Part 25

• -ZU : without doing (intro)
  
• Example Sentences
  
• Useful Words
• Japanese Resource Links
  

-ZU: without doing (intro)

If you wanted to say "He didn't eat, but went right to the store." you wouldn't be able to right now. You need one more grammar item to be able to say it properly. As you can tell by the heading, that grammar item is -ZU. It roughly means "without doing".

Very frequently, you will conjugate suru (to do) into this form. As suru is one of two irregular verbs, you will need to be told what suru turns into. (Being irregular, it doesn't follow the normal pattern)

suru (to do) becomes sezu (without doing)

benkyou sezu ni, sugu dekaketa.
study without doing, right away went out.
(He) went out right away, without studying.

nanimo tabezu, mise e itchatta.
nothing without eating, store (toward) up and went.
Without eating anything, he went off to the store.

You'll notice that sometimes the particle ni is added after the verb in -zu form. It doesn't change the meaning, but it's nice to know why it's there. In the first sentence, it's telling in what way he "went out right away". That's why the particle ni is used.

Here are some examples:

taberu - tabezu
korosu - korosazu
sorasu - sorasazu


This form isn't among the most popular, but it's nice to know it. That's why we're only touching on it right now. If you hear someone say a word that ends in -zu, you'll at least know it's a verb form. You then remove the -zu and see if you can recognize the verb stem. Usually that isn't too difficult, if you know enough verbs.


Example Sentences

pikachu wo korosezu, uchi ni kaetta.
pikachu (answers who) without killing, home (to) returned.
Without killing Pikachu, he returned home.

poppo wo koroshita ato de, waratta.
poppo (answers who) killed after, (he) smiled.
He smiled after he killed the Poppo.

katapii wo mitsukeru mae ni, mise ni ikeba ii to omou.
katapii (answers who) find before, store (to) if you go is good, I think.
I think you should go to the store before you find the Katapii.

brock wo taosezu, zen pokemon ga taorechatta.
brock (answers who) without defeating, all pokemon (subject) went and fell over.
Unable to defeat Brock, all the pokemon fainted.

sefirosu wa sando no inochi wo ubatte, shiro ni kaetta.
sefirosu (subject) sando 's life (what) took, castle (to) returned.
Sephiroth robbed the Sando of his life, and returned to his castle.

satoshi-kun wa pikachu ga dai suki.
satoshi kun (subject) pikachu (not someone else) much likes.
Satoshi kun (Ash in the USA) likes Pikachu very much.

koratta wo eranda toki kara, taihen na meiwaku desu.
koratta (who) chose time since, horrible annoyance is.
Ever since he chose the Koratta, it's been nothing but trouble.

shoubu no tsuzuki desu ka?
challenge 's continuation is it?
A continuation of our challenge?

51 keikenchi wo moratta
51 experience points (what) received.
Received 51 experience points.


Useful Words

Nouns

meiwaku - pain in the butt, burden
tsuzuki - continuance
toki - time, occasion
shoubu - challenge
keikenchi - experience points
saisho - beginning
kougeki - attack


Verbs

tsuzuku - to continue
morau - to receive
sorasu - to turn away, avert (your eyes)


Japanese Resource Links

I found some great websites that students of Japanese might want to use to further their studies. Don't forget about Maktos' "Japanese is Possible!" column, because there's a LOT more great information on the way! Besides, many more great links will be given out in the future ^_^ Remember too, that not all online Japanese courses help the Otaku to learn Japanese. JIP's mission is to help Anime and Video Game fans to learn the language, to get more enjoyment and satisfaction out of their hobby. Any information helps though, which is why these links are being provided!

Nafai's Japanese Language Course - Another site helping people to learn Japanese.
Japanese Dialects - I wouldn't worry about dialects YET. The only one I would mess with is Kansai-ben.
Edict Japanese Dictionary - Edict is an electronic Japanese dictionary (used in NJWP, and other software)
Learning Japanese - A guy's personal page, with various Japanese language-related info.
Bible in Japanese - Several books of the New Testament, in Japanese! Great practice!
JDrill Homepage - A Java-based program to help you learn Kanji
OSU Japanese Dept - A college's online Japanese tutorial!
Learn Japanese Free! - Another JIP-like online Learn Japanese column.
Japanese Online's Links page - All kinds of Anime and Japanese language resources.
Japanese Online - A very professional site, dedicated to teaching Japanese language and culture.
Japanese Tutor.com - Another site that might be useful to a Japanese student.
Resources for Teachers/Students - The title says it all!
HUGE list of Japan links - This site has hundreds of links.
Kanji a Day - Each business day, 2 new Kanji are added!

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