Japanese Skill:Work 4

Work 4
Language	Japanese
Number of Skills	218
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Work 4 is the 114th skill (assuming read left to right) in the Japanese language course. It has 5 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Summarize, but do not quote, any grammar notes provided with this skill.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.

は vs. が

• Initially we'd been taught that は and が are the same. Therefore they were interchangeable.
• Later they clarified that although は and が had the same meaning, が added emphasis to the subject:

彼(かれ)は会社(かいしゃ)のお金(かね)を管理(かんり)している。= He manages the company's money.

彼が会社のお金を管理している。= He manages the company's money.

• We will now introduce an alternative explanation. The purpose of は (‘regarding which’) is to mark at which point new information begins about the subject / topic:

私(わたし)は医者(いしゃ)だ。= I am a doctor. (‘I, regarding me, am a doctor.’)
(You know who I am, but I'm telling you the information of me being a doctor.)

When you use が, as the emphasis shifts onto the subject, が makes the subject itself actually become the new information about the sentence.

私が医者だ。= It is me who's the doctor. (‘I, regarding me, am a doctor.’)
(You knew there was a doctor, but I'm telling you that it is me who is the doctor.)

Lessons

Lesson 1

• 雇われた (ya-to-wa-re-ta) = I was employed / hired.
• 彼女は通訳として雇われた。(ka-no-jo-wa-tsuu-ya-ku-to-shi-te-ya-to-wa-re-ta) = She was hired as an interpreter. (‘She, regarding which, language interpreter to be played as, she was hired.’)
• 雇われている (ya-to-wa-re-te-i-ru) = I am being employed
• この工場では千人以上が雇われている。(ko-no-kou-jou-de-wa-sen-hi-to-i-jou-ga-ya-to-wa-re-te-i-ru) = Over a thousand people are employed at this factory. (‘...are being employed.’)
• 条件 (jou-ken) = condition / requirement
• 一つ条件がある。(hi-to-tsu-jou-ken-ga-a-ru) = There is one condition.
• 報告書 (hou-ko-ku-sho) = report
• 今朝報告書のコピーを受け取った。(ke-sa-hou-ko-ku-sho-no-ko-pii-wo-u-ke-to-tta) = I received a copy of the report this morning.
• Incorrect: ‘I received a copy of the morning report.’ 「今朝」is not an adjective and therefore modifies the whole sentence. Furthermore「今朝」indicates it's this morning's report. Not simply any morning.
• 報告 (hou-ko-ku) = report
• 最低 (sai-tei) = worst / minimum / lowest
• 今度の成績は最低だった。(kon-do-no-sei-se-ki-wa-sai-tei-da-tta) = My grade this time was the worst ever. (‘This time's grades were the worst.’)
• ...を満たす (...-wo-mi-ta-su) = I fulfill ... .
• ...を満たした (...-wo-mi-ta-shi-ta) = I fulfilled ... .
• 最低必要条件を満たした。(sai-tei-hi-tsu-you-jou-ken-wo-mi-ta-shi-ta) = It fulfilled the minimum necessary conditions.
• ...を満たしています (...-wo-mi-ta-shi-te-i-ma-su) = I am fulfilling ... .
• ...を満たしていない (...-wo-mi-ta-shi-te-i-nai) = I am not fulfilling ... . (満たしていない = 満たしていません)
• この報告は我々の出した条件を満たしていない。(ko-no-hou-ko-ku-wa-wa-re-wa-re-no-da-shi-ta-jou-ken-wo-mi-ta-shi-te-i-nai) = This report does not fulfill our designated requirements. (‘...does not fulfill our taken-out/pointed-out requirements.’)
• 満たされた (mi-ta-sa-re-ta) = it was fulfilled
• 彼女の人生は完全に満たされた。(ka-no-jo-no-jin-sei-wa-kan-zen-ni-mi-ta-sa-re-ta) = Her life is perfectly fulfilled. (‘...was totally fulfilled.’)
• 形式的にこの報告は問題はない。(kei-shi-ki-te-ki-ni-ko-no-hou-ko-ku-wa-mon-dai-wa-nai) = Formally, there are no problems with this report.
• Original sentence: この報告書は形式的には問題はない。
• [雇って, 雇った]

Lesson 2

• 職場 (sho-ku-ba) = workplace
• 職場から急いで家に帰った。(sho-ku-ba-ka-ra-i-soi-de-i-e-ni-ka-e-tta) = I returned home from my workplace in a hurry. (‘...returned at home.’)
• 近い (chi-kai) = (adj.) close
• ...に近い (...-ni-chi-kai) = close to ...
• Note: The whole expression is used as an adjective. For example, 職場に近い店(みせ) = a close-to-the-workplace shop. Or, a shop close to the workplace. Although in the second formulation ‘close to the workplace’ is not in English grammar an adjective, but only a more reasonable translation.
• 職場にもっと近いところに引っ越したい。(sho-ku-ba-ni-mo-tto-chi-kai-to-ko-ro-ni-hi-kko-shi-tai) = I want to move somewhere closer to my workplace. (‘More-close-to-the-workplace place, at which, I want to move to.’)
• 首 (ku-bi) = (adj.) fired / dismissed
• 君は首だ。(ki-mi-wa-ku-bi-da) = You're fired. (‘Your neck is cut off!’ ← ‘You are necked.’ ← ‘You are a neck.’)
• 遅刻した (chi-ko-ku-shi-ta) = I was late.
• もう一度遅刻したら首だぞ。(mou-i-chi-do-chi-ko-ku-shi-ta-ra-ku-bi-da-zo) = If you're late one more time, you're fired. (‘One more time if you be late, it is the neck, yo!’)
• Note: This time, you cannot translate as, ‘if I be late’, since ぞ at the end suggests that it's directed at another person. It's a stronger (and rather masculine-language) version of よ, which has the same function.
• また遅れたら、首になる。(ma-ta-o-ku-re-ta-ra-ku-bi-ni-na-ru) = If I am late again, I will get fired.
• Note: Contrary to 食べます being construed both as the present tense and the future tense, the previous exercise's「君は首だ。」is strictly the present tense. That is because it is not even the present tense at all, because in fact, です/だ have no tense. They indicate a timeless association. In「君は首だ。」you are timelessly associated with the lack of a job. But how do we convert です/だ to the future tense? We use になる. For example, 大丈夫です。= Everything is okay. But 大丈夫になる。= Everything will be okay.
• 選択 (sen-ta-ku) = choice [Not to confuse with 洗濯 (sen-ta-ku): the act of washing]
• 選択の自由がない。(sen-ta-ku-no-ji-yuu-ga-nai) = I have no freedom to choose. (‘I have no choice concerning the self.’)
• この中から自由に選択しなさい。(ko-no-na-ka-ka-ra-ji-yuu-ni-sen-ta-ku-shi-na-sai) = Choose any of these. (‘Do your choice in a personal manner from this middle (?).’; 自由に understood as 自由的に)
• 雇用 (ko-you) = employment
• 雇用条件がひどかった。(ko-you-jou-ken-ga-hi-do-ka-tta) = The employment conditions were terrible. [I think ひどかった has the meaning of ひどいだった]
• ...を雇用する (...-wo-ko-you-su-ru) = to employ ...
• 彼らは彼女を雇用するかどうかまだ決めていない。(ka-re-ra-wa-ka-no-jo-wo-ko-you-su-ru-ka-dou-ka-ma-da-ki-me-te-i-nai) = They still have not decided whether or not to employ her.
• Also understood as: 彼らは彼らは彼女を雇用するかどうかまだ決めていない。= They are still not deciding whether or not they will employ her.
• Note: The phrase in blue is the statement that かどうか takes, as explained in Skill: Oblig. 2's Grammar Section.
• 彼が会社のお金を管理している。(ka-re-ga-kai-sha-no-o-ka-ne-wo-kan-ri-shi-te-i-ru) = He is managing the company's money. (‘It is him who's managing the company's money.’)
• 会議はさらに一時間続いた。(kai-gi-wa-sa-ra-ni-i-chi-ji-kan-tsu-zu-i-ta) = The meeting continued for another hour.
• 彼女は我が社での管理職の仕事を探している。(ka-no-jo-wa-wa-ga-sha-de-no-kan-ri-sho-ku-no-shi-go-to-wo-sa-ga-shi-te-i-ru) = She is looking for a managerial position at our company.

Lesson 3

• 一割 (i-chi-wa-ri) = one tenth
• 利益は一割減少した。(ri-e-ki-wa-i-chi-wa-ri-gen-shou-shi-ta) = Profits fell by ten percent. (‘Profits decreased a tenth.’)
• Question: The use of で in the sentence. 一割で減少した.
• 二割
• 突然解雇された。(to-tsu-zen-kai-ko-sa-re-ta) = I was dismissed abruptly. [I was suddenly removed from my position or job.]
• 会議室 (kai-gi-shi-tsu) = conference room
• 使用 (shi-you) = a use / an act of using
• 会議室の使用許可を得ていますか？(kai-gi-shi-tsu-no-shi-you-kyo-ka-wo-e-te-i-ma-su-ka) = Have you gotten permission to use the conference room? (‘Conference room's use authorisation, the object, are you obtaining?’)
• 使用中 (shi-you-chuu) = in use (‘in the middle of use’)
• トイレは使用中です。(toi-re-wa-shi-you-chuu-de-su) = The restroom is in use.
• 使用者用
• https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/37986747
• 予告 (yo-ko-ku) = notice
• なし = without
• ...なしに = without ... (‘without at ...’)
• 彼は予告なしに解雇された。(ka-re-wa-yo-ko-ku-na-shi-ni-kai-ko-sa-re-ta) = He was dismissed without notice.
• ...を訪問した (...-wo-hou-mon-shi-ta) = I visited ...
• 訪問中 (hou-mon-chuu) = on a visit (‘in the middle of a visit’)
• 首相は現在韓国を訪問中です。(shu-shou-wa-gen-zai-kan-ko-ku-wo-hou-mon-chuu-de-su) = The Prime Minister is currently on a visit to South Korea. (Currently, the Prime Minister, regarding him, it is the midst of a visit, South Korea the object.)
• Note: It is curious that a noun takes an object.
• 内容 (nai-you) = content
• この記事は内容に問題がある。(ko-no-ki-ji-wa-nai-you-ni-mon-dai-ga-a-ru) = There are problems with the content of this article. (‘Concerning this article, problems exist at the content.’)
• 増やさないで
• 増やした
• 増やし
• 増やして

Lesson 4

• 早速 = immediately
• 賞 = prize / award
• 争えない = indisputable
• 争った = competed
• 指導 = coaching
• ご指導
• 指導力 = leadership qualities
• 返信 = reply
• 私たちは賞を争った。= We competed for the prize. * *
• 事実は争えない。= The facts are indisputable. * *
• 父はそのチームを八年間指導している。= My father has been coaching that team for eight years. * *
• 校長は彼女に特別賞を与えた。= The principal gave her a special award. *
• 昨日受け取ったメールに返信するのを忘れていた。= I had forgotten to reply to the email I received yesterday. *
• 早速彼女に返事を書いた。= I wrote a reply to her immediately. *
• 彼らは彼に賞を与えた。= They gave him an award. *
• 彼女は指導力のある人だ。= She is someone who has leadership qualities. *
• 着いたら早速連絡します。= I will contact you immediately after I arrive. *
• 彼にメールを送ったらすぐ返信が来た。= A reply came soon after I sent him an email. *
• 彼女は早速返信のメールを送ってくれた。= She sent me a reply email right away. *

Lesson 5

• 一言 = a word
• 移って = moving
• 移った
• 移り = to move
• 警告 = warning
• 費用 = expense
• ご寄付 = contribution
• 寄付
• 話題 = topic / subject
• 我々はこの町に移ってきたところだ。= We just moved to this town. * *
• 話題を変えよう。= Let's change the subject. *
• 次の話題に移りましょう。= Let's move on to the next topic. * *
• 思ったより費用がかかった。= Expenses were higher than expected. *
• 一言君に警告しておく。= I will give you a word of warning in advance. * *
• お祭りの費用にご寄付を願います。= We are asking for contributions for festival expenses. * *
• これが最後の警告だぞ。= This is your final warning. *
• 君はいつも一言多い。= You always say one word too many. *
• イタリア語は一言もしゃべれない。= I cannot speak a word of Italian. *