Lesson Dialogues
Situation 1
Two coworkers, Sato-san and Shimada-san, are talking in the office.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
島田さんは、ご飯を食べるのが____。
A 早い
B 大きい
C かわいい
D 楽しい
佐藤:島田さん、ご飯食べるの、早いですよね。
- ご飯 rice; meal: 朝ご飯(朝食・朝飯) breakfast, 昼ご飯(昼食・昼飯) lunch, 夜ご飯(夕飯・夕食) dinner; supper
- 食べる to eat
- ~の の can make other words, such as verbs or adjectives, function like a noun: 食べるのはやめる。I will stop eating. 欲しいのはどれ? Which is the one you want?
- 早い early; soon; 速い fast
- ~よね shares mutual sentiments; confirms some information: 寒いよね。 It's cold, right?; よな is sometimes used by male speakers; かわいいよ。 may imply she might not know that she's cute, かわいいね。 may imply you expect her to notice it too, and かわいいよね。implies that the speaker is fairly certain about the statement and expect the other person to agree.
島田:早い?普通じゃない?
- 普通 normal; regular; ordinary; common
佐藤:昔から早いんですか?
- 昔 the past; in the past; once (in the past)
- ~から from; after: 日本から来ました。I'm from Japan.
- ~のです、んです、のだ、んだ、の actually, as a matter of fact: 明日、映画見たいんですよね/だよね。I actually want to watch a movie tomorrow; often used with けど: すいません、トイレに行きたいんですけど/だけど。。。Excuse me, I'd like to go to the bathroom; used to ask for a reason: なんで明日、会社来ないんですか/来ないの? Why are you not coming to work tomorrow?; used to confirm or react to your observation: もう帰るんですか/帰るの? Are you going home already?; emphasizes discontentment or anger: 何言ってんだよ/んですか。 what the heck are you talking about?; ~なんだ with nouns, na-adjectives, and adverbs: 明日雨なんだ。It will rain tomorrow.
島田:そうだね。昔からだね。
- そう so (as in "I think so"): そう思う。 I think so. ; そうなんだ。 I see.; that is so, that's right
- ~ね shares information or experiences; softens a sentence; expects an agreement; isn't it?; don't you?: 雨だね。Oh, it's raining (as you can see).
Situation 2
Tanaka-san is talking to a store clerk while showing something on the smartphone.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
田中さんは、また来ますか?
A はい
B いいえ
田中:この本はありますか?
- これ this, these; この this, these (possessive): この車 this car
- 本 book
- あります ます form of ある; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- ある to be (existence); to have (possession); to happen; use ある for objects and いる for people and animals
店員:ああ、これ、今なくなっちゃったんですよ。
- 今 now
- なくなる to disappear; to be gone
- ちゃった past form of ちゃう
- ~てしまう、ちゃう to end up doing; to do accidentally; to do without meaning to; to happen to do; to connect a verb to ちゃう, simply remove た from the paste form: 食べちゃう to end up eating
- ~よ introduces new information; emphasises a sentence: 朝だよ!It's morning!
田中:そうなんですか…。
店員:でも、また入りますよ。
- でも but; however: でも、日本に行きたい。But, I want to go to Japan; even: プロでも出来ない。Even professionals can't do it.; or something; things like; how about; often used to soften a word and doesn't have a lot of meanings: お茶でもどう?How about tea?; ラーメンでも食べる?Do you want to eat (things like) ramen?
- また adv additionally; moreover; conj. again; too; and: また来ます。I'll come here again.
- 入ります ます form of 入る; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- 入る to enter; to come in; to go in
田中:じゃあ、また、来ます。
- じゃ、じゃあ well, so, then; if: 雨じゃ外で遊べないね。If it's raining, we can't play outside.
- 来ます ます form of 来る; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- 来る to come
Situation 3
A father is calling out to his daughter Saori.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
サオリは____に行く。
A 学校
B 会社
C レストラン
D 海
父:どこ行くの?
- どこ where
- 行く to go
- ~の emphasises a sentence or question: 本当にできるの?Can you really do it?; できるの!I can do it!; may sound feminine in some cases; 私、できるの。 sounds feminine.
サオリ:友達と海に行くの。この前言ったじゃん。
- 友達 friend
- 海 sea; ocean
- この前 some time ago; recently; lately; the other day: この前車買ったよ。I bought a car the other day.
- 言った past form of 言う
- 言う to say; to speak; to talk; to mean: どういう意味?What does it mean? 暑いっていう意味。It means "hot".
- ~じゃん、~じゃない、~じゃないですか じゃん: common way of ending a sentence mainly in Kanto region, a colloquial form of じゃない; isn't it; 今日寒いじゃん。だから出かけない。It's cold today, right? So I won't go out; You know I don't have money, right?; 鈴木さん、会社来たじゃないですか?何でですか? Suzuki-san came to work, right? Why?; expresses a slight surprise or emphasizes a remark: へえ、歌、うまいじゃん。Wow, you are a good singer.
父:聞いてないよ。
- 聞いて te-form of 聞く; te-form is often used to connect to other expressions; te-form may indicate a command; 食べて!Please eat!; it's common to end a sentence with a te-form. Japanese people often don't finish a sentence completely: 昨日学校行って、勉強して。。。I went to school yesterday, studied, and...
- 聞く to hear; to listen; to ask; to obey
- ~て(い)ない negative form of ~て(い)る
- ~ている、てる verb form to express continuation; 食べる + ている = 食べている eating; てる is a colloquial version of ている; some verbs such as 知る uses this form to express the present situation 知っている (I know) but uses the present native form to say the opposite: 知らない (I don't know); often てん in spoken Japanese: それ、知ってんの?Do you know that?
サオリ:言ったよ!私の話、聞いてないんだよね。
- 話 story; talk
父:ごめん、ごめん。
Situation 4
Manami is showing her friend, Lisa, a photograph.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
マナミの子供たちは、大きいですか?
A はい
B いいえ
マナミ:見て。うちの子供たち。
- 見て te-form of 見る; te-form is often used to connect to other expressions; te-form may indicate a command; 食べて!Please eat!; it's common to end a sentence with a te-form. Japanese people often don't finish a sentence completely: 昨日学校行って、勉強して。。。I went to school yesterday, studied, and...
- 見る to see; to look; to watch; to check; we use 観る for things like sports or TV shows
- うち inside; of; before; home; my place; family; うちの my: うちの家 my home
- 子供 child
- ~たち makes a noun (mostly people, animals) plural: 私たち we, 子どもたち children, クマたち bears
リサ:マナミの子供たち?
マナミ:そう!
リサ:まだ小さいんだね。かわいい!
- まだ yet; still: まだ帰れない。I can't go home yet.
- 小さい small; little; tiny
- かわいい cute; nice; lovely
マナミ:もう、毎日、大変。でも楽しいよ。
- もう already; soon; again; more; strengthens expression of an emotion; filler word: なんか、もう、帰ろうよ。 Like, let's go home already?
- 毎日 every day
- 大変 serious; terrible; hard; difficult
- 楽しい pleasant; happy; enjoyable; fun
Step 2 - Take the Quiz
Let's see how many words you remember.
Take the quiz here.
Step 3 - Writing Exercises (Optional)
Let's practice what you learned here.