J131 Reflections Material Ch. Test L. 5

1. This lesson continued to work with two patterns we actually learned in L. 4 about LOCATING OBJECTS with sentence patterns like:

SOME LOCATION に SOME THING が　ありまあす

e.g.,

本だな　の　上に　とけい　が　あります

On top of the Bookshelf, THERE IS a Clock.

Or,

SOMETHING は SOME LOCATION に あります

とけい　は　本だな　の　上　に　あります　

So this tells us WHERE the CLOCK is Located

 

2. If we see a "Where" (どこ) Question:

"Where is the TV?"

テレビ　は　どこ　に　ありますか

We should say:

"It is IN FRONT OF （まえ）the Closet," starting with the word for Closet, おしいれ:

おしいれ　の まえ　に　あります　

Or

おしいれ　の まえ　です

Another possible answer:

 

"It is on the Right side of the Room"

へや　の　みぎ　に　あります

Or, even,

"It is near the Sofa" =

ソファーの　ちかく　に　あります

 

2. All of the Above sentences could end in です instead of に　あります; but you have to omit the に if you are going to end with です. We will never have に and です in the same sentence, right next to each other. No sentences will end with に　です.

 

Another "Where" question:

3. Where is the dog?

いぬ　は　どこ　に　いますか

Ans: Outside the window =

We start with "window" and add "outside of" to it:

まど　の　そと　に　います　

(The verb of location/existence has to change from

あります to います because a dog is a living thing.)

 

4. これ は　means "as for this thing;" it is most often used at the beginning of a です sentence.

これ は　本　です = This (thing) is a book.

それ　です means "It's that one" so the sentence "The splendid one is that one" would be

りっぱな の　は　それです。

 

5. Sentences like "The bed IS underneath the window" can be です sentences or に　あります.

ベッドは　まどの下　に　あります; or　まどの下　です

"The student union IS near Goudy"

学生かいかん　は　ガウデイ 　の　ちかく　に　あります OR ガウデイ 　の　ちかく で

Remember that an IS sentence is slightly different from a THERE IS sentence that says something EXISTS or IS IN SOME LOCATION:

"Underneath the window, THERE IS a bed." i.e.,

a Bed exists in a certain location.

まど の 下 に　ベッド が　あります

Since this one starts withe a LOCATION followed by に, it has to end in あります.

But if we start the sentence with some Object/Thing + は, then it can end in either に　あります or です.

But we tend to get used to starting off our sentences about WHERE something is located with the LOCATION such as "In some Location に..."

So if we want to change and go with です, we need to NOT INCLUDE that に because, as noted above, に and です cannot wind up right next to each other!

6. RECAP: all the English sentences that say "In some Location THERE IS a...." we need to think about the LOC に THING が あります Pattern.

When we are asked WHERE something is located, we do not need to repeat the THING we are talking about, the thing we are locating, so we can just respond:

"Loc に　あります." e.g.

Where is the TV? =

テレビ は　どこ に　ありますか.

Ans: へや の　みぎ　に あります. =

"It's on the right (side) of the room."

No need to repeat TV again. Of course, if the Question is "What is on the right side of the room," that is a different question.

 

へやの　みぎ　に なに　が　ありますか

Lit: On the right side of the room, WHAT is there? WHAT exists in that location?

and if the answer is the TV we would say：

テレビ が　あります = There is a TV. Or just

テレビ です= It's (the answer is) a TV.

BUT, please remember that when you are using the

あります pattern, the が goes with the THING so if the Thing is not being mentioned, then there is no place for the が in the sentence.

Students sometime write responses like

えの　下が　あります =

But that would mean literally something like "There is an underneath the Picture" which doesn't make much sense. It should be

え の 下 に あります

"It is (located) underneath the picture/painting"

using に to locate the object in space.

ADVICE: Try to keep your に and が straight.

The KEY Pattern to remember is:

In some LOC に Some THING が あります.

Sometimes we will talk about the LOC and what is there; other times we may be talking about the Thing or the Object and Locating it.

What if we ask

"What is above the bookcase?" =

本だな　の　上 に　なにが　ありますか.

This is a WHAT (何) QUESTION so the answer will be:

Some THING が　あります. Right?

In this case, perhaps a clock:

とけい が　あります = There is a clock.

Or a Photograph

しゃしんが　あります = There is a photograph

Remember how QUESTION WORDS work in Japanese: you can pretty much just put your answer to Where or What right where the Question Word was and be good to go.

 

Example: If the question is,

"Where is the desk?"

The reply should not be,

"Underneath the book," although that is grammatically possible. But who says that? That is not a very helpful location response.

The answer might be "In front of the Window" or

まどの　まえ　に　あります

 

If we are asking where the book is, we would want to say,

It is on top of the desk...right?

つくえ　の　上　に　あります

 

Would we ever say in English：

"The desk is under the book" Not really.

But the Question "Where is something"

X は　どこ に　ありますか　or どこ ですか

is going to yield a reponse like

"It's in X Location"

X LOC に　あります or X LOC です　

本は　どこ　に　ありますか／どこですか

つくえ の 上　に　あります／です or

つくえ の 上 です

Both mean

"It is on top of the desk."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Finally Vocab!

We had 4 new い Adjectives in L. 5:

あかるい、くらい、ひろい、せまい、

and one な　Adjective しずか

After spending 2 weeks on the lesson should't you be able to remember 5 new items like this? If you are not able to do so, then you may need to spend more time just saying each vocab item out loud, multiple times, repeating, practicing them in sentences, etc. You should start doing this on Day #1 of the New Lesson when the text introduces the new items...and keep doing it as needs be. Just a few minutes per day; work on verbs one day, adjectives another, new nouns...etc..

I know, I know, you have to add these 5 new items to the 14 we already had in L. 4:

大きい　　小さい　

あたらしい　　ふるい　

たかい　＋　

our colors:

しろい　くろい　

あかい　あおい　

きいろい　ちゃいろい　

and our 3 な Adjectives:

きれい　

ゆうめい　

りっぱ

 

But, still, this is manageable if you go about it the right way.

 

 

 

 

 

Instructions