Japanese Language Lesson Minna no Nihongo 1 Chapter 11 Section B Part 6
This is an article, where another Japanese language grammar pattern is discussed. The main goal of this article is to be able to make a question pattern concerning period of time of an event or an activity. By using the correct interrogative pronoun ‘dono kurai’ 「どのくらい」so that it can be useful to ask the interval or the amount of time takes to do an activity or an event happened. Another pattern which can be also used in order to ask the interval or the amount of time is by using a combination of an interrogative pronoun 「‘nan’（何・なん）」with a time marker such as にち・日 ねん・年.
All of the questions is given in Minna no Nihongo 1 book chapter 11 Section B Part 6 in page 92 will be answered using either of the above Japanese language pattern described.
The pattern of using ‘dono kurai’ can be shown below :
| Kanji | : | … | ＋ | どのくらい | ＋ | 動詞 |
| Hiragana | : | … | ＋ | どのくらい | ＋ | どうし |
| Romaji | : | … | ＋ | dono kurai | ＋ | doushi |
| Meaning | : | … | ＋ | how long | ＋ | verb |
The above pattern is used to ask how long an activity described in the verb occurred, is normally done or it has already been done. For an example :
| Kanji | : | 友達は昨日どのくらい運転免許試験をかかりましたか |
| Hiragana | : | ともだちはきのうどのくらいうんてんめんきょしけんをかかりましたか |
| Romaji | : | tomodachi wa kinou dono kurai untenmenkyoshiken wo kakarimashitaka. |
| Meaning | : | Yesterday, how long your friend took the driving test ? |
Another pattern which has the same purpose is by combining interrogative pronoun ‘nan’「なん・何」 with another time marker is shown as follows :
| Kanji | : | … | ＋ | 何 | 時 | ＋ | 動詞 |
| Hiragana | : | … | ＋ | なん | じ | ＋ | どうし |
| Romaji | : | … | ＋ | dono kurai | ji | ＋ | doushi |
| Meaning | : | … | ＋ | how long | time or time as marker | ＋ | verb |
For an example :
| Kanji | : | 研究するつもりが何ヶ月間しましたか |
| Hiragana | : | けんきゅうするつもりがなんかげつかんしますか |
| Romaji | : | kenkyuu suru tsumori ga nankagetsu kan shimasuka. |
| Meaning | : | how many months do you plan to do research ? |
Based on the above example which is also similar with the example given in Minna no Nihongo 1 book Chapter 11 Section B Part 6 at page 92, it can be used to answer the question given.
Below are the answers given to answer the question exist in Minna no Nihongo 1 book Chapter 11 Section B Part 6 at page 92. But first of all, below is the example of the answer pattern based on the example of question given :
The example for the keyword :
Kanji :日本料理ができました。（２０分）
Hiragana :にほんりょうりができました。（２０ぷん）
Romaji :nihon ryouri ga dekimashita。（２０pun）
Meaning :the Japanese cooking (dishes) has finished。（２０ minutes）
The example for the answer :
Kanji :
日本料理が何分できました。
。。。２０分 できました。
Hiragana :
にほんりょうりがなんぷんできました。
。。。２０ぷん できました。
Romaji :
nihon ryouri ga dekimashita。
。。。 ２０pun dekimashita。
Meaning :
How many minutes does it take for the Japanese cooking (dishes) finished (to be ready) ?。
。。。It will be finished (it will be ready) in ２０ minutes。
Based on the example given, try to guess the correct question’s pattern and choose the appropriate one based on the activity and the time took for that activity to perform or to be executed.
Answer :
１．Answer
Kanji :
大学で 何年 勉強しましたか。
。。。四年 勉強しました。
Hiragana :
だいがくで なんねん べんきょうしましたか。
。。。よんねん べんきょうしました。
Romaji :
Daigaku de nan nen benkyou shimashitaka。
。。。yon nen benkyoushimashita。
Meaning :
How many years did you study in the university ?。
。。。I studied for four years。
２．Answer
Kanji :
どのくらい 旅行を しましたか。
。。。２週間 旅行を しました。
Hiragana :
どのくらい りょこうを しましたか。
。。。２しゅうかん りょこうを しました。
Romaji :
Dono kurai ryokou wo shimashitaka。
。。。2 shuukan ryokouwo shimashita。
Meaning :
How long did you travel (go for a trip)?
。。。(I) travel (go for a trip) for 2 weeks。
３． Answer
Kanji :
どのくらい 毎日 働きますか。
。。。８時間 毎日 働きます。
Hiragana :
どの くらい まいにち はたらきますか。
。。。８じかん まいにち はたらきます。
Romaji :
Dono kurai mai nichi hatarakimasuka。
。。。8 jikan mai nichi hatarakimasu。
Meaning :
How long do you work everday ?。
。。。I work everyday for 8 hours。
４．Answer
どの くらい 休みますか。
。。。１０分 だけ 休みます。
Hiragana :
どの くらい やすみますか。
。。。１０ぷん だけ やすみます。
Romaji :
Dono kurai yasumimasuka。
。。。10 pun dake yasumimasu。
Meaning :
How long do (you) take rest ?。
。。。(I) take a rest for only 10 minutes。
The full question which consists of several numbers can be seen completely in Minna no Nihongo 1 Chapter 11 Section B Part 6 on page 92.