| Satoo | : | Greg-san wa itsu Nihon ni kimashita ka? |
| Greg | : | Sengetsu kimashita. |
| Satoo | : | Uchi wa doko desu ka? |
| Greg | : | Hiroo desu. |
| Satoo | : | Dooyatte kaisha ni ikimasu ka? |
| Greg | : | Chikatetsu de ikimasu. |
| Satoo | : | Uchi kara kaisha made donogurai kakarimasu ka? |
| Greg | : | 30-pun gurai desu. |
| Satoo | : | Ashita doko ni ikimasu ka? |
| Greg | : | Ashita wa tomodachi to kaimono ni ikimasu. Satoo-san wa? |
| Satoo | : | Watashi wa kaisha no hito to gorufu ni ikimasu. |
| Greg | : | Soo desu ka. |
| Satoo | : | When did you come to Japan? |
| Greg | : | I came to Japana last month. |
| Satoo | : | Where is your house? |
| Greg | : | In Hiroo. |
| Satoo | : | How do you go to your office? |
| Greg | : | I go to my office by subway. |
| Satoo | : | How long does it take from your house to your office? |
| Greg | : | It takes about 30 minutes. |
| Satoo | : | Where will you go tomorrow? |
| Greg | : | I will go shopping with my friend tomorrow. How about you? |
| Satoo | : | I'm going to (play) golf with my colleagues. |
| Greg | : | I see. |
Key Sentences
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1. | Watashi wa kyoo ginkoo ni ikimasu. |
| I will go to the bank today. |
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2. | Kodomo wa 3-ji goro uchi ni kaerimasu. |
| My child comes back home around 3 o'clock. |
|
3. | Watashi wa sen-getsu Nihon ni kimashita. |
| I came to Japan last month. |
|
4. | Q | : | Nichi-yoobi doko ni ikimasu ka? |
| A | : | Umi ni ikimasu. |
| Q | : | Where will you go on Sunday? |
| A | : | I will go to the beach. (lit. go to the sea) |
|
5. | Katoo-san wa natsu-yasumi kazoku to Bari ni ikimashita. |
| Katoo went to Bali with his family for the summer holidays. |
|
6. | Q | : | Dare to Kyuushuu ni ikimasu ka? |
| A | : | Kaisha no hito to ikimasu. |
| Q | : | Whom will you go to Kyushu With? |
| A | : | I will go with a person from my office. |
|
7. | Watashi wa densha de kaisha ni ikimasu. |
| I go to my office by train. |
|
8. | Q | : | Dooyatte kaisha ni ikimasu ka? |
| A | : | Chikatetsu de ikimasu. |
| Q | : | How do you go to your office? |
| A | : | I go by subway. |
Grammar Notes
Ikimasu, kimasu, kaerimasu "to go", "to come", "to return"
Ikimasu, "to go", kimasu, "to come" and kaerimasu, "to return" are verbs.
These verbs come at the end of the sentence and conjugate to show present or past tenses as well as affirmative and negative.
In Japanese, there are two tenses, past and non-past. Since there is no future tense the non-past is used for both habitual action and future tense.
|
| Affirmative
| Negative
|
| non-past |
iki-masu |
iki-masen |
| Past |
iki-mashita |
iki-masendeshita |
|
| Non-Past Affirmative
| Non-Past Negative
| Past Affirmative
| Past Negative
|
| go |
ikimasu |
ikimasen |
ikimashita |
ikimasendeshita |
| come |
kimasu |
kimasen |
kimashita |
kimasendeshita |
| return |
kaerimasu |
kaerimasen |
kaerimashita |
kaerimasendeshita |
(place) ni ikimasu
The place you are going or coming to is indicated by the particle ni or e, which means "to".
Our materials use ni. The particle ni is an indirect object marker.
This particle follows an indirect object such as direction of an action or a purpose of going or coming.
The subject is often omitted if it is understood; "time" or "place" can be also omitted if they are understood.
When you omit "place" you must also omit the particle ni.

| 1. | Watashi wa ashita Osaka ni ikimasu. |
| I will go (I'm going) to Osaka tomorrow. |
| 2. | Smith-san wa sengetsu Nihon ni kimashita. |
| Smith came to Japan last month. |
| 3. | Watashi wa konban 8-ji goro uchi ni kaerimasu. |
| I will return home around 8:00 tonight. |
| 4. | A | : | Kinoo doko ni ikimashita ka? |
| B | : | Sukii ni ikimashita. |
| A | : | Where did you go yesterday? |
| B | : | I went skiing. |
Densha de "by train"
The particle de expresses a means or a way, for example, densha de "by train", kuruma de "by car".
When asking "how", dooyatte is commonly used.
There is an exception: "by foot" is aruite, or aruite ikimasu meaning "go by foot".
| densha de |
by train |
jitensha de |
by bicycle |
| chikatetsu de |
by subway |
hikooki de |
by plane |
| kuruma de |
by car |
aruite |
by foot, on foot |
| 1. | Watashi wa densha de kaisha ni ikimasu. |
| I go to my office by train. |
| 2. | Susan-san wa aruite kaimono ni ikimasu. |
| Susan goes shopping by foot. |
| 3. | A | : | Dooyatte kaisha ni ikimasu ka? |
| B | : | Kuruma de ikimasu. |
| A | : | How do you go to your office? |
| B | : | I go by car. |
(Person) to "with person"
"With person" is indicated by the particle to, Katoo-san to, "with Katoo".
"Alone" is hitori de: hitori de ikimasu "I'll go alone".
Dare means "who" and dare to means "with whom".
| Smith-san to |
with Smith |
kaisha no hito to |
with my colleague |
| tomodachi to |
with my friend |
hitori de |
alone, by myself |
| kazoku to |
with my family |
|
|
| 1. | Watashi wa ashita Katoo-san to Ginza ni ikimasu. |
| I will go to Ginza with Katoo tomorrow. |
| 2. | Watashi wa hitori de kaimono ni ikimashita. |
| 3. | A | : | Dare to umi ni ikimashita ka? |
| B | : | Tomodachi to ikimashita. |
| A | : | Who did you go to the beach with? |
| B | : | I went with my friend(s). |
Wa "Topic marker"
The particle wa follows a subject or a topic of a sentence.
The topic often refers to the same thing as the subject, but not necessarily.
| a. | Watashi wa ashita kaimono ni ikimasu. |
| I will go shopping tomorrow. |
| b. | Satoo | : | Greg-san wa ashita doko ni ikimasu ka? |
| Greg | : | (Watashi wa) Ashita wa kaimono ni ikimasu. |
| Satoo | : | Where are you going tomorrow? |
| Greg | : | As for tomorrow, I'm going shopping. |
In a), Watashi is a subject of a sentence. In b), the subject is Watashi and ashita is a topic of a sentence.
Satoo asked Greg about tomorrow's schedule and Greg presented ashita as a topic of a statement with the particle wa. A topic can be an object, time, place, etc.
(time) ni "Specific time marker"
The particle ni also follows specific time and expresses an accurate time.
You cannot put the time marker ni to the relative time words.
Specific time
| time |
1-ji, 2-ji, 3-ji, ... |
1:00, 2:00, 3:00 |
| days of the week |
getsu-yoobi, ka-yoobi, ... |
Monday, Tuesday |
| dates of the month |
tsuitachi, futsuka, mikka, ... |
1st., 2nd., 3rd. |
| months |
1-gatsu, 2-gatsu, 3-gatsu, ... |
January, February, March |
| years |
2004-nen, 2005-nen, ... |
2004, 2005 |
Relative time
| days |
kinoo, kyoo, ashita |
yesterday, today, tomorrow |
| weeks |
senshuu, konshuu, raishuu |
last week, this week, next week |
| months |
sengetsu, kongetsu, raigetsu |
last mont, this month, next month |
| years |
kyonen, kotoshi, rainen |
last year, this year, next year |
| morning, night |
asa, hiru, ban |
morning, noon, night |
 | Watashi wa do-yoobi ni Osaka ni ikimasu. | Specific time |
 | Watashi wa ashita ni Osaka ni ikimasu. | Relative time |
You can omit the time marker ni.
 | Watashi wa getsu-yoobi ni Kyoto ni ikimasu. |
 | Watashi wa getsu-yoobi Kyoto ni ikimasu. |
| I will go to Kyoto on Monday. |
|
Vocabulary
aruite
by foot, by walking
ashita
tomorrow
Bari
Bali island
chikatetsu
subway
chikatetsu de
by subway
dare
who
dare to
with whom
de
particle indicating a means, way or method, "by"
densha
train
densha de
by train
desu
is, are, am
doko
where
donogurai
how long, how far, how much, how big
dooyatte
how (asking a means)
do-yoobi
Saturday
getsu-yoobi
Monday
ginkoo
bank
goro
around (time)
gorufu
golf
gurai
about, approximately
Hiroo
place name
hito
person, people
hitori
one person
hitori de
alone, by oneself
ikimasu
to go
itsu
when
ji (-ji)
o'clock, time
ka?
question marker
kaerimasu
to return, go home
kaimono
shopping
kaisha
company, office
kaisha no hito
co-worker, colleague, person from one's office
kakarimasu
to take time, to cost
kara
from
kazoku
family
kazoku to
with family
kimasu
to come
kinoo
yesterday
kodomo
child, children, kid
konban
tonight
kuruma
car
kyoo
today
Kyuushuu
place name
made
till, until, to
natsu-yasumi
summer holidays, summer vacation
ni
particle indicating an indirect object or a direction of an action
ni
particle indicating a specific time
nichi-yoobi
Sunday
Osaka
place name
pun (-pun)
minutes
sengetsu
last month
sen-getsu
last month
soo desu ka
I see
sukii
ski, skiing
to
and / with (person)
tomodachi
friend
tomodachi to
with friend
uchi
house, home
umi
sea, ocean, beach
wa
particle indicating a topic or a subject
watashi
I
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