Using the Library Printer | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. 図書館のプリンターはどうやって使いますか？

   How do I use the printer in the library?

   図書館

   library

   プリンター

   printer

   どうやって

   how; by what method

   使います

   use

   More detail

   図書館 means “library.” It is a noun, and its reading is としょかん (toshokan). In 図書館のプリンター, の links it to the following noun: the printer associated with or located in the library. Example: 図書館に行きます。 — “I go to the library.” プリンター means “printer.” It is a noun written in katakana, a common way to write many borrowed terms in Japanese. Here it is the device whose operation is being asked about. Example: プリンターを選びます。 — “I choose the printer.” どうやって asks about the method used to do something: “how” or “by what method.” It commonly appears before a verb. Example: どうやって行きますか？ — “How do you go?” 使います means “use” here. Its base form is 使う (つかう), “to use,” and 使います is the polite nonpast form. The ます form can describe a present or future action; the question context makes the intended meaning “How do I use it?” Example: この機械を使います。 — “I use this machine” or “I will use this machine,” depending on context. Together, 図書館のプリンター identifies the printer in the library, and どうやって使いますか？ asks for the method of using it. Japanese does not state the subject in this sentence; the fixed translation supplies the intended “I.” The whole utterance therefore means, “How do I use the printer in the library?”

2. まず、この画面でプリンターを選んでください。

   First, choose the printer on this screen.

   まず

   first

   この

   this

   画面

   screen

   プリンター

   printer

   選んでください

   please choose

   More detail

   まず means “first” here and commonly marks the first step in an ordered procedure. It is an adverb, so it does not change form. Example: まず名前を書きます。 — “First, I write my name.” この means “this” and comes before the noun it describes: この画面 means “this screen.” It is a demonstrative determiner, not an independent pronoun in this use. Its form does not change for the noun’s number or gender. Example: この本を読んでください。 — “Please read this book.” 画面 means “screen,” especially a display or interface screen. In この画面で, the particle で marks the place or interface where the action is carried out: “on this screen.” Example: 画面で設定を確認します。 — “I check the settings on the screen.” プリンター means “printer.” The particle を marks it as the object of the action: it is the thing being chosen. Example: プリンターを使います。 — “I use the printer.” 選んでください is a polite request meaning “please choose.” The lexical verb is 選ぶ (“to choose”); its て-form is 選んで, followed by ください to make a request. The polite request is directed to the listener, although Japanese commonly leaves the subject you unstated. Example: ファイルを選んでください。 — “Please choose a file.” Together, プリンターを選んでください means “please choose the printer,” while この画面で specifies where to do it and まず marks this as the first step. The complete utterance is therefore: “First, choose the printer on this screen.”

3. 両面印刷を選べますか？

   Can I choose double-sided printing?

   両面印刷

   double-sided printing

   選べますか

   can choose?

   More detail

   両面印刷 means printing on both sides of the paper. 両面 means “both sides,” while 印刷 means “printing” or “to print” in a technical setting. As a compound, 両面印刷 is a useful label for the double-sided-printing option. 選べますか asks whether the speaker can choose something. Its base verb is 選ぶ (“to choose”); 選べる is the potential form, meaning “can choose,” and 選べます is its polite form. Adding か turns the polite statement into a question. This is different from 選びますか, which asks whether someone will choose or chooses, rather than whether they are able to choose. Together, 両面印刷を選べますか？ means “Can I choose double-sided printing?” を marks 両面印刷 as what the speaker can choose. The question politely asks about the availability or possibility of selecting that option.

4. 印刷する前に設定を変えてください。

   Change the setting before you print.

   印刷する

   print

   前に

   before

   設定

   setting

   変えてください

   please change

   More detail

   印刷する means “to print” here. Its base form is 印刷する, a verb built with the noun 印刷 (“printing”) and する (“do”). The する form is the plain non-past form; in 印刷する前に, it modifies 前 and means “before printing.” Example: 写真を印刷する。 — “I print a photo.” 前に expresses that one event happens earlier than another: “before …”. In this sentence, the action named before 前に is printing, and the requested change comes earlier. A reusable pattern is V-る前に、… (“before doing V, …”). Example: 出かける前に、窓を閉めてください。 — “Please close the window before going out.” Here 前 is followed by the particle に, which marks the time relationship. 設定 means “setting” or “configuration.” It is a noun, so it can be marked as the object of an action with を: 設定を means “the setting” as the thing acted on. Example: 設定を確認します。 — “I check the settings.” 変えてください is a polite request meaning “please change.” The verb is 変える (“to change”); its て-form is 変えて, followed by ください (“please do …”). This pattern politely asks the listener to perform the action. The object appears before it as 設定を変えてください — “please change the setting.” Example: 音量を変えてください。 — “Please change the volume.” Together, 印刷する前に means “before you print,” 設定を identifies the setting as the object, and 変えてください requests that it be changed. The complete utterance therefore means: “Change the setting before you print.”

5. 短い文書を一つ印刷するだけです。

   I only need to print a short document.

   短い

   short

   文書

   document

   一つ

   one

   印刷する

   print

   だけです

   only

   More detail

   短い means “short” here and is the attributive form of the i-adjective 短い. It comes directly before the noun it describes: 短い文書 means “a short document.” The opposite is 長い, “long.” Example: 短いメールを書きます。= “I write a short email.” 文書 means “document.” With を, it marks the document as the object of the action: 文書を印刷する means “print a document.” Example: 文書を保存します。= “I save the document.” 一つ means “one” when counting a thing with the general Japanese counter つ. In 一つ印刷する, it indicates one document to be printed; it is not part of the verb’s inflection. Example: りんごを一つ買います。= “I buy one apple.” 印刷する is the dictionary-form verb “to print.” The form 印刷する can follow を-marked objects, as in 文書を印刷する. It is also the form used before だけ in the pattern verb-dictionary form + だけです, meaning that the action is the only thing involved or needed in the stated situation. Example: 写真を印刷するだけです。= “I only need to print the photo.” だけです expresses limitation: “only” or “just.” Here it follows 印刷する, so the limited content is the action of printing, not merely the noun 文書. The polite ending です makes the statement polite. In this sentence, the fixed translation supplies the contextual sense “I only need to …”; the Japanese wording itself does not separately state an English subject such as “I.” Putting the parts together, 短い文書を一つ is “one short document,” and 印刷するだけです is “only need to print” in this context. Together, 短い文書を一つ印刷するだけです means “I only need to print a short document.”

6. では、始める前にプレビューを確認してください。

   Then check the preview before you start.

   では

   then

   始める

   start

   前に

   before ...

   プレビュー

   preview

   確認してください

   please check

   More detail

   では sets the context or sequence here: “then” or “in that case.” It is a useful way to move to the next step. It can also appear in patterns such as では、始めましょう (“Then, let’s begin”). 始める means “to start/begin” here. This is the plain, nonpast form of 始める, and it can be used before another element in a compound expression. In 始める前に, the action of starting is treated as the reference point for the time expression. 前に means “before ...” when it follows an action or event. The pattern verb-dictionary form + 前に means “before doing ...”: for example, 寝る前に歯を磨きます means “I brush my teeth before going to bed.” 前 itself means “front” or “before,” and に marks the relevant time point in this pattern. プレビュー is the noun “preview,” referring here to the preview that should be checked. Japanese commonly uses this kind of borrowed noun as a regular noun; a noun can be followed by を when it is the object of an action. 確認してください means “please check/confirm.” The base verb is 確認する, “to check” or “confirm.” Its て-form, 確認して, followed by ください, makes a polite request: 確認してください. This request form addresses the listener and asks them to perform the action; it is not a statement that the checking has already happened. For example, 名前を確認してください means “Please check the name.” The structure is では、[始める前に] [プレビューを] [確認してください]: “Then, before you start, please check the preview.” 始める前に sets the timing, プレビューを marks what is checked, and 確認してください gives the polite request. Together, the utterance tells the listener to check the preview first, before beginning.

7. 印刷したページはどこから出てきますか？

   Where do the printed pages come out?

   印刷した

   printed

   ページ

   page

   どこから

   from where

   出てきますか

   come out?

   More detail

   印刷した means “printed” here and comes from the verb 印刷する (“to print”). The form 印刷した is the plain past form used before a noun, so 印刷したページ means “pages that were printed.” The past form describes a completed printing action; it does not by itself say when the printing happened. ページ is the noun “page.” Japanese nouns generally do not change form to show singular or plural, so ページ can refer to one page or multiple pages. The fixed translation identifies the intended reading here as “pages.” どこから asks “from where.” どこ means “where,” and から marks the starting point or source. The combination is useful for asking where something emerges or is sent from. For example, どこから来ましたか？ means “Where did you come from?” 出てきますか is a polite question form of 出てくる, “to come out” or “to emerge.” 出てくる combines 出る (“go out, come out”) with くる (“come”), expressing movement out into the relevant viewpoint or situation. Its polite nonpast form is 出てきます; adding か makes it a question. Here it asks about the place from which the pages come out, not about whether someone prints them. Together, 印刷したページは sets “the printed pages” as the topic. どこから asks for their source, and 出てきますか asks where they come out. Thus the whole utterance means “Where do the printed pages come out?” The pattern X は どこから 出てきますか？ can be reused to ask where another thing emerges or is delivered from.

8. 下のトレイに出てきます。

   They come out in the tray below.

   下の

   below

   トレイ

   tray

   出てきます

   come out

   More detail

   下の means “below” here and modifies the following noun: 下の + noun = “the noun below” or “the lower noun.” 下 is the noun meaning “lower part/below”; の links it attributively to トレイ. For example, 上のボタン means “the button above,” while 下のボタン means “the button below.” トレイ is the noun “tray,” written in katakana. The pattern 下のトレイ therefore means “the tray below.” 出てきます is the polite nonpast form of 出てくる (“come out,” literally “come and emerge”). The observed form combines 出る (“go out/emerge”) with くる (“come”): 出てくる focuses on something emerging and coming toward the relevant viewpoint or place. 出てきます can describe a current or expected event in polite speech. For example, 紙が出てきます。 means “The paper comes out.” The particle に marks the place associated with the emergence here: トレイに出てきます means “come out in/into the tray.” Combining the parts, 下のトレイに出てきます。 means “They come out in the tray below.”