Basic prices, weather, and discoveries | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. これはいくらですか。

   How much is this?

   これ

   this

   いくら

   how much

   ですか

   is ...?

   More detail

   これ means “this” and is a demonstrative pronoun: it can stand on its own to refer to something near the speaker. Japanese also has それ (“that near the listener”) and あれ (“that over there”), but the choice depends on the situation, not simply on the noun’s grammatical properties. Example: これは本です。 — “This is a book.” In これは, the particle は marks これ as the topic, giving the sense “as for this…”. The topic marker is separate from the pronoun and does not change the pronoun’s form. いくら asks for an amount, especially a price in this sentence. It is a question word, not a statement that there is a particular number. Example: そのかばんはいくらですか。 — “How much is that bag?” ですか combines the polite copula です with the question particle か. With いくら before it, the combination asks for the price politely. です is the polite form used here; か marks the utterance as a question. Example: これは何ですか。 — “What is this?” Together, これは sets “this” as the topic, いくら asks for its amount or price, and ですか forms a polite question. The whole utterance means “How much is this?”

2. どこに住んでいますか。

   Where do you live?

   どこ

   where

   に

   at/in (a place)

   住んでいます

   live; am living

   か

   question marker

   More detail

   どこ means “where” and asks for a place. It is a question word for location; compare どこですか。 (“Where is it?/Where are you?” depending on context) with どこに住んでいますか。 (“Where do you live?”). に marks the location associated with living here. With verbs of residence, the reusable pattern is [place] に住んでいます: 東京に住んでいます。 means “I live in Tokyo.” The particle に has other uses as well, so its meaning comes from its relationship with 住んでいます here. 住んでいます is the polite form of 住む (“to live; reside”). Its form is built from the て-form 住んで plus います. With this verb, 住んでいます normally describes the continuing state of residing somewhere, rather than emphasizing an action currently in progress. 住む is the dictionary form; 住んでいる is the plain equivalent of the polite 住んでいます. か at the end marks the utterance as a question in this sentence. The pattern [question word] + [information] + か is a polite way to ask for information. For example, どこに行きますか。 means “Where are you going?”; there, どこ asks for the destination, while in the supplied sentence it asks for the place of residence. Together, どこ (“where”) + に (the place associated with residence) + 住んでいます (“live/reside”) + final か (question marker) produces “Where do you live?”

3. 天気がいいです。

   The weather is nice.

   天気

   weather

   いいです

   is nice

   More detail

   天気 means “weather” here. It is a noun. A useful pattern is Xの天気 for “the weather in/at X,” as in 今日の天気 (“today’s weather”). が marks 天気 as what is being described. In this sentence, 天気がいい is the reusable pattern “the weather is good/nice.” いいです expresses a polite, present affirmative description: “is nice.” The basic form is いい (“good; nice”), an i-adjective. Its important forms include よくない (“is not good”), よかった (“was good”), and よく (“well” or “in a good way”). Although いい ends in an -i sound, its past and negative forms use the stem よ-: よかった, よくない. です makes the statement polite; it does not mean a separate “is” that must be translated word for word here. Together, 天気が (“the weather [as the thing being described]”) and いいです (“is nice,” politely) produce the whole utterance: “The weather is nice.”

4. 今、雨が降っています。

   It is raining now.

   今

   now

   雨

   rain

   降っています

   is falling; is raining

   More detail

   今 means “now” and places the event at the present time. It is a time word and can be reused at the beginning or elsewhere in a sentence, depending on the sentence structure. 雨 means “rain.” In this sentence it is the thing described as falling, marked by が. The pattern N が ... presents N as the subject or described element; here, 雨が means “rain” as the subject. 降っています comes from 降る, “to fall.” 降る is used for precipitation such as rain or snow falling. The form 降っています combines the て form 降って with います; in this context, it describes an action or event currently in progress, so it means “is falling” or, naturally for rain, “is raining.” The polite non-past ending ます makes the statement polite. For example, 雪が降っています。 means “It is snowing.” Together, 今、雨が降っています。 means “It is raining now.” 今 supplies the time, 雨が identifies rain as the subject, and 降っています describes the ongoing falling of the rain.

5. 私は携帯電話を忘れました。

   I forgot my phone.

   私は

   I; as for me

   携帯電話

   mobile phone

   忘れました

   forgot

   More detail

   私は contains 私 (“I/me”) and the topic marker は. It presents the speaker as the topic: “As for me…” or, naturally here, “I…”. 私 is a first-person pronoun; Japanese often leaves pronouns out when the context already makes the participant clear. 携帯電話 means “mobile phone” or “cell phone.” It is a noun compound: 携帯 relates to carrying something with you, and 電話 means “telephone/phone.” In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies it as the speaker’s phone; Japanese does not mark that possession directly in this noun phrase. The particle を after it marks it as the object of the verb. 忘れました is the polite past form of 忘れる, “to forget.” The ending -ました marks a completed past action in polite style: 忘れます means “forget/will forget” in polite speech, while 忘れました means “forgot.” The form does not itself specify the object; here, 携帯電話を supplies it. Together, 私は携帯電話を忘れました has the pattern “topic + object + verb”: “As for me, [my] phone, forgot.” In natural English, this is “I forgot my phone.” The polite past verb places the forgetting before the speaking time.

6. 私はそれを見つけました。

   I found it.

   私は

   I / as for me

   それ

   it

   見つけました

   found

   More detail

   私は consists of 私 (“I/me”) plus the topic marker は. It presents the speaker as the topic: “as for me, …”. 私 is a first-person pronoun; the form does not change for grammatical gender or number. Example: 私は学生です。 — “I am a student.” それ is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” or, as here, “it.” In this sentence it refers to an already identifiable thing, while the sentence itself does not name that thing. The form それ is used independently; it is not a noun with a separate plural form. Example: それを買います。 — “I will buy it.” 見つけました is the polite past form of 見つける, “to find.” The change can be shown as 見つける → 見つけます (polite non-past) → 見つけました (polite past). The past form states that the finding was completed. Example: 鍵を見つけました。 — “I found the key.” The object marker を follows それ, marking it as what was found. Together, それを見つけました means “found it,” and 私は makes the speaker the topic. The complete utterance therefore means “I found it.”