Fun with Japanese – Intermediate

With the JLPT coming up on Sunday, now is the time to get in some last minute cramming of Japanese grammar.

One of the Japanese grammar points that I like a lot is “the more you X the X you you will become…”. I like it for the simple reason that I find it fun to say.

In English we might say something like:

“The more you study Japanese, the better you will become.”

in Japanese that would be something like:

日本語を勉強すればするほど上手になります。
にほんご　を　べんきょうすれば　する　ほど　じょうず　に　なります。
nihongo wo benkyousureba suru hodo jyouzu ni narimasu.

Let’s break this sentence down. The first part of the sentence, like in the English, is the hypothetical action you should be doing more of.

日本語を勉強すれば にほんご　を　べんきょう　すれば　nihongo wo benkyou sureba

In Japanese, it literally translates as “If you do this…”

The next part is we repeat our verb in the present dictionary form (Jisho-kei) followed by the particle ほど hodo.

するほど suruhodo

This could translate to mean something like “The (approximate) level that you do”.

The last part of our sentence is the results if we follow through with said actions. In our case, become skilled.

上手になります　じょうず　に　なります jyouzu ni narimasu.

The basic pattern is rather simple.

Hypothetical action ending with an if “ba-form” verb, followed by the verb again in plain, present jisho-kei, and lastly by the outcome.

The more I explain Japanese grammar, the better I will become.

日本語の文法を説明すればするほど上手になります。
にほんご　の　ぶんぽう　を　せつめいすれば　する　ほど　じょうず　に　なります。
nihongo no bunpou wo setsumesureba suru hodo jyouzu ni narimasu.