Lesson Dialogues
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Situation 1
Aki and her friend, Jun, are talking.
アキ：あの場所にカフェできるってほんと？
Aki: Is it true that there's going to be a cafe there?
- カフェ cafe
ジュン：うん、そうらしいよ。
Jun: Yeah, apparently so.
- ～らしい it seems like... : 彼女は先生らしい。It seems like she's a teacher.
アキ：どっかに書いてあった？
Aki: Was it written somewhere?
- どこか、どっか somewhere, anywhere: どこか行こう。Let's go somewhere; in some way, somehow: どこか間違っている。Something is wrong.
- ～てある describes a state resulting from someone's action: お昼ごはん作ってあるよ。I made lunch (and I'm keeping it so that you can eat it).
ジュン：ううん。書いてないと思う。
Jun: No. I don't think it was written.
アキ：じゃあ、なんで知ってるの？
Aki: Then why do you know that?
ジュン：うちの父がそう言ってた。父の知ってる人のお店なんだって。
Jun: My father said so. Apparently, it's a cafe owned by someone that my father knows.
- 父 father
- 言ってた progressive, past form of 言う to say <- 言ってる <- 言う
- ～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.
アキ：あー、それで。
Aki: Oh, so that's why.
ジュン：うん。その人、前、父と同じ会社で仕事してたんだって。
Jun: Yeah. Apparently, that person used to work at the same company as my father.
- 仕事してた progressive, past form of 仕事する to work <- 仕事してる <- 仕事する
アキ：えー、会社やめてカフェやるの？
Aki: What? He quit the company to run a cafe?
ジュン：そうみたい。少し前にやめてどっかでカフェの勉強したらしいよ。
Jun: It seems like it. Apparently, he quit a while ago and studied cafe management somewhere.
- 勉強 study; 勉強する to learn, to study
アキ：やっぱり勉強しなきゃいけないんだね。
Aki: Studying is necessary after all, huh?
- なきゃいけない must; have to; need to; 今日、仕事しなきゃいけない。I have to work today; often just "ないと": 今日、仕事しないと。I have to work today
ジュン：そうだね。うまくやってくにはね。
Jun: That's right. That is, to succeed.
- には in order to
アキ：で、ジュンは知ってるの、その人？
Aki: And do you know that person, Jun?
ジュン：ううん。でも、私が小さい頃、うちに遊びに来たらしい。父がそう言ってた。
Jun: No. But apparently, he came to hang out at our house when I was young. That's what my father said.
- 頃 time; about; when
アキ：覚えてないよね、小さい頃のことじゃ。
Aki: It's normal not to remember what happened when you were that young.
Situation 2
Tanaka-san wanted to invite Sato-san to play golf, but it seems that Sato-san has quit golf.
田中：もうゴルフ全くしないんですか？
Tanaka: You don't play golf at all anymore?
- ゴルフ golf
- 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.
佐藤：はい。全くやらなくなりましたね。
Sato: That's right. I don't play it at all anymore.
- ～くなる to become: 赤くなる to become red; 読まなくなる to stop reading
田中：そうなんですね。次の日曜日、佐藤さん、一緒にゴルフ行かないかなって思ったんですが。
Tanaka: I see. I was thinking of asking you if you would like to play golf together next Sunday, Sato-san, but...
佐藤：そうだったんですか。ありがとうございます。やってた頃なら、一緒に行ったかもしれないんですけど。
Sato: Is that so? Thank you. If you had asked while I was still playing, I might have gone with you, but...
- ～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.
- やってた progressive, past form of やる to do <- やってる <- やる
- 行ってた progressive, past form of 行く to go <- 行ってる <- 行く
田中：でも、なんでやらなくなったんです？面白くなくなったんですか？
Tanaka: But why did you stop? Is it no longer fun for you?
佐藤：いえ、そういうわけじゃないんですよ。やってた頃は面白かったんですけど。
Sato: No, that's not it. It was fun when I was still playing it.
- わけ reason; cause
田中：じゃあ、どんなわけで？
Tanaka: Then what's the reason?
佐藤：家族と遊ぶ方が大事かなって思って。
Sato: I thought it was more important to spend time having fun with my family.
- 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
- 大事 important, serious; 大事にする to take good care of, to cherish, to treasure
田中：あー、確かに。うちの家族がよく言うんですよ。家族よりゴルフの方が大事なのって。
Tanaka: Oh, that's true. My family often asks me if golf is more important than family.
Step 2 - Take the Quiz
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Step 3 - Writing Exercises (Optional)
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For the last sentence, “家族よりゴルフの方が大事なのって。” What function does 方 serve? The definition of it on Jisho is direction, side, or making a comparison. But doesn’t より serve that function as “than”? Or does 方が carry a different meaning?
That’s a good question.
方が makes the noun before it the subject: ゴルフの方が, so golf is the subject.
Golf is more important (than one’s family)
I think I sort of get it, so, 家族 = family より= than ゴルフの方が大事なの = Golf is more important, and put together its Golf is more important than family.
If 方が makes the noun before it the subject though, could one not also use は？ or does 方が serve a special function as making the noun before it a subject in the middle of a sentence to mean that said subject is more important than another?
Yes, you got it right!
That’s right. When you compare several things, the things become important.
The speaker wants to ask, “Which is more important for you, golf or family?”
When the subject has the information they want to tell or know, が is used.
Hi, would you mind explaining to me the use of で in the following two sentences?
From the first dialogue: で、ジュンは知ってるの、その人？
From the second dialogue: じゃあ、どんなわけで？
Thanks
The first one is shortened to それで.
It’s to continue a conversation.
The second one is to ask a reason: “Then, in what reason (did you quit it)?”
It would help you:
../../15/2021年3月15日-level-1-quiz/index.html
For the first situation, I’m sort of confused on the 6th line about “うちの”. I understand how the rest of the sentence translates to my father said so, but what about that first phrase?
For the second sentence in that line, how does it translate to “it’s a cafe owned by someone that my father knows”? I initially thought it translated to,” Because my father knows an employee there” because I translated 人のお店 to employee.
In the 1st situation 2nd to last line, how do you know that they came over to your house vs you came to their house? I understood it as Jun saying that he came to their house when he was young.
In the 2nd situation 2nd line, what does “やら” mean in the line “全くやらなくなりましたね”?
Also, why does “やってた頃なら” have “頃” in it? I don’t really understand it in the translation. I think I have problems with 頃 in general when it comes to it’s definitions. It was hard understanding it in the 4th to last line in the 2nd situation as well.
Sorry for so many questions and thank you for your help!
うち has several meanings. Here, it means “inside my house,” “my family,” or “my house”.
So うちの父 literally means “a father who is in my house”, therefore it means “my father.”
It sounds strange, but some people say so.
父の知ってる人のお店なんだって。
Xのお店 means “X’s shop,” “X’s cafe” or “X’s restaurant.” (X is the owner of the place)
Here, X is 父の知ってる人 (a person/someone my father knows)
they came over to your house vs you came to their house
I think it works in the same way as English.
In English, you say “A person comes to my house”, and “I go to a person’s house”, don’t you?
“come” means 来る, and “go” means 行く in Japanese.
So above sentences can be translated as
人がうち(私の家）に来る。and 人の家に行く。
“全くやらなくなりましたね”?
Let’s break down やらなくなりました.
The basic form of the verb is やる (do).
やらない is a negative form of やる.
やらなくなる consists of やらない + くなる, which means “stop doing something.”
やらなくなります is a formal/polite way of やらなくなる.
やらなくなりました is the past tense of やらなくなります.
頃 is hard to explain because I don’t know an equivalent word in English, but I’ll try:
It indicates a certain period roughly, not specifically.
It’s like “when”, but wider.
Like 高校生の頃 (around the period of my high school days? —- Does it make sense?)
You have 3 or 4 years in high school. 頃 is suitable for around the time range.
Thank you very much Hana-sensei!
No problem! 🙂
覚おぼえてないよね、小ちいさい頃ころのことじゃ。
Would you mind explaining to me this sentence?
Thanks
This sentence is used inversion.
The normal way of saying this is 小さい頃のことじゃ覚えてないよね。
It means
“Since it happened when you were a child, I wouldn’t be surprised
if you don’t remember it.”
Here, “it” indicates the fact that the man visited Jun’s home when she was a child.