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In this Lesson and the next two Lessons, we introduce "Verbals", which are similar to English "verbs" but not quite the same. In English a verb is just a word, and to form a sentence you need at least a subject together with the verb. However, a Verbal is a complete sentence by itself, and there is no such thing as a subject in Japanese in the English sense of the word. A Verbal is by itself a sentence, which we will call a "predicate" from now on.
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The Japanese language has three types of predicates: the Verbal predicate, the Adjectival predicate and the Nominal predicate. The Adjectival and Nominal predicates will be introduced later.
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Here are three basic verbals to learn:
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わかります。
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Wakarimasu.
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Understanding occurs.I/You/He/She/They understand(s).It's comprehensible. It's clear. I'm with you. Etc.
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できます。
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Dekimasu.
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I/You/He/She/They can do it. It's possible. Etc.
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します。
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Shimasu.
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I/You/He/She/They (will) do(es)/play(s) it. Etc.
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Their negative forms are:
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わかりません。
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Wakarimasen.
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I don't understand. It's not clear. Etc.
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できません。
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Dekimasen.
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I can't do it. It's not possible. Etc.
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しません。
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Shimasen.
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I don't do it. I will not do it. Etc.
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If you need to add additional information associated with the Verbal, simply put it in front of the Verbal. See KK2 and KK3. Thus:
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英語できます。
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Eego dekimasu.
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I can speak English.
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ちょっとできます。
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Chotto dekimasu.
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I can speak/do it a little.
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スキーします。
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Sukii shimasu.
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{I do skiing} I ski.
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A verbal (i.e. a predicate) always comes at the end of a sentence. This is a golden rule.While many Verbals represent an action like shimasu (do, play sports), some of them describe a condition or state, such as wakarimasu and dekimasu, as well.All Verbals have a -masu ending and take the -masen form. In fact, this is the definition of a Verbal.
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