Japanese conjugation , like the conjugation of verbs of many other languages, allows verbs to be morphologically modified to change their meaning or grammatical function. In Japanese, the beginning of a word (the stem ) is preserved during conjugation, while the ending of the word is altered in some way to change the meaning (this is the inflectional suffix ). Japanese verb conjugations are independent of person, number and gender (they do not depend on whether the subject is I, you, he, she, we, etc.); the conjugated forms can express meanings such as negation, present and past tense, volition, passive voice, causation, imperative and conditional mood, and ability. There are also special forms for conjunction with other verbs, and for combination with particles for additional meanings.
Japanese verbs have agglutinating properties: some of the conjugated forms are themselves conjugable verbs (or i-adjectives), which can result in several suffixes being strung together in a single verb form to express a combination of meanings.
Conjugable words (verbs, i‑adjectives, and na‑adjectives) are traditionally considered to have six possible conjugational stems or bases ( 活用形 , katsuyōkei; literally "conjugation forms"). [1] This article lists those from the negative base (未然形, mizenkei), as well as the tentative base (推量形/意思形, suiryōkei/ishikei) that was split off during the post‑WWII spelling reforms. [2]
The negative form is broadly equivalent to the English word "not". [3]
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| ‘There’s no need to lose your temper with me,’ […] ‘If you’re upset because Isobel went back to London, then that’s not my fault! She could have stayed here overnight. It’s not as though Joseph is around to be offended. In fact, I’m sure that Joseph wouldn’t have been offended anyway.’ | “Watashi ni atari chirasu hitsuyō wa nai deshō” […] “Izaberu ga Rondon ni modotta kara kigen ga warui no da to shite mo, watashi no tsumi ja nai wa! Kanojo ni tomatte moraeba yokatta no ni. Tomatte mo Jozefu wa ki ni shinai wa” (「わたしに当たり散らす必要はないでしょう」[…]「イザベルがロンドンに戻ったから機嫌が悪いのだとしても、わたしの罪じゃないわ! 彼女に泊まってもらえばよかったのに。泊まってもジョゼフは気にしないわ」 [4] ) | general negation |
| After all, she’d seen the old lady every day. He’d stayed away for six years. | Fiona wa mainichi Goruda ni atte ita ga, kono rokunenkan, kare wa ichido mo ai ni konakatta. (フィオナは毎日ゴルダに会っていたが、この六年間、彼は一度も会いに来なかった。 [5] ) | |
| “He hasn’t nerve enough to kill a fly.” | “Kare ni hae mo korosenakarō” (「彼には蠅も殺せなかろう」 [6] ) | |
| You cannot pass! Gandalf! I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn! Go back to the Shadow. You shall not pass! | Kono saki wa tōsan! Gandarufu! Ware wa Shinpi no Hi ni tsukaeru mono, Anōru no honō no tsukaite ja. Kisama no hanatsu hi wa, washi ni tsūjin! Yami no soko ni modoru ga yoi. Koko wa danjite tōsan! (この先は通さん! ガンダルフ! 我は神秘の火に仕える者、アノールの炎の使い手じゃ。貴様の放つ火は、儂には通じん!闇の底に戻るがよい。ここは断じて通さん! [7] ) | |
| Die for me, thou shalt not. And I too shall not die for thee. | Kisama wa kono washi no tame ni shini wa senu. Washi mo kisama no kawari ni wa shinanu. (貴様はこのわしのために死にはせぬ。わしも貴様の代りには死なぬ。 [8] ) | |
| Even so, he never lost hope. | Sore de mo kesshite nozomi o ushinaimasen deshita. (それでも決して望みを失いませんでした。 [9] ) | |
| Did you walk round the city streets in America? I didn't. [a] | Amerika de machi no naka o oaruki ni narimashita ka Arukimasen (アメリカで街の中をお歩きになりましたか 歩きません) | past negation in non-past form |
| I stayed up late at night waiting, but he never came. [b] | Yoru, osoku made matte ’ta kedo, konai n da (夜、遅くまで待ってたけど、来ないんだ) |
The negative form is created by using the mizenkei base, followed by the ‑nai (ない) suffix. This auxiliary arose in eastern dialects during Late Middle Japanese and displaced the western ‑n (see below) in standard Japanese, and while having been linked to another negative auxilary, ‑nau → ‑nō (なふ), it appears to be a grammaticalized version of the adjective nai (無い; 'be nonexistent'). [10] It is possible to have a double negative, as in shizuka ja naku nai n da ga (静かじゃなくないんだが; transl. it's not not (=it is) quiet all right, but), hanashitaku naku nai kedo (話したくなくないけど; transl. I don't not want (=I do want) to talk, but), ippan no dokusha ni totte tashō wakarinikui ten mo naku wa nai (一般の読者に取って多少分かりにくい点もなくはない; transl. there are not not (=there are) points that, for the general reader, are hard to understand), etc. [11]
The regular negative of aru would be aranai, but it is very rarely used, for example in Honma ni uso de wa aranai to yū no ja na (本間に嘘ではあらないというのじゃな), [12] Tosa to te oni no kuni de mo hebi no kuni de mo aranai mono o (土佐とて鬼の国でも蛇の国でもあらないものを), etc. [13] [14] In Murakami Haruki's 2017 novel Killing Commendatore , the character "Commendatore", who is characterized as having "an odd way of speaking" that is "not the way ordinary people would speak", [15] often, but not always, uses aranai in place of nai.
‑N (karan (狩らん; 'not hunt')) is a negative auxiliary that was reduced from the earlier western [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] and classical ‑nu (karanu (狩らぬ)), but was largely displaced by the eastern ‑nai (karanai (狩らない)) in standard Japanese. [22] [23] ‑N(u) is still found in modern Japanese and thought of as "shortened" from ‑nai, although as the fact that shin(u) (しん・しぬ) is strictly dialectal compared to the standard sen(u) (せん・せぬ) shows, [12] it is not really a "short" form. Some modern examples include tokoro ga, henji o yokosan no desu (ところが、返事を寄越さんのです; 'but they sent me no reply'), Boku wa benkai sen desu. Tada iwan koto o kakaretara komaru. (僕は弁解せんです。ただ言わん事を書かれたら困る; 'I don't make excuses. It's just that it is embarrassing to have things written as if I had said them when I haven't.'), sen de kudasai (せんでください; 'don't do it'). [12] ‑N(u)'s infinitive form, ‑zu, is still used in writing. Ja nai (no) ka (じゃない(の)か; 'isn't it?') is indeed shortened to jan (じゃん) especially by young people. [24] ‑Nai and ‑nu can be used in the same sentence where ‑nai is treated as conclusive and ‑nu as attributive: Gaikōken o motanu Okinawa wa Amerika to kōshō suru koto mo dekinai (外交権を持たぬ沖縄はアメリカと交渉することもできない; 'Okinawa, which does not have diplomatic power, cannot negotiate with America'). [25]
For the negatives of suru and its compounds, the general practice is to pair the eastern shi‑ with the eastern ‑nai, and the western se‑ with the western ‑n(u) and ‑zu for mainstream Japanese (only the eastern shinai is standard). Any of such combinations as sanai, sunai, shin(u), etc are considered dialectal. The writer Mori Ōgai, hailing from the western prefecture of Shimane, reportedly rigorously used senai, apparently in accordance with the classical (western) se‑, [26] despite the dominance of sen in the west. [21]
The current negative of ‑masu is ‑masen. The unique shapes of ‑masen (rather than ‑mashinai) and the hortative ‑mashō (rather than *‑mashiyō) suggest their provenance in western polite speech. [27] Compare westernized hyper-polite adjectival expressions with gozaimasu. The easternized ‑mashinai was first recorded in its spoken form with vowel fusion as ‑mashinē in Edo Japanese. [28] It has been attested in dialog from modern literature, for example in the speech of underclass, poor, peasant, servile or rural characters, even non-Japanese ones, notably the eye dialect of black slaves from the novel Gone with the Wind . [29] The practice of using the stigmatized "unsophisticated" Tōhoku Japanese, [c] in which ‑mashinai and ‑mashinē figure, to translate the stereotypical speech of black Southern Americans, has become unpopular. [32] The use of a low-class pseudo-dialect has been claimed to contribute to the churlish stereotype of Tōhoku Japanese, [32] although it has also been argued that such use is increasingly perceived as mere fictional rural speech without necessarily any association with real-life dialects. [31]
‑N also happens to be a reduced form of ‑mu (karamu (狩らむ; 'let's hunt; probably hunt')), whose other reduced form, ‑u, is still used to make hortative forms (karō (狩ろう)). [22] ‑Nu also happens to be an archaic perfective auxiliary, with a different conjugation from the negative ‑nu; it is equivalent to ‑ta/‑da in modern Japanese, [33] and it is sometimes used elevatedly, as in Kaze to Tomo ni Sarinu (=Satta) (風と共に去りぬ; 'Gone with the Wind').
The godan and ichidan-based negative endings ‑ranai, ‑rinai or ‑renai, specifically with the consonant r, can be reduced to ‑nnai and even ‑nnē in speech, as in wakaranai → wakannai (分かんない), naranai → nannē (なんねえ), kurenai → kunnai (呉んない). [34]
The expressions sumanai/suman/sumimasen (すまない・すまん・すみません; 'I'm sorry', lit. 'it isn't over') comes from a special use of the subsidiary verb sumu (済む; 'be over') (see Gerund: Grammatical compatibility for examples).
The godan verb shiru (知る), whose kanji represents the Chinese word for "know", is often translated as "know", but a more accurate translation would be "learn", "find out", [35] or "get to know". [36] [37] In order to say "I know", the construction shitte( i)ru (知って(い)る) is used instead [36] [35] (see Gerund: Grammatical compatibility for the usage of ‑te iru). This is because shiru is imbued with active recognization, which relates to the archaic meaning of taking physical command or possession of somebody or something, [38] reflected by the spellings 治る with the kanji for the Chinese word for "rule", "govern" or "control", and 領る for "lead". [39] To "know", therefore, is to take psychological command or possession of outside information, hence shiru ("I take command of this information"), and maintain it, hence shitte iru ("I took command of this information and it's still in my knowledge"). While "I know" ("I take command of it and still have it") is shitte iru, "I don't know" is actually shiranai (知らない; "I don't take command of it"), [40] which is morphologically the negative of shiru, but semantically the negative of both shitte iru and shiru. On the other hand, shitte inai (知っていない; "I didn't take command of it and still don't have it") implies perpetuation of ignorance, [41] for example in Ningen ga naze hito o korosu no ka […] sono konponteki na riyū ni tsuite, watashitachi wa mada nani mo shitte inai, to omowareru kara de aru (人間がなぜ人を殺すか[…]その根本的な理由について、私たちはまだ何も知っていない、と思われるからである; transl. Why does a human being kill another person? […] it seems that we still remain ignorant of the basic reasons for that). [42] There have been analyses on precise cases where shitte inai is interchangeable with or even preferable to shiranai, for example when paired with shitte iru in the same clause, [43] as in Doitsu-go o shitte ite mo shiranakute mo / shitte inakute mo saiyō shiken ni wa kankei nai. (ドイツ語を知っていても知らなくても・知っていなくても採用試験には関係ない。; transl. Whether you know German or not has nothing to do with the employment test.); or in cases involving the perfect aspect, only shitte inai, not shiranai, can be used, as in Shinbun o yomu made ni, Tarō wa jiken no shinsō o shitte inai. (新聞を読むまでに、太郎は事件の真相を知っていない。; transl. By the time he reads the newspaper, Tarō won't have learnt of the incident.), Tarō wa ima made ichido mo jibun no genkai o shitte inai. (太郎は今まで一度も自分の限界を知っていない。; transl. Tarō hasn't learnt of his own limitations, even once until now.) [44] Nevertheless, the question remains as to why shiranai is uniquely more common than shitte inai as the negative of shitte iru to begin with, a phenomenon not yet observable in other verbs. [45] A recorded conversation with a young child shows that shiranai is not inherently intuitive in and of itself: when his father asked him a question with papa […] shiranai ("I don't know […]"), he mirrored his prompt with shiranai ("I don't know"); yet, when his father asked him with shitteru deshō ("you know, don't you?"), he erroneously responded with *shitteru nai ("I don't know", or more "accurately", shittenai, though the expected response was still shiranai). [46] In western dialects, there are shitte oru → shittoru (知っておる→知っとる; ≈ shitte iru → shitte 'ru), shitte oran → shittoran (知っておらん [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] →知っとらん [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] ; ≈ shitte inai → shitte 'nai), shitte oranu → shittoranu (知っておらぬ [59] [60] [61] →知っとらぬ [62] ), and shiran (知らん; ≈ shiranai).
| Dictionary form | Pattern [63] | Negative form | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godan verbs | ||||
| 結う(yuu, fasten) | 結う | 結わ | ない ん ぬ ず | 結わない(yuwanai, not fasten) 結わん(yuwan) 結わぬ(yuwanu) 結わず(yuwazu) |
| 言う(yū, say) | ゆう | いわ ゆわ | ない ん ぬ ず | 言わない (iwanai/yuwanai, not say) 言わん (iwan/yuwan) 言わぬ (iwanu/yuwanu) 言わず (iwazu/yuwazu) |
| 勝つ (katsu, win) | 勝つ | 勝た | ない ん ぬ ず | 勝たない (katanai, not win) 勝たん (katan) 勝たぬ (katanu) 勝たず (katazu) |
| 狩る (karu, hunt) | 狩る | 狩ら | ない ん ぬ ず | 狩らない (karanai, not hunt) 狩らん (karan) 狩らぬ (karanu) 狩らず (karazu) |
| 知る (shiru, find out) | 知る | 知ら | ない ん ぬ ず | 知らない (shiranai, not find out / have not found out) 知らん (shiran) [64] [65] [66] [49] [67] [51] [55] 知らぬ (shiranu) [64] [67] 知らず (shirazu) [68] |
| 貸す (kasu, lend) | 貸す | 貸さ | ない ん ぬ ず | 貸さない (kasanai, not lend) 貸さん (kasan) 貸さぬ (kasanu) 貸さず (kasazu) |
| 愛す (aisu, love) | 愛す | 愛さ | ない ん ぬ ず | 愛さない (aisanai, not love) [69] 愛さん (aisan) 愛さぬ (aisanu) [70] 愛さず (aisazu) [71] |
| 達す (tassu, reach) | 達す | 達さ | ない ん ぬ ず | 達さない (tassanai, not reach) [72] 達さん (tassan) 達さぬ (tassanu) 達さず (tassazu) |
| 書く (kaku, write) | 書く | 書か | ない ん ぬ ず | 書かない (kakanai, not write) 書かん (kakan) 書かぬ (kakanu) 書かず (kakazu) |
| 嗅ぐ (kagu, smell) | 嗅ぐ | 嗅が | ない ん ぬ ず | 嗅がない (kaganai, not smell) 嗅がん (kagan) 嗅がぬ (kaganu) 嗅がず (kagazu) |
| 呼ぶ(yobu, call) | 呼ぶ | 呼ば | ない ん ぬ ず | 呼ばない(yobanai, not call) 呼ばん(yoban) 呼ばぬ(yobanu) 呼ばず(yobazu) |
| 読む(yomu, read) | 読む | 読ま | ない ん ぬ ず | 読まない(yomanai, not read) 読まん(yoman) 読まぬ(yomanu) 読まず(yomazu) |
| 死ぬ (shinu, die) | 死ぬ | 死な | ない ん ぬ ず | 死なない (shinanai, not die) 死なん (shinan) 死なぬ (shinanu) 死なず (shinazu) |
| Irregular godan verbs | ||||
| 有る (aru, exist) | ある | ない | 無い (nai, be nonexistent) | |
| あら | ない ん ぬ ず | 有らない (aranai, not exist) [73] [74] [75] 有らん (aran) 有らぬ (aranu) [d] [78] [79] [80] [81] [82] 有らず (arazu) [e] [84] [85] [86] [87] | ||
| Ichidan verbs | ||||
| 射る (iru, shoot) | 射る | 射 | ない ん ぬ ず | 射ない (inai, not shoot) 射ん (in) 射ぬ (inu) 射ず (izu) |
| 達しる (tasshiru, reach) | 達しる | 達し | ない ん ぬ ず | 達しない (tasshinai, not reach) 達しん (tasshin) 達しぬ (tasshinu) 達しず (tasshizu) |
| 達せ | ん ぬ ず | 達せん (tassen) 達せぬ (tassenu) 達せず (tassezu) | ||
| 察しる (sasshiru, guess) | 察しる | 察し | ない ん ぬ ず | 察しない (sasshinai, not guess) [88] [89] 察しん (sasshin) 察しぬ (sasshinu) [88] 察しず (sasshizu) [90] |
| 察せ | ん ぬ ず | 察せん (sassen) 察せぬ (sassenu) [91] 察せず (sassezu) [92] | ||
| 信じる (shinjiru, believe) | 信じる | 信じ | ない ん ぬ ず | 信じない (shinjinai, not believe) [93] [94] 信じん (shinjin) 信じぬ (shinjinu) [94] 信じず (shinjizu) [95] |
| 信ぜ | ん ぬ ず | 信ぜん (shinzen) 信ぜぬ (shinzenu) [96] 信ぜず (shinzezu) [97] [98] [99] | ||
| 進じる (shinjiru, give) | 進じる | 進じ | ない ん ぬ ず | 進じない (shinjinai, not give) 進じん (shinjin) 進じぬ (shinjinu) 進じず (shinjizu) |
| 進ぜ | ん ぬ ず | 進ぜん (shinzen) 進ぜぬ (shinzenu) 進ぜず (shinzezu) | ||
| 進ぜる (shinzeru, give) | 進ぜる | 進ぜ | ない ん ぬ ず | 進ぜない (shinzenai, not give) [100] 進ぜん (shinzen) 進ぜぬ (shinzenu) [101] 進ぜず (shinzezu) [102] |
| 得る (eru, get) | 得る | 得 | ない ん ぬ ず | 得ない (enai, not get) 得ん (en) 得ぬ (enu) 得ず (ezu) |
| Irregular verbs | ||||
| する (suru, do) | する | し | ない | しない (shinai, not do) |
| せ | ん ぬ ず | せん (sen) せぬ (senu) せず (sezu) | ||
| 勉強する (benkyō suru, study) | 勉強する | 勉強し | ない | 勉強しない (benkyō shinai, not study) |
| 勉強せ | ん ぬ ず | 勉強せん (benkyō sen) 勉強せぬ (benkyō senu) 勉強せず (benkyō sezu) | ||
| 愛する (aisuru, love) | 愛する | 愛さ | ない ん ぬ ず | 愛さない (aisanai, not love) [69] [103] [104] 愛さん (aisan) 愛さぬ (aisanu) [105] 愛さず (aisazu) [106] |
| 愛し | ない | 愛しない (aishinai) [107] [108] [109] [110] | ||
| 愛せ | ん ぬ ず | 愛せん (aisen) [f] 愛せぬ (aisenu) 愛せず (aisezu) | ||
| 達する (tassuru, reach) | 達する | 達さ 達し | ない ん ぬ ず | 達さない (tassanai, not reach) [111] 達しない (tasshinai) [112] 達さん (tassan) 達しん (tasshin) 達さぬ (tassanu) [113] 達しぬ (tasshinu) 達さず (tassazu) [114] 達しず (tasshizu) |
| 達せ | ん ぬ ず | 達せん (tassen) [g] 達せぬ (tassenu) 達せず (tassezu) | ||
| 察する (sassuru, guess) | 察する | 察し | ない ん ぬ ず | 察しない (sasshinai, not guess) [116] 察しん (sasshin) 察しぬ (sasshinu) [117] 察しず (sasshizu) [118] |
| 察せ | ん ぬ ず | 察せん (sassen) 察せぬ (sassenu) 察せず (sassezu) | ||
| 信ずる (shinzuru, believe) | 信ずる | 信じ | ない ん ぬ ず | 信じない (shinjinai, not believe) [119] 信じん (shinjin) 信じぬ (shinjinu) [120] [121] 信じず (shinjizu) [122] |
| 信ぜ | ん ぬ ず | 信ぜん (shinzen) 信ぜぬ (shinzenu) [123] 信ぜず (shinzezu) [98] [124] | ||
| 進ずる (shinzuru, give) | 進ずる | 進じ 進ぜ | ない ん ぬ ず | 進じない (shinjinai, not give) 進ぜない (shinzenai) 進ぜん (shinzen) 進じん (shinjin) 進ぜぬ (shinzenu) [125] 進じぬ (shinjinu) 進ぜず (shinzezu) [126] 進じず (shinjizu) |
| 来る (kuru, come) [h] | くる | こ | ない ん ぬ ず | 来ない (konai, not come) 来ん (kon) 来ぬ (konu) 来ず (kozu) |
| Verbal auxiliaries | ||||
| 〜ます(る) (‑masu(ru)) | ます(る) | ませ | ん ぬ ず | 〜ません (‑masen, not) 〜ませぬ (‑masenu) [125] [127] [128] [129] [130] [131] 〜ませず (‑masezu) [128] [132] [133] |
| まし | ない | 〜ましない (‑mashinai) [i] | ||
| Adjectives and adjectival auxiliaries | ||||
| 〜ない (‑nai, not) | ない | なく | ない | 〜なくない (‑naku nai, not not) [162] [163] [164] |
| 無い (nai, be nonexistent) | 無くない (naku nai, not be nonexistent → be existent) [165] [166] | |||
| なから | ん ぬ ず | 無からん (nakaran) 無からぬ (nakaranu) [167] [168] 無からず (nakarazu) [169] [170] | ||
| 少ない (sukunai, be scarce) | 少ない | 少なく | ない | 少なくない (sukunaku nai, not be scarce) |
| 少なから | ん ぬ ず | 少なからん (sukunakaran) 少なからぬ (sukunakaranu) [171] [172] [173] 少なからず (sukunakarazu) [174] [175] [176] | ||
| 良い (ii/yoi, be good) | いい よい | よく | ない | 良くない(yoku nai, not be good) |
| よから | ん ぬ ず | 良からん(yokaran) 良からぬ(yokaranu) [177] [178] 良からず(yokarazu) [179] | ||
| 可く (beku, having to) | 可く | 可から | ず | 可からず (bekarazu, not having to) |
| 可き (beki, having to) | 可き | 可から | ざる | 可からざる (bekarazaru, not having to) |
The eastern negative ‑nai generally works like an adjective, although its gerund ‑nai de is more common than the adjectival ‑nakute. The western gerund is ‑n(u) de.
The imperfect negative can be followed by the noun uchi (内; 'interval'), whereby it means "while it hasn't happened" or "before it happens." [180]
The classical, and thus more literary than colloquially, [j] ‑zu is originally the infinitive of ‑n(u), but it is often used conclusively with a copula. It is often optionally followed by the copular infinitive particle ni as in ‑zu ni which works like a sort of adverbial gerund that means "without doing." It is possible to distinguish between coordination in Tabezu de neta (食べずで寝た; 'I did not eat, I slept') and subordination in Tabezu ni neta (食べずに寝た; 'I slept without eating (= while hungry)'). [181]
| Extender | English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| uchi (内) | My lord, I dare not make myself so guilty, To give up willingly that noble title Your master wed me to: nothing but death Shall e’er divorce my dignities. [k] | Kyō yo, watashi wa, ō ga fuyo sareta sonshō o jibun de suteneba naran yō na tsumi o okasu hazu wa arimasen. Shinan uchi wa, kesshite kono kurai o hanaremasen. (卿よ、わたしは、王が附與された尊稱を自分で捨てねばならんやうな罪を犯す筈はありません。死なんうちは、決して此爵位を離れません。 [182] ) | while not having done something; before doing something |
| copulae | I do not to understand a word. [l] | Ichido mo yaku ni tatazu desu (一度も役に立たずです) | elevated negative predication |
| Of course the largest borrower is America which takes up to 40 percent of the total; Japan is far from equaling that but is in second place. [m] | Mochiron saidai no karite wa zentai no yonjippāsento o shimete iru Amerika de ari, Nihon wa haruka ni oyobazu de aru ga, dainii de aru (もちろん最大の借り手は全体の40パーセントを占めているアメリカであり、日本は遥かに及ばずであるが、第二位である) | ||
| ni (に) | I slept soundly without dreaming. [n] | Yume mo mizu ni gussuri nemutta (夢も見ずにぐっすり眠った) | elevated negative conjunction |
| If you keep steady, without running risks, you are safe. [o] | Bōken o sezu ni kataku yatte ireba buji da (冒険をせずに堅くやっていれば無事だ) |
The passive or passive potential [183] turns the patient (or target) or victim of an action into a subject, which can be marked with the nominative particle ga.
The pure passive simply expresses what act is done by the agent (A) to the patient (P), thus A ga P o yobu (AがPを呼ぶ; 'A calls P') becomes P ga A ni yobareru (PがAに呼ばれる; 'P is called by A'). The agent is typically marked with ni, but kara can sometimes be used instead, especially if ni might be ambiguous; for example in P ga A ni B ni shōkai sareru (PがAにBに紹介される), it is not clear which between A and B the agent is, so kara can be used instead as in P ga A kara B ni shōkai sareru (PがAからBに紹介される; 'P is introduced by A to B'). [184]
The adversative, "victimizing" or affective passive expresses how a victim (V) is affected by, or suffers from, if the original verb is intransitive, the act being done by an agent, as in V ga A ni shinareru (VがAに死なれる; 'V suffers because A dies'); or, if the original verb is transitive, the act being done by an agent to a patient, as in V ga A ni P o yobareru (VがAにPを呼ばれる; 'V suffers because A calls P'). The terms adversative and victimizing are broadly correct, although the "victim" can sometimes be positively or even desirably affected by the action, so affective would be a more general term; for example, Atsui kara soto ni dete kaze ni fukarete kimasu (暑いから外に出て風に吹かれてきます; transl. It's hot so I'll go outside and get some wind, lit. 'It's hot, so I'll go outside and get affected by the wind blowing'), Sensei ni kodomo o homerareta (先生に子供を褒められた; transl. My kid was praised by her teacher, lit. 'I was affected by the fact that the teacher praised my kid'), etc. Sometimes what seems to be positive may turn out to be negative with additional context, such as Itsu datta ka, watashi wa densha no naka de seinen kara seki o yuzurareta koto ga atta […] Watashi wa sono toki, isasaka yūutsu de atta (いつだったか、私は電車の中で青年から席を譲られたことがあった[…]私はその時、いささか憂鬱であった; transl. Once on a train I was given a seat by a young man […] I was a bit depressed that time [because I would rather him ignore my disability and treat me like a normal person]). [185] English has some similar constructions with intransitive verbs, though not necessarily with a negative connotation, such as "I got rained on" or "I got talked to".
The passive can also have no passive meaning, but is merely a more honorific way to exalt the subject. [186] [187] [188] Some verbs that come with the particle ni may be ambiguous when used this way, as it might not be clear whether it is in the passive or the honorific without context. For example, since the verb katsu (勝つ; 'win') comes with ni whether or not it is in the passive, [p] in the line “Anata ga hime ni kataretara chin mo kōfuku de gozaimasu zo” (「王子殿が姬に勝たれたら朕も幸福で御座いますぞ」), out of context, the king could be glad either if the prince is defeated by his princess (affective passive), or if he defeats her (subject exaltation); in context, it is the subject-exalting interpretation, hence “We would be delighted if ye defeat our princess.” [189]
Actual sentences may lack one of the said components (P, V or A) and therefore can become ambiguous (purely passive, adversatively passive or honorific) without additional context, for example kekkonshiki ni yobareru (結婚式に呼ばれる; 'one gets invited to weddings; one suffers because someone else's invited to weddings; those honoroble invite others to weddings'). [186] Intransitive verbs, such as korareru (来られる) and arareru (あられる), do not have the pure passive meaning, only the other two, as in V ga A ni korareru (VがAに来られる; 'V suffers because A comes') and S ga C de arareru (SがCであられる; 'S is (honorably) C'). [190]
Historically, the "passive" construction has also had potential use, but except for ichidan verbs and kuru, this use now has a dialectal or old-fashioned literary flavor. [191] It has been argued that the various meanings of the passive arose from the spontaneous potential (see #Potential for more), which spawned both the regular potential and the regular passive, the latter of which came to be used additionally for subject exaltation. [192] It has also been suggested that the pure passive came to be in its current state due to translations from the English passive. [193]
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Tarō was beaten by his father. | Tarō wa chichioya ni nagurareta. (太郎は父親に殴られた。 [194] ) | pure passivity (中立受身, chūritsu ukemi; the subject is the patient) |
| Today's America was made by immigrants. | Genzai no Amerika wa imintachi ni yotte tsukurareta (現在のアメリカは移民たちによって作られた) | |
| In other words, Japanese perceptual psychologists have begun to write many papers in English, and they have been read by researchers all over the world. | Tsumari, Nihon no chikaku shinrigaku ga eigo de ronbun o ōku yō ni nari, sono ronbun ga sekaijū no kenkyūsha ni yomareru yō ni natta to yū koto de aru. (つまり,日本の知覚心理学者が英語で論文を多く書くようになり,その論文が世界中の研究者に読まれるようになったということである。 [195] ) | |
| Tarō's father died. [q] | Tarō wa chichioya ni shinareta. (太郎は父親に死なれた。 [194] ) | adversative/affective passivity (被害・迷惑受身, higai/meiwaku ukemi; the subject is affected, often negatively, by the agent's action) |
| My mother read my diary. [r] | Nikki o hahaoya ni yomareta (日記を母親に読まれた) | |
| The inspector dropped in on us without notice. [s] | Nan no sata mo naku shigakukan ni korareta (何の沙汰も無く視学官に来られた) | |
| Lilischur felt the chill as if she had been rained on, while Manfred felt like he was shaken in both mind and body. [t] | Ririshua wa ame ni furareta yō na usurasamui kibun datta ga, Manfurēto wa kokoro mo karada mo yusaburareta yō de. (リリーシュアは雨に降られたような薄ら寒い気分だったが、マンフレートは心も身体も揺さぶられたようで。 [196] ) | |
| […] and each, in this contest, wishes to be conquered rather than conquer. [u] | […] sō shite sōhō to mo sono kyōgi de wa, katsu yori mo, kataretagaru no de aru. ([…]さうして雙方ともその競技では、勝つよりも、勝たれたがるのである。 [197] ) | |
| It was Mr Brown who came to see you. | Anata ni ai ni korareta no wa Buraun-san deshita (あなたに会いに来られたのはブラウンさんでした) | subject exaltation (尊敬, sonkei; the subject is the exalted agent) |
| What school did you go to? | Gakkō wa dochira e ikaremashita ka (学校はどちらへ行かれましたか) | |
| When holy Harry died, and my sweet son. | Atta, ano shinsei na Henrī-dono ga shinareta toki ni, ore no taisetsu no ko no, ano kawaii Edowādo ga shinda toki ni! (あった、あの神聖なヘンリーどのが死なれた時に、おれの大切の子の、あの可愛いエドワードが死んだ時に! [198] ) | |
| No, this man could not toil, he could never exert himself, I thought with resignation. | Iya, kono otoko ni wa tsutomerarenai, funpatsu serarenai, to akiramemashita. (いや、此男には勉められない、奮發せられない、と斷念ました。 [199] ) | potentiality (可能, kanō) |
| This place called Sumita was a hot-spring town, about ten minutes by train away from the castle town, or you could walk for thirty minutes, | Kono Sumita to yū tokoro wa onsen no aru machi de, jōka kara kisha da to jippun bakari, aruite sanjippun de yukareru, (此住田と云ふ所は溫泉のある町で、城下から汽車だと十分許り、步行いて三十分で行かれる、 [200] ) | |
| “[…] There the Blessed One may both drink water and cool his limbs.” | ――“[…] Sono tokoro de Seson wa mizu mo nomaremashō shi teashi mo hiyasaremashō.” (――「[…]其處で世尊は水も飮まれませうし手足も冷されませう。」 [201] ) | |
| for the unhappiest man was he who could not die, and happy he who could. | Naze ka to ieba, shinenai mono wa saidai fukōmono de, shinareru mono wa kōfukumono de aru kara da. (なぜかと言へば、死ねない者は最大不幸者で、死なれる者は幸福者であるからだ。 [202] ) | |
| However, as the old saying goes, “You can’t win against a crybaby or an estate steward,” even if the government does such a thing in Japan, those calling themselves civil servants cannot do anything about it. [v] | Shikashi, naku ko to jitō ni wa katarenu to mukashi kara yūte oru tōri, Nihon de wa, seifu ga sō yū koto o shite mo, kanri taru mono wa nani to mo shikata ga nai. (併し、泣く子と地頭には勝たれぬと昔から云ふて居る通り、日本では、政府がさう云ふことをしても、官吏たるものは何とも仕方がない。 [205] ) | |
| Next to this woman whom I had left barely a moment ago, the rest of humanity looked very far-off. […] The doorknob of my room differed from all other doorknobs in the world in that, without my needing to turn it, the door opens all by itself. Manually turning it was so unconscious that it seemed that way. […] My grandmother thought it was very important to not look like we served it only when there were guests, as she held that that was a kind thing to do. [w] | Tsui imashigata wakareta bakari no sono onna ni kurabereba, hoka no ningen nado haruka ni tōi sonzai no yō ni omowareta. […] Watashi no heya no ano doanobu wa sekaijū no donna doanobu to mo chigatte, wazawaza mawasanakute mo doa ga hitori de ni aku. Sō omowareru hodo, nobu o te de mawasu dōsa ga muisihiki no uchi ni nasarete ita. […] Sobo wa raikyaku no toki dake tokubetsu ni shiroppu o dasu to omowarenai yō ni suru koto ga sukoburu daiji da to omotte ita shi, sono hō ga shinsetsu da to kangaete ita. (ついいましがた別れたばかりのその女に比べれば、ほかの人間などはるかに遠い存在のように思われた。[…]私の部屋のあのドアノブは世界中のどんなドアノブとも違って、わざわざ回さなくてもドアがひとりでに開く。そう思われるほど、ノブを手で回す動作が無意識のうちになされていた。[…]祖母は来客のときだけ特別にシロップを出すと思われないようにすることがすこぶる大事だと思っていたし、そのほうが親切だと考えていた。 [207] ) |
The passive form is created by using the mizenkei base, followed by the reru/rareru (れる・られる) suffix. For ichidan verbs and kuru (来る), the passive form and the potential form have an identical conjugation pattern with the same rareru (られる) suffix. This makes it impossible to distinguish whether an ichidan verb adopts a passive or potential function without contextual information.
Arareru is historically attested with potential uses, [208] but it is now primarily the more honorific way of saying aru (ある) and iru (いる). [209] [210]
Honorific verbs can be made even more polite, as in irassharareru (いらっしゃられる), [211] [212] [213] ossharareru (仰られる), etc. [213] [214] [215] Excessively honorific verbs have been proscribed by textbooks, but they seem somewhat tolerable by speakers, even though they are still not as frequent with options without ‑reru. [216] [217] There are historical precedents of such double honorifics dating back to the Edo period. [218]
Sareru is said to be shortened from serareru, [219] the latter of which is said to be "pseudo-literary" (meant to emulate the writing style of classical Japanese). [220] Shirareru is rare for Group-A verbs, [221] and is not to be confused with the segmentally and accentually homophonous shirareru (知られる; 'be known'), which may also be spelt in hiragana.
| Dictionary form | Pattern [63] | Passive form | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godan verbs | ||||
| 結う(yuu, fasten) | 結う | 結わ | れる | 結われる(yuwareru, be fastened/suffer because one fastens/(can) fasten) |
| 言う(yū, say) | ゆう | いわ ゆわ | れる | 言われる (iwareru/yuwareru, be said/suffer because one says/(can) say) |
| 勝つ (katsu, win) | 勝つ | 勝た | れる | 勝たれる (katareru, suffer because one wins/(can) win) [222] [223] [224] [225] [226] |
| 狩る (karu, hunt) | 狩る | 狩ら | れる | 狩られる (karareru, be hunted/suffer because one hunts/(can) hunt) |
| 有る (aru, exist) | 有る | 有ら | れる | 有られる (arareru, suffer because one exists/(can) exist) [227] [228] [229] |
| 為さる (nasaru, do) | 為さる | 為さら | れる | 為さられる (nasarareru, be done/suffer because one does/(can) do) [230] [231] [232] |
| 貸す (kasu, lend) | 貸す | 貸さ | れる | 貸される (kasareru, be lent/suffer because one lends/(can) lend) |
| 愛す (aisu, love) | 愛す | 愛さ | れる | 愛される (aisareru, be loved/suffer because one loves/(can) love) |
| 達す (tassu, reach) | 達す | 達さ | れる | 達される (tassareru, be reached/suffer because one reaches/(can) reach) |
| 書く (kaku, write) | 書く | 書か | れる | 書かれる (kakareru, be written/suffer because one writes/(can) write) |
| 嗅ぐ (kagu, smell) | 嗅ぐ | 嗅が | れる | 嗅される (kagareru, be smelled/suffer because one smells/(can) smell) |
| 呼ぶ(yobu, call) | 呼ぶ | 呼ば | れる | 呼ばれる(yobareru, be called/suffer because one calls/(can) call) |
| 読む(yomu, read) | 読む | 読ま | れる | 読まれる(yomareru, be read/suffer because one reads/(can) read) |
| 死ぬ (shinu, die) | 死ぬ | 死な | れる | 死なれる (shinareru, suffer because one dies/(can) die) [233] [234] [235] [236] [237] |
| Ichidan verbs | ||||
| 射る (iru, shoot) | 射る | 射 | られる | 射られる (irareru, be shot/suffer because one shoots/(can) shoot) |
| 達しる (tasshiru, reach) | 達しる | 達し 達せ | られる | 達しられる (tasshirareru, be reached/suffer because one reaches/(can) reach) 達せられる (tasserareru) |
| 察しる (sasshiru, guess) | 察しる | 察し 察せ | られる | 察しられる (sasshirareru, be guessed/suffer because one guesses/(can) guess) [238] 察せられる (sasserareru) [238] |
| 信じる (shinjiru, believe) | 信じる | 信じ 信ぜ | られる | 信じられる (shinjirareru, be believed/suffer because one believes/(can) believe) [239] [240] 信ぜられる (shinzerareru) [241] [242] |
| 進ぜる (shinzeru, give) | 進ぜる | 進ぜ | られる | 進ぜられる (shinzerareru, be given/suffer because one gives/(can) give) [243] |
| 得る (eru, get) | 得る | 得 | られる | 得られる (erareru, be gotten/suffer because one gets/(can) get) |
| Irregular verbs | ||||
| する (suru, do) | する | さ | れる | される (sareru, be done/suffer because one does/(can) do) |
| せ し | られる | せられる (serareru) [244] しられる (shirareru) | ||
| 勉強する (benkyō suru, study) | 勉強する | 勉強さ | れる | 勉強される (benkyō sareru, be studied/suffer because one studies/(can) study) [245] [246] |
| 勉強せ 勉強し | られる | 勉強せられる (benkyō serareru) [247] [248] 勉強しられる (benkyō shirareru) [249] | ||
| 愛する (aisuru, love) | 愛する | 愛さ | れる | 愛される (aisareru, be loved/suffer because one loves/(can) love) [245] [250] |
| 愛せ 愛し | られる | 愛せられる (aiserareru) [245] [251] [252] [253] 愛しられる (aishirareru) [251] [252] | ||
| 達する (tassuru, reach) | 達する | 達さ | れる | 達される (tassareru, be reached/suffer because one reaches/(can) reach) [254] [255] |
| 達せ 達し | られる | 達せられる (tasserareru) [256] [257] 達しられる (tasshirareru) [258] [259] | ||
| 察する (sassuru, guess) | 察する | 察せ 察し | られる | 察せられる (sasserareru, be guessed/suffer because one guesses/(can) guess) [260] 察しられる (sasshirareru) [261] |
| 信ずる (shinzuru, believe) | 信ずる | 信ぜ 信じ | られる | 信ぜられる (shinzerareru, be believed/suffer because one believes/(can) believe) [262] [245] [263] 信じられる (shinjirareru) [262] [245] [264] |
| 進ずる (shinzuru, give) | 進ずる | 進ぜ 進じ | られる | 進ぜられる (shinzerareru, be given/suffer because one gives/(can) give) [265] 進じられる (shinjirareru) [266] [267] [268] |
| 来る (kuru, come) | くる | こ | られる | 来られる (korareru, suffer because one comes/(can) come) [269] [270] [271] |
After conjugating into the passive form, the verbs become ichidan verbs. They can therefore be further conjugated according to any ichidan pattern. For instance, a passive verb (e.g. be said (言われる, iwareru)) can conjugate using the ichidan pattern for the gerund (て形, te kei) to join sequential statements (iwarete (言われて)), or the infinitive form to append the polite -masu (〜ます) auxiliary verb (iwaremasu (言われます)).
Potentiality (可能, kanō) describes the possibility for an action to happen, whether it involves an intentional acting agent or not: [272]
The patient of an action is customarily marked with the nominative particle ga (rather than the accusative o), [273] which has the same appearance as the passive voice:
It is not impossible to use A ga P o taberareru (AがPを食べられる; ni and o do not occur together for the potential [274] ) instead in the passive potential above, but it is less preferable in this case. [273] [275] However, o is more preferable to ga in the presence of a motion verb (whose pure passive does not naturally occur): [273]
The rise of the particle ga as a marker of the patient of the action can be attributed to the "spontaneous (or natural) passive (or potential)" ( 自発 , jihatsu), whereby the patient or the action simply comes about, seemingly in a vacuum, without a voluntary or intentional agent acting on it. [276] This may also relate to the verb dekiru (出来る) (see the phrase koto ga dekiru mentioned below) which means "come about; come into existence; materialize; form; take shape; be done/made/born/produced → be doable/feasible/possible", [206] as in kome ga dekita (米ができた; transl. the rice was produced), kutsu ga dekita (靴ができた; transl. the shoes were made), kodomo ga dekita (子供ができた; transl. a child was born), etc. [277] Thus, such phrase as shōsetsu ga kaketa (小説が書けた), spoken in the past tense by an author who does not want to mention themself as an agent, can be translated as "the novel wrote itself" (= the novel came about in written form), rather than "I was able to write the novel". [278] Other examples without voluntary agents include shizen ni waraete kita (自然に笑えてきた; transl. I was seized by laughter = laughter spontaneously occurred to me), hontō no yō ni omoete kita (本当のように思えてきた; transl. it began to appear true = the thought of it being true occurred to me), [277] nakete kichatta (泣けてきちゃった; transl. I couldn't help crying = crying unfortunately occurred to me), tsureta (釣れた; transl. I've got one = a fish's caught itself on my line), [279] etc.
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| “I can still shoot a bow and arrow.” She winked. “Skin a deer. Track a cougar.” She leaned closer. “Use a bowie knife.” | “Ima de mo yumiya wa ireru wa yo” Tesu wa uinku shita. “Shika no kawa mo hagaseru shi, kūgā no ashiato mo oeru wa” kanojo wa Matto no hō e mi o yoseta. “Boui naifu mo tsukaeru shi ne” (「いまでも弓矢は射れるわよ」テスはウインクした。「鹿の皮も剥がせるし、クーガーの足跡も追えるわ」彼女はマットのほうへ身をよせた。「ボウイナイフも使えるしね」 [280] ) | capabilitative potentiality (能力可能, nōryoku kanō; an agent is (in)capable of doing something) |
| Leticia Dartois can read minds. | Retishia Darutowa wa kokoro ga yomeru. (レティシア・ダルトワは心が読める。 [281] ) | |
| Nobody can read my hand but my brother there—so he copies for me. | Watashi no ji o yomeru no wa, koko no watashi no otōto dake de――watashi no seisho o shite kureru no desu. (私の字を読めるのは、ここの私の弟だけで――私の清書をしてくれるのです。 [282] ) | |
| Still, English or no, Galen could not justify simply attacking the party and killing the woman. | To ieba, Ingurando musume de arō ga nakarō ga, sono ikkō ni kishū o kake, MaGuregā no hanayome to naru musume o korosu koto ni seigi ga aru to wa, Geiran ni wa omoenakatta. (といえば、イングランド娘であろうがなかろうが、その一行に奇襲をかけ、マグレガーの花嫁となる娘を殺すことに正義があるとは、ゲイランには思えなかった。 [283] ) | |
| This novel is very readable. [x] | Kono shōsetsu wa nakanaka yomeru (この小説はなかなか読める) | circumstantial potentiality (状況可能, jōkyō kanō; something can(not) happen because of external circumstance) |
| His handwriting is messy and completely illegible. | Ano hito wa ji ga kitanakute yoku yomenai (あの人は字が汚くてよく読めない) | |
| You can’t read at a place this noisy. | Konna yakamashii tokoro de wa, hon nado wa yomenai (こんなやかましい処では、本などは読めない [284] ) | |
| “[…] You can watch the video downstairs.” […] “Excuse me, I heard you could watch a Kaats video here……” | “[…] Kaidan no shita no furoa de bideo ga mirareru kara” […] “Sumimasen, Kātsu no bideo o mirareru tte kiita n desu ga……” (「[…]階段の下のフロアでビデオが見られるから」 […] 「すみません、カーツのビデオを見られるって聞いたんですが……」 [285] ) | |
| You can watch movies on a smartphone. | Sumaho de eiga ga mireru (スマホで映画が見れる) | |
| Before I knew it, it was already written. [y] | Itsu no ma ni ka kakete shimatta (いつのまにか書けてしまった [286] ) | spontaneity / natural potentiality (自発・自然可能, jihatsu / shizen kanō; something seemingly spontaneously comes about) |
| Try as she might to hold back, tears just start to flow. [z] | Koraete mo, shizen ni nakete kuru (こらえても、自然に泣けてくる [286] ) | |
| The fish were biting like crazy. [aa] | Omoshiroi hodo yoku tsureta (おもしろいほどよく釣れた [206] ) | |
| Stealing MacGregor’s bride had seemed the perfect solution to Galen at the time. […] Aye, except for her being English it had seemed the perfect solution . . . right up until he had seen how puny and frail she appeared. [ab] | MaGuregā no hanayome o ryakudatsu suru. Kono keikaku wa, Geiran ni wa kanpeki na kaiketsu hōhō ni omoeta. […] Jissai, sono musume ga Ingurando-jin da to yū koto o nozokeba, kore wa jitsu ni mōshibun no nai kaiketsu hōhō ni omoeta. (マグレガーの花嫁を略奪する。この計画は、ゲイランには完璧な解決方法に思えた。[…] 実際、その娘がイングランド人だということを除けば、これは実に申しぶんのない解決方法に思えた。 [283] ) |
Potential verbs are unique to godan-based passive potential verbs, [287] [288] which have been said to have been shortened by removing ar from areru: yomareru (読まれる; 'be read; can read') → yomeru (読める; 'can read'); kakareru (書かれる; 'be written; can write') → kakeru (書ける; 'can write'). [289] Other hypotheses of derivation include contractions from infinitives followed by eru (得る; 'get', see Japanese conjugation (ren'yōkei base)#Infinitive: Grammatical compatibility), presumably as in kakieru (書きえる; 'can write') → kakeru; or conversions of nidan attributives into ichidan potentials, such as kiruru → kireru (切るる→切れる), shiruru → shireru (知るる→知れる). [290] Short potential verbs of this type are conventional in Tokyo Japanese, while long verbs have become largely obsolescent, elevated or non-Tokyo. [291]
The hypothetical short potential verb *wakareru (分かれる; 'can make sense') is not used. However, the non-potential intransitive wakareru (分かれる; 'branch off'), [206] the adversative passive wakarareru (分かられる; 'suffer because it makes sense') and causative wakaraseru (分からせる; 'cause it to make sense') are acceptable. [292]
Non-godan-based verbs such as taberareru (食べられる; 'can eat; be eaten') remain ambiguous. Such ambiguity can be resolved, at least colloquially, by a process dubbed ra‑nuki kotoba ( ら抜き言葉 ; lit. 'ra‑less word'), [293] thus distinguishing the short taberareru → tabereru (食べられる→食べれる; 'can eat') for the potential and the long taberareru (食べられる; 'be eaten') for the passive. This process was originally dialectal, but has been increasingly adopted by Tokyo speakers. [294] Preference polls have shown that even among ra‑nuki kotoba users, the likelihood of usage significantly decreases as the mora count in the verb stem exceeds two; in other words, mi.re.ru (見れる; one-mora stem) and ta.be.re.ru (食べれる; two-mora stem) are highly likely, but shi.n.ji.re.ru (信じれる; three-mora stem), ka.n.ga.e.re.ru (考えれる; four-mora stem), o.to.shi.i.re.re.ru (陥れれる; five-mora stem) are much less likely. [295]
Shortening passive verbs for potential uses is not universal among dialects, some of which may only use long verbs instead. [296]
Apart from the dedicated potential verbs, the less ambiguous but more circumlocutory phrase koto ga dekiru (ことができる) can be used, as in iku koto ga dekiru (行くことができる; 'can go'), yameru koto ga dekiru (止めることができる; 'can stop'), etc. Depending on usage, a particle such as wa, mo or no can be used instead of ga. [297] [298] Some potential verbs, such as nomeru (飲める; 'can drink; can be drunk; is drinkable'), kueru (喰える; 'can eat; can be eaten; is eatable'), etc., have meanings similar to those of ‑able adjectives in English, such as drinkable/potable, eatable/edible, etc., which describe the patient's quality to be enjoyed by the agent, not the agent's capability of enjoying the patient; these verbs are not completely interchangeable with koto ga dekiru; compare Kono sake wa dō mo nomenai. (この酒はどうも飲めない。; transl. This liquor is so undrinkable. (=it tastes awful, or is not fit for drinking)) and Kono sake wa dō mo nomu koto ga dekinai. (この酒はどうも飲むことができない。; transl. It seems I can't drink this liquor. (=I'm incapable of drinking, or I can't afford to drink)). [299]
Most contemporary ‑suru verbs do not really have underlying potential verbs and must use suru koto ga dekiru, which can be shortened to dekiru only for Group-A verbs, as in yasuku (suru koto ga) dekiru (安く(することが)できる; 'can make cheap'), benkyō (suru koto ga) dekiru (勉強(することが)できる; 'can study'), onegai (suru koto ga) dekiru (お願い(することが)できる; 'can request'); but nessuru koto ga dekiru (熱することができる; 'can heat'), kyōsuru koto ga dekiru (供することができる; 'can offer'), etc. Historically, the passive potential sareru, [300] serareru [301] [302] [199] and shirareru [303] were seldom used for Group-A verbs, but they have been supplanted by (suru koto ga) dekiru, which figured in a trend towards disambiguating the polysemous passive potential during the Meiji era. [304] Non-Group-A verbs, which have become more like godan (partially or completely), do have potential verbs, such as aiseru (愛せる; 'can love') (short)/aisareru (愛される; 'can love; be loved') (long), nakuseru (無くせる; 'can lose')/nakusareru (無くされる; 'can lose; be lost'), etc; or more like ichidan, although probably without ra-nuki kotoba, as in ōjirareru/ōzerareru (応じられる・応ぜられる; 'can respond'), [305] or with it, as in shinjireru (信じれる; 'can believe'). [294]
Writers can make use of various ways to convey potentiality, such as how Natsume Sōseki used a short potential verb (aisezu), a long passive potential verb (irarenai), koto + particle + dekiru (hirogete dakishimeru koto no dekinai) and eru/uru (aishiuru) in the same sentence in the novel Kokoro : Ningen o aishiuru hito, aisezu ni wa irarenai hito, sore de ite jibun no futokoro ni irō to suru mono o, te o hirogete dakishimeru koto no dekinai hito,――kore ga sensei de atta. (人間を愛し得る人、愛せずにはゐられない人、それでゐて自分の懷に入らうとするものを、手をひろげて抱き締める事の出來ない人、――是が先生であつた。 [306] ; transl. A person who could love, a person who could not be without being able to love, yet a person who was incapable of opening his arms and embracing someone trying to get into his heart,――that was Sensei.); or how Miyahara Kōichirō used koto + particle + dekiru (shinu koto no dekinai, nete iru koto no dekinai), and both the long passive potential (shinareru) and short potential (shinenai) of the same verb in his translation of Kierkegaard's Either/Or: Sunawachi, shinu koto no dekinai hito, […] haka ni nete iru koto no dekinai hito wa saidai fukō no hito de aru kara. De, hanashi wa kaiketsu ga tsuite, kotae wa yōi ni natta. Naze ka to ieba, shinenai mono wa saidai fukōmono de, shinareru mono wa kōfukumono de aru kara da. (卽ち、死ぬことの出來ない人、[…]墓に寢てゐることの出來ない人は最大不幸の人であるから。で、話は解決がついて、答へは容易になつた。なぜかと言へば、死ねない者は最大不幸者で、死なれる者は幸福者であるからだ。 [202] ; transl. To wit, he who could not die, could not lie in a grave, was the unhappiest man. Thus, the case would be settled, the answer simple, for the unhappiest man was he who could not die, and happy he who could.)
| Dictionary form | Pattern [63] | Potential form | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godan verbs | ||||
| 結う(yuu, fasten) | 結う | 結え | る | 結える(yueru, can fasten) |
| 言う(yū, say) | ゆう | いえ | る | 言える (ieru, can say) |
| 勝つ (katsu, win) | 勝つ | 勝て | る | 勝てる (kateru, can win) |
| 狩る (karu, hunt) | 狩る | 狩れ | る | 狩れる (kareru, can hunt) |
| 貸す (kasu, lend) | 貸す | 貸せ | る | 貸せる (kaseru, can lend) |
| 愛す (aisu, love) | 愛す | 愛せ | る | 愛せる (aiseru, can love) [307] [308] |
| 達す (tassu, reach) | 達す | 達せ | る | 達せる (tasseru, can reach) [309] [310] |
| 書く (kaku, write) | 書く | 書け | る | 書ける (kakeru, can write) |
| 嗅ぐ (kagu, smell) | 嗅ぐ | 嗅げ | る | 嗅げる (kageru, can smell) |
| 呼ぶ(yobu, call) | 呼ぶ | 呼べ | る | 呼べる(yoberu, can call) |
| 読む(yomu, read) | 読む | 読め | る | 読める(yomeru, can read) [282] |
| 死ぬ (shinu, die) | 死ぬ | 死ね | る | 死ねる (shineru, can die) |
| Ichidan verbs | ||||
| 射る (iru, shoot) | 射る | 射 | (ら)れる | 射(ら)れる (i(ra)reru, can shoot) |
| 達しる (tasshiru, reach) | 達しる | 達し 達せ | (ら)れる | 達し(ら)れる (tasshi(ra)reru, can reach) 達せ(ら)れる (tasse(ra)reru) |
| 察しる (sasshiru, guess) | 察しる | 察し 察せ | (ら)れる | 察し(ら)れる (sasshi(ra)reru, can guess) 察せ(ら)れる (sasse(ra)reru) |
| 信じる (shinjiru, believe) | 信じる | 信じ 信ぜ | (ら)れる | 信じ(ら)れる (shinji(ra)reru, can believe) 信ぜ(ら)れる (shinze(ra)reru) |
| 進ぜる (shinzeru, give) | 進ぜる | 進ぜ | (ら)れる | 進ぜ(ら)れる (shinze(ra)reru, can give) |
| 得る (eru, get) | 得る | 得 | (ら)れる | 得(ら)れる (e(ra)reru, can get) |
| Irregular verbs | ||||
| する (suru, do) | する | できる | 出来る (dekiru, can do) | |
| 勉強する (benkyō suru, study) | 勉強する | 勉強できる | 勉強できる (benkyō dekiru, can study) | |
| 愛する (aisuru, love) | 愛する | 愛せ | る | 愛せる (aiseru, can love) [311] |
| 達する (tassuru, reach) | 達する | 達せ | る | 達せる (tasseru, can reach) [312] |
| 達せ 達し | (ら)れる | 達せ(ら)れる (tasse(ra)reru) 達し(ら)れる (tasshi(ra)reru) | ||
| 察する (sassuru, guess) | 察する | 察せ 察し | (ら)れる | 察せ(ら)れる (sasse(ra)reru, can guess) 察し(ら)れる (sasshi(ra)reru) |
| 信ずる (shinzuru, believe) | 信ずる | 信ぜ 信じ | (ら)れる | 信ぜ(ら)れる (shinze(ra)reru, can believe) 信じ(ら)れる (shinji(ra)reru) |
| 進ずる (shinzuru, give) | 進ずる | 進ぜ 進じ | (ら)れる | 進ぜ(ら)れる (shinze(ra)reru, can give) 進じ(ら)れる (shinji(ra)reru) |
| 来る (kuru, come) | くる | こ | (ら)れる | 来(ら)れる (ko(ra)reru, can come) |
After conjugating into the potential form, the verbs become ichidan verbs. They can therefore be further conjugated according to any ichidan pattern. For instance, a potential verb (e.g. can say (言える, ieru)) can conjugate using the ichidan pattern for the gerund (て形, te kei) to join sequential statements (iete (言えて)), or the infinitive form to append the polite -masu (〜ます) auxiliary verb (iemasu (言えます)).
Causativity ( 使役 , shieki) expresses how an instigator causes an agent to do something, whether by making or letting the agent (A) do it. [193] The instigator (I) is marked with the nominative ga, while the agent is customarily marked with either ni or o depending on the original verb's transitivity: [313]
For some speakers, the agent can be marked with ni even with an intransitive verb, which is possibly intended to mean "I lets A come" rather than "I makes A come"; or marked with o even with a transitive verb, despite the presence of the other o marking the patient (P). This means that the presence of the particle o does not guarantee clear meaning, for example in ushi o tabesaseru (牛を食べさせる; 'has the cow eat; has someone eat the cow'), Tarō o mataseru (太郎を待たせる; 'has Tarō wait; has someone wait for Tarō'). [313]
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| I had one of my staff attend the conference. | Kaigi ni wa buka o shusseki saseta (会議には部下を出席させた) | compulsion ("make do") |
| "You had him killed—hired Whidden and then didn't pay him. […]" | "Kimi wa kare o korosaseta no da——tsumari Hoiddon o yatotte korosaseta no da ga, sono toki kimi wa kare ni harawanakatta. […]" (「君は彼を殺させたのだ——つまりホイッドンを雇って殺させたのだが、そのとき君は彼に払わなかった。[…]」 [314] ) | |
| In reading this piece again, I was compelled to reflect on what it is like to be a married couple and a family. | Honpen o yonde aratamete, fūfu to wa, kazoku to wa, o watashi jishin ga kangaesaserareta. (本編を読んで改めて、夫婦とは、家族とは、を私自身が考えさせられた。 [315] ) | |
| '[…] You don't seriously expect me to believe that a multimillionaire playboy like Raoul de Chevnair would ever notice a little nobody like you, let alone marry her!' [ac] | '[…] Masaka anna okuman chōja no pureibōi ga, anata no yō na na nashi no gaka ni chūmoku suru nante, honki de shinjisaserareru to omotcha inai wa yo ne. Mashite kekkon suru nado to wa!' (「[…] まさかあんな億万長者のプレイボーオイが、あなたのような名なしの画家に注目するなんて、本気で信じさせられると思っちゃいないわよね。まして結婚するなどとは!」 [316] ) | |
| In summer we used to run a shallow bath and let the children play in it. | Natsu wa ofuro ni asaku mizu o hatte kodomo o asobaseta mono da (夏はお風呂に浅く水を張って子供を遊ばせたものだ) | permission ("let do") |
| I fed the botched pizza to my dog. [ad] | Dekisonatta piza wa inu ni tabesaseta (出来損なったピザは犬に食べさせた) | |
| * In winter, even when a woman is breastfeeding her child in the corner of the bounds of a field, you are not obliged to think that her chest is made of rubber and her child of cardboard. [ae] | * Fuyu, hatake no kyōkai no katasumi de, hitori no onna ga kodomo ni chichi o nomasete ita kara tote, sono mune wa gomu-sei de ari, kodomo wa atsugami-zaiku da to kangaeneba naranu to yū hō wa nai. (*冬、畑の境界の片隅で、一人の女が子供に乳を飮ませてゐたからとて、その胸はゴム製であり、子供は厚紙細工だと考へねばならぬといふ法はない。 [317] ) |
The causative form is created by using the mizenkei base, followed by the ‑seru/‑saseru (せる・させる; ichidan) suffix. Colloquially, the shorter ‑su/‑sasu (す・さす; godan) can be used, which may cause some verbs to take the same form, such as ugokasu (動かす; 'cause it to move; move it') and ugokaseru (動かせる; 'can cause it to move; can move it'). [318] ‑Su/‑sasu was the nidan ancestor of the modern ichidan‑seru/‑saseru; it became yodan sometime during Late Middle Japanese. [24] A survey found that respondents were more likely to use ‑(sa)su, which is now godan, over ‑(sa)seru, if the original verb was already godan. [319]
One of the negative forms of araseru (あらせる; 'let exist'), arasezu (あらせず; 'not letting exist'), as in itoma mo arasezu (いとまもあらせず; 'not letting any spare time exist → not letting them have any spare time'), has been attested. [208] De araseru (であらせる; 'make be; let be') has also been used.
The causatives of honorific verbs do not seem to occur, [208] although at least one author has artificially used nasaraseta (なさらせた) in their literal translations of Amdo Tibetan honorific causatives. [320]
Saseru (させる; 'make/let do') is said to be shortened from sesaseru (せさせる). [219]
| Dictionary form | Pattern [63] | Causative form | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godan verbs | ||||
| 結う(yuu, fasten) | 結う | 結わ | せる す | 結わせる(yuwaseru, cause to fasten) 結わす(yuwasu) |
| 言う(yū, say) | ゆう | いわ ゆわ | せる す | 言わせる (iwaseru/yuwaseru, cause to say) 言わす (iwasu/yuwasu) |
| 勝つ (katsu, win) | 勝つ | 勝た | せる す | 勝たせる (kataseru, cause to win) 勝たす (katasu) |
| 狩る (karu, hunt) | 狩る | 狩ら | せる す | 狩らせる (karaseru, cause to hunt) 狩らす (karasu) |
| 有る (aru, exist) | 有る | 有ら | せる す | 有らせる (araseru, cause to exist) [321] [322] [323] [324] [325] [326] [327] [328] [329] 有らす (arasu) |
| 貸す (kasu, lend) | 貸す | 貸さ | せる す | 貸させる (kasaseru, cause to lend) 貸さす (kasasu) |
| 愛す (aisu, love) | 愛す | 愛さ | せる す | 愛させる (aisaseru, cause to love) 愛さす (aisasu) |
| 達す (tassu, reach) | 達す | 達さ | せる す | 達させる (tassaseru, cause to reach) 達さす (tassasu) |
| 書く (kaku, write) | 書く | 書か | せる す | 書かせる (kakaseru, cause to write) 書かす (kakasu) |
| 嗅ぐ (kagu, smell) | 嗅ぐ | 嗅が | せる す | 嗅がせる (kagaseru, cause to smell) 嗅がす (kagasu) |
| 呼ぶ(yobu, call) | 呼ぶ | 呼ば | せる す | 呼ばせる(yobaseru, cause to call) 呼ばす(yobasu) |
| 読む(yomu, read) | 読む | 読ま | せる す | 読ませる(yomaseru, cause to read) 読ます(yomasu) |
| 死ぬ (shinu, die) | 死ぬ | 死な | せる す | 死なせる (shinaseru, cause to die) 死なす (shinasu) |
| Ichidan verbs | ||||
| 射る (iru, shoot) | 射る | 射 | させる さす | 射させる (isaseru, cause to shoot) 射さす (isasu) |
| 達しる (tasshiru, reach) | 達しる | 達し 達せ | させる さす | 達しさせる (tasshisaseru, cause to reach) 達せさせる (tassesaseru) 達しさす (tasshisasu) 達せさす (tassesasu) |
| 察しる (sasshiru, guess) | 察しる | 察し 察せ | させる さす | 察しさせる (sasshisaseru, cause to guess) [330] 察せさせる (sassesaseru) 察しさす (sasshisasu) 察せさす (sassesasu) |
| 感じる (kanjiru, feel) | 感じる | 感じ 感ぜ | させる さす | 感じさせる (kanjisaseru, cause to feel) [331] 感ぜさせる (kanzesaseru) [332] 感じさす (kanjisasu) 感ぜさす (kanzesasu) |
| 進ぜる (shinzeru, give) | 進ぜる | 進ぜ | させる さす | 進ぜさせる (shinzesaseru, cause to give) 進ぜさす (shinzesasu) |
| 得る (eru, get) | 得る | 得 | させる さす | 得させる (esaseru, cause to get) 得さす (esasu) |
| Irregular verbs | ||||
| する (suru, do) | する | さ | せる す | させる (saseru, cause to do) さす (sasu) |
| せ し | させる さす | せさせる (sesaseru) [333] しさせる (shisaseru) [334] せさす (sesasu) しさす (shisasu) | ||
| 変化する (henka suru, transform) | 変化する | 変化さ | せる す | 変化させる (henka saseru, cause to transform) 変化さす (henka sasu) |
| 変化せ 変化し | させる さす | 変化せさせる (henka sesaseru) [335] [336] 変化しさせる (henka shisaseru) [337] [338] [339] [340] 変化せさす (henka sesasu) 変化しさす (henka shisasu) | ||
| 愛する (aisuru, love) | 愛する | 愛さ | せる す | 愛させる (aisaseru, cause to love) [245] [341] 愛さす (aisasu) |
| 愛せ 愛し | させる さす | 愛せさせる (aisesaseru) [342] 愛しさせる (aishisaseru) [343] 愛せさす (aisesasu) 愛しさす (aishisasu) | ||
| 達する (tassuru, reach) | 達する | 達さ | せる す | 達させる (tassaseru, cause to reach) [344] 達さす (tassasu) |
| 達せ 達し | させる さす | 達せさせる (tassesaseru) [245] [345] 達しさせる (tasshisaseru) [245] [346] 達せさす (tassesasu) 達しさす (tasshisasu) | ||
| 察する (sassuru, guess) | 察する | 察せ 察し | させる さす | 察せさせる (sassesaseru, cause to guess) [347] 察しさせる (sasshisaseru) [348] [349] 察せさす (sassesasu) 察しさす (sasshisasu) |
| 感ずる (kanzuru, feel) | 感ずる | 感ぜ 感じ | させる さす | 感ぜさせる (kanzesaseru, cause to feel) [245] [350] 感じさせる (kanjisaseru) [245] [351] 感ぜさす (kanzesasu) 感じさす (kanjisasu) |
| 進ずる (shinzuru, give) | 進ずる | 進ぜ 進じ | させる さす | 進ぜさせる (shinzesaseru, cause to give) [352] 進じさせる (shinjisaseru) [353] 進ぜさす (shinzesasu) 進じさす (shinjisasu) |
| 来る (kuru, come) | くる | こ | させる さす | 来させる (kosaseru, cause to come) 来さす (kosasu) |
The pseudo-classical causative makes use of -shimeru (~しめる) instead of ‑(sa)seru as shown above. It has ichidan conjugation, and it is meant to emulate the true classical causative with ‑shimu which has nidan conjugation. As a pseudo-classical auxiliary, ‑shimeru combines only with classical irrealis forms, which in most cases are not different from modern ones; but in the case of suru which has three irrealis forms, only the classical se- is used as in seshimeru, not *sashimeru nor *shishimeru. [354] There exists a causative form for the copular taru (← to aru, 'be known as') that is tarashimeru, as in ningen o ningen tarashimeru jōken (人間を人間たらしめる条件; 'conditions that make humans human'). [355] [206]
After conjugating into the causative form, the verbs become ichidan verbs. They can therefore be further conjugated according to any ichidan pattern. For instance, a causative verb (e.g. caused to say (言わせる, iwaseru)) can conjugate using the ichidan pattern for the gerund (て形, te kei) to join sequential statements (iwasete (言わせて)), or the infinitive form to append the polite -masu (〜ます) auxiliary verb (iwasemasu (言わせます)).
The causative passive form expresses that a reluctant subject was positioned (or forced) into doing something they would rather avoid. The causative passive form is obtained by conjugating a verb into its causative form and further conjugating it into the passive form. However, because words such as mataserareru (待たせられる) are considered difficult to pronounce, the conjugational suffix is often contracted in colloquial speech. Specific to godan verbs only, the sera‑ (せら〜; from せられる) contracts into sa- (さ〜). [356]
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| I'm made to study by my parents. | ryōshin ni benkyō saserareru (両親に勉強させられる) | formal |
| I'm made to wait. | matasareru (待たされる) | colloquial present |
| I was made to buy something. | kawasareta (買わされた) | colloquial past |
The hortative or volitional expresses the speaker's or speakers' personal or collective volition ("I think I will do it", "we think we will do it"), or invitation to others ("let's do it"), to do something. The same form, otherwise known as the tentative, conjectural or presumptive, expresses subjective speculation ("I think/presume that's the case") or supposition ("perhaps that's the case", "that could be the case"). [357] The tentative meanings are increasingly outdated as later generations of speakers favor using darō, deshō, or de gozaimashō as less ambiguous tentative markers (more in the subsection below).
| English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|
| I'll put off this task for later. | Sono shigoto wa atomawashi ni shiyō (その仕事は後回しにしよう) [358] | personal volition ("I'll/'m going to do it") |
| I'll overlook your mistake this time. | Konkai wa anata no machigai o ōme ni miyō (今回はあなたの間違いを大目に見よう) | |
| We do not have the least intention to make up trendy slang. | Ryūkōgo o tsukurō nante ito wa, zenzen nai n desu (流行語を作ろうなんて意図は、全然ないんです) | collective volition ("we'll/'re going to do it") |
| The fact that man uses machines as tools means that man is to do what machines cannot. | Ningen ga kikai o dōgu to shite tsukau to yū koto wa, kikai ni wa dekin koto o ningen ga yarō to yū wake desu (人間が機械を道具として使うということは、機械にはできんことを人間がやろうというわけです) | |
| It's getting late, let's go home. | Osoi kara kaerō (遅いから帰ろう) | invitation to act together ("let's do it") |
| Shall we go out for dinner? | Yūshoku o soto de tabeyō ka (夕食を外で食べようか) | |
| There will probably be many objections at the meeting. | Kaigi de wa ōku no hanron ga dasareyō (会議では多くの反論が出されよう) [358] | speculation ("I think it's the case") or supposition ("it might be the case") |
| Any child could do that. | Donna kodomo de mo sore wa dekiyō (どんな子供でもそれはできよう) | |
| “Sure. There are three ‘will it’s’ in the heavens. Whaat are they?” “Ha ha ha. Easy. I learnt this in first grade. Are they ‘will it shine,’ ‘will it rain’ and ‘will it cloud’?” [af] | “Yōshi. Ten ni mittsu no rō ka ga arimasu. nan to nan to nān da.” “Hahaha. Sonna no kantansa. Gakkō de ichinensei ni oshieta koto ga aru. Terō ka, furō ka, kumorō ka darō.” (「よーし。天に三つのろうかがあります。なんとなんとなーんだ。」 「ははは。そんなのかんたんさ。学校で一年生におしえたことがある。照ろうか、降ろうか、くもろうかだろう?」 [360] ) | |
| and in the middle of the land rose a vast castle that seemed a mile long, with a rows of columns rising one above another. | Sō shite, kuni no mannaka ni wa, ichi-mairu mo arō ka to omowareru, hiroi oshiro ga sobiete ite, monosugoi hashira no rōka ga, ikutsu mo kasanariatte imashita. (そうして、国のまんなかには、一マイルもあろうかと思われる、ひろいお城がそびえていて、ものすごい柱のろうかが、いくつも重なりあっていました。 [361] ) | |
| “[…] Once you sublimate your wildly unruly passion into magical power, the flame you summon will surely be beautiful, won’t it?” | “[…] Susamajii made no araburu jōnetsu o sono mama maryoku ni shōka sureba, omae ga yobidasu honō wa sazoya utsukushikarō?” (「[…]すさまじいまでの荒ぶる情熱をそのまま魔力に昇華すれば、お前が喚びだす炎はさぞや美しかろう?」 [362] ) | |
| If Anthony’s love had been as egoistic as love generally is, it would have been greater than the egoism of his vanity—or of his generosity, if you like—and all this could not have happened. He would not have hit upon that renunciation at which one does not know whether to grin or shudder. It is true too that then his love would not have fastened itself upon the unhappy daughter of de Barral. | Moshi Antonī no ren’ai ga ippan ni sō de aru kurai rikoteki datta nara, sore wa kyoei no egoizumu ni――arui wa, mā, kandaisa ni――masattarō kara, kono issai wa okinakattarō. Niyatto warō beki na no ka zotto miburui su beki na no ka wakaranai, sonna dannen o omoitsuku koto mo nakattarō. Sono katei de wa, kare no ren’ai ga do Bararu no fukō na musume ni somosomo musubitsukanakattarō to yū no mono shin da. (もしアントニーの恋愛が一般にそうであるくらい利己的だったなら、それは虚栄のエゴイズムに――あるいは、まあ、寛大さに――まさったろうから、この一切は起きなかったろう。にやっと笑うべきなのかぞっと身震いすべきなのかわからない、そんな断念を思いつくこともなかったろう。その仮定では、彼の恋愛がド・バラルの不幸な娘にそもそも結びつかなかったろうというのも真だ。 [363] ) | |
| I told you not to be rough with them. You are far from being their equals. | Teara na mane wa suru na to itta ’rō Omaetachi ga taitō ni sesshite ii aite de wa nai zo (手荒な真似はするなと言ったろう お前たちが対等に接していい相手ではないぞ [364] ) |
The so-called "hortative form" is actually a combination of the mizenkei and the auxiliary う, which underwent systemic historical sound changes that affected all the examples below. These sound changes motivated the term godan ("five grade"), which replaced yodan ("four grade"). See Japanese godan and ichidan verbs § Godan vs yodan. For non-godan verbs, during the final stage as shown in the table below, the vowels of the original mizenkei, i, e and o, [365] were reintroduced in some dialects, especially eastern ones, which yielded the suffix ‑yō, as in iyō, eyō and koyō. Other dialects, especially western ones, did not undergo this development. [366] [367] [368] [369] Verbs with the vowel i in their stems may retain the forms ending in ‑yū (← ‑iu) in some dialects, hence okyu(u); or gained the normalized ‑yō in other dialects, hence okiyo(o), o(k)kyo(o). [366] [370] Yet other dialects have iro(o), ero(o) and koro(o). [366] [367] [368] [369] [371] [372] For suru in particular, the eastern vowel i is used rather than the western e, hence shiyō rather than seyō, the latter of which is found in some Chūbu dialects. [371]
For ‑masu and desu, the unique shapes of ‑mashō and deshō, as well as of the negative ‑masen, suggest their provenance in western polite speech. [27] While ‑masen undoubtedly has eastern counterparts, ‑mashinai/‑mashinē (albeit uncommon, archaic and stereotypical), ‑mashō (ましょう) and deshō (でしょう) do not seem to have any, [373] in spite of such historical spellings as ましよう and でしよう, which appear to be pronounced *‑mashiyō and *deshiyō, but were rather variant spellings of ませう (‑mashō) and でせう (deshō), [374] [375] and in some older publications these spellings were inconsistently interchangeable. [376] [377] [378] [379] [380] [381] [382] In contrast, suru, ‑masu's conjugational relative, [383] has both western and eastern forms, as in sen/shinai/shinē, and shō [371] [26] [384] [385] /shiyō.
Due to the said historical sound changes, all hortative/tentative forms contain the long vowel ō, but it is susceptible to shortening into an o in speech, especially in dialects. [386] In ichidan verbs, shortening results in the hortative/tentative and the imperative sharing the same segments (consonants and vowels), although they can still be distinguished by accent. [387] All hortatives and tentatives are currently accentuated on the start of the ō, as in yobō (呼ぼう; [jòbó(ò)]), yobimashō (呼びましょう; [jòbímáɕó(ò)]), yondarō (呼んだろう; [jòńdáɾó(ò)]), yobanakarō (呼ばなかろう; [jòbánákáɾó(ò)]), etc. Thus the hortative ichidanokiyō (起きよう; [òkíjó(ò)]), akeyō (開けよう; [àkéjó(ò)]) are accentually distinct from the imperative ichidanokiyo (起きよ; [ókìjò]), akeyo (開けよ; [àkéjò]). [388] On the other hand, since all hortatives are accentuated on the ō, ambiguity among themselves can arise, for example in kaō (買おう; 'let's buy', [kàóò], historically unaccentuated as [kàóó]) and kaō (飼おう; 'let's rear', [kàóò]). [389]
The common form of the hortative/tentative ends in う, but occasionally a classical (thus more elevated) alternative ending in む or ん turns up in modern writing, for example in Wareware wa sono no senkusha taran to suru ikigomi de yaru tsumori na n desu (我々はその先駆者たらんとする意気込みで遣るつもりなんです; transl. We intend to work with the ambition to become the pioneers in that). [390] [ag] Both う and ん derive from the earlier む, but through different mechanisms: う is from the loss of a consonant in む, /mu→ũ→u/; while ん is from the loss of a vowel, /mu→N/. [391] Since ん also happens to represent the western negative ‑n and the nominalizing particle no, the spelling ikan (行かん) represents either ikanu (行かぬ; 'not go') or ikamu (行かむ; 'let's go'), and shinan (死なん) represents not only shinanu (死なぬ; 'not die') or shinamu (死なむ; 'let's die') but also the noun phrase shi na no (死なの; 'it's that it's death'), the last of which contains the Sino-Japanese noun shi (死; 'death'). Accentually, verbs whose dictionary forms are accentless can be distinguished, as in [ikaɴ] for "not go" and [ikáɴ] for "let's go"; but verbs whose dictionary forms are accented are ambiguous and context-dependent, as in [kakáɴ] (kakan (書かん)) for both "not write" and "let's write." [388] Some idioms derived from the classical hortative/tentative include sen kata (為ん方・詮方; 'means', lit. 'method to do'; synonymous with shikata (仕方)), [392] sen kata nai (為ん方無い・詮方無い; 'be helpless', lit. 'be without any means'), [393] [206] iwan kata nai/nashi (言わん方無い・無し; 'be inutterable', lit. 'be without any way to say'), [394] aran kagiri (有らん限り; 'to the utmost', lit. 'limit of what could exist'), [395] [206] etc.
Most verbs have hortative meanings, as in shiyō/shimashō (しよう・しましょう; 'let's do it'), although this can be interpreted as self-tentative ("I'll probably do it"). To express tentativity unambiguously, darō/jarō, de arō or deshō (or hyper-politely, de gozaimashō), which is unambiguously tentative, is added, as in suru darō / suru deshō / shimasu deshō (するだろう・するでしょう・しますでしょう; 'he'll probably do it'). In some cases where the subject lacks human agency, the tentative meaning is more plausible, for example, kumorō/kumorimashō (曇ろう・曇りましょう) means "it'll probably be cloudy" tentatively, not *"let's be cloudy" hortatively; ame ga furō / ame ga furimashō (雨が降ろう・雨が降りましょう) means "it'll probably rain", not *"let's rain"; dekiyō/dekimashō (できよう・できましょう) means "probably can" not *"let's be able". These have been increasingly replaced by kumoru darō / kumoru deshō / kumorimasu deshō (曇るだろう・曇るでしょう・曇りますでしょう), ame ga furu darō / ame ga furu deshō / ame ga furimasu deshō (雨が降るだろう・雨が降るでしょう・雨が降りますでしょう) and dekiru darō / dekiru deshō / dekimasu deshō (できるだろう・できるでしょう・できますでしょう). The rise of the darō/deshō-appended tentative, as in ame ga furu/furimasu deshō (雨が降る・降りますでしょう; 'it'll probably rain'), as a distinction in form from the original polysemous tentative/hortative, is attested from the early 19th century; [386] the use of the original tentative, as in ame ga furimashō (雨が降りましょう), has become obsolescent or elevated. [396]
Arō/arimashō and their derivatives tend to be tentative, and can be replaced with aru darō / aru deshō / arimasu deshō. [397] The same applies to de arō/de arimashō, which can be replaced with de aru darō / de aru deshō / de arimasu deshō. [24] Adjectival tentatives such as akakarō (赤かろう; 'it's probably red') with a built-in arō can be replaced with akai darō/deshō (赤いだろう・でしょう). [357] The eastern adjectival negative tentative ‑nakarō, as in yobanakarō (呼ばなかろう; probably not read), ōkiku nakarō (大きくなかろう) and hon de/ja nakarō (本で・じゃなかろう; probably not a book) are to be replaced with ‑nai darō/deshō (〜ないだろう・でしょう). [398] The past tentative ‑ta/‑da darō/deshō are preferred to ‑tarō/‑darō, [399] deshita deshō to deshitarō, and ‑mashita deshō to ‑mashitarō. However, ‑ta/‑da darō can be shortened back to ‑ta/‑da 'rō, albeit with different accent patterns; compare [táɾó(ò)] for ‑tarō, [400] and [tá|dàɾó(ò)→tá|ɾó(ò)] or [tádàɾò(ò)→táɾò(ò)] for ‑ta darō → ‑ta 'rō. [401] This contraction is transferable to the polite ‑mashita 'rō, which is still not quite the same as ‑mashitarō, but which does suggest an unabbreviated form, ‑mashita darō, with a mismatch in politeness, compared to the well-formed polite ‑mashita deshō. Martin (2004 :606) doubted the plausibility of ‑mashita darō, but it is not impossible. [402] [403] [404] [405]
The western negative ‑n(u) and ‑zu take the classical ‑ji [406] for occasional elevated use, mostly followed by the quotative particle to, as in Senshutachi wa kanko no koe ni okurarete, katazuba ikite kaeraji to yū iki de dete kite 'ru wake desu kara, ochiru to naku desu yo. (選手たちは歓呼の声に送られて、勝たずば生きて帰らじという意気で出てきてるわけですから、落ちると泣くですよ。; transl. The athletes, sent off by the cheering voices, appear with the spirit of "I shall not return alive unless I am victorious," so they weep when the lose.), as well as in some cliches such as okureji to (遅れじと; 'not to fall behind; not to be outdone'), makeji to (負けじと; 'not to lose; unyieldingly'), [407] makeji tamashii (負けじ魂; 'unyielding spirit'), [408] etc. The negative tentative/hortative has been expressed with the attributive followed by mai; in the particular case of ‑masen, there is ‑masu mai. [409] In many non-Tokyo eastern dialects, mai (← majii) are the negative counterparts of the affirmative be(e) (← bei), the regularly modernized adjectival form of beki, which the Tokyo dialect does not use for tentative or hortative meanings. [410] ‑N darō [411] /jarō [412] /de arō [413] /deshō [414] and ‑masen deshō [415] are also used.
| Dictionary form | Pattern [63] | Hortative form | Historical evolution [416] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godan verbs | |||||
| 結う(yuu, fasten) | 結う | 結お | う | 結おう(yuō, let's/probably fasten) | /amu→aũ→ɔː→oː/ /amu→aN/ |
| 結わ | ん む | 結わん(yuwan, let's/probably fasten) 結わむ(yuwamu) | |||
| 言う(yū, say) | ゆう | いお | う | 言おう (iō, let's/probably say) | |
| いわ | ん む | 言わん (iwan, let's/probably say) 言わむ (iwamu) | |||
| 通う (kayou, commute) | 通う | 通お | う | 通おう (kayoō, let's/probably commute) | |
| 通わ | ん む | 通わん (kayowan, let's/probably commute) 通わむ (kayowamu) | |||
| 拾う (hirou, pick up) | 拾う | 拾お | う | 拾おう (hiroō, let's/probably pick up) | |
| 拾わ | ん む | 拾わん (hirowan, let's/probably pick up) 拾わむ (hirowamu) | |||
| 勝つ (katsu, win) | 勝つ | 勝と | う | 勝とう (katō, let's/probably win) | |
| 勝た | ん む | 勝たん (katan, let's/probably win) 勝たむ (katamu) | |||
| 狩る (karu, hunt) | 狩る | 狩ろ | う | 狩ろう (karō, let's/probably hunt) | |
| 狩ら | ん む | 狩らん (karan, let's/probably hunt) 狩らむ (karamu) | |||
| 有る (aru, exist) | 有る | 有ろ | う | 有ろう (arō, probably exist) [417] [418] [419] [420] [421] | |
| 有ら | ん む | 有らん (aran, probably exist) 有らむ (aramu) | |||
| 下さる (kudasaru, give) | 下さる | 下さろ | う | 下さろう (kudasarō, probably give) [422] [423] [424] [425] [426] | |
| 下さら | ん む | 下さらん (kudasaran, probably give) 下さらむ (kudasaramu) | |||
| 貸す (kasu, lend) | 貸す | 貸そ | う | 貸そう (kasō, let's/probably lend) | |
| 貸さ | ん む | 貸さん (kasan, let's/probably lend) 貸さむ (kasamu) | |||
| 愛す (aisu, love) | 愛す | 愛そ | う | 愛そう (aisō, let's/probably love) [427] | |
| 愛さ | ん む | 愛さん (aisan, let's/probably love) 愛さむ (aisamu) | |||
| 達す (tassu, reach) | 達す | 達そ | う | 達そう (tassō, let's/probably reach) [309] [428] | |
| 達さ | ん む | 達さん (tassan, let's/probably reach) 達さむ (tassamu) | |||
| 書く (kaku, write) | 書く | 書こ | う | 書こう (kakō, let's/probably write) | |
| 書か | ん む | 書かん (kakan, let's/probably write) 書かむ (kakamu) | |||
| 嗅ぐ (kagu, smell) | 嗅ぐ | 嗅ご | う | 嗅ごう (kagō, let's/probably smell) | |
| 嗅が | ん む | 嗅がん (kagan, let's/probably smell) 嗅がむ (kagamu) | |||
| 呼ぶ(yobu, call) | 呼ぶ | 呼ぼ | う | 呼ぼう(yobō, let's/probably call) | |
| 呼ば | ん む | 呼ばん(yoban, let's/probably call) 呼ばむ(yobamu) | |||
| 読む(yomu, read) | 読む | 読も | う | 読もう(yomō, let's/probably read) | |
| 読ま | ん む | 読まん(yoman, let's/probably read) 読まむ(yomamu) | |||
| 死ぬ (shinu, die) | 死ぬ | 死の | う | 死のう (shinō, let's/probably die) | |
| 死な | ん む | 死なん (shinan, let's/probably die) 死なむ (shinamu) | |||
| Ichidan verbs | |||||
| 射る (iru, shoot) | 射る | 射 | よう ん む | 射よう (iyō, let's/probably shoot) 射ん (in) 射む (imu) | /imu→iũ→juː→ijoː/ /imu→iN/ |
| 達しる (tasshiru, reach) | 達しる | 達し | よう ん む | 達しよう (tasshiyō, let's/probably reach) 達しん (tasshin) 達しむ (tasshimu) | |
| 察しる (sasshiru, guess) | 察しる | 察し | よう ん む | 察しよう (sasshiyō, let's/probably guess) [429] 察しん (sasshin) 察しむ (sasshimu) | |
| 信じる (shinjiru, believe) | 信じる | 信じ | よう ん む | 信じよう (shinjiyō, let's/probably believe) [430] 信じん (shinjin) 信じむ (shinjimu) | |
| 進じる (shinjiru, give) | 進じる | 進じ | よう ん む | 進じよう (shinjiyō, let's/probably give) 進じん (shinjin) 進じむ (shinjimu) | |
| 進ぜる (shinzeru, give) | 進ぜる | 進ぜ | よう ん む | 進ぜよう (shinzeyō, let's/probably give) [431] [432] [433] 進ぜん (shinzen) 進ぜむ (shinzemu) | /emu→eũ→joː→ejoː/ /emu→eN/ |
| 得る (eru, get) | 得る | 得 | よう ん む | 得よう (eyō, let's/probably get) 得ん (en) 得む (emu) | |
| Irregular verbs | |||||
| する (suru, do) | する | し | よう | しよう (shiyō, let's/probably do) | /semu→seũ→sjoː→sijoː/ /semu→seN/ |
| せ | ん む | せん (sen, let's/probably do) せむ (semu) | |||
| 勉強する (benkyō suru, study) | 勉強する | 勉強し | よう | 勉強しよう (benkyō shiyō, let's/probably study) | |
| 勉強せ | ん む | 勉強せん (benkyō sen, let's/probably study) 勉強せむ (benkyō semu) | |||
| 愛する (aisuru, love) | 愛する | 愛そ | う | 愛そう (aisō, let's/probably love) [434] | |
| 愛し | よう | 愛しよう (aishiyō, let's/probably love) [343] [435] | |||
| 愛せ 愛さ | ん む | 愛せん (aisen, let's/probably love) 愛せむ (aisemu) 愛さん (aisan) 愛さむ (aisamu) | |||
| 達する (tassuru, reach) | 達する | 達そ | う | 達そう (tassō, let's/probably reach) [436] | |
| 達し | よう ん む | 達しよう (tasshiyō, let's/probably reach) [437] 達しん (tasshin) 達しむ (tasshimu) | |||
| 達せ 達さ | ん む | 達せん (tassen, let's/probably reach) 達せむ (tassemu) 達さん (tassan) 達さむ (tassamu) | |||
| 察する (sassuru, guess) | 察する | 察し | よう ん む | 察しよう (sasshiyō, let's/probably guess) [438] 察しん (sasshin) 察しむ (sasshimu) | |
| 察せ | ん む | 察せん (sassen, let's/probably guess) 察せむ (sassemu) | |||
| 信ずる (shinzuru, believe) | 信ずる | 信じ | よう ん む | 信じよう (shinjiyō, let's/probably believe) [121] 信じん (shinjin) 信じむ (shinjimu) | |
| 信ぜ | ん む | 信ぜん (shinzen, let's/probably believe) 信ぜむ (shinzemu) | |||
| 進ずる (shinzuru, give) | 進ずる | 進じ 進ぜ | よう ん む | 進じよう (shinjiyō, let's/probably give) [431] 進じん (shinjin) 進じむ (shinjimu) 進ぜよう (shinzeyō) [431] [439] 進ぜん (shinzen) 進ぜむ (shinzemu) | |
| 来る (kuru, come) | くる | こ | よう ん む | 来よう (koyō, let's/probably come) 来ん (kon) 来む (komu) | /komu→koũ→koː→kojoː/ /komu→koN/ |
| Verbal auxiliaries | |||||
| 〜ます(る) (‑masu(ru)) | ます(る) | ましょ | う | 〜ましょう (‑mashō, let's/probably …) | /semu→seũ→sjoː/ |
| です (desu, be) | です | でしょ | う | でしょう (deshō, probably be) | |
| だ (da, be) じゃ(ja) | だ じゃ | だ じゃ | ろう | だろう (darō, probably be) じゃろう(jarō) | /nitearamu→deaɾamu→d(j)aɾamu→d(j)aɾaũ→d(j)aɾɔː→d(j)aɾoː/ |
| 〜た (‑ta) 〜だ (‑da) | た だ | た だ | ろう | 〜たろう (‑tarō) 〜だろう (‑darō) | /teaɾamu→taɾamu→taɾaũ/daɾaũ→taɾɔː/daɾɔː→taɾoː/daɾoː/ |
| Adjectives and adjectival auxiliaries | |||||
| 無い (nai, be nonexistent) | 無い | 無かろ | う | 無かろう (nakarō, be probably nonexistent) | /kuaɾamu→kaɾamu→kaɾaũ→kaɾɔː→kaɾoː/ /kuaɾamu→kaɾamu→kaɾaN/ |
| 無から | ん む | 無からん (nakaran, be probably nonexistent) 無からむ (nakaramu) | |||
| 良い (ii/yoi, be good) | いい よい | よかろ | う | 良かろう(yokarō, be probably good) | |
| よから | ん む | 良からん(yokaran, be probably good) 良からむ(yokaramu) | |||
| Special auxiliaries | |||||
| 〜ん (‑n) 〜ぬ (‑nu) 〜ず (‑zu) | ん ぬ ず | じ | 〜じ (‑ji) [440] [441] | ||
The hortative can be quoted to unambiguously convey volition (as opposed to invitation to act together) with to omou (と思う; 'I think that'), similarly to the desirative with ‑tai/‑tagaru; compare kaerō to omou (帰ろうと思う; 'I think I'll go home') and kaeritai to omou (帰りたいと思う; 'I feel like going home'). The extender to suru (とする) conveys imminent realization of volition, even for actions by inanimate agents. [442]
The tentative can combine with ga or to (mo) to form the tentative concessive, [443] with meanings similar to the gerundive concessive ‑te mo, the conditional concessive ‑edo and the imperative concessive ni shiro/seyo and de are.
The classical tentative is often followed by the particle bakari ("almost"). [444]
| Extender | English | Japanese | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| to omou (と思う) | [I think] I'll try it out and buy it if I like it. | Tameshi ni tsukatte mite, yokattara kaō to omou (試しに使ってみて、よかったら買おうと思う) | unambiguous volition |
| I'm thinking of driving around the island in a rental car. | Rentakā de shima o doraibu shiyō to omotte 'masu (レンタカーで島をドライブしようと思ってます) | ||
| I thought I'd hit him good. | Yoppodo nagutte yarō to omotta (よっぽど殴ってやろうと思った) | ||
| to suru (とする) | When he was about to board the train, someone called him from behind. | Densha ni norō to shita toki, ushiro kara koe o kakerareta (電車に乗ろうとしたとき、後ろから声をかけられた) | being about, being planning/intending, starting or trying to do something |
| He had a crack at singing. | Kare wa utatte miyō to shita (彼は歌ってみようとした) | ||
| The electric clock in the office is about to go past three. | Jimusho no denkidokei wa sanji o sugiyō to shite iru (事務所の電気時計は三時を過ぎようとしている) | ||
| Nobody tried/was about to open his mouth. | Dare mo kuchi o hirakō to shinakatta (誰も口を開こうとしなかった) | ||
| The bus was not about to stop. | Basu wa tomarō to shinakatta (バスは止まろうとしなかった) | ||
| Heaven has an end in all: yet, you that hear me, This from a dying man receive as certain: […] for those you make friends And give your hearts to, when they once perceive The least rub in your fortunes, fall away Like water from ye, never found again But where they mean to sink ye. | Nanigoto ni mo Ten’i ga hataraite iru. Shikashinagara, shokun yo, kore dake wa tashika na koto da to shite, shinan to suru mono no yū koto o kiite oite kudasai. […] Funkei bakugyaku no tomo to iedo mo hitotabi kimigata ga kudarizaka ni sashikakatta na to mitomeru to yū, to mizu no hikuki ni tsuku yō ni hanaresatte, sugata o misenaku narimasu zo, kimitachi o horobosō to de mo suru toki no hoka wa. (何事にも天意が働いてゐる。しかしながら、諸君よ、これだけは慥かな事だとして、死なんとする者のいふことを聽いておいて下さい。[…]刎頸莫逆の友と雖も一たび君がたが降り坂にさしかゝったなと認めるといふと、水の低きに就くやうに離れ去って、姿を見せなくなりますぞ、君たちを滅さうとでもする時の外は。 [445] ) | ||
| ga (が) | Whether you go or not, I’ll go. | Kimi ga ikō ga iku mai ga, ore wa iku (君が行こうが行くまいが、俺は行く) | concession |
| come hell or high water; lit. 'whether rain or spears fall' | ame ga furō ga yari ga furō ga (雨が降ろうが槍が降ろうが) | ||
| She always listened to water boil, and whenever the pot got empty, come rain, wind or shine, she always refilled it. | Kanojo wa nengara nenjū, yu ga tagiru no o kiki, nabe ga karappo ni nareba, tatoe ame ga furō ga, kaze ga fukō ga, mata hi ga terō ga, nengara nenjū, soitsu o ippai ni shite kita no da. (彼女は、年がら年じゅう、湯がたぎるのを聞き、なべがからっぽになれば、たとえ雨が降ろうが、風が吹こうが、また日が照ろうが、年がら年じゅう、そいつをいっぱいにしてきたのだ。 [446] ) | ||
| Still, English or no, Galen could not justify simply attacking the party and killing the woman. | To ieba, Ingurando musume de arō ga nakarō ga, sono ikkō ni kishū o kake, MaGuregā no hanayome to naru musume o korosu koto ni seigi ga aru to wa, Geiran ni wa omoenakatta. (といえば、イングランド娘であろうがなかろうが、その一行に奇襲をかけ、マグレガーの花嫁となる娘を殺すことに正義があるとは、ゲイランには思えなかった。 [283] ) | ||
| That said, whether they’re stronger or weaker than me, I still have to beat them eventually, so as long as I’m giving it my all, it doesn’t really matter……. | Te ka, ore yori tsuyokarō ga yowakarō ga, kekkyoku taosanakya ikenai wake de, zenryoku tsukusu ore kara sureba, anmari kankei nai yō……. (てか、俺より強かろうが弱かろうが、結局倒さなきゃいけないわけで、全力を尽くす俺からすれば、あんまり関係ないような……。 [447] ) | ||
| to (mo) (と(も)) | Whatever he does has no bearing on me. | Kare ga nani o shiyō to watashi ni wa mukankei da (彼が何をしようと私には無関係だ) | |
| Come wind, storm, cold or rain, ――nothing struck him down. | Kaze ga fukō to arashi ga koyō to, samusa ya ame ga shūrai shiyō to,――nani mono mo dageki o ataeru koto wa nakatta. (風が吹こうと嵐が来ようと、寒さや雨が襲来しようと、――何ものも打撃を与えることはなかった。 [448] ) | ||
| Wherever you are, don't forget I'll be thinking of you. | Anata ga doko ni iyō to mo, watashi wa anata no koto o omotte iru no da to yū koto o wasurenai de ne (あなたがどこにいようとも、私はあなたのことを思っているのだということを忘れないでね) | ||
| bakari (ばかり) | You might almost say it was your right. [ah] | Anata no kenri na n da kara to iwaren bakari desu (あなたの権利なんだからと言われんばかりです) | almost/barely/virtually doing something; being just about to do something; being so close to doing something |
| It was an apology in which he kept groveling on the floor mat and all but wailed. | Tatami ni hitai o suritsuke suritsuke, gōkyū sen bakari no wabikata datta (畳に額を擦り付け擦り付け、号泣せんばかりの詫び方だった) | ||
| What surprised me was when the film got to the marathon part, the theater almost burst with frenzy. | Odoroita no wa, eiga no marason no tokoro ni naru to, gekijō ga waren bakari no nekkyō deshita yo (驚いたのは、映画のマラソンのところになると、劇場が割れんばかりの熱狂でしたよ) | ||
| Then he looked at me for a while, as I kept on silently thinking, and finally he spoke, barely suppressing a burst of laughter. | Soshite kare wa, damatte kangaetsuzukete iru boku o chotto nagamete, tsui ni fukidasan bakari ni shite itta (そして彼は、黙って考え続けている僕をちょっと眺めて、ついに吹き出さんばかりにしていった) |
'There's no need to lose your temper with me,' Katy told him as a little stream of anger began to swell and grow bigger inside her. 'If you're upset because Isobel went back to London, then that's not my fault! She could have stayed here overnight. It's not as though Joseph is around to be offended. In fact, I'm sure that Joseph wouldn't have been offended anyway.'「わたしに当たり散らす必要はないでしょう」ケイティはぴしゃりと言った。小さな怒りの渦が徐々に胸の中でふくれ上がっていく。「イザベルがロンドンに戻ったから機嫌が悪いのだとしても、わたしの罪じゃないわ! 彼女に泊まってもらえばよかったのに。泊まってもジョゼフは気にしないわ」
"Everyone here is sorry about Golda." But in some tender place inside, she was touched by his acknowledgment that losing Golda was a bigger loss to her than him. After all, she'd seen the old lady every day. He'd stayed away for six years.「ここにいる人たちはみんなそうよ」フィオナはそう答えながら、ゴルダが亡くなったことに、より大きな喪失感を覚えているのは自分よりも彼女のほうだと言いたげなジャスティンの言葉に、ショックを受けていた。フィオナは毎日ゴルダに会っていたが、この六年間、彼は一度も会いに来なかった。
"We took his finger-prints and let him go," put in the Chief. "He hasn't nerve enough to kill a fly."「そいつの指紋を採って、解放した」と署長が説明した。「彼には蠅も殺せなかろう」
You cannot pass!この先は通さん!
Gandalf!
I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn! Go back to the Shadow. You shall not pass!
Even with this new information, I remained silent. No words came. My first thought was, Oh, so he can talk? My next thought was that he sure had an odd way of speaking. It was not the way ordinary people would speak. But then again, the little two-foot Commendatore was in no way ordinary. So whatever his manner of speech, it shouldn't be surprising.
But, honey, you kain do dat!"「でも、お嬢さま、そりゃできましねえだ」
[…] Lots of gentlemens might a' bought me but they wouldn't a' bought my Prissy, too, jes' to keep me frum grievin' and I thanks you. […] "Ah ain' gwine stand by an' have eve'ybody at de pahty sayin' how you ain' fotched up right. Ah has tole you an' tole you dat you kin allus tell a lady by dat she eat lak a bird. […]"
[…]
"You keep yo' shawl on yo' shoulders w'en you is in de sun, an' doan you go takin' off yo' hat w'en you is wahm," she commanded. […]
"No, you ain'," said Mammy grimly. […]
"Dis Miss Scarlett, ain' it? Dis hyah Peter, Miss Pitty's coachman. Doan step down in dat mud," he ordered severely, as Scarlett gathered up her skirts preparatory to descending. […] No'm, Ah ain' sho whut kine of furriners dey is. Miss Pitty, she say dey is Inlish but kain nobody unnerstan a' wud dey says. Yas'm 'tis pow'ful smoky an' de soot jes' ruinin' Miss Pitty's silk cuttins. It' frum de foun'ry an' de rollin' mills. An' de noise dey meks at night! Kain nobody sleep. […]
"Ah doan know.
Bolitho came back from his holiday this morning—recalled by telegram. No one knows who sent it. The other man left last night. We'll catch him yet, though.「ボリソオは今朝、休暇の途中で帰って来たです。電報で呼び戻されたんだが、誰がその電報を打ったか、誰も知っておらん。で、もう一人の男は、昨夜どこかへ行ってしまったです。そのうちにわれわれは奴を捕らえますがね」
The color had crept back into the banker's face; he nodded with a slight effort. "Last time I looked at it was a week ago. It was there. No one else knew. No one. Had the panel built in long ago."銀行家の顔にはまた赤味がさしてきた。そして努力してうなずきながら「最後に絵を見たのは一瞬間前だった。たしかにここに在った。ほかにはだれも知っておらん。だれもだ。この羽目板をこしらえたのは、ずっと昔だからな」
You listen to me," Sir Herbert Armstrong went on, whacking the table. "This business at the Wade Museum has got to be thrashed out. You're sure you haven't seen an English newspaper in four months, and don't know anything about it? Right! All the better! Here's every record verbatim, in these files. We have here the three people who handled the business through all its stages, up to the point where it was triumphantly crowned with failure . . .「話というのはこうなんだ」とハーバート・アームストロング卿が、テーブルをたたきながらつづけた。「ウェイド博物館で起きたこの事件だが、これはなんとしてでも、真相を明らかにせんければならんのだよ。きみは四ヵ月もイギリスの新聞を読んでおらんのだから、事件のいきさつは、なにも知っておらんのだろうが、それはそれでよろしい。知らんでも心配ない! 捜査の経過は、ここに記録がそろっておる。このファイルがそれだ。それにまたこの事件は、ここに顔をそろえた三人が、それぞれ各段階を担当しておるんだ。結局ははなばなしい失敗に終わりはしたがね」
Old Ellis!" he growled. "First time ever I hear anyone say old Ellis were any use for any purpose. I should 'a thought you know'd better than that yourself, Master Reginald. What do you suppose old Ellis can tell you better'n what I can about Betton Wood, and what call have he got to be put afore me, I should like to know. His father warn't woodman on the place: he were ploughman—that's what he was, and so anyone could tell you what knows; anyone could tell you that, I says.「エリス爺ですと!」彼は唸った。「あのろくでなしが何かの役に立つとは、こりゃ初耳じゃな。それはあなたさまもよおくご存知じゃろうがの。いったいどこを押したら、エリスおやじのほうがわしよりもあの森のことをよく知っとるちゅうことが出てくるんですかの。あいつが何をいいだすか、聞いてみたいものだて。あの爺はここの樵じゃねえ。畑仕事をする人間じゃ——それだけのこってさ。なに一つ、目新しいことは知っておらんはずじゃ」
He doesn't know we know who you are, of course, or can bring you forward to confound him. And above all, he doesn't know that we've found out to our satisfaction that you couldn't have been in any car, anywhere, at eight-twenty that night, because you were at a party at a certain young lady's house from eight on. Now do you see what we're driving at? All you have to do is tell us at which point you left the car. All we're trying to establish is at what point, from what point on I should say, he took over the car alone. And is solely responsible for your wife's death. Have you any objection to helping us steam that out of him?「彼は、彼と同乗していたあんたがどういう人物であるかが、われわれに明らかになっているのを知らんのです。まして、われわれがあんたのご援助を得て、彼のアリバイを打破しようなどとは、考えてもおりません。そしてなにより、あんたの行動が、われわれに満足できるまで確認ずみであるのを知っていないのです。あの夜の八時二十分に、どんな車にしろ、あんたが乗っているわけがなく、どんな場所にしろ、走っていることはできない。つまり、八時以後は、若いご婦人のパーティに出席しておられたのを知っておらんのです。これで、われわれの狙いがおわかりになったことと思います。あとは、あんたが車を降りられたのが、どの地点であるかをお聞かせ願うだけです。それでわれわれは、彼がどの地点で——どの地点からというべきでしょうが——ひとりで車を運転し、奥さんの死に、彼ひとりの責任があるのを立証することができます。いかがです? われわれを援助して、彼の口を割らせるのに反対はんさらんでしょうな?」
« Tu iras tout de même à La Gare avec Mouchebœuf, me dit M. Seurel. Meaulnes ne connaît pas le chemin de Vierzon. Il se perdra aux carrefours. Il ne sera pas au train pour trois heures. »「でもまあ、おまえは、ムーシュブフと駅まで行ってくれんか」とスーレル先生は言った。「モーヌは、ヴィエルゾンへの道を知っておらんからな。四つ辻のところで迷っとるだろう。三時の汽車には間にあうまいて」[You'll go to the station with Mouchebœuf all the same," says Mr Seurel to me. "Meaulnes doesn't know his way to Vierzon. He'd get lost at crossroads. He wouldn't make it to the train at three.]
Poručík Dub podíval se rozzlobené do bezstarostného obličeje dobrého vojáka Švejka a otázal se ho zlostně: „Znáte mne?"何の屈託も無さそうな——上官を眼中に置かないような——シュベイクの顔をつらつら眺めていたドウプ少尉は立腹して訊いた——「お前はわしを知っとるか?」
„Znám vás, pane lajtnant."
Poručík Dub zakoulel očima a zadupal: „Já vám povídám, že mě ještě neznáte."
Švejk odpověděl opět s tím bezstarostným klidem, jako když hlásí raport: „Znám vás, pane lajtnant, jste, poslušně hlásím, od našeho maršbataliónu."
„Vy mě ještě neznáte," křičel poznovu poručík Dub, „vy mne znáte možná z té dobré stránky, ale až mne poznáte z té špatné stránky. Já jsem zlý, nemyslete si, já každého přinutím až k pláči. Tak znáte mne, nebo mne neznáte?"
„Znám, pane lajtnant "
„Já vám naposled říkám, že mne neznáte, vy osle. Máte nějaké bratry?"
—I just wanted to say, […]. Ireland, they say, has the honour of being the only country which never persecuted the jews. Do you know that? No. And do you know why?「ちょっと言っておきたいことがあってな。…..アイルランドは、名誉なことに、ユダヤ人を迫害せぬ唯一の国になっとるそうだ。知っとるかね?知っとらん。では、なぜだかわかるかね?あいつらを絶対に国の中に入れぬからだよ。」
[…]
—Because she never let them in,
You understand," von Flanagan said, pure misery in his voice, "not one single word has been said officially, anywhere or to anybody. Nobody in the police department has been told anything. The Estapoole family doesn't know anything. Nobody seems to know anything." His broad face began to deepen in hue. "And now, damn it," he said angrily, "you don't know anything.「わかっているだろうがね」とフォン・フラナガンが、声にいとも哀れな響きを混ぜて言った。「どこにおいても、何びとに対しても、公式的には、ただのひとことも発言されていないんだ。警察部内でも、誰一人、何一つ口にしておらん。エスタプール家も、何一つ知っとらん。何かを知っていそうな人間は、ただの一人もおらんときとる」彼の広い顔に、濃い血の気がさしてきた。「おまけに、こん畜生め」と彼は、怒ったように言った。「あんたまでが、何も知らんちゅうわけだ」
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Well, sir, it's surprising, but it well may be a fact that neither of them does know exactly what that bird is, and that nobody in all this whole wide sweet world knows what it is, saving and excepting only your humble servant, Casper Gutman, Esquire.「あのふたりは鳥の正体をはっきりとは知っておらぬ。これは意外に思えることだが、事実と見てまちがいないようです。そうだとなると、この広い世界でそれを知っておるのは、あなたの忠実な友カスパー・グトマン氏ただひとりということになりますな」
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)According to what you say," said the Inspector bitterly, "you don't know any of the really important things. I thought you had something.「お前の言うことを聞いとると」と、警視は苦々しく「本当に重要なことはなにも知らんようだな。なにか知っとるとわしは睨んどったが」
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)To love not any one, nor every one.特定の女を愛さぬこと すべての女を愛すこともしないこと
Ham. To be, or not to be, that is the question:ハム 世に在る、世に在らぬ、それが疑問ぢゃ。[…]
[…]
First Clo. One that was a woman, sir; but, rest her soul, she's dead.
— Ah ! monsieur le maire, si vous ne l'avez pas sauvé, Dieu voulait sans doute le rappeler à lui.——あゝ! 村長樣、あなたがお助けになりましなかつたけれど、きつと神樣があいつ奴をお呼びになつてゐらしたんでございますよ。[— Ah! Mister Mayor, if you did not save him, no doubt God called him to Himself.]
Das liebe Herz ſchlägt nicht mehr vor Ungeduld, Sie zu ſehen, nicht etwa in einer benachbarten Kammer wartet ſie auf den Ausgang meiner Erzählung, oder meines Märchens; […] Jch habe Jhnen weiter nichts zu ſagen,あのいとしい心もな、もうあんた樣に逢ひ度え逢ひ度えと云つて、どきどきしてもゐましねえ。其邊の室にでも忍んでゐて、私の話の終るのを、お伽噺の終るのを、待つてるんでもありましねえ。[…]
Да и мало ли за тебя молебщиков, тебе ль хворать?「[…]それにおまえ様のことを祈っておる者は大ぜいありますだで、おまえ様がわずらいなどなされるはずがござりましねえだよ」
[…]
— Про долг я понимаю, Григорий Васильевич, но какой нам тут долг, чтобы нам здесь оставаться, того ничего не пойму, — ответила твердо Марфа Игнатьевна.
[…]
— А и впрямь не дадут, — засмеялся и Митрий. — Спасибо, сударь, непременно выполним…
— Et tu n'as pas soupé ?——じゃ、晩のご飯は食べていないね?
— Dame ! non, mademoiselle, je n'ai pas eu le temps.
— On va te donner à souper. Ton oncle a-t-il du pain encore ?
— Peu, mademoiselle ; mais c'est de la poudre surtout qui lui manque. Voilà les châtaignes venues, et maintenant il n'a plus besoin que de poudre.
— Je vais te donner un pain pour lui et de la poudre. Dis-lui qu'il la ménage, elle est chère.
If the reverend fathers," he said, " loved good cheer and soft lodging, few miles of riding would carry them to the priory of Brinxworth, where their quality could not but secure them the most honourable reception ; or if they preferred spending a penitential evening, they might turn down yonder wild glade, which would bring them to the hermitage of Copmanhurst, where a pious anchoret would make them sharers for the night of the shelter of his roof and the benefit of his prayers.「いや、もし神父さま方がだね、おいしいご馳走、やわらかいベッドがお好きだとおっしゃるならだよ、ここからもう二、三マイルおいでになるがようがすよ。すりゃ、ブリンクスワスの修道院がござるによってな。そこなら、もうあんた、上等とびきりのお接待は、ぜったいまちがいございましねえだよ。それとも、懺悔、悔改めの一夜をお明しになりたいとおっしゃるならば、あの向うの森の空地をくだっておいでになることだな。すれば、コマナーストの庵室ってのがござるによってな、そこの隠者さまなら、一夜のお宿だろうと、お祈りの功徳だろうと、よろこんで分けてくださるにさまってるだよね」
Rohkaistuaan mieltään viinillä Kaptah sanoi vaisulla äänellä: »Herrani, sytytetään soihtu, sillä valo ei täältä paista ulos ja tämä pimeys on hirveämpi manalan pimeyttä, jota ei kukaan voi välttää, mutta tähän pimeään olemme astuneet vapaaehtoisesti.»カプタは酒で気勢をつけると、いまにも消えいりそうな声でいった。「旦那様、炬火をつけましょう。つけたって、外から光が見えるようなことはありましねえだよ。第一こんなに何が何やらわからねえのは、死んだみてえな暗闇よりいけませんわ。この死も、もうのがれることはできましねえよ。だけど、わしらは自分たちで勝手に、こんなとこにへえったんでごぜえますからな」[When Kaptah gained courage with wine, he said with a voice that was just about to falter, "My Lord, let us light up a torch. Its light won't be seen from the outside. That we cannot make anything out is, above all, worse than the darkness of death, which is impossible to escape. But we did willingly enter this place."]
' It's noan Nelly ! ' answered Joseph. ' I sudn't shift for Nelly—nasty ill nowt as shoo is. Thank God ! shoo cannot stale t' sowl o' nob'dy ! Shoo wer niver soa handsome, but what a body mud look at her 'bout winking. It's yon flaysome, graceless quean, that's witched our lad, wi' her bold een and her forrard ways—till——Nay ! it fair brusts my heart ! He's forgotten all I've done for him, and made on him, and goan and riven up a whole row o' t' grandest currant-trees i' t' garden ! ' and here he lamented outright ; unmanned by a sense of his bitter injuries, and Earnshaw's ingratitude and dangerous condition.「ネリーの話じゃござりましねえ! ネリーがいやだから出てゆくわしでがすか?——意地のわるい、やくざな女にゃちげえねえが、ありがてえこった! ネリーにはひとの魂を盗むことはできねえ! あの女は器量もあんまりよくねえから、ひとがまぶしがってまともに顔が見られねえなんてことはありましねえだ。いけずうずうしい色目を使って口説まいて、うちの若旦那をたぶらかしたのは、そこにいるおっかねえ外道の王女さまでがすぞ——そのあげくに——いいやもう! わしや肝が煎れてなんねえわ! 若旦那は、この年月、わしが尽した忠義も丹誠もみんな忘れて、庭いちばんのスグリの木を、ごっそり引っこ抜いてしまわっしゃるとは!」ここで爺さんは手ばなしで泣き出しました。あまりに残酷な迫害を蒙ったくやしさやら、アーンショーの忘恩と、恋に眼がくらんでいる危ない身の上への嘆きやらで、意地も張りも抜けた風情でした。
Q. Kath. My lord, I dare not make myself so guilty,キャサ 卿よ、わたしは、王が附與された尊稱を自分で捨てねばならんやうな罪を犯す筈はありません。死なんうちは、決して此爵位を離れません。
To give up willingly that noble title
Your master wed me to: nothing but death
Shall e'er divorce my dignities.
Da hörte der Sohn des persischen Königs von ihr und schickte sich an, die weite Reise zu machen und nahm große Reichtümer mit. Er kam in die Stadt, in der der Vater der Prinzessin regierte, brachte seine Schätze an einen sicheren Ort und stellte sich am nächsten Tage dem Könige mit kostbaren Geschenken vor. Der empfing ihn sehr gütig und versicherte ihm, wie glücklich er wäre, wenn er siegte. Daraufhin bereitete sich der Prinz zum Kampfe gegen die schöne Prinzessin und bat um die Angabe der Stunde. Die Prinzessin war einverstanden und bestimmte die Zeit. Sofort verbreitete sich die Kunde durch die ganze Stadt und zur festgesetzten Zeit war eine große Menge dort versammelt, wo der Kampf vor sich gehen sollte.ペルシヤの王子も、板額そつちのけの勇猛なお姬樣の事をお聞き遊ばし、寶物を澤山に携へてはる〲と此の國へ旅立たれたので御座います。數十日かの旅の後、ペルシヤ王子は、勇猛なお姬樣のお父君にあたる方がお住ひの町へ到着され、携帶の寶物を安全の場所へしまつて、着いた翌日すぐに珍寶を贈物に差し上げ王樣に謁見を申し込まれました。王樣は迚も鄭重な待遇をされ、「王子殿が姬に勝たれたら朕も幸福で御座いますぞ」と快く仰せられました。それから、ペルシヤの王子は美しいお姬様に決鬪をしたいが、時刻はいつ頃が宜しいかと云はれました。お姬樣は、とりあえず承諾の旨と其の時刻をお通知になりました。さあ此の事が、町中に傳はりますと大變な騷ぎで御座います。朝から、雲霞の如き老若男女の大群が此の勝負如何の物かと、つめ寄せます。[When the prince of Persia heard of the valiant princess who would have put even Hangaku to shame, he took a wealth of riches and departed from a long way away for this land. After tens of days of traveling, when the Persian prince arrived in the city where the valiant princess’s father resided, he put away his bags of treasures into a safe place, and then on the following day, he promptly attended an audience with the king and presented him with precious gifts. The king gave him a highly courteous reception, and gladly said, “We would be delighted if ye defeat our princess.” Thereupon, the prince of Persia sought to duel with the beautiful princess, and asked for a suitable time. Without hesitation, she accepted and announced the time. Word of this did the rounds in town, which caused quite a stir. Since the morning, a large horde of men and women, young and old, gathered to see what this contest would bring.]
Mancherlei lebhafte Geſpräche führten ſie auf die erſten Zeiten ihrer Bekanntſchaft, deren Erinnerung eine der ſchönſten Unterhaltungen zweier Liebenden bleibt. Die erſten Schritte, die uns in den Jrrgarten der Liebe bringen, ſind ſo angenehm, die erſten Auſſichten ſo reizend, daß man ſie gar zu gern in ſein Gedächtniß zurückruft. Jeder Theil ſucht einen Vorzug vor dem andern zu behalten, er habe früher, uneigennütziger geliebt, und jedes wünſcht in dieſem Wettſtreite lieber überwunden zu werden, als zu überwinden.いろんな活潑な會話が二人を逢初の昔に連れて行つた、それを思ひ出すことは、いつまでも二人の戀人の間の最も美しい會話の一つだつた。我我を戀の迷宮に踏み込ませる第一步は、また最初の希望は、人が特に好んで思ひ出すほど、快いものでもあれば、懷しいものでもある。雙方とも、自分の方がもつと前から、もつと一所懸命に愛してゐたのだといふ風に、相手より先に立たうとする、さうして雙方ともその競技では、勝つよりも、勝たれたがるのである。[Much lively talking led them back to the time when they first met, the recollection of which was always one of the most delightful topics between the two lovers. The first steps that bring us to the maze of love, the earliest hopes, are so pleasant and nostalgic that one would especially love to recollect them. Each party seeks to get the better of the other, as though they alone had fallen in love sooner and more devotedly, and each, in this contest, wishes to be conquered rather than conquer.]
Q. Mar. [Aside.] When holy Harry died, and my sweet son.マーガ (蔭にて)あった、あの神聖なヘンリーどのが死なれた時に、おれの大切の子の、あの可愛いエドワードが死んだ時に!
Быть художником… Без горького, постоянного труда не бывает художников… а трудиться, думал я, глядя на его мягкие черты, слушая его неспешную речь — нет! трудиться ты не будешь, сдаться ты не сумеешь. Но не полюбить его не было возможности: сердце так и влеклось к нему.美術家になる……と自分では云つてゐるが、身を責めて倦まずに勉めなければ、美術家にはなれぬものである。けれども勉めるといふことは如何であらうかと思つて、密にガギンの擧動を窺へば、面相も優しく、言語も優雅である。いや、此男には勉められない、奮發せられない、と斷念ました。けれども之を愛せずには居られません。魂が如何も引寄せられるやうである。[Being an artist…… I thought to myself, being an artist is not without taking yourself to task and toiling tirelessly. But when I thought about what it would be like to toil, sneaking a look at Gagin's countenance, all I saw was his delicate features and magnanimous manner. No, this man could not toil, he could never exert himself, I thought with resignation. But I cannot help but love him. It was almost as though my soul was drawn to him.]
When he had thus spoken, the venerable Ānanda said to the Blessed One: "But just now, Lord, five hundred carts have gone across the brook and have stirred the water; but a river, O Lord, is not far off. Its water is clear and pleasant, cool and transparent, and it is easy to get down to it. There the Blessed One may both drink water and cool his limbs."彼がかく云つた時、阿難尊者は世尊に云つた。
Ja hvis der var et Menneſke, der ikke kunde døe, hvis det er ſandt, hvad Sagnet fortæller om hiin evige Jøde, hvorledes ſkulde vi tage i Betænkning at erklære ham for den Ulykkeligſte? Da lod det ſig forklare, hvorfor Graven var tom, for at betegne, at den Ulykkeligſte var Den, der ikke kunde døe, der ikke kunde ſlippe ned i en Grav. Da var Sagen afgjort, Svaret let: thi ulykkeligſt var Den, der ikke kunde døe, lykkelig Den, der kunde det; lykkelig Den, der døde i ſin Alderdom, lykkeligere Den, der døde i ſin Ungdom, lykkeligſt Den, der døde idet han blev født, allerlykkeligſt Den, der aldrig var født. Men ſaaledes er det ikke, Døden er den fælles Lykke for alle Menneſke, og forſaavidt ſom derfor den Ulykkeligſte ikke er funden, da maa han være at ſøge indenfor denne Begrændsning.眞個、若しも世に死ぬことの出來ない人間があるものなら、かの傳說にある、永久にさ迷ふユダヤ人なるものが、見出されるものとすれば、我々は彼をこそ最大不幸の人として考へずには居られない。そこで墓が空虛であつた理由が明かになる。卽ち、死ぬことの出來ない人、墓に寢てゐることの出來ない人、[ sic ]墓に寢てゐることの出來ない人は最大不幸の人であるから。で、話は解決がついて、答へは容易になつた。なぜかと言へば、死ねない者は最大不幸者で、死なれる者は幸福者であるからだ。老齡に達して死ぬる者は幸福であるが、年若くして死ぬるものは、より幸福である。更に又生れるや否や死ぬるものは最大幸福者である。然し、此の上無しの大幸福者は生れなかつた者である。尤も、世の中はそんな風にはなつてゐない。死は萬人共通の幸福である。だから死ぬべき人間のうちに、最大不幸者を搜すことになるのだから、なか〱見付からない筈である。[If indeed there were a man who could not die, if the legend of the eternally wandering Jew be found to be true, we cannot help but conceive of him as the unhappiest man. Then the reason why the tomb was empty becomes clear. To wit, he who could not die, could not lie in a grave, was the unhappiest man. Thus, the case would be settled, the answer simple, for the unhappiest man was he who could not die, and happy he who could. Happy was he who died in his old age, happier he who died in his youth. Happiest was he who died as soon as he was born, and happiest of all he who never was born. But that is not the case in life. Death is the common happiness of all men, and insofar as the unhappiest man is to be sought among men bound to die, he must be found with diffulty.]
Le reste des humains m'apparaissait comme bien lointain auprès de cette femme que j'avais quittée, il y avait quelques moments à peine ; ma joue était chaude encore de son baiser, mon corps courbaturé par le poids de sa taille. […] Ce bouton de la porte de ma chambre, qui différait pour moi de tous les autres boutons de porte du monde en ceci qu'il semblait ouvrir tout seul, sans que j'eusse besoin de le tourner, tant le maniement m'en était devenu inconscient, le voilà qui servait maintenant de corps astral à Golo. […] On ne le reconnaissait en effet qu'à la voix, on distinguait mal son visage au nez busqué, aux yeux verts, sous un haut front entouré de cheveux blonds presque roux, coiffés à la Bressant, parce que nous gardions le moins de lumière possible au jardin pour ne pas attirer les moustiques et j'allais, sans en avoir l'air, dire qu'on apportât les sirops ; ma grand'mère attachait beaucoup d'importance, trouvant cela plus aimable, à ce qu'ils n'eussent pas l'air de figurer d'une façon exceptionnelle, et pour les visites seulement.ついいましがた別れたばかりのその女に比べれば、ほかの人間などはるかに遠い存在のように思われた。私の頰は女の口づけでいまだほてっていたし、体は女の胴体の重みでぐったりしていた。[…]私の部屋のあのドアノブは世界中のどんなドアノブとも違って、わざわざ回さなくてもドアがひとりでに開く。そう思われるほど、ノブを手で回す動作が無意識のうちになされていた。そのドアノブがいまや、ゴロの星気体の一部になっているのだ。[…]実際、声でしか認識できない。蚊が寄ってこないようにできるかぎり庭の明かりを落としてあるせいで、鷲鼻、緑の目、ブレサン風に短く刈ったほとんど赤毛に近い金髪に縁どられた秀でた額といった顔の特徴までははっきりわからないからである。私はさりげなく席を立って台所へゆき、シロップをもってくるように頼む。祖母は来客のときだけ特別にシロップを出すと思われないようにすることがすこぶる大事だと思っていたし、そのほうが親切だと考えていた。[Next to this woman whom I had left barely a moment ago, the rest of humanity looked very far-off. My cheek was still warm from her kiss, my body ached by the weight of her waist. […] The doorknob of my room differed from all other doorknobs in the world in that, without my needing to turn it, the door opens all by itself. Manually turning it was so unconscious that it seemed that way. And now, the doorknob had turned into a corps astral for Golo. […] Indeed, one could tell him by nothing but his voice. Since we dimmed the light in the garden as much as possible to not attract mosquitoes, one would not make out his face with a hooked nose, green eyes, a high forehead fringed with blond, almost red hair coiffed in the Bressant style. I casually got up and went to the kitchen to ask that the syrup be brought out. My grandmother thought it was very important to not look like we served it only when there were guests, as she hold that that was a kind thing to do.]
But that Honour, perhaps, were not fit for Monarchies, Except it be in the Perſon of the Monarch himſelfe, or his Sonnes; As it came to paſſe, in the Times of the Roman Emperours, who did impropriate the Actuall Triumphs to Themſelues, and their Sonnes, for ſuch Wars, as they did atchieue in Perſon: And left only, for Wars atchieued by Subiects, ſome Triumphall Garments, and Enſignes to the Generall.しかしかういふ名譽は君主國には不向きかも知れない。ローマの諸皇帝は、分等自身、若しくは自分の息子等が親しく勝ち得た戰爭に對してのみ行ふことによつて、正式の凱旋式を獨占し、臣下によつて勝たれた戰爭に對しては、將軍への凱旋服、又は標幟を許しただけであつた。
"Sir Daniel hath told me," she replied. "He marked you at the barricade. Upon you, he saith, their party foundered; it was you that won the battle. Well, then, it was you that killed my good Lord Risingham, as sure as though ye had strangled him. And ye would have me eat with you—and your hands not washed from killing? But Sir Daniel hath sworn your downfall. He 'tis that will avenge me!"『サー・ダニエル殿は申されました。―あなたは阻塞を守つてをられ、叔父の手勢はそれに向かつて戰ひ、あなたが勝たれたとのこと。して見れば、あなたが叔父を討つた事に間違ひありませぬ。サー・ダニエル殿はきつとあなたを亡ぼすと誓はれましたから、私の仇はあの方が返して下さいませう』
But if your father had been victor there,が、幸ひにして御尊父が勝たれたにしろ、安全にコヹントリーの柵外へ出られるのはむづしかったでせう。何故ならば、國內擧って御尊父を惡み呪ってゐたのでしたから。衆望は一へに悉くハーフォード伯に集って、彼等は王以上に彼人を愛し、只もう彼人の爲に夢中になって祝福するといふ風でしたから。
He ne'er had borne it out of Coventry:
For all the country in a general voice
Cried hate upon him; and all their prayers and love
Were set on Hereford, whom they doted on
And bless'd and graced indeed, more than the king.
"The Angrez are surely Mahisha reborn," said Lakshmi, "but Durga will rescue us and prevail as she did over the gods and demons who disturbed the cosmic harmony. Her sword has those magical powers." Lakshmi prayed that Bhavani and Chandi, the war goddesses, would add their formidable powers to Durga's. "The three will make the fort invulnerable," said Lakshmi.「イギリス人はきっとマヒーシャの化身です。でも、ドルガー様が宇宙の調和を壊した悪い神や悪魔に勝たれたように、私たちを救い、勝たせてくださるでしょう。あの女神の剣にはそのような力が具わっているのです」言い終わるとラクシュミーはお祈りをして、戦いの神、バーヴァーニ女神とチャンディ女神がドルガー女神に助力するようお願いした。「この三人の神が、この城を難攻不落にしてくれるでしょう」と女たちにも説明した。
ramsden. Of course I understand your feeling, Annie. It is what I should have expected of you; and it does you credit. But it does not settle the question so completely as you think. Let me put a case to you. Suppose you were to discover that I had been guilty of some disgraceful action—that I was not the man your poor dear father took me for! Would you still consider it right that I should be Rhoda's guardian?ラムズドゥン 其は無論貴女の心持はよく解つて居る。貴女は元よりさうある可き處で、私は實に感心だと思つて居る。併し其では貴女の思ふやうに事件の解決にはならない。今一つの例を言つて見る。假にだね、貴女が私に何か忌はしい行爲のあつたのを知つたとする――詰り私が死なれたお父さんの思つて居られた樣な男でない事が分つて來たとする、其でも貴女は私がロォダの保護者となるのがいゝとお思ひかね
Glou. No further, sir; a man may rot even here.グロー 予ァ動かん。此儘立腐れに死なれさうなものぢゃ。
Mor. Enough: my soul shall then be satisfied.モーチ よろしい。それなら安心して死なれる。[…]
[…]
Mor. Thou dost then wrong me,—as the slaughterer doth,
Which giveth many wounds when one will kill.—
[…]
Lucy. Is Talbot slain, the Frenchmen's only scourge,
Your kingdom's terror and black Nemesis?
'Come here, my little gipsy,' he cajoled her. 'I've been so bored all day, I thought you were never coming.'「こっちにおいで、ぼくのかわいいジプシー。一日じゅう退屈で、きみは来ないかと思った」
'I told Joan . . .' she began.
'Yes, I know—surely you could have left one of your nurses in charge for just a moment or two? I was furious with Gijs getting back so late—if he'd moved a bit you would have had time to come and see me before you went on duty.'
'Tia. This is Maximiliano Leonelli, whom your grandfather has sent in his stead,' Mother Sancha announced.「ティア、こちらはマクシミリアーノ・レオネッリ。あなたのお祖父様の代わりに迎えに来られた方よ」マザー・サンチャが告げる。
The new old gentleman says:新しく来たほうの紳士が言った。
"If you please, let me explain. Nobody can read my hand but my brother there—so he copies for me. It's his hand you've got there, not mine."
Still, English or no, Galen could not justify simply attacking the party and killing the woman. What had happened to his wife and child had nothing to do with her. She was as much an innocent as his own wife had been. […]といえば、イングランド娘であろうがなかろうが、その一行に奇襲をかけ、マグレガーの花嫁となる娘を殺すことに正義があるとは、ゲイランには思えなかった。彼の妻とお腹の赤ん坊を見舞った悲劇は、その娘とはなんの関係もない。彼自身の妻がそうだったのと同じくらい、イングランドの娘に罪はないのだ。
Stealing MacGregor's bride had seemed the perfect solution to Galen at the time. He would get a wife, heirs soon enough, and his revenge on MacGregor in one tidy little raid.
Aye, except for her being English it had seemed the perfect solution . . . right up until he had seen how puny and frail she appeared. Then he had begun to think he may have made a grave error.
'You cannot pass,' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. 'I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.'「きさまは渡ることはできぬ。」と、かれはいいました。オークどもはじっと立ちつくし、死の静けさがあたりをみたしました。「わしは神秘の火に仕える者、アノールの焰の使い手じゃ。きさまは渡ることはできぬ。暗き火、ウドゥンの焰はきさまの助けとはならぬ。常つ闇に戻るがよい! きさまは渡れぬぞ。」
[…]
'You cannot pass!' he said.
Чем знакомее лица, тем труднее являются они, тем неяснее их впечатление; их помнишь, а не видишь… а своего собственного лица никак и не представишь… Малейшая отдельная черта известна, а целого образа не составляется.面相を見識つてゐれば居るほど、浮び難くて、其印象が判然しない、憶出せても目に見えない……自分の顏などは到底も想像せられないもので、細い局部は明亮するが、全體が成立たない。[The more familiar the faces, the more difficult they are to picture, the less clear their impression; you cannot see them even if you can recall them…… It is impossible to visualize even your own face; the most minute feature is clear, but the whole image will not come together.]
Чем знакомее лица, тем труднее являются они, тем неяснее их впечатление; их помнишь, а не видишь… а своего собственного лица никак и не представишь… Малейшая отдельная черта известна, а целого образа не составляется.面貌を見識ツてゐればゐるほど、浮びにくゝて、其印象が判然しない、憶出せても目に見えない……自身の顏などは到底想像しられないもので……瑣末な一局部は明亮にわかるが、全體が成立たない。[The more familiar the faces, the more difficult they are to picture, the less clear their impression; you cannot see them even if you can recall them…… It is impossible to visualize even your own face…… The most minute feature is clearly known, but the whole image will not come together.]
You had him killed—hired Whidden and then didn't pay him. He kidnapped the girl then, holding her for his money, knowing she was what you wanted. It was you his bullet came closest to when we cornered him.「君は彼を殺させたのだ——つまりホイッドンを雇って殺させたのだが、そのとき君は彼に払わなかった。そこでホイッドンは、君のほしがっているものがガブリエルだということを知って、彼女を誘拐して、金のかたにおさえてしまった。われわれがホイッドンを追いつめたとき、彼の弾丸がいちばん近くに落ちたのは君だったということを忘れないだろうね」
'I just bet you don't.' Vivien's hard slanted eyes were poisonous. 'What's your little game, then? I've made a few enquiries and that's Raoul de Chevnair you were talking to, isn't it? You don't seriously expect me to believe that a multimillionaire playboy like Raoul de Chevnair would ever notice a little nobody like you, let alone marry her!' She laughed spitefully, her face mocking.「そうでしょうとも」ビビアンのつり上がった目は悪意に満ちていた。「じゃ、さっきのざれごとは何? ちょっと調べさせていただいたところでは、あなたが話してたひと、ラウル・ド・シュヴネイルでよ? まさかあんな億万長者のプレイボーオイが、あなたのような名なしの画家に注目するなんて、本気で信じさせられると思っちゃいないわよね。まして結婚するなどとは!」ビビアンは鼻で笑った。
L'hiver, quand, au coin d'une borne, une femme donne à téter à son enfant, on n'est pas obligé de croire que le sein est en caoutchouc, et l'enfant en carton.*冬、畑の境界の片隅で、一人の女が子供に乳を飮ませてゐたからとて、その胸はゴム製であり、子供は厚紙細工だと考へねばならぬといふ法はない。
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)He was a penniless man, some accounts say he was a bankrupt, and his only way of securing a ship was to get someone to entrust him with a command. He went first to King John II of Portugal, who listened to him, made difficulties, and then arranged for an expedition to start without his knowledge, a purely Portuguese expedition. This highly diplomatic attempt to steal a march on an original man failed, as it deserved to fail; the crew became mutinous, the captain lost heart and returned (1483). Columbus then went to the Court of Spain.コロㇺブスは、文無しの素寒貧である、破產者だと云ふ記錄さへある。其處で船を手に入れる方法は、誰かの許に行つて指揮權を委託して貰ふ外に道はない。そこでまづ葡萄牙國王ジョン二世に詣つた。王はコロㇺブスに耳を傾けたが樣々に難癖をつけて置いて、一方裏に廻つてコロㇺブスに知らせずに純粹の葡萄牙人の探檢隊を組織して出航の凖備をせさせた。倂しコロㇺブスの如き天才を出し拔かうと云ふ樣な大それた騙し打駈引きの企てなぞは成る筈がない、當然、氣味善くも失敗に歸した、船員が叛き出し船長は勇氣を喪つて歸つて來たのである。(一四八三年)。コロㇺブスはついで西班牙宮廷に詣つた。
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[…] non quod eas amem, sed ut amem te, deus meus. […] amemus, curramus.それは私がそんなものを愛するが爲めではなく、私の神よ、貴下を愛しようといふのだからで厶います。[…]我々に愛しさせて下さい、我々に驅けさせて下さい。[It is not for I love them, but for I may love Thee, my God. […] Let us love, let us run.]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Da solen kom højere, så Elisa foran sig, halvt svømmende i luften, et bjergland, med skinnende ismasser på fjeldene, og midt derpå strakte sig et vist milelangt slot, med den ene dristige søjlegang oven på den anden; nedenfor gyngede palmeskove og pragtblomster, store som møllehjul.お日さまがだん〱高くのぼったとき、エリーザは、前のほうに、山ばかりの国が、なかば空中にうかんでいるのを見つけました。山のいただきには、氷のかたまりが光っていました。そうして、国のまんなかには、一マイルもあろうかと思われる、ひろいお城がそびえていて、ものすごい柱のろうかが、いくつも重なりあっていました。その下のほうには、やしの木の森や、水車ほどの大きさの、りっぱな花が波うっていました。[As the sun rose higher, Elisa saw before her a mountainous land half floating in the air. Masses of ice were shining on the mountaintops, and in the middle of the land rose a vast castle that seemed one mile long, with a rows of awesome columns rising one above another. Below waved palm forests, and splendid flowers as big as waterwheels.]
If Anthony's love had been as egoistic as love generally is, it would have been greater than the egoism of his vanity—or of his generosity, if you like—and all this could not have happened. He would not have hit upon that renunciation at which one does not know whether to grin or shudder. It is true too that then his love would not have fastened itself upon the unhappy daughter of de Barral. But it was a love born of that rare pity which is not akin to contempt because rooted in an overwhelmingly strong capacity for tenderness—the tenderness of the fiery kind—the tenderness of silent solitary men, the voluntary, passionate outcasts of their kind. At the time I am forced to think that his vanity must have been enormous.もしアントニーの恋愛が一般にそうであるくらい利己的だったなら、それは虚栄のエゴイズムに――あるいは、まあ、寛大さに――まさったろうから、この一切は起きなかったろう。にやっと笑うべきなのかぞっと身震いすべきなのかわからない、そんな断念を思いつくこともなかったろう。その仮定では、彼の恋愛がド・バラルの不幸な娘にそもそも結びつかなかったろうというのも真だ。しかしながら、その恋愛は稀な慈善から生じた。それは軽蔑とは無縁である。なんとなれば、優しさにおける圧倒的に強力な能力に根ざすからであり――その優しさは猛火の種類のもので、無口な孤独の男の優しさであり、情熱的な自ら志願して追放者となった男独特の優しさである。同時に、彼の虚栄心は莫大であったと考えざるをえない。
"Who was this man?" said Abner.「だれなんだね、その男というのは?」と、アブナーが言った。
"They will not tell who he was."
"Why not?"
"Now, Abner," cried Ward, "why not, indeed! Because there never was any such man. The story is a lie out of the whole cloth. Those two devils are guilty as hell. The proof is all dead against them."
Maybe you girls didn't know it, but they've got every road, too, every wagon lane and bridle path, except the McDonough road.おまえたちのような娘は知らんじゃろうが、やつらはマクドナ街道のほか、道路という道路は、馬車の通る道も、みんな押えてしまったのじゃ。
„Gerade wie ich, gerade wie ich", ruft der Jüngling begeiſtert aus und zweifelt nicht länger, daß auch er ein hoher Genius iſt trotz ſeinem angebeteten Jdol.「まったくおれのようだ。おれと寸分ちがわぬ」と、その青年は感激して叫ぶとともに、自分もまた崇拝せる偶像に劣らず偉大な天才だということを、もはや疑わんであろう。[“Just like me. Not unlike me at all,” the youth cries in high delight, no longer doubting that he, too, is a great genius, no less than the idol he reveres.]
"If you had had as much experience of alligators as I have, you would n't talk like that. You dredge an alligator once and he's convinced. It's the last you hear of him. He would n't come back for pie. If there's one thing that an alligator is more down on than another, it's being dredged. Besides, they were not simply shoved out of the way ; the most of the scoopful were scooped aboard ; they emptied them into the hold ; and when they had got a trip, they took them to Orleans to the Government works."「あんたもわたしぐらいワニの経験があったら、そんなことは言わんでしょうね。一度浚い出すと、ワニはちゃんと覚えていますよ。もう二度と姿を見せません。もう金輪際きませんよ。ワニにいくらかでも我慢がならないものがあるとすれば、それは浚い出されることですよ。それに、ただ押し出すんじゃない。すくったのは大抵船の上へすくい上げるんです。それを船倉に入れる。そして旅が終るとオーリンズから官製工場へ持っていくんです」
Heaven has an end in all: yet, you that hear me,何事にも天意が働いてゐる。しかしながら、諸君よ、これだけは慥かな事だとして、死なんとする者のいふことを聽いておいて下さい。といふのは、深く人を愛して懇切に忠告なぞをなさる場合に、餘り油斷をなさらんやうに。刎頸莫逆の友と雖も一たび君がたが降り坂にさしかゝったなと認めるといふと、水の低きに就くやうに離れ去って、姿を見せなくなりますぞ、君たちを滅さうとでもする時の外は。
This from a dying man receive as certain:
Where you are liberal of your loves and counsels,
Be sure you be not loose; for those you make friends
And give your hearts to, when they once perceive
The least rub in your fortunes, fall away
Like water from ye, never found again
But where they mean to sink ye.
Elle a toujours entendu de l'eau bouillir et, la marmite vidée, qu'il pleuve, qu'il vente ou que le soleil tape, elle l'a toujours remplie.彼女は、年がら年じゅう、湯がたぎるのを聞き、なべがからっぽになれば、たとえ雨が降ろうが、風が吹こうが、また日が照ろうが、年がら年じゅう、そいつをいっぱいにしてきたのだ。
Биограф описывает наружность Ибсена: «Он небольшого роста, но тем не менее производит внушительное впечатление. Верхняя часть тела отличается необыкновенной крепостью. Все лицо обрамлено сединами, обильными наперекор его возрасту. Сжатые губы, взгляд, устремленный через очки, и густые брови производят впечатление неустанно напряженной мысли и воли. Над всем возвышается сильный, развитой лоб… Вся фигура производит впечатление боевой силы… Никто не слыхал, чтобы Ибсен когда-нибудь хворал. Даже недуги, составляющие обычное явление в преклонном возрасте, пощадили его. Он весь как бы представляет из себя олицетворенное здоровье. Ни ветер, ни буря, ни холод, ни дождь — ничто не смущает его. Во всем, что он делает, он — воплощенная регулярность. Долго пришлось бы искать кого-нибудь другого, чья жизнь в такой же степени походила бы на часовой механизм».イプセンの伝記者は彼の風貌を次のように描いている、「彼は脊はあまり高くはなかったが、堂々たる感じをもっていた。上体は殊に並々ならぬ強靱さを示していた。顔全体は彼の年齢にふさわしくないほど房々した白髪や白髯に縁どられていた。固く結んだ唇、眼鏡越しに注がれる眼眸、濃い眉毛は倦むことなく張りつめた思想と意志を感じさせる。そのうえに秀でた力づよい、広い額……全体の姿から戦闘的な力が感じられるのである……ついぞ、イプセンが患ったというような話を聞いたことがない。老年の域に達すれば必ずありがちな病気さえ彼には縁がなかったのである。彼は全く健康の化身のようなものであった。風が吹こうと嵐が来ようと、寒さや雨が襲来しようと、――何ものも打撃を与えることはなかった。彼の為した一切のことを見れば彼が秩序というものの化身であったことが察せられる。これほど時計の針のようにきちんとした生涯を送った人を他にさがすとなれば、なかなか容易なことではないであろう。」[Ibsen’s biographer describes his appearance as follows, “He was not very tall, yet bore an imposing aura. His upper body distinctly displayed extraordinary strength. His whole face was framed by gray hair, head and facial, abundant for his age. His tightly closed lips, his gaze fixed through the glasses, and his bushy brows gave the impression of tirelessly strained thought and will. A strong forehead rose prominently above everything…… His whole figure exuded combative strength…… No account of Ibsen being ill was ever heard of. Even the ailments common in old age eluded him. He seemed like the very embodiment of health. Come wind, storm, cold or rain, ――nothing struck him down. Given everything he did, it could be fathomed that he was the embodiment of regularity. It would be no mean feat to find someone else who led a life as regular as clockwork to such extent.”]
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