Lesson 21: Te oku/te aru: how to REALLY understand them. What they never teach!

Japanese e iru, te aru, te oku form a logical group whose meanings are obvious once you know the secret. The textbooks never teach it. But don't worry, that's what The Doll is for!

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[vasimahmudova]

Great explanation! Thank you so much! It is still a little bit vague to me, but at least my doubt cleared. I just have another question. So basically, te-aru and te-oku mean almost the same thing but have a different focus, and viewpoint, right? Like the first one shows the result, the other one shows the action. However, what about we say 　まどをあけてある。and まどをあけておく。Is there any difference between them? Or using まどをあけてある is not grammatically correct? Thank you so much!

[senjutsu]

You know there is something wrong (or right) when you binge watch a grammar series instead of watching anime or playing a visual novel... Especially when the channel promotes immersion and minimal formal study. This stuff is too good.

[retronickmusic]

Thank you so much for raising the awareness of falling jars of marmalade. This is an epidemic of our time, and we must act quickly to secure the safety of future generations.

Also, your brief explanation of "TEOKU" was perfect. Thank you.

[bitcube]

I think I've seen 置くused in some situations where a person (or group) leaves someone behind, fits perfectly with your explanation. I'm sure you've read this countless of times, but you really are doing god's work here

[seventhsheaven]

I’ve come across て置く before but never found a satisfactory explanation, so thank you! Already looking forward to next week’s lesson.

[emilytheawesome]

Cure dolly sensi - I'm so sorry and sad that you will never be able to see this post, but you have been life-changing to me. I will be moving to Japan for work and was recommended to watch your videos. I have been doing a "cure dolly bootcamp" if you will, and watching your videos has armed me with the knowledge and abilities that I think otherwise wouldn't have been possible in such a short amount of time. You are so remarkable and kind and wonderful to share your knowledge with the world and I only wish I could have joined your community earlier to thank you "in person". From the bottom of my heart, ありがとう 先生 and rest in peace.

[ElectricDragonfly]

Another fine lesson! ほんとにありがと!

As you say in the video, you're developing your KawaJapa style of J-J translations. I do find them very helpful to learning… which, of course is your goal. I sometimes refer to such translations as "learner's translations". Oftentimes, as you know, the translations in anime subtitles not only translate the words but they completely rephrase the sentence. What you get is a phrase that an English-speaking person would likely say in that situation—even when it has little to do with the original Japanese words or phrase. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with that for anime subtitles because those are what I would call "reader's translations". They’re written for the audience that is interested in the story, but hasn’t (yet) developed the interest in learning the wonderful language of Japanese. But, a learner of Japanese does need to realize that "reader's translations" often can't be taken literally.

There is of course more than a little confusion when J-E textbooks or websites use such "reader’s translations". (Your frequent example of “I like coffee.” is a reader’s translation—not a learner’s translation.) And, it’s quite important for learners of Japanese to understand this very early, so that someone in the early stages doesn’t get so confused as to give up. This, I believe, is the real importance of what you’re doing: helping learners avoid such confusions, so that their learning—and their *interest* in learning—can continue to grow!

By the way, could you sometime show your KawaJapa-style learner’s translation of your closing sentence "Kore kara mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu." with the train engine & railcars (and color coding if needed)?

[daviddamasceno]

Took me a long while to internalize that concept, but it became much clearer now. I believe I can ever include that in my vocabulary ^^. Thank you very much, sensei!

[daemanuhr]

I first watched this video a few weeks ago, and I enjoyed it. But I'm currently about 30 videos further ahead in the series (wrapping up the ghost story), and I came back to this lesson as a review (one of your helpful cards in the video sent me back here). All I can say is, wow! It makes so much more sense now. It feels more intuitive, what with the extra practice and concepts (and vocab) under my belt.

[jeomaxx]

i feel like mastering te-form is like mastering english vocabolary it has so many uses in its arsenal its like you'll never run out options.

[wanjanhasan]

Thank you so much Sensei. I've been learning Japanese for almost a year now and due to the vague translations in the English textbooks, which at the moment seemed rather easy, I still keep wondering about things and translating in my head whenever I hear these in dramas and anime. Your videos are really helping me to slowly get out of this mess. Although, I think these concepts are much easier to grasp for Asians like myself than it is for any European or Americans because we use a lot of double verbs in daily conversations. But it has to be done sooner or later in order to stay away from constant translation in the head, which is exhausting.

[charlesmanapat]

OMG I'm just reviewing ている, てある, and ておく recently using a textbook. Even though I watched this video before, I decided to re-watch this. Your explanation really closes the deal of my confusion! Thank you for this great explanation! I had lots of "Aha!" moments while listening to your explanations.

[brippadedp]

I just want to say thank you so much for these videos! A lot of these concepts can be challenging to grasp as a native English speaker, but you really do have a great way of teaching them. Also the fact that you have so many visual representations of what is going on is so helpful. Textbooks so often tend to over-complicate or over-simplify things. They're either too wordy or they don't explain enough, and then I become lost lol.

[youngsterjack]

Way to go Cure Dolly! I'm always excited for what the next lesson has in store

[niket]

Ah this makes so much sense now. I often watch Let's Plays of video games and often the YouTuber will say 「セーブシておきます」. Now it makes sense why they use 置く!

[tonythesopranos]

Thank you Cure Dolly! I had studied Japanese for a year but I was still having to guess bits of grammar, or I couldn't quite understand the rules of everything - and the logic behind them. I discovered your videos and by watching the first 20 I already understand concepts so much better than I used to. I now use your videos to teach myself grammar rather than from my teachers as they fall into the pitfall of explaining everything with an English lens which after a while starts to break down.

[vinilzord]

I quickly paused the video just to say: WOW! I understood the first part of the on-going story "naturally" as I read it, without having to make too much effort. If I stumbled upon the same sentence before discovering this playlist, I'd have a grasp of the meaning because of the visual reference, but I wouldn't be able to pin point the particles functions and stuff. This means you're doing an excellent job, Cure Dolly sensei. The merit is all yours, I'm just a regular person with slightly above average intelligence @_@ much love to you! I'm excited to finish this playlist :D

[xbounty]

I'm feeling sorry for a window because of grammar. Mado-san deserves better than to be treated as inanimate.

[kemarbrown]

Thanks very much I really like how you explain things... 始める時、このチャンネルを見たことがあればよかった。

[MrKlumpfluff]

The relationship, and their seperate distinctions are well explained and made clear through good examples. ておく has been a bother to me for a while, no more, thanks to you. ありがとう。