82 CHAPTER 2. VERB GRAMMAR
of course also be used to describe the process of ”becoming” itself, (such
as ”to quickly become [...]”) by using proper adverbs.
The verb is a verb, without any irregularities, meaning its
bases are , , , and.
While typically used in combination with the verb particle , it can
also be used in combination with the particle , in which case its meaning
changes from ”become” to ”be” (often interpreted as the immediate future
”will be”). This can be illustrated with some / comparison sentences:
”(This) will become (our) strength”.”(This) will be (our) strength”.5
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”The band’s performance will be set to (lit: become) May the 24th.”5 24
”The band’s performance will be on May the 24th.”2.5.2 Being: , , ,
We already looked at and , but we haven’t really looked at how
they fit together with otherexistentialverbs, and how each differs from
the other.
Where in English the verb ”to be” is used as both a copula (the verb
that sets up definitions such as ”A is B”) and as existential verb (the verb
that indicates existence somewhere, such as ”A is [here]”), in Japanese
these are two (or more accurately, three) distinct roles. To indicate that
”A is B”, distinct copulae are used in Japanese. These include , , but
also several less frequently used copulae such as , and
.
The existential verb role, on the other hand, is actually performed by
two distinct verbs in Japanese: one describing existence foranimateobjects
(such as humans, animals, and things that can be considered animate, like
Aibo robot puppies and the like) and one describing existence for inani-
mate objects and abstract things. These are ( ) and ( ),