言い習わし(いいならわし)

出る杭は打たれる

(でるくいはうたれる)

The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.

The most commonly-known 言い習わしoutside of Japan is probably 出る杭は打たれる, which means that by standing out, you invite criticism.

 

案ずるより産むが易し

(あんずるよりうむがやすし)

Giving birth to a baby is easier than worrying about it

This is used as a reminder that often our fear is worse than the actual threat of danger.

 

知らぬが仏(しらぬがほとけ)

Not knowing is Buddha.

The best English meaning I can assign to this is “ignorance is bliss,” with bliss being Buddha in the Japanese version.

 

虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず

(こけつにいらずんばこじをえず)

If you don’t enter the tiger’s cave, you can’t catch its cub.

This has to be one of my favorites.

It expresses the same sentiment as “nothing ventured, nothing gained” in English, but literally translates as a perilous adventure with tigers and cubs—which paints a great picture of both the risk and the reward.

 

井の中の蛙大海を知らず

(いのなかのかわずたいかいをしらず)

A frog in a well does not know the great sea

This a wonderful way to express the idea of a person who’s satisfied to judge everything by their own narrow experience, remaining ignorant of the wide world outside.

 

 

鯛も一人はうまからず

(たいもひとりはうまからず)

Eaten alone, even sea bream loses its flavor

Even in modern Japanese, it’s believed that a significant part of the pleasure of eating is to sit around the table to share a meal with loved ones. This philosophy of hospitality, family time and shared meals takes on even more significance in our busy modern lives.

 

腹八分に医者いらず

(はらはちぶにいしゃいらず)

Eight-tenths full keeps the doctor away

This is just like our “an apple a day” saying, but I’d say the Japanese version is a little more helpful for long-term health. Beyond the simple mantra about eating in moderation, this Japanese idiom expresses the cultural taboo of excess in Japan.

 

 

明日のことを言うと天井のネズミが笑う

(あしたのことをいうとてんじょうのねずみがわらう)

If you speak of tomorrow, the rats in the ceiling will laugh.

This is one of the less concise idioms in Japanese, being a quite convoluted way to express a universal truth: The future is unpredictable. This is similar to the English saying, “we make our plans, and God laughs.”

 

 

明日は明日の風が吹く

(あしたはあしたのかぜがふく)

Tomorrow’s winds will blow tomorrow

Now, this is a truly beautiful proverb. It’s a hopeful phrase that means “tomorrow is a new day.”

 

 

雨降って地固まる

(あめふってじかたまる)

After rain falls, the ground hardens

This is yet another beautiful phrase coming straight from nature, with the same idea as in the English, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

 GRAMMAR EXPLANATION

 

Causative Verbs – 使役形

Verbs conjugated into the causative form are used to indicate an action that someone makes happen. This verb is usually used in the context of making somebody do something. The really confusing thing about the causative verb is that it can also mean to let someone do something. A verb in the causative form can mean either making or letting someone do something.

The main particles we are dealing with in causative sentences are は, に, and を.

はis used to mark the subject of the sentence, which is the person who is making/letting someone do something.

Group 1 “U Ending Verbs”

–	Japanese	Romaji	English
Dictionary form	書く	kaku	write
Negative form	書かない	kakanai	don’t write
Causative form	書かせる	kakaseru	make/let write
Dictionary form	話す	hanasu	speak
Negative form	話さない	hanasanai	don’t speak
Causative form	話させる	hanasaseru	make/let speak

 

Group 2 “RU VERBS”

–	Japanese	Romaji	English
Dictionary form	食べる	taberu	eat
Negative form	食べない	tabenai	don’t eat
Causative form	食べさせる	tabesaseru	make/let eat
Dictionary form	見る	miru	see
Negative form	見ない	minai	don’t see
Causative form	見させる	misaseru	make/let see

 

Group III or IRREGULAR VERBS

–	Japanese	Romaji	English
Dictionary form	する	suru	do
Negative form	しない	shinai	don’t do
Causative form	させる	saseru	make/let do
Dictionary form	来る	kuru	come
Negative form	来ない	konai	don’t come
Causative form	来させる	kosaseru	make/let come

 

 

Uses:

Compulsion

例：

1.  私は犬を走らせました。

I made the dog ran

2.  お母さんは子供に荷物を

持たせました。

The mother let the child to bring the

luggage.

 

Permission / Kindness

例：

1.  先生は子供たちを遊ばせました。

The teacher let the children to played.

2.  お母さんは子供たちに好き

なテレビゲームをやらせています。

The mother let the children to play television games.

 

Induction/Lead up to…

例：

1.  デクスターさんはおもしろい

ことをして学生たちを笑わせました。

Mr. Dexter made the students to laughed

by doing funny things.

 

 

Passive Verbs – 受身形

The passive is formed by using the verb to be + past participle. In Japanese, passive forms are more often used in articles and essays. The use of the passive form is often discouraged in English so it may take you a little while to get used to．

 

Group 1 “U Ending Verbs”

Japanese	Romaji	English
1. 笑  ➝ 笑わ  ➝ 笑われる	1.  wara  ➝ warawa ➝                warawareru	to laugh  ➝ to be laughed
2.  書  ➝ 書か  ➝ 書かれる	2.  ka  ➝ kaka  ➝                                kakareru	to write  ➝ to be written
3.  泳  ➝ 泳が  ➝ 泳がれる	3.  oyo  ➝ oyoga  ➝                        oyogareru	to swim  ➝ to be swum
4.  待  ➝ 待た  ➝ 待たれる	4.  ma  ➝ mata  ➝                             matareru	to wait  ➝ to be waited
5.  遊  ➝ 遊ば  ➝ 遊ばれる	5.  aso  ➝ asoba  ➝                         asobareru	to play  ➝ to be played
6.  盗  ➝ 盗ま  ➝ 盗まれる	6.  nusu  ➝ nusuma  ➝               nusumareru	to steal  ➝ to be stolen

 

English
1.  to laugh ➝ to be laughed	1.  Unknown Deleted: う (U)
2.  to write ➝ to be written	2.  Unknown Deleted: く (KU)
3.  to swim ➝ to be swum	3.  Unknown Deleted: ぐ (GU)
4.  to wait ➝ to be waited	4.  Unknown Deleted: つ (TSU)
5.  to play ➝ to be played	5.   Unknown Deleted: ぶ (BU)
6.  to steal ➝ to be stolen	6.  Unknown Deleted: む (MU)

Group 2 “RU VERBS”

Japanese

食べる  ➝ 食べら  ➝ 食べられる

Romaji

taberu  ➝ tabera  ➝ taberareru

English

to eat  ➝ to be eaten

 

Group III or IRREGULAR VERBS

Japanese	する➝される
	来る➝来られる
Romaji	suru➝sareru
	kuru➝korareru
English	to do  ➝to be done
	to come  ➝to be come

 

Uses:

Basic passive sentence with a phrase centered on the speaker’s （私）

 

例：

1.  母は私を起こしました。

My mother woke me up.

(usual sentence)

私は母に起こされました。

I was woken up by my mother.

(passive sentence)

2.  先生は私にいろいろなことを

聞きました。

My teacher asked me many things.

(usual sentence)

私は先生にいろいろなことを聞かれました。

I was asked many things by my  teacher.

(passive sentence)

Passive sentence where part of one’s body, property or related thing is acted upon.

例：

1.  犬は私の手を噛みました。

The dog bit my hand. (usual sentence)

私は犬に手を嚙まれた。

I was bitten by a dog. (passive sentence)

私の手は犬に嚙まれた。

My hand bitten a dog. (X sentence)

 

Passive sentence where one suffers damage or feel inconvenience.

例：

1.  どろぼうが入って、私は困りました。

I was in trouble when a thief got in.

どろぼうに入られて、私は困りました。

I was in trouble when I was robbed.

 

2.  となりの人が七階建てのマンション

を建てたので、私の家は暗くなりました。

My house got dark because the person next to me built a seven-story apartment.

となりの人に七階建てのマンションを建てられて、

私の家は暗くなりました。

My house got dark when a neighbor built

a seven-story apartment.

Passive sentence where the person who acts/acted is not specified or social fact is mentioned.

例：

1.  この寺は３００年前に建てられました

This temple was built 300 years ago.

Using passive form to show politeness.

While we will go over various types of grammar that express a politeness level above the normal -masu/-desu forms in the next lesson, it is useful to know that using passive form is another more polite way to express an action. In Japanese, a sentence is usually more polite when it is less direct. For example, it is more polite to refer to someone by his or her name and not by the direct pronoun “you”. It is also more polite to ask a negative question than a positive one.  

                                                                                                (For example, しますか？ vs. しませんか？)                                                                    In a similar sense, using the passive form makes the sentence less direct because the subject does not directly perform the action. This makes it sound more polite. Here is the same sentence in increasing degrees of politeness.

（１）　どうする？– What will you do? (lit: How do?)

（２）　どうしますか？– Regular polite.

（３）　どうされますか？– Passive polite.

（４）　どうなさいますか？– Honorific

                (to be covered next lesson)

（５）　どうなさいますでしょうか？–

                Honorific + a lesser degree of certainty.

Notice how the same sentence grows longer and longer as you get more and more indirect.

 

Examples:

1.  レシートはどうされますか？

What about your receipt?

(lit: How will you do receipt?)

 

2.  明日の会議に行かれるんですか？

Are you going to tomorrow’s meeting?

 

Causative Passive Verbs – 使役受身形

The causative-passive form is simply the combination of causative and passive conjugations to mean that the action of making someone do something was done to that person. This would effectively translate into, “[someone] is made to do [something]”. The important thing to remember is the order of conjugation. The verb is first conjugated to the causative and then conjugated into passive form.

How do you make a Japanese causative passive form verb

To create a saserareru させられる form verb you must first look at the verb in its specific verb group.

For group 1 the “iru / eru-verbs”  change the finalるwith させられる.

For group 2 the “u-verbs” change the verb to its negative plain form and swapないfor せられる.

For Group 3, well these are exceptions so just remember that:

するbecomes させられる

くるbecomes こさせられる

 

Look at the table below to see some real verbs being conjugated into the causative passive form. Pay close attention to their verb group.

Taberu	たべる	tabesaserareru	たべさせる
Nomu	のむ	nomaserareru	飲ませられる
Suru	する	saserareru	させられる
kiku	きく	kikaserareru	きかせられる
yomu	よむ	yomaserareru	よませられる
kaku	かく	kakaserareru	かかせられる
oyogu	およぐ	oyogaserareru	およがせられる

 

 Uses:

The causative passive sentence. One’s feeling of unhappiness is expressed.

• A person acts reluctantly because he/she receives an order or instruction from someone.

例：

1.  毎日母に野菜を食べさせられる。

Every day, my mother forces me to eat vegetables.

2.  金曜日には家族のレストランで

     手伝わせられる。

On friday, i am forced to help out with the family restaurant.

3.  先生に毎日宿題をさせられる。
I am made to do homework everyday                                  by my teacher.

 

One cannot control one’s emotions because                        of an other person’s action.

1.  私は娘に心配させられました。

My daughter made me worry.

2.  私たちは時々宮本さんに

    びっくりさせられました。

We were sometimes surprised by  Mr. Miyamoto.