Lesson Dialogues
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Situation 1
Jun is looking at earrings at an accessories store.
ジュン：これ、つけてみていいですか？
Jun: Can I try putting these on?
- つける to put; to attach; to apply
店員：もちろんですよ。
Store assistant: Of course you can.
- もちろん of course; needless to say
ジュン：これ、この前見たときからいいなって。
Jun: I thought these were nice ever since I saw them last time.
- ～って a colloquial form of と; と言う -> って言う (sb/sth says that…), と聞く -> って聞く ( I hear that); ということ -> っていうこと(it means that); I hear: 結婚したんだって。I heard they got married.
店員：じゃあ、また、見にきてくれたんですね。
Store assistant: So, you've come to look at them again.
- じゃあ well, so, then; colloquial form ofだったら if
ジュン：はい。やっぱり、もう一度見たくって。
Jun: Yes. I guess I wanted to take a look at them again after all.
- 一度 once; 一度に at once
店員：つけてみて、どうですか？
Store assistant: What do you think after putting them on?
ジュン：ちょっと大きくないですか？
Jun: Aren't they a little big?
店員：全くそんなことないですよ。大きい方が、顔、小さく見えるんですよ。
Store assistant: Not at all. Bigger earrings make your face look smaller.
- 全く entirely; completely; (not) at all; usually used with a negative form: 全くわからない。I don't understand at all.
- 方 direction; way; side; 方 is also used to make a comparison: 日本よりカナダの方が大きい。Compared to Japan, Canada is bigger; 日本のほうがいい Japan is better
- 小さい small; little; tiny
ジュン：確かにそんな気するんですけど。もう少し小さいのってありませんか？
Jun: It definitely feels like they do, but do you have slightly smaller ones?
- 確か adj. sure, certain, reliable; adv. maybe, probably, if I remember rightly, it's my understanding that; 確かに surely, certainly; you're right: 確かに天気が悪いね。The weather is certainly bad.
- 気[が]する to have a certain mood or feeling; to have a hunch: 出来ない気がする。I feel like I can't do it.
- ～って about; as for: 名前って何ですか？What's your name?; in spoken Japanese, people use って very often instead of は; ラーメンって好きですか？Do you like ramen? (instead of ラーメンは好きですか？)
店員：全く同じデザインのはないですね。感じが同じっていうのでいいですか？それなら確かあるはずなんですけど。見てみますか？
Store assistant: We don't have smaller ones with exactly the same design. Are earrings that look similar okay? If so, we should have some if I remember correctly. Would you like to see them?
- ～なら if, in case: 雨なら行きません。I won't go if it's raining; as for: 東京ならよく知ってます。I know a lot about Tokyo; then: それなら行きましょう。Then, let's go.
- ～はず ought to; should; it's certain that: ドア閉めたはず。I'm sure I closed the door; 学校に入れるはず。You should be able to enter the school. (It's certain that you can enter the school.)
ジュン：もちろん、見たいです。
Jun: Of course, I do.
店員：じゃあ、一度持ってきますね。中にあるはずです。
Store assistant: Then, I'll go bring them here. They should be inside.
Situation 2
Jun, who has come to shop with his friend Aki, is calling her mother.
ジュン：もしもし。
Jun: Hello.
- もしもし hello (on the phone)
お母さん：あー、ジュン？どうしたの？今、どこ？
Mother: Oh, Jun? What's the matter? Where are you now?
- どうしたの？ what's up?; what's wrong?; what's the matter?
ジュン：まだ、アキと一緒にお店見たりとかしてる。
Jun: I'm still looking around at shops and stuff with Aki.
- [お]店 store; shop; restaurant
- ～たり used to list things; often ～たり、～たり; 飲んだり食べたりしました。We drank and we ate.
お母さん：あ、そうなの？それで、いつ帰ってくるの？帰ってから、ごはん、食べるんだよね？
Mother: Oh, is that so? So when will you be back home? You're having dinner when you're back, right?
ジュン：ううん、夜、うちで食べるのやめた。それで、電話した。
Jun: Nope, I've decided to not have dinner at home tonight. That's why I called.
- 夜 night; evening
- 止める to stop, to give up; 辞める to quit (a job)
- 電話 telephone, call; 電話する to call (on the phone)
お母さん：アキちゃんと一緒に食べてくるの？
Mother: Are you eating with Aki-chan before coming back?
ジュン：うん。まだいろいろ見たいものあるし、もうちょっと遊んで帰る。
Jun: Yeah. There are still lots of things we want to see, so we are going to hang out a little more before I go back.
- 遊ぶ to play; to enjoy oneself; to meet up (with friends), to hang out
お母さん：分かった。ジュンのごはん作るのやめる。
Mother: Got it. I won't cook your dinner then.
ジュン：うん、いいよ。
Jun: Yeah, okay.
お母さん：休みに遊ぶのはいいけど、早く帰ってくるんだよ。バスが少なくなっちゃうから。
Mother: It's okay to hang out on holidays, but come back early since there are fewer buses.
- 休み holiday, a day off; rest; being closed
- 早い early; soon; 速い fast
- バス bus
- 少ない a little; a few
- ～くなる to become: 赤くなる to become red; 読まなくなる to stop reading
ジュン：あ、そうだよね。休みの日って、夜、バス、少ないよね。分かった。ごはん食べたら早く帰る。
Jun: Oh, you're right. There are indeed fewer buses at night on holidays. Got it. I'll go home right after we have dinner.
- ～たら if, when, after: 終わったら行く。I'll go when I finish; why don't you…?; 勉強したら？Why don't you study?
Step 2 - Take the Quiz
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Step 3 - Writing Exercises (Optional)
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For this sentence: じゃあ、一度持ってきますね。中にあるはずです。
Could you please explain about the use of “一度” here? Literally, I suppose it means “one time” but when it’s used in this kind of context does it mean “at once”? i.e. “I’ll bring it at once.”
We are sorry for the late response.
Here, the speaker means “I’ll bring it to you to try.” or “I’ll bring it to you just to check.”
It’s not very common, but some people put it this way.
Thanks for explaining!
No problem! ^ ^
The sentence “ジュン：まだ、アキと一緒いっしょにお店みせ見みたりとかしてる。” translates to “Jun: I’m still looking around at shops with Aki.” but doesn’t the たり and とか part imply “and the like; such as; among other things; and so on”?
It can. And it can also be a filler word.
Ah, I just thought it should be included in the translation since it carries a slightly different meaning than simply “I’m looking around at shops with Aki”. For future situations it would be nice to have filler words included in translation since people actually use them in conversation.
Yes, とか means “and stuff”, or “like” ( a filler word) as Yuta sensei said.
And thank you so much for your suggestion for future situations.
What is the purpose of なって in line 3? The translation has everything except that verb I think.
Could you explain how 大きい方が、顔、小さく見えるんですよ translates to Bigger earrings make your face look smaller? I’m mainly confused about how the 方 works when making comparisons like in this sentence.
In the 2nd situation in the 2nd to last line, could you explain what role “のは” plays in 休みに遊ぶのはいいけど?
In the 2nd situation, “アキちゃんと一緒に食べてくるの？” what indicates the “before” word in the translation?
Thanks!
[いいなって]
In this case, it consists of いいな ＋ って.
As you may already understand, いい means “nice” or “good.” な here adds a sense of admiration.
って works in the same way as と in order to quote what they think or say, like “that” in English: I thought “that” they were nice.
The full sentence should be いいなって（いいなと）思ってたんです。(I thought that they were nice.)
She omitted 思ってたんです(thought) part since it’s obvious and predictable for us.
いいなって(いいなと)+思う is a sort of a collocation.
[大きい方が]
So, this comparison form is: [A]ほうが[B]よりも…., which means [A] is more (much)/ less ….than [B].
In other words, ほうが makes clear that [A] is the subject.
Therefore, 大きい方 is the subject in this sentence.
[A] is 大きいほう, and [B] is 小さいほう (smaller earings). The clerk omitted [B] here because it’s obvious what she’s comparing to.
[のは]
の here works like “to” that makes a noun phrase as in “to hang out.”
は indicates that the speaker is only talking about a particular thing.
In this sentence, the mother only approves to hang out on holidays. She doesn’t say okay to other things.
[“アキちゃんと一緒に食べてくるの？”]
The mother is actually asking if her daughter is going to eat with Aki somewhere, instead of eating with her family at home.
In other words, she wants to make sure that her daughter won’t come home hungry, and she won’t want leftovers, either.
Thank you very much for your explanation Hana-sensei!
No problem! 🙂