Breakdown of zyettokoosutaa ga kowakereba, ike no mawari wo sanpositari syasin wo tottari site mo ii desu.
ですdesu
to be
をwo
direct object particle
がga
subject particle
のno
possessive case particle
写真syasin
photo
撮るtoru
to take
怖いkowai
scary
〜て も いい〜te mo ii
to be permitted to
池ike
pond
散歩するsanposuru
to take a walk
ジェットコースターzyettokoosutaa
roller coaster
listing form 〜たりlisting form 〜tari
listing form
〜ければ〜kereba
conditional form
周りmawari
surroundings
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have hundreds of Japanese lessons and thousands of exercises.
Questions & Answers about zyettokoosutaa ga kowakereba, ike no mawari wo sanpositari syasin wo tottari site mo ii desu.
What role does the particle が play in ジェットコースターが怖ければ?
Here が simply marks ジェットコースター as the subject of the adjective 怖い. In English you’d think “if the roller coaster is scary,” and that roller coaster is what が picks out.
Why is 怖い changed to 怖ければ instead of using something like 怖かったら or 怖いなら?
Japanese i-adjectives form a “–ba” conditional by dropping the final い and adding ければ. So 怖い → 怖ければ means “if it’s scary.” You could also say 怖かったら (the past-tense conditional) or 怖いなら (a topical conditional), but –ければ often feels a bit more formal or written.
Why is there no explicit “you” or “I” in the sentence? Who is the subject?
Japanese frequently omits subjects when context makes them clear. Here it’s understood as “you.” So literally “If the roller coaster is scary (for you), around the pond walking or taking photos… is fine.”
What does 池の周り mean, and why use の between 池 and 周り?
池の周り means “around the pond.” The particle の links 池 (pond) to 周り (surroundings/edge), making it “the surroundings of the pond.”
Why do we see 散歩したり and 写真を撮ったり instead of just using the plain verbs?
The ～たり…～たり pattern lists example actions. You use the past form + り for each action to show they’re just some of the options. Here it says you can do things like “take a walk” or “take photos” (and maybe other things).
Why is 撮ったり in the past tense (撮った) instead of present tense?
By grammar, every verb in the ～たり list uses the short past tense + り. So 撮る becomes 撮ったり. Don’t worry—the meaning is still “(things like) taking photos,” not “already took photos.”
What is the purpose of して before もいいです?
The ～たり…～たりして part is the continuative (or conjunctive) form of する, gluing the list of activities to もいいです (“it’s okay to…”). So overall: “you may do things like walking or taking photos.”
What exactly does ～してもいいです mean?
～してもいいです grants permission. It literally means “it’s okay even if (you) do ~,” so here “you may walk around the pond or take pictures.”
Could you replace 散歩したり写真を撮ったりしてもいいです with other forms like 散歩してもいいです and 写真を撮ってもいいです?
Yes. If you want to allow each action separately, you could say:
• 散歩してもいいです。 (“You may take a walk.”)
• 写真を撮ってもいいです。 (“You may take photos.”)
But using ～たり…～たりしてもいいです bundles them into one suggestion.