Page 309 - Basic Japanese

In this expression, the particle used is wa. If you use a

quantity word, however, the particle must be o.

O-cha o ip-pai ikaga desu O-cha o mō sukoshi ikaga
ka. desu ka.

How about a cup of How about a little more

tea? tea?

6.22. hitotsu

Sometimes the word hitotsu is used, not to mean ‘one’ of

something but to mean ‘just,’ ‘a little,’ ‘some,’ or ‘once’:

Chūka-ryōri o hitotsu ikaga desu ka.
How about some Chinese food?

Dewa Tanaka-san ni hitotsu kyōryoku shite mimashō.
Okay then, let me collaborate with Mr. Tanaka a
little.

6.23. Only: -dake and -shika

There are two common ways to say ‘only’ in Japanese: dake
and shika. Dake is a particle that means something like ‘to

the extent of’ and ‘to the limit of.’ When following a noun
that would ordinarily take the particle ga or o, usually only

dake occurs; but if the noun is followed by some particle