Japanese Skill:Obligat. 2

Obligat. 2
Language	Japanese
Number of Skills	139
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Obligations 2 is the 85th skill (assuming read left to right) in the Japanese language course. It has 6 lessons.

Grammar Notes

Summarize, but do not quote, any grammar notes provided with this skill. Notes from Duolingo are copyrighted, and cannot be added here verbatim without permission. Make sure to reference any tips and notes from Duolingo or anywhere else.

The Blame / Responsibility Paradigm

責任(せきにん) = blame / responsibility
The meaning is used like “Glass Half Full / Empty”.
Does Full mean the same as Empty?
No. But “Glass Half Full” is used for an optimistic viewpoint while “Glass Half Empty” for a pessimistic.
In the same way, we “take responsibility” for a duty and “accept the blame” for an incident. Although in Japanese the same word will be used, 責任.

...かどうか

「かどうか」means ‘whether or not’. But ‘whether or not’ means, ‘whether or not is true’.
Therefore it can only be used with a statement: ‘whether or not [statement] is true’.

A statement in English is a sentence that makes sense on it's own and is in the form of Subject-Verb-Object; in Japanese it is Subject-Object-Verb.

In Japanese the [statement] is placed before かどうか:

[statement]かどうか

For example:
桜(さくら)は学校(がっこう)へ行(い)く。/ 桜(Subject)は学校(Object)へ行(Verb)く。= Sakura goes to school.
This is a statement, since it makes sense on it's own (contrasted to ‘although it is raining’, which is incomplete).

To use with 「かどうか」it becomes:

桜は学校へ行くかどうか = whether or not Sakura goes to school.

To finish, we can ask whether or not we know if she goes to school:

桜(さくら)は学校(がっこう)へ行(い)くかどうか知(し)る = Do you know whether or not Sakura goes to school?

Lessons

Lesson 1

• な (na) = (polite)
• これを食べな (ko-re-wo-ta-be-na) = Eat this. (polite)
• ほら (ho-ra) = hey (interjection)
• 確かに (ta-shi-ka-ni) = certainly
• 責任 (se-ki-nin) = blame / responsibility
• 安全 (an-zen) = safety
• 第一 (dai-i-chi) = the most important / foremost / first
• 安全が第一です (an-zen-ga-dai-i-chi-de-su) = Safety is the most important.
• (standalone-sentence)かどうか ((standalone-sentence)-ka-dō-ka) = whether or not (standalone-sentence) [is true]
• 彼らが寿司をたべるかどうか分かりますか？(ka-re-ra-ga-su-shi-wo-ta-be-ru-ka-dō-ka-wa-ka-ri-ma-su-ka) = Do you know whether or not they will eat Sushi?
• Note: You cannot translate as, ‘Do they know whether or not I will eat Sushi?’ as if it's「彼ら...分かりますか？」That is because が makes unequivocally clear it is them that eat Sushi. The exact grammar is explained in a future lesson there again involving が in a similar situation. The sentence literally becomes, ‘Whether or not the fact of them eating Sushi (be true), do you know thereof?’
• ...を持ちなさい (...-wo-mo-chi-na-sai) = Take ... !

Lesson 2

• な (na) = don't
• 驚くな (o-do-ro-ku-na) = don't be surprised
• ...を怠ってはならない (...-wo-o-ko-ta-tte-wa-na-ra-nai) = You must not neglect ... .
• 怠った (o-ko-ta-tta) = I neglected
• 怠る (o-ko-ta-ru) = to neglect
• 義務 (gi-mu) = duty / obligation
• 義務を怠るな (gi-mu-wo-o-ko-ta-ru-na) = Don't neglect your duties.
• 私たちは義務的に仕事をする。(wa-ta-shi-ta-chi-wa-gi-mu-te-ki-ni-shi-go-to-wo-su-ru) = We work out of compulsion. (‘We work compulsorily.’)
• ...[かどうか]確かめてくれませんか (...-[ka-dō-ka]-ta-shi-ka-me-te-ku-re-mas-sen-ka) = could you check whether ... ?
• 確かめた (ta-shi-ka-me-ta) = I checked / confirmed
• 彼女に確かめたの？(ka-no-jo-ni-ta-shi-ka-me-ta-no) = Did you check with her?
• ...がもったいない (...-ga-mo-ttai-nai) = ... is being wasted
• 彼女は彼にはもったいない。(ka-no-jo-wa-ka-re-ni-wa-mo-ttai-nai) = She is too good for him. (‘She is being wasted at him.’)
• 到着した (tō-cha-ku-shi-ta) = I arrived
• 助けるの (ta-su-ke-ru-no) = the act of helping
• 君を助けるの (ki-mi-wo-ta-su-ke-ru-no) = the act of helping you
• 必要がないものにお金を使うのはもったいない。(hi-tsu-yō-ga-nai-mo-no-ni-o-ka-ne-wo-tsu-ka-u-no-wa-mo-ttai-nai) = Spending money on unnecessary things is wasteful.

Lesson 3

• 真面目な (ma-ji-me-na) = diligent
• 真面目にやりなさい (ma-ji-me-ni-ya-ri-na-sai) = Get serious!
• ...を担当しています (...-wo-tan-tō-shi-te-i-ma-su) = I am in charge of ...
• 担当者 (tan-tō-sha) = the person in charge
• 当番 (tō-ban) = on duty (adj.)
• 掃除当番 (sō-ji-tō-ban) = cleaning duty
• 怠ける (na-me-ke-ru) = to be lazy
• 怠け者 (na-ma-ke-mo-no) = a lazy person
• ...を受け取った (...-wo-u-ke-to-tta) = I got ...
• 知らせ (shi-ra-se) = news
• [怠けない]

Lesson 4

• 家事 (ka-ji) = housework
• 分担しよう (bun-tan-shi-yō) = let's divide
• 努力家 (do-ryo-ku-ka) = hard worker
• 努力 (do-ryo-ku) = effort
• 無駄 (mu-da) = waste
• 無駄にするな (mu-da-ni-su-ru-na) = don't waste (it)
• 無駄な努力はしたくない (mu-da-na-do-ryo-ku-wa-shi-ta-ku-nai) = I do not want to waste any effort.
• 終わる (o-wa-ru) = to finish
• 終わった (o-wa-tta) = it finished

Lesson 5

• 際 (sai) = occasion / situation
• 火事の際は (ka-ji-no-sai-wa) = in case of fire
• 公共 (kō-kyō) = public
• 公共のもの (kō-kyō-no-mo-no) = public property
• 喫煙^きつえん (ki-tsu-en) = the act of smoking
• 飲酒 (in-shu) = the act of drinking alcohol
• 飲酒運転 (in-shu-un-ten) = the act of drunk driving
• ...を禁止されている (...-wo-kin-shi-sa-re-te-i-ru) = it is prohibited to ...
• ...を禁じている (...-wo-kin-ji-te-i-ru) = ... is banned
• 禁じられている (kin-ji-ra-re-te-i-ru) = it is banned
• 医者に飲酒を禁止されている。(i-sha-ni-in-shu-wo-kin-shi-sa-re-te-i-ru) = I have been prohibited from drinking alcohol by my doctor.
• 公共の場所での喫煙が禁じられている 。(kō-kyō-no-ba-sho-de-no-ki-tsu-en-ga-shin-ji-ra-re-te-i-ru) = Smoking in public places is banned.
• 駐車するの (chū-sha-su-ru-no) = the act of parking
• [喫煙者, 禁じられた, 禁じる]

Lesson 6

• 要求 (yō-kyū) = a demand [also, from Skill: Authority; 'a request']
• 彼に...を要求した (ka-re-ni-...-wo-yō-kyū-shi-ta) = I demanded him ...
• しようとしている (shi-yō-to-shi-te-i-ru) = I am trying to do something
• 教授を説得しようとした (kyō-ju-wo-se-tto-ku-shi-yō-to-shi-ta) = I tried to persuade the professor
• 彼女を説得しようとしても無駄だ (ka-no-jo-wo-se-tto-ku-shi-yō-to-shi-te-mo-mu-da-da) = Trying to persuade her is a waste / useless.
• 反対派を説得できないでしょう。(han-tai-ha-wo-se-tto-ku-de-ki-nai-de-shō) = We were not able to persuade the opposition.
• 努めた (tsu-to-me-ta) = I did my best
• 親切にするように努めなさい。(shin-se-tsu-ni-su-ru-yō-ni-tsu-to-me-na-sai) = Do your best in kindness.
• 笑わないように努めた (wa-ra-wa-nai-yō-ni-tsu-to-me-ta) = I did my best not to laugh ("I did my best so that I do not laugh.")
• ...を終えた (...-wo-o-e-ta) = I ended
• [要求]に応じた ([yō-kyū]-ni-ō-ji-ta) = I complied [to the request]
  • かれらはついに我々の説得におうじた。　応じた＝おうじた　respond　persuade＝せっとく＝説得
• 応じなかった (ō-ji-na-ka-tta) = I did not comply
• 私は頼みに応じてくれたのでとても嬉しかった。(wa-ta-shi-wa-ta-no-mi-ni-ō-ji-te-ku-re-ta-no-de-to-te-mo-u-re-shi-ka-tta) = I was very happy that they complied with my request.
• [とする, として, とした]