So in the last lesson, we saw a number of useful sentences.

And in this lesson we're going to break all of them down into parts.

Go time.

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#1

We saw this sentence:

記事を書くことにした。
きじ　を　かく　こと　に　した。
I decided to write an article.
Literally: "article + を + write + thing + に + did."

When you follow a VERB with ～ことにした, it means "(I) decided to VERB."

In a strange, literal way, that means "VERB + thing + に + did."

Or "VERB-ing + に + did."

...which I think is awesome.

Anyways, here's an example:

日本語を勉強することにした。
にほんご　を　べんきょう　する　こと　に　した。
I decided to study Japanese. // I've decided to study Japanese.
Literally: "Japanese + を + studying + do + thing + に + did."

So the VERB is the する at the end of 勉強する (べんきょうする // to study).

Then we just snap ～ことにした onto the end.

Note that this should not be confused with ～ことになった, which means that a situation arose which is out of your control.

So I can use ～ことにした with the example above about studying, because I am in control of whether or not I study Japanese (for the most part). It is my decision. But if I were talking about a situation I'm not in control of, I'd use ～ことになった.

This makes sense in a super-literal sense, too, as "VERBことになった" means "VERB-ing + became."

For example:

仕事を辞めることになった。
しごと　を　やめる　こと　に　なった。
I had to quit my job.
Literally: "job/work + を + quit + thing + に + became."

So the nuance is that I did not necessarily wish to quit my job, but I needed to because of certain circumstances.

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#2

ぜひ読んでください！
ぜひ　よんで　ください！
Please be sure to read through it!
Literally: "certainly; without fail + read + please!"

ぜひ is an awesome word that gets translated to things like, "certainly; without fail; absolutely" (however, it does not put pressure on the listener to do the action in question).

Though you rarely see it this way, I love the kanji for this word, which are: 是非 (ぜひ).

The real reason I love this word, though, is that sometimes it can form one-word sentences (which are my favorite).

For instance, after a first date, you might text a girl...

A:
また誘ってもいい？
また　さそっても　いい？
Is it OK if I ask you out again?
Literally: "again + is it OK if I invite?"
Super Literally: "again + even if invite + good?"

...then hopefully she says...

B:
ぜひ(^^)
Absolutely.

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#3

だからそんなに使い分けを気にしなくてもいいと思う。
だから　そんなに　つかいわけ　を　きにしなくても　いい　と　おもう。
That's why I think you shouldn't worry too much about differentiating between these two.
Literally: "so that's why + (not) so much + difference + を + is OK not to worry about + と + think."

だから literally means "is + because" (well, if we say that だ is "to be" and not just a "copula"... which is kind of a complicated talk for another day).

The key here is that you use this at the beginning of a sentence that follows the explanation of what you're talking about.

For example...

……。だからベジタリアンになったんだ。
……。だから　ベジタリアン　に　なった　んだ。
... ... So that's why I became a vegetarian.
Literally: "therefore / that's why + vegetarian + に + became + んだ."

Before this sentence, there would be an explanation about why I came a vegetarian. Maybe I am telling a story about how I suddenly found myself living on a farm in rural Costa Rica and realized I simply love animals too much. Or maybe I was upset reading about how the production of meat produces more greenhouse gases than all of the world's vehicles combined. After saying all of that stuff, I can start a sentence with だから.

(On a side note, I'm not vegetarian... but my mom, dad, and sister are. And I often consider it... but it's such a nightmare to be a vegetarian when traveling around... and being a guest in people's homes. ^_^)

だからそんなに使い分けを気にしなくてもいいと思う。
だから　そんなに　つかいわけ　を　きにしなくても　いい　と　おもう。
That's why I think you shouldn't worry too much about differentiating between these two.
Literally: "so that's why + (not) so much + difference + を + is OK not to worry about + と + think."

The key with そんなに, meaning "so much" is that it is often followed by a negative verb, often to say that someone does not need to VERB so much. (It can also means things like "not very" or "not so much.")

We just saw そんなに．．．気にしなくていい. The negative verb is the しない in しなくていい.

For example, we could say...

そんなに怒らないでよ。
そんなに　おこらないで　よ。
Don't get so angry.
Literally: "so much + don't get angry + よ."

Sounds like something I'd say.

This big long sentence with だから also has some other parts I want to break down...

だからそんなに使い分けを気にしなくてもいいと思う。
だから　そんなに　つかいわけ　を　きにしなくても　いい　と　おもう。
That's why I think you shouldn't worry too much about differentiating between these two.
Literally: "so that's why + (not) so much + difference + を + is OK not to worry about + と + think."

When we use ～なくてもいい it means "is OK not to do (something).

So we had the verb 気にする, which means "worry about; care about; fret over."

Saying 気にしなくて(も)いい, then, means "is OK not worry about." I put the も in parentheses, because it's often left out in casual phrases.

Let's look at another example. This time we'll take the verb 来る (くる).

Remember that the negative form of 来る is 来ない (こない).

Test time...

忙しかったら来なくてもいいよ。
いそがしかったら　こなくても　いい　よ。
If you're busy, you don't have to come.
Literally: "if/when busy + is OK not to come + よ."
Super Literally: "if/when busy + even if (you) don't come + good + よ."

来なくてもいい ＝ is OK not to come.

Also, our だから sentence has ～と思う (～とおもう), which we use to say "I think."

The original example:

だからそんなに使い分けを気にしなくてもいいと思う。
だから　そんなに　つかいわけ　を　きにしなくても　いい　と　おもう。
That's why I think you shouldn't worry too much about differentiating between these two.
Literally: "so that's why + (not) so much + difference + を + is OK not to worry about + と + think."

And now another example:

絶対喜んでくれると思う。
ぜったい　よろこんで　くれる　と　おもう。
He's sure to love it, I think. // I think she'll definitely be really happy.
Literally: "absolutely + be delighted + give + と + think."

Key Point: ～と思う comes after (1) a VERB in plain form, including だ and だった or (2) an i-adjective.

So the verb in plain form that we saw was くれる (to give [me/us]) and we also had the i-adjective いい, "good."

喜んでくれると思う。
よろこんで　くれる　と　おもう。
I think she'll (give you the gift of) be(ing) glad.

いいと思う。
いい　と　おもう。
I think (something) is good.

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#4

Last we had...

いかがでしたか？
いかが　でした　か？
What did you think? // How was it?
Literally: "how + was（＝でした） + か?"

This is a super-formal way to say "How was it?"

A slightly less formal way to say いかがでしたか？ is どうでしたか？

And a casual way to say it is どうだった？

Example...

昨日のデートどうでしたか？
きのう　の　デート　どうでしたか？
How was your date yesterday?
Literally: "yesterday + の + date + how was + か?"

昨日のデートどうだった？
きのう　の　デート　どうだった？
How was your date yesterday?
Literally: "yesterday + の + date + how was?"

Using どうだった accurately can be a huge challenge. I recommend checking out: "[NDL #40] - How was your day today?"

Wow, that was a lot of information to get through today.

I think you may need to read through this one a few times to catch all of it.

Unless you have mad skills... in which case you should write some lessons for your fellow students!