Page 75 - Easy Japanese - Learn to Speak Japanese Quickly! (TUTTLE)

GRAMMAR NOTE The Particle de “By Means Of”

A noun followed by particle de indicates how something is done. Note that there
are a number of ways in which this might be translated into English.

Supūn de tabemasu. I’ll eat with a spoon.

Takushī de ikimasu. I’ll go by a taxi.
Nihongo de hanashimashita. I spoke in Japanese.
Note: You can request someone to speak in English by saying: Sumimasen. Eigo

de onegai-shimasu. “Excuse me. In English, please.”

GRAMMAR NOTE Asking and Explaining Why Using kara

“Because”
In the sequence of / Statement A kara Statement B/, Statement A represents the
cause and Statement B the effect. Kara here means “because” rather than

“from”.
Eigo-go desu kara Because it’s (in) English, I don’t
wakarimasen. understand.

Wakarimasen kara Because I don’t understand it, I’ll
kikimasu. ask.

Statement B can be left unsaid when it is understood from the context.

Ikimasen ka. You are not going?
Ee, Nichi-yōbi desu kara. Right. Because it’s Sunday.

The clause particles kara and kedo “but” are opposites of each other. Compare

the following.
Nichi-yōbi desu kara, Because it’s Sunday, I’ll not
hatarakimasen. work.

Nichi-yōbi desu kedo, It’s Sunday, but I’ll work.
hatarakimasu.

GRAMMAR NOTE Asking Questions with “Why”
There are three Japanese words for “why”. Dō shite is most common, naze more

formal, and nan de is casual. Desu ka can directly follow them if the rest of the
sentence is understood from the context.