Lesson Five: How To Make An Imperative Statement

... and then How to Soften it

A) Imperative: A wa B desu yo.

Japanese does not use exclamation points, but there is a structure that shows stress and imperative in a sentence. Simply adding yo at the end of a statement makes it similar to an exclamatory sentence. The intonation is usually falling to emphasize the point being made. Look at number 4 in the previous examples (see below) to see what I mean. Now on your own, take the previous five sentences, transcribed below for you, and practice saying them in the imperative. The first one is done for you:

1. Kore wa juu de wa arimasen. - Kore wa juu da yo!!!! (as if you thought it was a boquet of flowers he was shoving in your face)
2. Iie, watashi wa dokushin ja nai. - Hai! Watashi wa dokushin desu yo! (A desperate person approaching "christmas cake" age).
3. Kanojo wa Kanadajin ja arimasen. - Kanojo wa Kanadajin da yo!
4. Boku wa baka ja nai yo! - (already done. Say it anyway just to reassure yourself that you are not really baka)
(I'm not an idiot!)
5. Iie, Bush-san wa neko de wa arimasen. Itachi desu. - Kare wa yappari itachi da yo ne!
(No, Mr. Bush is not a cat. As we thought, he IS a weasel.)

B) Softer or Agreeable: A wa B desu ne.

In Japanese we try to be as unimposing as possible (hard for a 6'5" monster here to pull off, but we do our best). It is important to try to agree with the speaker in order to maintain smooth relations and so as not to be offensive. To soften your speech so it doesn't seem quite so forceful, or to agree with what the speaker has said (not necessarily what they mean) just add ne to the end of the sentences. It is a little like adding, isn't it to the end of a sentence in English. Women use this quite frequently at the end of their sentences because it is demure, sweet, and non-imposing, therefore "feminine". The intonation is slightly rising.

Look at the example below:

1. Goshujin wa dorobo de wa arimasen ne.
(Your husband isn't a thief, is he.)
2. So desu ne.
(Yes, that's true, isn't it.)

Hang in there. You'll get this yet.

- Sensei

Next Lesson: Lesson Six - How to make something equal to something else