The menagerie

This page is basically a holding pen for random examples until we figure out a better place to put them.

連用形 (continuative form)

There are six forms of inflection for Japanese verbs. One form is called 連用形 or “continuative” form.

This form is usually followed by some form of suffix:

• 助動詞(じょどうし) (auxiliary verbs), e.g.

  • た (だ)
  • たい
  • ます
  • そうだ

• 助詞(じょし) (particles), e.g.

  • て (で)
  • ても
  • たり
  • ながら

Examples:

• お風呂(ふろ)に入(はい)ります

  入り is the 連用形 form of 入る.

• カラスが飛(と)んでいるのが見(み)えた

  飛ん is the 連用形 form of 飛ぶ, and 見え is the 連用形 form of 見る.

• 彼(かれ)に会(あ)って真相(しんそう)を確(たし)かめる

  会っ is the 連用形 form of 会う.

連用形 verbs can also be used without a suffix. For example:

雨(あめ)が 降(ふ)り、雷(ゆき)が 鳴(な)る (降り is the 連用形 form of 降る)

This usage is called 中止法(ちゅうしほう) (an “inflectional termination” where the 連用形 verb functions as a conjunction between independent clauses).

Below, we are going to focus specifically on the 連用形 + て usage.

There are at least two cases to consider.

連用形 + て followed by 補助動詞

補助動詞(ほじょどうし) (and 補助形容詞(ほじょけいようし)) are a special type of auxiliary verb.¹ They are effectively weakened or altered versions of a standalone verb. They reduced or altered the original meaning of the verb, and instead modify whatever precedes it.

The following (non-exhaustive) list of words are 補助動詞:

• ある
• いる
• おく
• くる
• くれる
• しまう
• みせる
• みる
• もらう
• やる
• ゆく (いく)
• くださる (敬語(けいご))
• ございます (敬語)
• あげる (敬語)
• さしあげる (敬語)

Since 補助動詞 are auxiliary verbs (as opposed to standalone), we include them on the same baseline as the immediately preceding 形容詞 verb:

早(はや)く起(お)きてください

Please wake early

Notes:

• ください is the imperative form of the verb 下(くだ)さる.

• Here, it is 補助動詞 appended to the verb 起きて, and not a standalone verb.

• The subject is the listener, with the zero-pronoun standing in as the literal subject.

• Syntactically, 起きてください acts as a single, standalone 用言.

Note that 連用形 verbs are called “continuative form” because they often imply a sense of continuation (simultaneous or consecutive) rather than being purely conjunctions like “and” or “but”.

Because of this, Japanese sentences sometimes include an entire string of て-connected verbs. By convention we only put the final 連用形 verb + 助動詞・助詞 + 補助動詞 on the baseline. The remainder are diagrammed as modifiers (effectively acting like adverbs) for clarity.

For example, here’s something a parent might say to a child:

食(た)べて歯磨(はみが)いて早(はや)く寝(ね)てください

Please eat, brush your teeth, then quickly go to sleep

Notes:

• The “core” of the sentence is 寝てください.

• 寝てください is again a single, standalone 用言 (a 連用形動詞 + 補助動詞).

• The 連用形 て-suffixed verbs act like modifiers. In this case they indicate consecutive actions leading up to the final 用言 (寝てください). We diagram them exactly the same as other modifiers (hanging them below what they modify).

• These て-form verbs (食べて and 磨いて) share the same subject as the final 用 言. They are normally diagrammed as simple modifiers rather than complete clauses with their own subjects.

  There might be unusual circumstances where full clauses with separate subjects on the same baseline might be warranted. For example, when trying to explain the ambiguity in phrases like「もらってあげてくれませんか」.

• Each of the て modifiers hangs below the main baseline. In this case, the actions are clearly intended to be consecutive rather than simultaneous, but that might not always be the case. Regardless, that’s a semantic interpretation. The structural diagram should always show these て modifiers hanging directly below the baseline rather than from one another.

連用形 + て followed by 動詞

彼(かれ)に会(あ)って真相(しんそう)を確(たし)かめる

I will meet with him and ascertain the real-situation

Notes:

• The “core” clause is simply 「確かめる」 (just the verb “ascertain”, using a potential form conjugation)

• A 連用形 verb 「会って」that modifies the core predicate (“will meet and …”, using the continuative form verb)

• “I” is underlined since the subject isn’t explicitly stated. It’s usually safe to assume the speaker when the subject is omitted, but as indicated by the zero-pronoun in the diagram, the subject could be “he”, “she”, “they”, or even “it”.

It’s somewhat eye-opening to contrast this diagram with a “Reed-Kellog” diagram of the similar English sentence “He will meet with him and I will ascertain the real situation”:

He will meet with him and I will ascertain the real situation

Notes:

• This example is a compound sentence with two independent clauses.

• The word “and” is a conjunction connecting the two clauses.

• Each clause has an explicit subject.

Regardless, it’s clear that our system for diagramming Japanese sentences is rapidly diverging from the Reed-Kellog system.

〜ば (conditional form)

The next example is a 川柳(せんりゅう), a sort of informal light-hearted, comedic poem with the same 5‑7‑5 structure as haiku.

The author’s interpretation of this poem’s meaning is diagrammed below:

趣味(しゅみ)日舞(にちぶ)・詳(くわ)しく聞(き)けば・盆踊(ぼんおど)り

If you ask about my traditional dance hobby in detail, it’s bon-odori

Notes:

• Poems aren’t necessarily complete or grammatical. This diagram shows one possible interpretation. It diagrams the author’s understanding of the the poem’s meaining (if it were written as a complete sentence). Other interpretations are, of course, possible and equally valid.

  A direct transliteration of all three stanzas, without attempting to fill in missing grammatical structure or other details would just be something like:

  Japanese-traditional-dance-hobby
  if-ask in-detail
  bon-odori

  We’ve chosen to “fill in the blanks” as shown in the translation above the diagram.

• Bon odori is a type of folk dance performed during “O-bon” seasonal festivals. 日本舞踊(にほんぶよう) means “Japanese (traditional) dance”, and 趣味(しゅみ) means “hobby”.

  趣味日舞 is thus a compound word (a noun) meaning “Japanese-traditional-dance-hobby”.

  This senryu pokes fun at someone putting on airs about their participation in an annual festival (that almost everyone participates in at some point).

• This is a compound sentence with dependent clauses: “If A then B” or here, 「聞けば … 盆踊りだ」.

  • The first (聞けば) uses a conditional form verb.

  • The second (盆踊りだ) has a subject that is logically/semantically dependent on the first clause (shown with a dotted line). The “it”, represented by the zero pronoun, is logically the result of the asking.

• The second “clause” is just a single noun: 盆踊り (a festival dance during the Obon holiday). Both the subject and the final 助動詞 「だ」in that clause are implied, so they are shown in brackets in the diagram.

• The particle 「を」 is also shown in brackets because it isn’t literally present in the original (likely due to morae-count constraints with the poetic form). That is most likely the intended structure (it’s hard to imagine any other interpretation for the poem to make sense).

• “you” is underlined since the subject isn’t explicitly specified. It’s probably the listener, but this implied subject is also a zero-pronoun: it could be a third person (“he”, “she”, “they” or even “it” are conceivably possible.)

• “my” is also underlined since the original doesn’t specify who’s hobby it is. With no other context, it’s reasonable to assume the speaker, but they could be referring to a third party (e.g. “her” hobby). Note that this isn’t a missing subject, it’s missing an entire modifier (私の or 彼女の 趣味日舞, for example).

• The subject of the top clause (“it”) logically refers to the traditional dance hobby, so we’ve added a dotted line to indicate the fact.