The article which is going to be presented is about connecting two sentences with a proper conjunction or relational expressions between them. There are two types of compound sentences presented in this article. We will give the pattern and also examples concerning those compound sentences as shown in Minna no Nihongo 1 book chapter 8 section B part 3 in page 67. The explanation will be given in form of examples as follows :
１．Soshite 「そして」
It is also called as a sentence-initial conjunctions because it is becoming the initial of a sentence, the conjunction itself connecting with the other sentence. It can also be translated as “also” or “and”. It indicates that the speaker is giving additional information related to the previous sentence.
The pattern is shown as follows :
Kanji : 文１ ＋そして ＋文２
Hiragana : ぶん１ ＋そして ＋ぶん２
Romaji : bun 1 ＋soshite ＋bun 2
Meaning : sentence 1 ＋soshite ＋sentence 2
Example :
Kanji : 看護婦が上手です。そして親切です。
Hiragana : かんごふがじょうずです。そしてしんせつです。
Romaji : Kangofu ga jyouzu esu. Soshite shinsetsu desu.
Meaning : The female nurse is skillfull. And (also, furthermore) (she is) kind.
We use そして to conjunct or to connect between sentences. In this case, there are two sentences in this context actually supporting each others. Based on the context of the second sentence which is filling the first sentence by actually giving additional information without any contradiction is suitable using ‘soshite’ as the conjunction.
２．Desu ga 「です が」
It is also another type of conjunction which is used to connect two phrases or simply two sentences. Those two phrases or two sentences are contradict each others. When the context of those sentences are one against another in meaning we can use ‘desu ga’. It can be translated as ‘but’. The pattern is shown as follows :
Kanji : 文１ ＋ですが ＋文２
Hiragana : ぶん１ ＋ですが ＋ぶん２
Romaji : bun 1 ＋desu ga ＋bun 2
Meaning : sentence 1 ＋desu ga ＋sentence 2
Example :
Kanji : この寮は狭いですが快適です。
Hiragana : このりょうはせまいですがかいてきです。
Romaji : Kono ryou wa semai desu ga kaiteki desu.
Meaning : This dorm is small but comfortable.
Below are all of the answers of all the questions based on the above pattern by paying attention to the images or pictures presented in the questions. The full questions can be seen in Minna Nihongo book chapter 8 practice B part 4 page 67 :
１．Answer
Kanji :
会社の 寮は どうですか。
。。。古いですが、きれいです。
Hiragana ：
かいしゃの りょうは どうですか。
。。。ふるいですが、きれいです。
Romaji :
Kaisha no ryou wa dou desuka.
… furui desuga, kirei desu.
Meaning ：
How is the company’s dorm ?.
… It ‘s old but it’s lovely.
２．Answer
Kanji :
会社の人は どうですか。
。。。親切です。そして おもしろいです。
Hiragana :
かいしゃのひとは どうですか。
。。。しんせつです。そして おもしろいです。
Romaji :
Kaisha no hito wa dou desuka.
… shinsetsu desu. soshite omoshiroi desu.
Meaning :
How is the people at the company ?
… They are kind. Moreover they
3. Answer
Kanji ：
日本の食べ物は どうですか。
。。。おいしいですが、高いです。
Hiragana :
にほんのたべものは どうですか。
。。。おいしいですが、たかいです。
Romaji :
Nihon no tabemono wa doudesuka ?.
… oishi desu ga, takai desu.
Meaning ：
How is Japanese food ?.
… It is delicious but it is expensive.
4. Answer
Kanji ：
仕事は どうですか。
。。。忙しいですが、おもしろいです。
Hiragana ：
しごとは どうですか。
。。。いそがしいですが、おもしろいです。
Romaji :
Shigoto wa dou desuka ?.
… Isogashii desu ga, omoshiroi desu.
Meaning ：
How is the work ?
… It is busy but it’s fun.