33. Left, Right, Nearby

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Vocabulary

横 (よこ) yoko

beside; to the side of

Noun

A word for a person, place, thing, or idea.

猫は私の横にいます

neko wa watashi no yoko ni imasu — The cat is beside me.

横を見てください

yoko wo mite kudasai — Please look to the side.

学校の横に川があります

gakkou no yoko ni kawa ga arimasu — There is a river beside the school.

右 (みぎ) migi

right

Noun

A word for a person, place, thing, or idea.

右に大きい山があります

migi ni ookii yama ga arimasu — There is a big mountain on the right.

右の本を読みます

migi no hon wo yomimasu — I will read the book on the right.

右に何がありますか

migi ni nani ga arimasu ka — What is on the right?

左 (ひだり) hidari

left

Noun

A word for a person, place, thing, or idea.

左に学校があります

hidari ni gakkou ga arimasu — There is a school on the left.

左の人は友達です

hidari no hito wa tomodachi desu — The person on the left is my friend.

左を見てください

hidari wo mite kudasai — Please look to the left.

隣 (となり) tonari

next to; adjacent

Noun

A word for a person, place, thing, or idea.

隣の人は日本人です

tonari no hito wa nihonjin desu — The person next to me is Japanese.

隣に誰がいますか

tonari ni dare ga imasu ka — Who is next to you?

学校の隣に大学があります

gakkou no tonari ni daigaku ga arimasu — There is a university next to the school.

近く (ちかく) chikaku

nearby; close

Noun

A word for a person, place, thing, or idea.

近くに海がありますか

chikaku ni umi ga arimasu ka — Is there an ocean nearby?

学校は近くです

gakkou wa chikaku desu — The school is nearby.

近くの山は大きいです

chikaku no yama wa ookii desu — The nearby mountain is big.

間 (あいだ) aida

between; interval

Noun

A word for a person, place, thing, or idea.

学校と大学の間に川があります

gakkou to daigaku no aida ni kawa ga arimasu — There is a river between the school and the university.

姉と弟の間にいます

ane to otouto no aida ni imasu — I am between my older sister and younger brother.

二つの山の間に海が見えます

futatsu no yama no aida ni umi ga miemasu — You can see the ocean between the two mountains.

見える (みえる) mieru

to be visible; can see

Group 2 verb

A simpler verb type that always ends in る. To change the form, just drop the る and add a new ending — like 食べる (eat) becomes 食べます.

Dictionary form

見える (みえる)

mieru

ここから海が見える

koko kara umi ga mieru — You can see the ocean from here

Formal present

見えます (みえます)

miemasu

あの山が見えますか

ano yama ga miemasu ka — Can you see that mountain?

Casual negative

見えない (みえない)

mienai

今日は山が見えない

kyou wa yama ga mienai — I can't see the mountain today

Formal negative

見えません (みえません)

miemasen

ここからは学校が見えません

koko kara wa gakkou ga miemasen — You can't see the school from here

Casual past

見えた (みえた)

mieta

右に大きい犬が見えた

migi ni ookii inu ga mieta — I saw a big dog on the right

Formal past

見えました (みえました)

miemashita

山の間に川が見えました

yama no aida ni kawa ga miemashita — I could see a river between the mountains

Casual past negative

見えなかった (みえなかった)

mienakatta

昨日は海が見えなかった

kinou wa umi ga mienakatta — I couldn't see the ocean yesterday

Formal past negative

見えませんでした (みえませんでした)

miemasen deshita

夜は何も見えませんでした

yoru wa nani mo miemasen deshita — I couldn't see anything at night

Te-form

見えて (みえて)

miete

海が見えてうれしいです

umi ga miete ureshii desu — I'm happy that I can see the ocean

ここから山が見えます

koko kara yama ga miemasu — You can see the mountain from here.

海が見えますか

umi ga miemasu ka — Can you see the ocean?

あそこから学校が見えます

asoko kara gakkou ga miemasu — You can see the school from over there.

もっと motto

more; further

Adverb

A word that describes how, when, or how much something happens — like とても (very) or いつも (always).

もっと食べてください

motto tabete kudasai — Please eat more.

もっと大きい本がありますか

motto ookii hon ga arimasu ka — Is there a bigger book?

もっと近くに来てください

motto chikaku ni kite kudasai — Please come closer.

Grammar

から

from (a place or time)

Put から after a place or time to say where something starts or where you are coming from. It works like saying "from" in English. You can say where you came from (学校から — from school) or what time something starts (三時から — from 3 o'clock).

Pattern

[place/time] + から

[place/time] + から Examples: 学校から (from school), 三時から (from 3 o'clock), ここから (from here)

Examples

ここから山が見えますYou can see the mountain from here.

koko kara yama ga miemasu

学校から帰りますI go home from school.

gakkou kara kaerimasu

三時から勉強しますI study from 3 o'clock.

sanji kara benkyou shimasu

から always comes AFTER the place or time, not before. Think: "school-from" not "from-school".
You will often see から paired with まで (to/until) to show a range: 三時から五時まで means "from 3 to 5 o'clock".

まで

to; until (a place or time)

Put まで after a place or time to say where something ends or how far you are going. It works like saying "to" or "until" in English. You can mark a destination (学校まで — to school) or an ending time (五時まで — until 5 o'clock).

Pattern

[place/time] + まで

[place/time] + まで Examples: 学校まで (to school), 五時まで (until 5 o'clock), あそこまで (to over there)

Examples

学校まで行きますI go to school.

gakkou made ikimasu

五時まで働きますI work until 5 o'clock.

goji made hatarakimasu

ここから海まで近いですIt is close from here to the ocean.

koko kara umi made chikai desu

まで always comes AFTER the place or time. Think: "school-to" not "to-school".
まで shows the ending point. Pair it with から (from) for a full range: 朝から夜まで means "from morning until night".

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33. Left, Right, Nearby

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Vocabulary

Grammar

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Cultural Notes

横 vs 隣 — beside vs next to

見える vs 見る — seeing without trying

から and まで — a natural pair