Massive earthquakes and tsunamis in Tohoku

As you know, we had massive earthquakes and tsunamis in Tohoku, Japan on 11th March.

We offer prayers for the people whose lives were lost in the earthquake so that they may obtain happiness in the next world, and to all those affected by the earthquake we offer our deepest sympathy.

I am very sorry to keep you in the world being anxious about our nuclear accidents in Fukushima prefecture. I believe the stuffs at plants are working very well in more than thousands times of relative earthquakes, but informations are confusing now. Some specialist said few days ago that we were under the crisis of Level 5 near the plants, but our government told us yesterday that the machine no.4 of the Fukushima first plant, which had been most serious of these continual nuclear accidents, was being refrigerated and already passed the peak of danger by water spraying. However, if my half-forgotten memories are correct, the government did not mention the machine no.1 of the Fukushima first, and the TV news do not tell us the other machines and plants, no.1, no.2, no.3 of the first and the second plant itself of Fukushima these days. Accidents and their news are too much for me to understand and remember. Please pay attention to the news in your countries.

Also, thank you very much for your very kind helps such as rescue parties and relief supplies. New Zealand, in particular, had a huge earthquake just one month ago, and I heard that Australia was damaged by an enormous flood and China had a big earthquake recently, too. Instead of these serious disasters, you sent us lots of support. Moreover, the US and Australia have sent us their reliable navies or air forces. USS Ronald Reagan, the other ships and planes and their stuffs especialy encourage us here in Japan. We thank you so much. Of course, we appreciate very very big helps from the other countries of all over the world.



Thanks for reading my poor English.

Japanese expressions of colors (4) specific concrete nouns (2)

I believe you can translate English "a pale blue book" to "水色の本" in Japanese now. Then, how should you say "the book is/was pale blue" in Japanese? When we use them for the predicative construction, we add some auxiliary verbs; "だ／だった", "である／であった" or "です／でした".

"だ(da)", the auxiliary verb of conclusion is the most standard word for it, and "だった(datta)" is its past tense.

(More detailed, "だった" consists of two different words, "だっ" and "た". The first word "だっ" is one of the conjugating forms of "だ" and the last word "た" is the auxiliary verb of the past or perfect.)

"である(dearu)" is used as a literary style of "だ", or conclusion, and "であった(deatta)" is its past tense. We use this style in novels, newspapers and some kind of thesis.

(There are three different theories on "である". The first one regards it as one word simply. The second and the third ones think of it as two different words, "で" and "ある", which I agree with. Both of them think of "ある" as the verb meaning to be "exsist", but "で" is considered differently. The second one regards "で" as the particle which has several meanings, and the third one regards it as one of the conjugating forms of "だ". I cannot determine one yet. Also, the first theory think of "であった" as two words, "であっ" and "た". "であっ" is one of the conjugating forms of "である" and "た" is the auxiliary verb of the past or perfect, as you know. However, the second and the third theories considered it as three words, "で", "あっ" and "た". "た" is needless to say the auxiliary verb of the past or perfect, as well.)

"です(desu)" is perhaps the most popular auxiliary verb for beginners. We call it "an auxiliary verb of respectful conclusion" because it is actually a respectful word of "だ" and "である". Also, "でした(deshita)" is the past tense of "です". You can use "です" and "でした" in both of respectful, formal conversation and writing such as letters or short essays.

(More detailed, "でした" consists of two different words, "でし" and "た". "でし" is one of the conjugating forms of "です", and "た" is the auxiliary verb of the past or perfect.)

The differences between three couples of "だ／だった", "である／であった" and "です／でした" are based on styles, especially the last word of every sentence. You can mixed "だ／だった" and "である／であった" in the same sentence or a book, but you can never use them as the last word together with "です／でした". For example, you can say

雨だ。これから出かけるのに、困ったものだ。私は、大降りにならないうちにと、急いで身支度を整えた。だが、コートを着たところで手が止まる。今日は、貴重な本を持って行かなければならない。絶対に濡らしてはならないのである。

(Ame da. Kore kara dekakeru noni, komatta mono da. Watashi wa "o-buri ni naranai uchi ni" to, isoide mijitaku wo totonoeta. Daga, ko-to wo kita tokoro de te ga tomaru. Kyo- wa kicho-na hon wo motte ikanakereba naranai. Zettaini nurashite wa naranai no de aru. / It has begun to rain. It confuses me because I want to be going now. I dressed in a hurry to leave before it got heavy. However, I stopped my hands when I wore my coat. I must take a very precious book with me today and I never get it wet in the rain.)

These sentences all consist of "だ／だった" and "である／であった". We call it "だ・である調(cho-)" or "常体(jo-tai : standard mood)". Also, you can say

雨です。これから出かけるのに、困ったものです。私は、大降りにならないうちにと、急いで身支度を整えました。ですが、コートを着たところで手が止まります。今日は、貴重な本を持って行かなければなりません。絶対に濡らしてはならないのです。

(Ame desu. Kore kara dekakeru noni, komatta mono desu. Watashi wa "o-buri ni naranai uchi ni" to, isoide mijitaku wo totonoe mashita. Desuga, ko-to wo kita tokoro de te ga tomari masu. Kyo- wa kicho-na hon wo motte ikanakereba narimasen. Zettaini nurashite wa naranai no desu.)

The last words of each sentences are all based on "です／でした" (and "ます(masu)／ました(mashita)"). We call it "です・ます調(cho-)" or "敬体(ke-tai : respectful mood)". We use this style when we talk to elder people, strangers, teachers, professors, doctors, superiors,  parents of friends and so on. Also, the writing with this style gives us gentle impressions. We usually use it in letters, nursery tales, and short, light essays, although we never use it when we write some thesis.

Almost all novels are usually used "だ・である調", although a few novels are based on です・ます調". Novelists choose one to adapt itself to their imaginary world which they wants to create.

To make a long story short, I think "だ・である調" is the most suitable style for monologue and "です・ます調" is better for dialogue. They are quite different. Therefore, we must not and cannot use them together in the same composition. A bad example is like this;

雨だ。これから出かけるのに、困ったものです。私は、大降りにならないうちにと、急いで身支度を整えた。ですが、コートを着たところで手が止まる。今日は、貴重な本を持って行かなければなりません。絶対に濡らしてはならないのである。

I cannot understand the writer's intention from this compositions if he wants to talk to us or himself. If you write like that, even if an elementary school student corrects it.


You can add the following words to the names of colors in positive sentences.

	present tense	past tense
standard mood (casual conversation and standard writing)	だ	だった
standard mood of literary style (only strict writing)	である	であった
respectful mood (formal conversation and gentle writing)	です	でした

Thanks for reading !



Japanese expressions of colors (1) four adjectives (1)
Japanese expressions of colors (3) specific concrete nouns (1)
Japanese expressions of colors (5) specific concrete nouns (3)