In this lesson, we'll be exploring the sentences we brought up in the last lessonin a little more depth.

OK. Let's get started!

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日本は長いですか？
にほん　は　ながい　です　か？
Have you been in Japan a long time?
Literally: "Japan + は + long + ですか？"

I remember the first time someone asked me this question. It was an old lady, and I was very proud of myself for understanding what she meant when she said, "Is Japan long?"

Looking back, maybe it wasn't as impressive of an accomplishment as I'd thought at the time.

Anyways, yeah, I don't know why we can say "Japan + は + long + is?" and have it mean "Have you been in Japan a long time?" But we can. And that's awesome.

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来たばっかりです。
きた　ばっかり　です。
I just came here (recently).
Literally: "came + only + です."

Oh no, it's grammar!

Past Tense VERB
＋
ばっかり
＝
just VERB-ed

For example:

食べたばっかり。
たべた　ばっかり。
I just ate.
Literally: "ate + ばっかり."

やったばっかり。
やった　ばっかり。
I just did (it).
Literally: "did + ばっかり."

ばっかり means something like, "only; merely; just," by the way.

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今年で５年目です。
ことし　で　ごねんめ　です。
This is my fifth year here.
Literally: "this year + で + fifth year + です."

This might be a somewhat tricky usage of the particle で.

Saying 今年 (ことし // this year) with で gives the nuance of something like, "as of this year."

Why? Because, uh, particles and grammar and stuff.

Also cool is that you can add the kanji for "eye," 目（め）to the end of a number (with a counter like ～年 [ねん], ～個 [こ] attached to it) in order to say words like "first," "fifth," "twenty-second," instead of just saying "one," "five," "twenty-two."

Confusing? Maybe this will help:

一年（いちねん // one year）
二年（にねん // two years）
三年（さんねん // three years）
四年（よねん // four years）
五年（ごねん // five years）

一年目（いちねんめ // the first year）
二年目（にねんめ // the second year）
三年目（さんねんめ // the third year）
四年目（よねんめ // the fourth year）
五年目（ごねんめ // the fifth year）

Somewhat more confusing is how this can also be used with the following words...

一番（いちばん // number one; first）
一番目（いちばんめ // the first one）

三番（さんばん // number three; third）
三番目（さんばんめ // the third one）

五番（ごばん // number five; fifth）
五番目（ごばんめ // the fifth one）

Am I confusing you?

Sorry. _(._.)_

Let's skip forward a bit...

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３ヶ月前に来ました。
さんかげつ　まえ　に　きました。
I came here three months ago.
Literally: "three months + before + に + came."

When and where I can use 前（まえ // before; previous）has always been a bit confusing for me. Let's remember that we can stick it onto the end of numbers of months and years, though.

Learning with lists:

一月（いちがつ // January）
二月（にがつ // February）
三月（さんがつ // March）
四月（しがつ // April）

一ヶ月（いっかげつ // one month）
二ヶ月（にかげつ // two months）
三ヶ月（さんかげつ // three months）
四ヶ月（よんかげつ // four months）

一ヶ月前（いっかげつまえ // one month ago）
二ヶ月前（にかげつまえ // two months ago）
三ヶ月前（さんかげつまえ // three months ago）
四ヶ月前（よんかげつまえ // four months ago）

↑ Note that 四月（しがつ）becomes 四ヶ月（よんかげつ）and that for months of the year we say ～月（がつ）but for counting numbers of months we say ～月 (げつ).

While we're at it, we should probably also note that Japanese numbers are evil, and the Demon Lord of all Japanese numbers is four. Just in this lesson we've seen all three of its possible readings:

四月（しがつ // April）
四ヶ月（よんかげつ // four months）
四年（よねん // four years）

Ugh. Gross.

Anyways, yet another thing to note is that the か in words like 四ヶ月（よんかげつ）can be written in a number of ways:

一ケ月（いっかげつ // one month）
一ヶ月（いっかげつ // one month）
一カ月（いっかげつ // one month）
一ヵ月（いっかげつ // one month）
一か月（いっかげつ // one month）

So what's the preference? Full-sized katakana ケ or カ, small-sized ヶ or ヵ? Hiragana か?

I've seen all of them used, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Anyways, 前 can also come after words like 以上 (いじょう // above; more than), which I've messed up more times than I'd like to admit. We saw this in another example:

もう１０年以上前です。
もう　じゅうねん　いじょう　まえ　です。
It's already been ten years since I came here.
Literally: "already + ten years + over + before + です."

以上前
いじょうまえ
more than + before //// over + before

Madness!

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This lesson is getting too long, but there is still one example I want to break down:

留学に来たのも合わせたら２年くらいです。
りゅうがく　に　きた　の　も　あわせたら　にねん　くらい　です。
Including when I came to study, I've been here about two years.
Literally: "study abroad + に + came + のも + when/if combined + two years + about + です."

The intransitive verb 合う（あう // to fit; to match; to suit; to agree with; to merge）changes a bit when we make it into a transitive verb: 合わせる (あわせる // to make [something] match; to join [something] together; to combine [something]).

I'm one of those people who's lived in a Japan a while, left, went back, left, went back... and cursed myself to never have an easy answer to questions like, "Have long did you live [have you lived] in Japan?"

And I spent about three years not knowing how to answer this question the way I wanted to.

But we can change 合わせる to 合わせたら (あわせたら // if [when] you combine), then add the number of years at the end.

Since that study abroad stuff above is confusing, let's just say 全部 (ぜんぶ //all; everything) for that part:

全部合わせたら三年くらいです。
ぜんぶ　あわせたら　さんねん　くらい　です。
About three years altogether.
Literally: "all + if you combined + three years + about + です."

Oh how I wish I'd known how to say that these many confusing years...