[something] は

くるま　は　やすっぽい

The car is cheap-looking

While it has many uses, は mainly goes after whatever you are discussing. In the example, we can see the car is being spoken about.

[something]　 が 　あります

サンドイッチ　が　あります

There is a sandwich

This tells us that something is there. It is used for objects, not people though. In the example, we can see that the thing that is there is the sandwich.

It is useful for introducing things that characters can find or have.

[something」　に　います

サンドイッチ　に　います

It’s in the sandwich

This tells us where someone or something is. It is used when talking about living things.

We can see there is a cockroach in the sandwich, but to say this you can use は

ごきぶり　は　さんどいち　にいます

[somewhere」 に　いきます

トイレ　に　いきます

Go to the toilet

This allows us to make a character go somewhere. It doesn’t say who though, to say this, talk about them with は.

Followed up by telling the reader where they are with に　います. Then you can what is there with 　が　あります.

[something] 　が　すき

ゲーム　が　すき

(He) likes games

This allows us to talk about the character, tell us what they like and what might motivate them in a story.

[something]　が　ほしい

みず　が　ほしい

(He) wants water

This allows us to say what the character wants. Wanting something is a strong motivation for a character to go somewhere in a story.

[noun]　の　[noun]

ベン　の　ぬいぐるみ

Ben’s plush toy

This allows us to say who owns what. Think of it like ‘s in English, Sally’s book or Ben’s sandwich. We could also put a person as the second noun to show the relationship between characters in stories. For example:

ベン　の　おかあさん

Ben’s mother

わたし　の　おばあさん　に　いきます。

I am going to my grandma’s house. [Possession] [Motion]

おばあさん　は　もり　に　います。

「こんにちは　おばあさん！」

「こんにちは！　Ben　さん！」

Grandma is in a forest. [Topic] [Location]

“Hello Grandma”

Hello Ben!”

「おちゃ　が　ほしい？」

「はい！」

おばあさん　が　すき

“Want a tea?” [Want]

“Yes”

I like Grandma [likes]

あるひ、おばあさん　の　うち　に　いきます。でも…

One day, I went to Grandma’s house but… [Possession] [Motion]

おばあさん　は　beddo　に　います。

ねつ　が　あります。

Grandma is in bed. [Topic] [Location]

She has a fever [Existence]

「おばあさん… なに　が　ありますか？」

“Grandma… what do you have?” [Existence]

「まほうつかい　は　どうくつ　に　います。

まほうつかい　は　poshon　が　あります。」

“There is a witch in a cave. [Topic] [Location]

It has a potion” [Topic] [Existence]

「まず、かわ　が　あります。」

“First, there will be a river. “ [Existence]

「そして、やま　が　あります。」

“Then, there will be a mountain.” [Existence]

「それから、どうくつ　が　あります。」

“After that, there is a cave” [Existence]

「どうして　Death Kill Lair　に　いますか？」

“Why are you at Death Kill Lair?” [Location]

「Death Kill Lair!?　まほうつかい　は　どうくつ　に　いますか？ まほうつかい　の　Poshon が　ほしい」

“Death Kill Lair!? Is the witch in there? [Topic] [Location]

I want the witches potion” [Possession] [Want]

「まったく…まほうつかい　は　あそこ　に　います」

“Good grief… the witch is over there” [Topic] [Location]

「あっ…すみません」

“Ah… beg your pardon”

Ben　は　まほうつかい　の　どうくつ　に　います。

Ben made it to the witches cave. [Topic] [Possession] [Location]

そして、まほうつかい　は　どうくつ　に　います。

And the witch was also there. [Topic] [Location]

I think this is a pretty reasonable demonstration of how you can use the Super 7 to make a story. Sure it can be restrictive and I could have written it more accurately or with more ‘flair’, but the Super 7 enable you to get started and become micro-fluent (Waltz, 2015). Together with some simple pictures, they are more than enough to convey meaning.

You may notice that I sometimes employ a few sneaky tricks to get around language restrictions. Like switching to speech in order to avoid problems with tenses, using illustrations to convey meaning, jokes to change the flow, fonts to change characters and voice-overs are all fair game.

Will l continue this story? Will we ever find out what was in Death Kill Lair?? Find out later when I add a few more words to the Super 7.