１　Kanji / Word Reading

As the Japanese often present continuous kanji or hiragana without clear word boundaries, I have adopted the notation shown in the example.

 

　|線香　せんこう||花火　はなび|は|最後　さいご|こそが|美しい　うつくしい|。

　　Place the kanji and its reading between lines. The reading is underlined.

Difficult words have their meanings and dictionary forms written below the paragraph. Explanations are also provided when necessary. Additionally, explanations are included when similar words exist that are often confused.

 

２　Explanation

 

・The original text has blue highlights.　The conjunctions and sentence-ending expressions are highlighted in gray.

・Slashes are inserted between each unit. Helping verbs are separated from main verbs by slashes.​

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(1)  Sentence Patterns

　SN　　Noun Sentence  (Subject  Noun)

　SA　　Adjective Sentence  (Subject  Adjective)

　SV　　Verb Sentence  (Subject  Verb)

This site provides more detailed information.

　SOV　　Verb Sentence with an Object

 (S)→Hidden subject. The hidden subject must be inferred from the context.

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　S「～」とV　→V＝say, tell, think, etc.

　ex. 彼は「明日はデートだ」と言った。

　　He said that「明日はデートだ」

Where the original text lacks quotation marks, these are indicated by 《　》と.

　S　《indirect question》　V　→V＝don’t know, think, don’t understand, etc.

　ex. 《彼女が来るかどうか》、わからない。

　(I) don’t know if she comes.

 

(2)  Compound Sentences / Complex Sentences　

Conjunctions are highlighted in gray in the original text.

Sentences composed of two or more clauses are explained separately.

　例：ジョンは毎日朝から晩まで勉強したが、大学に合格しなかった。

◎Sentence1が、Sentence2　

・SENTENCEが、 "Even though  SENTENCE ,"

○Sentence1　Sジョンは　V勉強した　が

○Sentence2　(Sジョンは)　V合格しなかった

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(3)  Predicates

The nouns, adjectives, and verbs forming the Predicates are underlined.

　ex. 私は／いつか／強い／魔法使いに／なる。Verb Sentence

　　彼女は／とても／美しい。Adjective Sentence

　　ここは／会議室です。Noun Sentence

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(4)  Modification

【夜の空に広がる】【花火】→The First【　】is modifying clauses. The Second【　】is the nouns they modify.

If a smaller sentence is contained within, use [　　] [　].

　ex.　【［昨日買った］［ケーキ］を食べた】【人】は、私の彼氏だった。

　The person who ate the cake which we bought yesterday was my boyfriend.

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(5)Connections between units

When units that are semantically connected are separated from each other, this is indicated with →.

　ex.・ ある日、ボールのような、大きな宇宙船が町の上に浮かんでいた。

　　　ボールのような　→　宇宙船

　　　大きな　→　宇宙船

　　　　（宇宙船　うちゅうせん　a spaceship）

　　・彼女は悲しそうに、下を向いて笑った。

　　　悲しそうに　→　笑った

For other points deemed necessary for understanding the original text, explanations are provided below the original text and structure. 

 

 

３　Colored Explanation

 

(1)Verbs are blue, Particles are red.

　ex.  私は／明日から／旅行に／行きます。

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(2)いadjectives／なadjectives

The predicate is written in yellow and underlined.

　ex.  彼女は／美しかった。

　　   湖の／上は／静かだった。

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(3)Units connecting to nouns

・いadjectives／なadjectives

The form connected to nouns is also shown in yellow.

　ex.  美しい／景色に、／彼女は／黙り込んだ。

　　  元気な／少年が／走ってきた。

・Other units that connect to nouns are also written in yellow.

　ex.  この／本は、／まだ／読んで／いない。

​　　   大きな／鳥が／飛んで／いた。

　　   

(4)Units connecting to verbs, adjectives, and adverbs

・いadjectives／なadjectives

The adverb form is shown in green.

　ex.  彼女は／美しく／笑った。

　　   少年は／元気に／遊んで／いた。

・Other units that connect to verbs, adjectives, etc. are also written in green.

​　ex.  この／野菜は／とても／苦い。

　　   彼は／楽しそうに／笑った。​

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