The four uses of the word “mother” in the above sentences are all different. “Mother” in (1) refers
to the speaker’s mother, but “mother” in (2) refers to the addressee’s mother. In (3) the speaker
addresses his or her mother, and “mothers” in (4) refers to mothers in general, that is, the word
does not refer to any particular mother. In Japanese, these four uses are differentiated, but it is rare
for all four terms to be different. There is some overlapping in terminology. Ou~a in the chart
below is politer than u. For instance, see the following chart:
refer to someone else’s refer to one’s own generic terms address one’s own
father ]g
^
uO
u~
ag
g3
]{
ag3
]{
]g
^
uO
u~
a
mother ]c
s
uO
u~
ac
ll
c3
ll]{
ac3
ll]{
]c
s
uO
u~
a
PRODUCTION
3. Preporatory task: Do mechanical practice as needed to memorize the new vocabulary for this
unit. Use the structures of this unit whenever appropriate.
4. Translation self-check: The example sentences with the new vocabulary given above have been
translated here into equivalent English sentences (the translation is not word-for-word). Try
checking the accuracy of your translation by translating them back into Japanese.
5. Pair work: Question-and-answer (give negative responses using negative predicates).
Ask if:
Cthis person here is Yamada-san
Bthat person over there is a Japanese person
@that person is a teacher
?this thing is a backpack
>that thing over there is a book
=this person here is (the addressee’s) mother
&that person over there is (the addressee’s) father
$Yamada-san is a student
34 Stage 1-1 (Workbook 1)
1. Is this a pen? No, it is not a pen. That is a pencil.
2. Is that a notebook? No, it is a book.
3. Is that over there a backpack? Yes, that’s right. It is a backpack.
4. This is my mother. Is that person your mother? No, she is not.
5. This is my father. Is that person your father? No, he is not.