朝、午後、午前中 asa, gogo, gozenchuu

午後 ("gogo") means both "afternoon" and "P.M":

あしたの午後来てください。
Ashita no gogo kite kudasai.
Please come tomorrow afternoon.

いまは午後２時です。
Ima wa gogo niji desu.
It's now 2PM.

午前 ("gozen") means "A.M.":

いまは午前２時です。
Ima wa gozen niji desu.
It's now 2AM.


朝 ("asa") means "morning", but only until mid-morning (around 9 or 10AM). It is not used in the sense of "A.M."


あしたの朝来てください。
Ashita no asa kite kudasai.
Please come tomorrow morning (before mid-morning!).

If you wish to tell someone that he can come before noon, you can use 午前中("gozenchuu ") :
あしたの午前中来てください。
Ashita no gozenchuu kite kudasai.
Please come tomorrow morning (anytime before noon).

Or you can also write
あしたの正午前に来てください。
Please come tomorrow morning before noon.


Main reference: Essential Japanese Vocabulary by Akira Miura, Tuttle Publishing.

「ごろ」と「ぐらい」goro vs. gurai

ごろ (goro) is used to indicate specific points in time:

3時ごろ
sanji goro
about 3:00

7月ごろ
shichigatsu goro
around July

何時ごろですか。
Nanji goro desu ka?
About what time is it?

ぐらい (gurai) is used for quantities:

300メトルぐらい
sambyaku metoru gurai
about 300 meters

「必ず」と「きっと」 kanarazu vs. kitto

必ず (kanarazu) means "without fail", while きっと means "with high probability". For sentences which mean that something is or should be at or near 100% probability, we use 必ず:

人間はだれでも必ず（ｘきっと）しぬ。
Ningen wa daredemo kanarazu (not "kitto") shinu.
All human beings will die without exception.

明日の朝までに必ず宿題をだしてください。
Ashita no asa made ni kanarazu shukudai wo dashite kudasai.
Make sure to give your homework by tomorrow.

きっと (kitto), on the other hand, refers to the speaker's personal beliefs or inference.

田中さんはきっと来るよ。
Tanaka-san wa kitto kuru yo.
I'm sure Tanaka-san will come.

For past events, one can use きっと when talking about a personal evaluation of what happened:

太郎はきのうクラスを休んだから、きっと（ｘ必ず）病気だったのだろう。
Tarou wa kinou kurasu wo yasundakara, kitto (not "kanarazu") byouki datta no darou.
Because Tarou was absent yesterday, I'm pretty sure he was sick.

But when one is talking about a past event that is verified to be accurate, one must use 必ず:

田中さんは、パーティーがあると必ず（ｘきっと）来た。
Tanaka-san wa, paatii ga aru to kanarazu (not "kitto") kita.

Note that the past sentence is not a personal evaluation.

Note also that 必ず is not normally used for negative sentences, but きっと may be so used.

Alternatives to がんばって

The common expression for "Good luck!" in Japanese is 「頑張ってください」 (ganbatte kudasai), or its more direct equivalent,「 頑張れ！」. I came across a forum thread today and found pretty good alternatives, which I copy word for word below:


http://oshiete1.goo.ne.jp/qa43591.html
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp...il/q1121112131
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp...il/q1011387620

(テストなどこれから受ける場合)
For taking tests
Good luck and take it easy! Everything is going to be fine with you!
リラックスして頑張って！きっとうまく行くよ
Rirakkusu shite ganbatte! Kitto umaku iku yo!


(落ち込んでるとき)
When someone's down
No worries. It was just not your day! Take it easy.
そんなに考えすぎないで。ただ運がわるかったんだよ
Sonna ni kangaesuginaide. Tada un ga warukattan da yo.

☆☆ 励まし 言葉 ☆☆
Encouraging words
There's nowhere to go but forward.
前進あるのみ。
Zenshin aru nomi.

Don't be afraid of making a mistake.
間違えることを恐れてはいけない。
Machigaeru koto wo osorete wa ikenai.

Every failure is an opportunity to learn.
失敗から学べばいい。
（直訳 ： すべての失敗は学ぶ機会）
Shippai kara manabeba ii.

Continuity is power.
継続は力なり。
Keizoku wa chikara nari.

出る vs. 出かける deru vs. dekakeru

出かける means to go out of one's home.
出る means just to go out of any place.

Further, 出かける indicates an outing of some sort -- going to class, going to the mall, etc. If you're literally going just outside your house, 出る is more appropriate.

「を出る」と「に出る」 wo deru vs. ni deru

クラスを出る。
Kurasu wo deru.
I will leave class.

クラスに出る。
Kurasu ni deru.
I will attend class.

Basically, the particle depends on the direction in which you're leaving. If you're leaving something, use を; if you're leaving for something, use に.

Words of the day

Been fansubbing a lot lately. Here are some words that I keep hearing in the vids.

振り付け（ふりつけ）
集中（しゅうちゅう）
失敗（しっぱい）
決まる（きまる）
あっかん
ひょうじょう
選手（せんしゅ）
世界選手権（せかいせんしゅけん）
ゆうしょう
一所懸命（いっしょけんめい）
精一杯（せいいっぱい）
得点（とくてん）
二につける
雰囲気（ふんいき）
しっかり
完璧（かんぺき）
減る（へる）
感じ（かんじ）
～かなって思う
見事（みごと）
演技 (えんぎ)
開幕（かいまく）
大会（たいかい）

四大陸選手権（よんたいりくせんしゅけん)