Reading Course
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- 96 week duration
Part 2
The sentences below are what we need to learn in this lesson.
| やがて牧草地で過ごすのがとても退屈になりました。 気晴らしにできることは、犬に話しかけるか羊飼いの笛を吹くことだけでした。 |
Before you learn the sentence, let us learn the vocabulary first.
Note: The blue kanji is clickable, will redirect you to the kanji page in a new tab.
| Word | Meaning |
| やがて | soon |
| 牧草地 | grassland |
| 過ごす | to spend time |
| とても | very |
| 退屈 | boring |
| なる | to become |
| 気晴らしにできる | can refresh |
| こと | things |
| 犬 | dog |
| 話しかける | to talk to |
| 笛 | flute |
| 笛を吹く | to play the flute |
| だけ | only |
How to read the first sentence step by step?
やがて牧草地で過ごすのがとても退屈になりました。
| Step 1: Find the subject/topic of this sentence by the particle は or が. In this sentence, the subject is 過ごすの. |
| Step 2: Find the verb of this sentence. (Usually, the verb is in the end of the sentence.) In this sentence, the verb is なりました. (Meaning: to become) |
| Step 3: Find the object of this verb by particle を. Oops! There is no を here. Don’t worry. This is because the verb なる is not a transitive verb, so you can’t use を. Instead, you should use に to express the change of the statement. So in this sentence, the statement is 退屈 |
| Step 4: Combine everything we find in the steps above. 過ごすのが退屈になりました。 spending time became very boring. Now you find the “main part” of this sentence. Congratulations! |
| Step 5: Figure out the “sub part” of this sentence. やがて means “soon”, it’s an adv. 牧草地 means “grassland”, it’s a place, and there is a で here. If you have learned Particle Course before, you will know that で is used to express the place where something happens. So 過ごす is happened in grassland. とても means “very”, it’s an adv. So the whole sentence will be やがて牧草地で過ごすのがとても退屈になりました。 Soon, spending time in grassland became very boring. |
How to read the second sentence step by step?
気晴らしにできることは、犬に話しかけるか羊飼いの笛を吹くことだけでした。
| Step 1: Find the subject/topic of this sentence by the particle は or が. In this sentence, the topic is 気晴らしにできること. |
| Step 2: Find the verb of this sentence. (Usually, the verb is in the end of the sentence.) In this sentence, the verb is でした. (Meaning: was) |
| Step 3: Find the object of this verb by particle を. Oops! There is no を here. No worries. It’s because でした is a “be” verb. So only thing we need to do is to find the noun before it. In this sentence, the noun is 犬に話しかけるか羊飼いの笛を吹くこと. (The か after 話しかける means “or”.) |
| Step 4: Combine everything we find in the steps above. 気晴らしにできることは、犬に話しかけるか羊飼いの笛を吹くことでした。 Something like talking to the dog or playing the shepherd flute can refresh the boy. Now you find the “main part” of this sentence. Congratulations! |
| Step 5: Figure out the “sub part” of this sentence. だけ means “only”. So the whole sentence will be 気晴らしにできることは、犬に話しかけるか羊飼いの笛を吹くことだけでした。 Only something like talking to the dog or playing the shepherd flute can refresh the boy. |
Just in case you want to review the particles, below is a table to help you.
| Particle | Explanation |
| の | to convert a verb to a noun. So 牧草地で過ごすの acts as a noun here. |
| が | Express that the noun before it is the subject. So 牧草地で過ごすの is the subject. |
| に | Because なる(means “to become”) is an intransitive verb, you can’t use を in 退屈になりました. Instead you need to use に to express the statement. |
| か | か means “or”. So 犬に話しかけるか羊飼いの笛を吹くこと means “Talking to the dog or playing the shepherd flute”. （こと is used to convert a verb to a noun.） |
Summary:
やがて牧草地で過ごすのがとても退屈になりました。
気晴らしにできることは、犬に話しかけるか羊飼いの笛を吹くことだけでした。
Soon, spending time in grassland became very boring.
Only something like talking to the dog or playing the shepherd flute can refresh the boy.
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