________________________________
Try making your own sentences using the following words. Use as many of the forms studied as possible.
Example: kyoo—samui Kyoo wa samuku arimasen.
1. neko—kawaii
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2. tenki—warui
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3. kuruma—abunai
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4. keshiki—subarashii
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5. toire—kitanai
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Try changing these adjectives as indicated by the English sentence. Use the formal form.
1. It was very dirty. _____________________
2. I’m not happy. _____________________
3. He was cute. _____________________
4. I wasn’t lonely. _____________________
5. It’s not dangerous. _____________________
6. It was red. _____________________
Do the same for the following, but use the plain form:
1. Awesome! _____________________
2. It’s not unusual. _____________________
3. It wasn’t blue. _____________________
4. It was quite detailed. _____________________
5. She isn’t strict at all. _____________________
6. The Goldilocks Level and the Negative
As you learned previously, it is possible to form both formal and informal levels in both the past and non-past tenses in Japanese. However, in both the negative past and the negative non-past, it is possible to create an intermediate level between the formal and informal levels. I like to call this the Goldilocks level as it is neither too formal nor too informal. For most occasions, it is just right. This level is only applicable for adjectives in their negative form.
The Goldilocks level is simply gotten by adding the word desu to the plain form of the negative adjective. This is done in both the past and non-past tenses. In this use, the word desu is never changed to deshita in the past.
| Example: | atsuku nai becomes atsuku nai desu. atsuku nakatta becomes atsuku nakatta desu. |
The meanings of atsuku nai, atsuku arimasen, atsuku nai desu are the same, i.e., it is not hot. The only difference is the level of formality.
Let’s work on the negative of the non-past. Give the levels indicated for each adjective:
| Example: | tooi | |
| Formal | Tooku arimasen. | |
| Plain | Tooku nai. | |
| Goldilocks | Tooku nai desu. | |
| English | It is not far. |
| 1. | samui _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
| 2. | tanoshii _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
| 3. | amai _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
| 4. | atatakai _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
| 5. | osoi _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
| Now try the past negative: | |
| 1. | muzukashii _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
| 2. | chikai _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
| 3. | isogashii _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
| 4. | ii _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
| 5. | akai (red) _____________________Formal _____________________Plain _____________________Goldilocks _____________________English _____________________ |
Goldilocks is a level often used by the Japanese in conversation, as it is polite without stuffiness, and friendly without rudeness.
To summarize,
