Finding and Saving a Small Screw | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. 小さなねじをなくしました。

   I lost a small screw.

   小さな

   small

   ねじ

   screw

   なくしました

   lost

   More detail

   小さな means “small” here and appears before the noun it describes. It is the attributive form of 小さい (“small”); 小さいねじ is another common way to say “a small screw.” The form 小さな is used directly before a noun, as in 小さな箱 (“a small box”). ねじ means “screw.” It is a noun for the small threaded fastener. For example, ねじを締めます means “I tighten the screw.” なくしました means “lost” in this sentence. It is the polite past form of the transitive verb なくす, “to lose” or “to misplace”: なくす → なくしました. The transitive verb presents the speaker as the person who lost something. This differs from なくなりました, “became missing” or “is gone,” which describes the thing’s disappearance without using the same transitive pattern. For example, 鍵をなくしました means “I lost my key.” The particle を marks ねじ as the object of なくしました: the screw is what was lost. Together, 小さなねじを means “a small screw” as the object, and なくしました states politely and in the past that the speaker lost it. The complete utterance is therefore “I lost a small screw.”

2. いすの下を見てください。

   Check under the chair.

   いす

   chair

   下

   under; below

   見てください

   please look; please check

   More detail

   いす means “chair” here. It is a noun and can be used in compounds or location phrases. For example, いすに座ります。 means “I sit on a chair.” 下 means “under” or “below.” In いすの下, the particle の links the two nouns, giving the pattern [place/reference]の下 = “under/below [that reference].” The phrase therefore identifies the area beneath the chair, rather than the chair itself. 見てください is a polite request meaning “please look” or, in this context, “please check.” 見て is the て-form of 見る (“to look; to see”), and ください makes the request polite. The reusable pattern [て-form]ください asks someone politely to do something: 読んでください。 means “Please read.” Together, いすの下を marks “under the chair” as what is to be checked, and 見てください politely requests the listener to look there. The whole utterance means “Check under the chair.”

3. いすの脚のそばにありました。

   It was by the chair leg.

   いす

   chair

   脚

   leg

   そばに

   by; beside

   ありました

   was there; existed

   More detail

   いす means “chair.” In Japanese, this noun can be written in hiragana as here; the form itself does not mark number. Example: いすがあります。— “There is a chair.” 脚 means “leg,” and here it means the leg of furniture. The following の links it to いす: いすの脚 means “the chair’s leg” or “chair leg.” の commonly marks an attributive relationship such as possession or type. Example: 木のいす — “a wooden chair.” そばに means “beside” or “by.” そば expresses nearby position, and に marks the location where something exists. The phrase いすの脚のそばに therefore means “by the chair leg.” Example: 机のそばにあります。— “It is beside the desk.” ありました is the polite past form of ある, used for the existence or location of a nonliving thing. The useful chain is ある (exists/is located) → あります (polite nonpast) → ありました (polite past). It does not itself specify what the thing is; the subject can be omitted when it is understood from context. Example: かばんはそこにありました。— “The bag was there.” Together, いすの脚 identifies the location as “the chair leg,” のそばに places the understood nonliving item beside it, and ありました says that it was located there in the past. The complete meaning is “It was by the chair leg.”

4. 気をつけて拾ってください。

   Pick it up carefully.

   気をつけて

   carefully

   拾って

   pick up

   ください

   please

   More detail

   気をつけて comes from 気をつける, “to be careful” or “to take care.” Here its て-form connects it to the following request and gives the manner: do the picking up carefully. The subject is not stated in Japanese; the English translation presents the intended instruction to the listener. 拾って comes from 拾う, “to pick up.” 拾って is the て-form, which can connect to another expression or form a request with ください. For example, それを拾ってください。 means “Please pick that up.” ください is the polite request form used after a verb’s て-form. The pattern Verb-てください asks someone to do something politely. It is not the lexical verb “pick up”; that meaning comes from 拾って. Together, 気をつけて describes how the action should be carried out, while 拾ってください makes the polite request: “Please pick it up carefully.” The object is omitted in Japanese; the fixed translation identifies it as “it,” consistent with the surrounding context.

5. とても小さいです。

   It is tiny.

   とても

   very

   小さい

   tiny; small

   More detail

   とても is an adverb meaning “very.” It strengthens the adjective that follows it. Example: とても大きい means “very big.” 小さい means “small” here, and the translation “tiny” shows that it is being used with strong emphasis. This is an i-adjective: its basic form is 小さい, and it can directly describe a noun, as in 小さい箱 (“a small box”). In the sentence here, it is the predicate rather than a noun modifier. Its negative form is 小さくない (“not small”). The ending です makes the statement polite. With an i-adjective, the adjective remains 小さい before です; です is not the adjective’s base form or an adjective ending. Together, とても + 小さい + です means “It is very small,” naturally rendered here as “It is tiny.” The omitted subject is not identified more specifically by this sentence.

6. また転がらないように、手のひらに持ってください。

   Hold it in your palm so it does not roll away again.

   また

   again

   転がらないように

   so it does not roll away

   手のひら

   palm of the hand

   持ってください

   please hold

   More detail

   また means “again” here. It marks the rolling-away situation as something that has happened before or is being avoided again. A useful contrast is もう一度 (“one more time”), which usually focuses on repeating an action, while また can also mark a recurring situation. 転がらないように is built from 転がる (“to roll”) and its negative form 転がらない (“does not roll”), followed by ように. The negative form carries the ない ending; 転がる is the base form. In this sentence, ～ないように expresses prevention: “so that it does not …” or “to prevent it from …”. Example: 忘れないように、メモしてください。 — “Please make a note so that you do not forget.” 手のひら means “the palm of the hand.” It is the location where the object is to be held. The particle に, included in the neighboring text but not in this phrase entry, marks that location in the larger sentence. Example: 手のひらに置いてください。 — “Please place it in your palm.” 持ってください is a polite request meaning “please hold [it].” Its base verb is 持つ (“to hold” or “to carry”); 持って is its connecting form, followed by ください to make a polite request. Japanese often leaves the object unspoken when it is understood from the situation, as it is in the fixed translation. Example: これを持ってください。 — “Please hold this.” Together, また identifies the repeated risk, 転がらないように gives the purpose of preventing the object from rolling away, 手のひらに specifies the holding location, and 持ってください makes the polite request. The whole utterance means: “Hold it in your palm so it does not roll away again.”

7. 棚を直すために、それが必要です。

   We need it to fix the shelf.

   棚

   shelf

   直す

   to fix; to repair

   ために

   in order to; for the purpose of

   それ

   it

   必要です

   is needed; is necessary

   More detail

   棚 means “shelf” here. It is a noun, and 棚を marks the shelf as the object of the action that follows. Example: 棚を作ります。 — “I make a shelf.” 直す means “to fix” or “to repair.” This is the dictionary form, and it appears before ために because the purpose expression uses the plain form of the verb: 直すために = “in order to fix.” The same form can have other context-dependent meanings, but “fix” is the intended meaning here. ために expresses purpose in this sentence. The pattern plain-form verb + ために means “in order to do ...” or “for the purpose of doing ...”. Example: 勉強するために図書館へ行きます。 — “I go to the library in order to study.” それ is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “it” in this context. Its grammatical form does not identify a specific noun by itself; the fixed translation establishes the intended object as “it.” In Japanese, それ commonly refers to something already identifiable in the situation or discourse. Example: それを使います。 — “I use it.” 必要です means “is needed” or “is necessary.” 必要 expresses necessity, and です makes the predicate polite. The form does not itself state who needs the thing; the English translation presents the meaning from the perspective of “we need it.” Example: 水が必要です。 — “Water is needed” or “We need water,” depending on the context. Together, 棚を直すために gives the purpose, “in order to fix the shelf,” and それが必要です says “it is needed.” The whole utterance therefore means “We need it to fix the shelf.” Japanese expresses the needed item as the subject with が, while the person who needs it is left implicit.

8. それで、棚を直し終えることができます。

   Then we can finish fixing it.

   それで

   then

   棚

   shelf

   直し終える

   finish fixing

   ことができます

   can do so

   More detail

   それで means “then” here, linking this sentence to the preceding situation. It can also mean “so” when it marks a result or consequence; the exact English choice depends on the connection between the sentences. 棚 means “shelf.” It is a noun. With the particle を in 棚を, it marks the object of the repair: the shelf is what is being fixed. 直し終える means “finish repairing.” The base verb is 直す (“to repair” or “to fix”). Here it appears as 直し, the form used before another verb in this compound. 終える means “finish,” so 直し終える presents the repairing as completed. This differs from 直す, which means “repair/fix” without adding the idea of finishing. Example: 仕事をし終える。 — “I finish the work.” This illustrates the reusable pattern verb stem + 終える, meaning “finish doing [the verb].” ことができます expresses ability or possibility: “can do.” こと turns the preceding action into an abstract event or activity, and できます is the polite form of できる (“can” or “be able to”). Thus 直し終えることができます means “can finish repairing.” The Japanese sentence does not state an explicit subject; the fixed translation supplies “we.” Together, それで (“then”), 棚を (“the shelf” as the repair’s object), 直し終える (“finish repairing”), and ことができます (“can do”) produce: “Then we can finish fixing it.” The sentence presents finishing the repair of the shelf as possible in the situation established by the preceding sentence.