#grammar explanation

[dany-japanese-study]

Found a really cool channel Sarah Moon Japanese by an anime/video game translator. I find this type of text breakdown is quite useful. 

There’s song lyrics explanations: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZZRLam3SpTPKFY6LkHtkf6BEbFmDbgfS (Love this obviously)

Here she makes a walk through the translation process of a light novel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZZRLam3SpTNBpvDsp9nxFVYsFre-YI46 9 (Technically above my level but, I’m stubborn mule so…)

And a Learn Japanese with Sailor moon playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZZRLam3SpTN7jI9bQlmOvTR_Ohly79B9

[linguacoreana]

General rules

Who needs it?

Be careful of the person who needs something. In Turkish, we will almost always attach it to the verb as a personal suffix. A few of these attach to the "need" word, but not all. Because they are the owners of a verb, what is the subject in English becomes a possessor in Turkish. For example:

Sizin Türkçe daha fazla konuşmanız gerek. = You need to speak more Turkish. (Literally, Your speaking more Turkish is necessary)

You don't need to include Sizin in the last sentence, but if you do include, it must be possessive Sizin and not Siz.

The infinitive

As you probably know, -mak/mek is the Turkish infinitive. This is the ending you will see if there are no other endings attached. However, once you add any personal ending (ex: -m, -n, -sı, -mız, -nız) or any noun case (ex: -ı, -a, -da, -dan, -la), that ending -k is dropped. However, in the absence of any ending, the Turkish verb can keep -mak/mek.

Remember that if you want an impersonal need, you can do that by not adding any personal ending and keeping that infinitive -mak/mek. In English, we would have to change the verb to passive or use a unique adjective like "necessary" to denote impersonal necessity. In Turkish, impersonal is the default, and we must add person by adding a personal suffix.

Arabayla gitmek gerek. = It is necessary to go by car. (impersonal)

Arabayla gitmen gerek. = YOU have to go by car. (personal to you)

When choosing your Turkish ending, try to keep in mind if you are using impersonal you or the actual 2nd person YOU. It might be identical in English, but it can be different in Turkish.

Part of speech?

Something else to keep in mind before listing all these words is what part of speech you need. Do you need a noun or a verb? For example, I need water vs. I need to drink water. This will help you narrow down what you want to use.

gerek

-ma + personal ending + gerek

This one is very flexible because gerekmek is also a verb meaning to be necessary/to be needed, to which you can attach time suffixes.

Bugün çamaşır yıkamam gerek. / Bugün çamaşır yıkamam gerekiyor. = I need to do laundry today.

Yarın meşgul olacak mısın? Bana yardım etmen gerekecek. = Will you be busy tomorrow? You'll need to help me.

Bu sabah çok erken uyanmam gerekti. Bu yüzden çok yorgunum. = I had to wake up so early this morning. That's why I am so tired.

Be careful to not put the personal suffix on gerek.

şart

-ma + personal ending + şart

This word originally means "condition," so this affects how we use it. It's an adjective that means "necessary" or "needed," so just like gerek, we don't add a personal suffix onto şart but onto the verb. Because of its meaning of condition, this adjective must be with a nominal verb; you cannot use a noun. A noun is not a condition; a verb is a condition.

Her gün Türkçe öğrenmemiz şart. = We need to learn Turkish every day.

Dışarı çıkmadan önce anahtarım bulmam şart. = I need to find my key before I go out.

lazım

-ma + personal ending + lazım

This word has the same meanings as all the others. It is grammatically the same as şart; you should use verbs with personal suffixes and no suffix on the adjective lazım.

Bu kitabı okuman lazım. = You should read this book.

Meyveler ve sebzeler daha fazla yemem lazım. = I need to eat more fruits and vegetables.

-meli/malı-

verb + -meli/malı- + personal ending

This is not a word. This is an affix. More specifically, it is an infix that you put in the middle of the word with a verb root before and a personal ending after. This can only be attached to verbs.

Üşüdüğümde sıcak çay içmeliyim. = I have to drink hot tea when I am cold.

Çok Türkçe kelimeleri hatırlamalısın. = You have to remember a lot of Turkish words.

mecbur

-ma + -ya/ye + mecbur + personal ending

The meaning is the same on this one, but the syntax has changed a lot. Again, we need a verb with -ma, but it does not get a personal ending. It gets a dative ending -ya or -ye. This is one of the most common ending when adjectives connect to complements in Turkish. I've written about it on this blog before. Then, we have the adjective mecbur, which gets the personal ending.

Dersten önce bu kitabı okumaya mecbursun. = You have to read this book before class.

Türkiye'ye geldiğinde Kapalıçarşı'ya seni götürmeye mecburuz. = We have to take you to the Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı) when you come to Turkey.

zorunda

-mak + zorunda + personal ending

This one is unique but closer to the last one. This cannot really be translated properly, so just focus on the syntax. You must use the infinitive form of the verb without any personal ending. Then, zorunda is another word. Then, you add the personal ending to zorunda, just as if it is a location like okuldayım (=I am at school).

Saat 12'dan önce uyuyakalmak zorundanız. = You need to fall asleep before 12 o'clock.

Video oyunu oynamak isterse önceden ev ödevini bitirmek zorunda. = If he wants to play video games, he has to finish his homework beforehand.

ihtiyacı var

noun + -ya/ye + ihtiyaç + personal ending + var

What if you want to say that you need to have something? In English, we can use need with any noun and it sounds natural: I need water, time, space, etc. However, as you know, Turkish is very particular with var and yok.

The person who needs (the subject in English) is the personal ending of ihtiyaç, and the object of necessity (the object in English) is before ihtiyaç with a dative case ending. As you probably know the oddities of var and yok, again the person who is in need is the possessor of ihtiyaç and therefore gets a genitive ending -ın/nın.

Köpeğimin çok yardıma ihtiyacı var. = My dog needs a lot of help.

Bana sınıf nerede olmayı gösterecek birine ihtiyacım var. = I need someone to show me where the classroom is.

ihtiyaç duymak

noun + -ya/ye + ihtiyaç duymak + personal ending

This one is used in the situation of needing a noun or needing to have a noun. To talk about needing a noun, you need this construction: use a noun in the dative case and then ihtiyaç duymak conjugated for person.

What is special about this one is that this is the only one you can nominalize needing something. If you want to make a comment like "It's normal to need to study" or "She talks about needing a guide dog."

Yeni arkadaşlara ihtiyaç duyuyorum. = I need new friends.

Yardıma ihtiyaç duymayı sevmiyorum. = I don't like needing help.

Dünyayı kurtarmak istersek daha az ihtiyaç duymayı öğrenmeliyiz. = If we want to save the world, we need to learn to need less.

Read the full post on my blog.

[crazy-languages]

The German Cases / die deutschen Fälle

What are cases?

A case shows the function of a noun or a pronoun in a sentence. In many languages, words change their form or add different endings according to their function in a sentence. For example, they change depending on whether the word is the subject or the object of the sentence. These changes and different endings are called 'cases'. 

The German language has four cases:

Nominative (Nominativ)

Accusative (Akkusativ)

Dative (Dativ)

Genitive (Genitiv)

These cases are very important in German grammar as they dictate the endings of adjectives and indefinite articles. They can also tell you which personal pronoun to use.

1. The Nominative Case

This case tells us who or what is doing something. The subject might be performing a certain action or have a certain characteristic. In German, the easiest way to tell the Nominative from other cases is to ask “Who or what is doing XYZ?”

Therefore, the nominative is known as the Wer-Fall (the who-case).

For example:

Wer lacht? (who is laughing?) → Das Mädchen lacht. (The girl is laughing.)

Was ist bunt? (What is colorful?) → Das Haus ist bunt. (The house is colorful.)

Wer bellt die Frau an? (Who barks at the woman?) → Der Hund bellt die Frau an. (The dog barks at the woman.)

There are certain verbs in German that only take nominative form. Some of them are sein (to be), werden (to become) and bleiben (to stay)

2. The Accusative Case

Similarly to the nominative, the accusative’s operative question is also “what?” There is, however, a major difference between the two. In the case of the accusative, the person (or animal, or object) you are talking about is affected by the action. This is called the direct object.

Er schreibt Bücher. (He writes books.) ← What does he write?

Sie haben die Kirschen gegessen. (They have eaten the cherries.) ← What have they eaten?

Sie hat ein Bild gemalt. (She painted a picture.) ← What did she paint?

3. The Dative Case

This case is all about the indirect object. The indirect object is an object that is being passively influenced by whatever action is taking place.

Er schenkt seiner Freundin Blumen. (He gives his girlfriend flowers.)

“He” is the subject of the sentence.

The verb (obviously) is “to give”.

The direct object is the flowers that are given.

And then there’s his girlfriend: She’s really just there passively receiving the gift—she is the indirect object of the sentence.

Same with this example here:

Ich gab ihm den Schlüssel. (I gave him the key.)

In this case, “I” is the subject of the sentence, whereas “the key” is the direct object. The verb here is “to give” as well, and the indirect object is “he” who I gave the keys to.

When there’s a dative involved, you’ll always have to ask yourself “Who to?” or “Who for?”, or also “Whom?”. These three questions are indicative of the dative case.

4. The Genitive Case

Its main function is to show possession similar to the English 's or the preposition of. The operative word here is “Whose?” So whenever you see a sentence like:

Die Jacke des Mannes ist schwarz. (The man’s jacket is black.)

The special thing about the genitive is that when it’s applied, the endings of certain nouns (namely masculine nouns and neuter ones) change.

Examples:

Der Hund → des Hundes

“Das Fell des Hundes ist schwarz.” (The dog’s fur is black.) ← Whose fur is black?

When a sentence is in the genitive case, the letters –es are added to some words, especially those that have only one syllable and end in a consonant.

Das Blatt → des Blattes (the leaf vs. the leaf’s)

Der Mann → des Mannes (the man vs. the man’s)

If a word ends in –en, –el or –er, usually only an –s is added. This happens especially in masculine nouns or those that are neuter.

Examples:

Das Kaninchen → des Kaninchens (the bunny vs. the bunny’s)

Der Leiter → des Leiters (the leader vs. the leader’s)

Der Beutel → des Beutels (the tote vs. the tote’s)

[attemptingtonotfail]

More of my Arabic Grammar Infographics

[multilingualpotato]

Pepeke ‘Aike He

The indefinite article ‘he’ in the Hawaiian language

Hey guys,

For anyone interested in learning Hawaiian (and looking for some online resources and explanation videos) I would like to introduce you to Ke Aloha No Hawaiʻi.

Yesterday I was searching for an explanation of how does ‘he’ act in a sentence and I came across this great video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIYoJvpqiC8&ab_channel=KeAlohaNoHawai%CA%BBi&fbclid=IwAR1k58dfarthhaK2fXpFi0AY-0vxMh8gB3aX88Gyxt_OTIyKkx6XqbDesxI

If you are confused about what exactly ‘he’ is, how it is used and placed in a sentence, this video will save you!

Everything is explained - the function of ‘he’, the correct form of using it in a sentence, the plural indefinite article, the placement of an adjective and even the negation of the sentence.

It helped me a lot to to be able to understand the exact use of ‘he’, so if you are interested in Hawaiian, surely check it out!  

[crazy-languages]

German Prepositions at a Glance (deutscher Präpositionen)

To understand prepositions, we first have to understand the different noun cases in German. I have a made a previous post about it which you can find here.

Once you have a good understanding of how the cases work, German prepositions are pretty easy to learn. There are three prepositional cases: the accusative, the dative, and the genitive. There is also a group of prepositions that can take on either the accusative or dative case, depending on the meaning of the sentence.

German Prepositions in the Accusative

When you encounter these German prepositions, you can be sure the nouns and pronouns following will always be in the accusative.

bis (until, up to, as far as)

durch (through, by means of)

für (for)

ohne (without)

gegen (against)

um (around, at [a certain] time, for)

entlang (along, it usually goes after the object)

Examples:

Sie arbeitet für ein Unternehmen in Berlin. (She works for a company in Berlin.)

Wir gehen durch den Wald. (We’re walking through the forest.) 

Wir treffen uns um acht Uhr. (We meet at eight o’clock.)

Sie liefen an der Straße entlang. (They walked along the road.) 

Deutschland spielt heute gegen Mexiko. (Germany is playing against Mexico today.)

Der Zug fährt bis Tübingen. (The train goes to Tübingen.)

German Prepositions in the Dative

All of the words listed below will give you a hint that whatever noun or pronoun follows, it’s going to be in the dative case.

aus (out of)

außer (except for)

gegenüber (opposite of, toward someone, across from)

bei (at)

mit (with)

nach (after, to, according to someone/something)

seit (since, for—only used for statements related to time or amounts of time)

zu (to)

von (from)

Examples:

Sie sitzt mir gegenüber. (She’s sitting opposite to me.) → You can see here that the word “mich” (me) shifts to its dative form: mir.

Nach dem Unterricht gehen wir in ein Café. (After class we’re going to a café.)

Seit seiner Scheidung lebt er allein. (He lives alone since his divorce.) → Since this is a preposition in the dative, the word “seine” (a possessive pronoun) shifts to “seiner”.

Ich habe außer einer Jacke nichts gekauft. (I didn’t buy anything except for a jacket.)

Sie kommt aus der Schweiz. (She is from Switzerland.)

Ich fahre mit meiner Schwester nach Florenz. (I’m going to Florence with my sister.)

Ich wohne bei meiner Tante. (I’m living with my aunt.)

German Prepositions in the Genitive

A few German prepositions are governed by the genitive case. That is, they take an object in the genitive case.

anstatt/statt (instead [of]) 

während (during)

trotz (despite)

wegen (because of)

außerhalb (outside of)

innerhalb (inside of)

oberhalb (above)

unterhalb (below)

diesseits (on this side)

jenseits (on the other side)

beiderseits (on both sides)

NOTE: While you can informally use the dative when using prepositions like “während” or “statt”, the prepositions außerhalb, innerhalb, oberhalb and unterhalb must be used with the genitive. Same or diesseits, jenseits, and beiderseits!

Examples:

Die Bäckerei ist wegen Urlaubs geschlossen. (The bakery is closed due to vacation.) → Since the preposition is in the genitive, the word “Urlaub” (vacation) shifts to its genitive form (“Urlaubs”).

Seine Wohnung liegt außerhalb des Stadtkerns. (His apartment is located outside of the city center.)

Ich ging trotz einer Erkältung zur Arbeit. (I went to work despite my cold.)

Es kam innerhalb der Partei zu Spannungen. (There were tensions within the party.)

Two-way German Prepositions

Pronouns and nouns following the words listed below are either going to be in the dative or in the accusative. But how do you know whether the dative or the accusative is used? 

It is pretty easy: Every time there is motion involved (especially when talking about a specific location), the preposition is in the accusative.

If there’s no motion involved, or the motion involved has no specific goal or place it’s going to, or if you’re talking about a location, you’re using the dative.

You can distinguish the two by looking at the interrogative particle. In case of an accusative, you’re asking “wohin?” (meaning: where to?) when inquiring about the situation.

Two sets of examples showing motion versus location:

Accusative: Wir gehen ins Kino. (We're going to the movies.) There is a movement toward a destination -- in this case, the movie theater. Dative: Wir sind im Kino. (We're at the movies/cinema.) We are already at the movie theater; not traveling toward it. Accusative: Legen Sie das Buch auf den Tisch. (Put/Lay the book on the table.) The motion is the placement of the book toward the table. Dative: Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. (The book's lying on the table.) The book is already at its destination and not moving.

an (at, by, on)

auf (on, onto)

hinter (behind)

neben (beside, near, next to)

in (in, into, to)

über (over [above], about, across)

unter (under, below)

zwischen (between)

Note: Some prepositions and articles are contracted, something like this.

[attemptingtonotfail]

The Idaafa

Part of my series of Arabic grammar infographics 

[attemptingtonotfail]

Link to rules for 1-10 and 11-19