Lesson Dialogues
Situation 1
Aki and Jun are walking together. Aki found a vintage car.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
アキとジュンは____を見ている。
A 写真
B 車
C テレビ
D 家族
アキ:見て、見て。
- 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
ジュン:何?
- 何 what
アキ:あれ。あの車。
- あれ that
- あの that; those
- 車 car; wheel
ジュン:かわいいね。
- かわいい cute; nice; lovely
- ~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).
アキ:クラシックカーだよね。
- クラシックカー vintage car
- ~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.
ジュン:みんな、写真撮ってる。
- みんな everyone (often みなさん); everything
- 写真 picture; photo
- 撮って te-form of 撮る; 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...
- 取る to take; to get; to have; to pass; 撮る to take (pictures, movies, etc.)
- ~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?
アキ:私たちも写真撮ろうよ。
- ~たち makes a noun (mostly people, animals) plural: 私たち we, 子どもたち children, クマたち bears
- 撮ろう ou form of 撮る; ~ou expresses suggestion; let's __; 食べよう。 let's eat; 行こう。 let's go; 遊ぼう。 let's play; 作ろう。let's make.
- ~よ introduces new information; emphasises a sentence: 朝だよ!It's morning!
Situation 2
Aki and Jun caught sight of a stylish vintage car in town.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ジュンは、昔の車を買いたいですか?
A はい
B いいえ
アキ:昔の車でも乗れるんだね。
- 昔 the past; in the past; once (in the past)
- 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?
- 乗れる potential form of 乗る; ~れる expresses possibility; can; can be
- 乗る to ride; to get on; to take (the train, bus etc.)
- ~のです、~んです、~のだ、~んだ 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.
ジュン:乗りたいな。
- 乗りたい たい form of 乗る; ~たい expresses desire; I want to __
- ~な expresses emotions; emphasises the emotion; softens the sentence; often なー: 日本へ行きたいな。I want to go to Japan; かわいいなー。It's so cute.
アキ:私も。乗ってみたい。
- 乗って te-form of 乗る; 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...
- ~てみたい たい form of ~てみる; ~たい expresses desire; I want to __
- ~てみる to try and ___; to try something; to attempt to do something: 食べてみる。I'll try eating.
ジュン:でも、自分ではたぶん買わないだろうな。
- 自分 oneself
- たぶん probably; perhaps; maybe
- 買わない negative form of 買う
- 買う to buy
- ~だろう seems; I think; I guess; I wonder
アキ:すごく高いんだろうね。
- すごく adverbial form of すごい
- すごい i-adj fantastic, wonderful, terrible; adv awfully, very, immensely
- 高い high; tall; expensive
Situation 3
At the venue of an event that showcases vintage cars, an onlooker approaches the owner of one of the vintage cars.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
オーナーの車は、普通に乗れますか?
A はい
B いいえ
見物人:いい車ですね。
- いい good: 映画よかった! The film was great!; you may use this to indicate your preference or choice: 私、ラーメンがいい。I'd like to choose ramen; いいね is the Japanese version of "like" on social media.
オーナー:ありがとうございます。
見物人:これ、普通に乗れるんですか?
- これ this, these; この this, these (possessive): この車 this car
- 普通 normal; regular; ordinary; common
オーナー:はい。問題なく乗れますよ。これでいろんなとこ行ってますよ。
- 問題 problem; question
- なく adverbial form of ない
- ない There is no . . . ; no . . .
- いろんな various; different kinds of: いろんなものを買った。I bought many different kinds of things; いろんな is more colloquial than いろいろな
- 所、とこ place: 広い所 a big place; point: わからない所ある?Is there anything you don't understand?; part; aspect: どんなところが好き? What part do you like?; area; explains the current situation: 食べているところ I'm in the middle of eating; 食べたところ I just finished eating (= at the point where I finished eating.)
- 行って(い)ます ます form of 行って(い)る; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- 行って(い)る progressive from of 行く: まだ、食べてる。I'm still eating.
- 行く to go
Situation 4
At the venue of an event that showcases vintage cars, an onlooker is talking to the owner of a vintage car.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
オーナーは、メンテナンスが____。
A 高い
B 楽しい
C 普通だ
D かわいい
見物人:メンテナンス、大変ですよね。
- メンテナンス maintenance
- 大変 serious; terrible; hard; difficult
オーナー:はい。でも、それも楽しいんです。
- それ that; those
- 楽しい pleasant; happy; enjoyable; fun
見物人:本当にこの車、好きなんですね。
- 本当、ほんと truth; right; really
- 好き favorite; to like; to love
オーナー:もう家族みたいなものですね。
- 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?
- 家族 family
- ~みたい like; it seems that...; as if...: 明日雨みたい。 it seems like it's raining tomorrow.
- もの thing; object; stuff
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.