Totemo, Yoku, Amari, Zuibun and Zenzen Saturday, Jan 7 2006
Level 2 5:57 pm
Totemo / Zuibun - Very / Extremely
Yoku - Often
Amari - Seldom
Zenzen - Totally / Not at all
Examples
That car is very expensive - Sono kuruma wa totemo takai desu.
I write letter very often - Tegami o yoku kakimasu
I seldom drink coffee - Ko-Hi- wa amari nomimasen
I don’t smoke cigarette at all - zenzen suimasen
You may notice that there is an “o” in the second example. In hiragana, the “o” is を instead of お. Don’s mix them up. When you are typing the “o”, you should type as “wo” instead of “o” but pronunciation wise, it should be pronounced as “o” or some people say “wo”.
“o” is a particle and used for indicating the case role of the phrase in relation to another word (used especially as a direct object marker). Example : I drink water will be translated as “Watashi wa mizu o nomimasu”. You are doing something to something. In this case, you are drinking the water. Another example : Denwa o kakemasu (Make a telephone call), Mado o shimemasu (Close the window)…..
Try it yourself with different phrases. It’s a good practice though.
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December 14th, 2006 at 5:11 am
In this sentence (Sono kuruma wa totemo takai desu.) what does the “takai” stand for???
December 14th, 2006 at 5:16 am
Sorry about that one– I figured it out. (expensive) ^^0
December 14th, 2006 at 6:12 pm
sorry that I did not place the meaning in this post. I didn’t put the meaning in is because this word has already been covered in previous lessons and I expect all readers who follow all the lessons to remember. This should be the way for them to master this language.
You can search for a specific word here to find out the meaning.
Thanks.
December 18th, 2006 at 11:59 pm
May I ask a quick favor??
How would you say something like, “He’s never polite on the weekend.”? Where would I incorporate “weekend”?
Thank you so much!!
December 19th, 2006 at 12:11 am
Sorry, another question–
Do the Japanese use the words “he” and “she”?
How would you say something like, “She was never polite.”? Is that beyond level 2??? Am I getting ahead of myself? The curiosity is killin’ me! I can’t wait to ask my sensei these qustions…
December 19th, 2006 at 12:12 am
Please tell me if I’m bugging you……
December 19th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
Hi AJ,
He’s never polite on the weekend - Kare wa shūmatsu ni teinei dewa arimasen (shūmatsu - weekend)
Yes, Japanese do use He (Kare) & She (Kanojo).
Sorry for the late reply as I’m just back from work.
December 20th, 2006 at 2:08 am
Thank you so much for that!! Makes a lot of sense. Don’t worry about late replies–I’m estatic that someone can help me with my Japanese!! *big smile*
December 27th, 2006 at 1:57 am
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu sensei for the replies.
Actually in my last post there is a thank you message…the one with 1-3 numbers. Its actually 1-4 and a thank you message at the end but I dont know why it messed up. Tonikaku mouichido shitsumon ga arimasu.(Just tryin to apply what I learned. If it sounds funny, tanomu oshiete kudasai onegai shimasu.)
yoku = frequently/often
yoku = skilllfully/nicely/properly
I skillfully write letter very often.
Need help on this one. Im thinking of 2 yoku to use in this sentence. Dame?
December 27th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
Hi Rekcart,
Your Japanese is good. The words you use are accurate too.
Good question, yes, in fact there are many Japanese word with same pronounciation but different meaning. Although the pronounciation is the same but the writings are different.
Frequently - Yoku (よく) No Kanji
Skillfully - Yoku (良く)
There are even more words using the same pronounciation of “yoku” with different meaning
好く- same meaning as 良く
善く- same meaning as 良く
浴 - Bath
欲 - Greed, Want
This is why the word you use are very important to determine the exact meaning. Example : Watashi ga yoku yoku shimasu - I bath often.
Hope this help
January 18th, 2007 at 6:13 am
Hi again!
I finally started school, and I’m having a little bit of a hard time with the Japanese. Could you translate a few sentences?
1.) This is not an ordinary bookshelf.
2.) I’m going to buy a chair tonight. (is it “watashi wa kyo no yoru isu wo kaimasu”?)
3.) This flourescent desk-lamp is wonderful.
4.) That waste-basket is not expensive.
Thank you once again…and again, and again, and…
January 18th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Hi AJ,
1.) This is not an ordinary bookshelf.
Kono honbana wa futsu janai desu OR
Kore wa futsu no honbana janai desu
Meaning : Honbana (Bookshelf), Futsu (Ordinary / Normal)
2.) I’m going to buy a chair tonight. (is it “watashi wa kyo no yoru isu wo kaimasu”?)
Correct
3.) This flourescent desk-lamp is wonderful.
Kono keikō denki sutando ga subarashii desu.
Meaning : Keikō (Fluorescent), Denki Sutando (Desk-Lamp), Subarashii (Wonderful)
4.) That waste-basket is not expensive.
Sono gomibako wa takaku arimasen.
Hope this help
January 30th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
tony first let say your website is AMAZING! I\’ve tried a few different ways of studying and your way is so simple and easy to understand and so useful too! arigatou gozaimasu!
can I ask.. why is it ko-hi WA amari nomimasen and not WO?
January 30th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Hi Colin,
Thank you and glad you like this site.
Pertaining to your question, the “wo” is used when the sentence is positive (ie. drink coffee - ko-hi wo nomimasu) but for negative, the “wo” will have to change to “wa”
Hope this help and feel free to send your question if you need more help and I will try my best to provide you the best answer.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Hello, my name is Indra, I’m study in japanase language an cultre.
Now I’m writing tesis about synonym taihen, totemo, and zuibun.
There are have a same meaning but what is the different. Thank U God Bless u all
Sumimasen eigo ga chotto hanasemasen machigattara gomen nasai
December 17th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Hi Indra, Yes, they are the same but it is used to express how strong is the “very”
Taihen - Extremely Strong
Zuibun - Very Strong
Totemo - Strong
Hope this help