Vocabulary

食べる(たべ・る) ru-verb

to eat

すみません

sorry (polite)

今(いま)

now

お腹(お・なか)

stomach

いっぱい

full

キロ(ki ro)

kilo

走る(はし・る) u-verb

to run

凄い(すご・い) i-adj

to a great extent

疲れる(つか・れる) ru-verb

to get tired

家(1) うち; 2) いえ)

one’s own home;
house

帰る(かえ・る) u-verb

to go home

昼ご飯(ひる・ご・はん)

lunch

もう

already

空く(す・く) u-verb

to become empty

まさか

no way, you can’t mean to say

起きる(お・きる) ru-verb

to wake; to occur

This is a very useful grammar that is used to indicate that one has just finished doing something. For instance, the first time I really wished I knew how to say something like this was when I wanted to politely decline an invitation to eat because I had just eaten. To do this, take the past tense of verb that you want to indicate as just being completed and add ばかり. This is used with only the past tense of verbs and is not to be confused with the ばかり used with nouns to express amounts.

Just like the other type of ばかり we have covered before, in slang, you can hear people use ばっか instead of ばかり.

Examples

1. すみません、今食べたばかりなので、お腹がいっぱいです。
   Sorry, but I’m full having just eaten.

2. 10キロを走ったばかりで、凄く疲れた。
   I just ran 10 kilometers and am really tired.

3. 今、家に帰ったばかりです。
   I got back home just now.

Here are some examples of the abbreviated version.

1. 昼ご飯を食べたばっかなのに、もうお腹が空いた。
   Despite the fact that I just ate lunch, I’m hungry already.

2. まさか、今起きたばっかなの？
   No way, did you wake up just now?

Vocabulary

開ける(あ・ける) ru-verb

to open

取る(と・る) u-verb

to take

窓(まど)

window

猫(ねこ)

cat

跳ぶ(と・ぶ) u-verb

to jump

映画(えい・が)

movie

観る(み・る) ru-verb

to watch

トイレ(to i re)

bathroom; toilet

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

眠い(ねむ・い)(i-adj)

sleepy

なる u-verb

to become

Kind of as a supplement to ばかり, we will cover one way to say something happened as soon as something else occurs. To use this grammar, add とたん to the past tense of the first action that happened. It is also common to add the に target particle to indicate that specific point in time.

Examples

• 窓を開けたとたんに、猫が跳んでいった。
  As soon as I opened window, cat jumped out.

For many more examples, check these examples sentences from our old trusty WWWJDIC.

An important thing to realize is that you can only use this grammar for things that occur immediately after something else and not for an action that you, yourself carry out. For instance, compare the following two sentences.

• 映画を観たとたんに、トイレに行きました。
  (You carried out the action of going to the bathroom so this is not correct.)

• 映画を観たとたんに、眠くなりました。
  (Since becoming sleepy is something that happened outside your control, this sentence is ok.)

Vocabulary

走る(はし・る) u-verb

to run

テレビ(te re bi)

TV, television

観る(み・る) ru-verb

to watch

宿題(しゅく・だい)

homework

する exception

to do

音楽(おん・がく)

music

聴く(き・く) u-verb

to listen (e.g. to music);

学校(がっ・こう)

school

歩く(ある・く) u-verb

to walk

好き(す・き) na-adj

likable

相手(あい・て)

other party

何(なに／なん)

what

言う(い・う) u-verb

to say

自分(じ・ぶん)

oneself

気持ち(き・も・ち)

feeling

分かる(わ・かる) u-verb

to understand

欲しい(ほ・しい) i-adj

desirable

単なる(たん・なる)

simply

わがまま na-adj

selfish

思う(おも・う) u-verb

to think

ポップコーン(po p pu ko o n)

popcorn

食べる(た・べる) ru-verb

to eat

映画(えい・が)

movie

口笛(くち・ぶえ)

whistle

手紙(て・がみ)

letter

書く(か・く) u-verb

to write

You can use ながら to express that one action is taking place in conjunction with another action. To use ながら, you must change the first verb to the stem and append ながら. Though probably rare, you can also attach ながら to the negative of the verb to express the negative. This grammar has no tense since it is determined by the second verb.

Examples

1. テレビを観ながら、宿題をする。
   Do homework while watching TV.

2. 音楽を聴きながら、学校へ歩くのが好き。
   Like to walk to school while listening to music.

3. 相手に何も言わないながら、自分の気持ちをわかってほしいのは単なるわがままだと思わない？
   Don’t you think that wanting the other person to understand one’s feelings while not saying anything is just simply selfishness?

Notice that the sentence ends with the main verb just like it always does. This means that the main action of the sentence is the verb that ends the clause. The ながら simply describes another action that is also taking place. For example, if we switched the verbs in the first example to say, 宿題をしながら、 テレビを観る。, this changes the sentence to say, “Watch TV while doing homework.” In other words, the main action, in this case, becomes watching TV and the action of doing homework is describing an action that is taking place at the same time.

The tense is controlled by the main verb so the verb used with ながら cannot have a tense.

1. ポップコーンを食べながら、映画を観る。
   Watch movie while eating popcorn.

2. ポップコーンを食べながら、映画を観た。
   Watched movie while eating popcorn.

3. 口笛をしながら、手紙を書いていた。
   Was writing letter while whistling.

Vocabulary

残念(ざん・ねん) na-adj

unfortunate

貧乏(びん・ぼう) na-adj

poor

仕事(し・ごと)

job

いっぱい

full

入る(はい・る) u-verb

to enter

今日(きょう)

today

行く(い・く) u-verb

to go

なる u-verb

to become

高級(こう・きゅう) na-adj

high class, high grade

バッグ(ba g gu)

bag

買う(か・う) u-verb

to buy

彼(かれ)

he; boyfriend

初心者(しょ・しん・しゃ)

beginner

実力(じつ・りょく)

actual ability

プロ(pu ro)

pro

同じ(おな・じ)

same

A more advanced use of ながら is to use it with the implied state-of-being. In other words, you can use it with nouns or adjectives to talk about what something is while something else. The implied state-of-being means that you must not use the declarative だ, you just attach ながら to the noun or adjective. For example, a common way this grammar is used is to say, “While it’s unfortunate, something something…” In Japanese, this would become 残念ながら・・・

You can also attach the inclusive も particle to ながら to get ながらも. This changes the meaning from “while” to “even while”.

Examples

1. 仕事がいっぱい入って、残念ながら、今日は行けなくなりました。
   While it’s unfortunate, a lot of work came in and it became so that I can’t go today.

2. 貧乏ながらも、高級なバッグを買っちゃったよ。
   Even while I’m poor, I ended up buying a high quality bag.

3. 彼は、初心者ながらも、実力はプロと同じだ。
   Even while he is a beginner, his actual skills are the same as a pro.

Vocabulary

やる u-verb

to do

ゲーム(ge e mu)

game

はまる u-verb

to get hooked

最近(さい・きん)

recent; lately

パソコン(pa so ko n)

computer, PC

使う(つか・う) u-verb

to use

アメリカ(a me ri ka)

America

いる ru-verb

to exist (animate)

時(とき)

time

コーラ(ko o ra)

cola

飲む(の・む) u-verb

to drink

The WWWJDIC very succinctly defines the definition of this verb as a “verb suffix to indicate reckless abandon to the activity”. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go on to tell you exactly how it’s actually used. Actually, there’s not much to explain. You take the stem of the verb and simply attach まくる. However, since this is a continuing activity, it is an enduring state unless you’re going to do it in the future. This is a very casual expression.

Examples

1. ゲームにはまっちゃって、最近パソコンを使いまくっているよ。
   Having gotten hooked by games, I do nothing but use the computer lately.

2. アメリカにいた時はコーラを飲みまくっていた。
   When I was in the US, I drank coke like all the time.