Lesson Dialogues
Situation 1
Sasaki-san and Takahashi-san are talking at the company.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
高橋さんは、仕事が終わりましたか?
A はい
B いいえ
佐々木:まだ仕事終わらない?
- まだ yet; still: まだ帰れない。I can't go home yet.
- 仕事 work, job; 仕事する to work
- 終わらない negative form of 終わる
- 終わる to end; to finish
高橋:はい、もう少しやります。
- 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?
- 少し a little; a few
- やります ます form of やる; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- やる to do; to give; often more casual than する
佐々木:私もやろうか。
- やろう ou form of やる; ~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.
高橋:いえ、そんなに時間かかりませんので。
- いや、いえ no; colloquial version of いいえ
- そんな that; such: そんな事はできない。I can't do such a thing; そんなに so much; so; like that; often そんなに~ない: そんなに食べれない。I can't eat that much.
- 時間 time; hour: 一時間 one hour, 二時間 two hours
- かかりません negative form of かかります
- かかります ます form of かかる; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- かかる to take (time, resource); to cost; to hang
- ~ので、んで as; because; since; 疲れたんで帰ります。I'll go home because I'm tired; (ので・んで may sound a little softer and more objective than から.)
佐々木:じゃあ、先に帰るね。
- 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.
- 先 before; first (as in "you go first"); end; front; future
- 帰る to return; to go home; to go back
- ~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
Takuya and Kai are talking.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
カイは、毎日、たくさん_____。
A 勉強してる
B 仕事してる
C 写真を撮ってる
D 歩いてる
タクヤ:体にいい事、何かしてる?
- 体 body
- 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.
- 事 thing: 大事なこと an important thing; こと converts a sentence into a massive noun: 明日、日本に行くことは難しい。 It's difficult to go to Japan tomorrow. ("明日、日本に行くこと" works like a big chunk of noun)
- 何か something; things like ..., or something like that ...; conversation filler: なんか、寒い。Well, it's cold; emphasises noun, often in a deprecating way: 魚なんか嫌い。I don't like something like fish.
- して(い)る progressive from of する: まだ、食べてる。I'm still eating.
- する to do; to make; to decide on; to choose
カイ:うん。毎日、たくさん歩いてる。
- うん (casual, non-keigo) yes; yeah
- 毎日 every day
- たくさん many; much; a lot
- 歩いて(い)る progressive from of 歩く: まだ、食べてる。I'm still eating.
- 歩く to walk
タクヤ:毎日?大変じゃない?
- 大変 serious; terrible; hard; difficult
- ~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; 私、お金ないじゃん?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.
カイ:いや、楽しいよ。気持ちがいいし。
- 楽しい pleasant; happy; enjoyable; fun
- ~よ introduces new information; emphasises a sentence: 朝だよ!It's morning!
- 気持ち feeling; sensation; mood; 気持ちがいい feeling good; 気持ちが悪い feeling bad, feeling sick
- ~し and; besides; because, since: 雨だし行かない。/行かない、雨だし。 I won't go. Besides, it's raining.
タクヤ:そっか。俺もやってみようかな。
- そっか is that so?; I see; you're right; そっか is colloquial
- 俺 I (used by male speakers)
- やって te-form of やる; 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...
- やる to do; to give; often more casual than する
- ~てみよう ou form of ~てみる; ~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.
- ~てみる to try and ___; to try something; to attempt to do something: 食べてみる。I'll try eating.
- ~かな indicates uncertainty; softens a sentence: ちょっと寒いかな。I think it's a bit cold.
Situation 3
A mother is talking to her son, Yuki.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ユウキはご飯を食べますか?
A はい
B いいえ
母:ご飯できたよ。
- 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
- できた past form of できる
- できる to be able to do, to be good at; to be ready; to be made: 彼女ができる=to find a girlfriend; 友達ができる=to make a friend
ユウキ:うん。
母:まだゲームやってるの?
- ゲーム game
- ~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.
ユウキ:後、もう少しで終わる。
- 後 after; later; the rest; also; in addition; from now: あと三分あります。We have 3 minutes left (from now).
母:じゃあ、私、先に食べちゃおう。なくなっちゃうよ。
- 食べる to eat
- ~ちゃおう ou form of ~ちゃう; ~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.
- ~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
- なくなる to disappear; to be gone
ユウキ:えー!じゃ、ご飯食べる!
- えー expresses surprise or disappointment: えー、本当? What? Really?
Situation 4
A teacher and Hayato are talking.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
この本の写真は、____の写真だ。
A 世界の街
B 日本の山
C 世界の人
D 日本のゲーム
先生:この本の写真、何?
- これ this, these; この this, these (possessive): この車 this car
- 本 book
- 写真 picture; photo
- 何 what
ハヤト:世界の街の写真です。
- 世界 world
- 街 town; city
先生:写真好きなんだ?
- 好き favorite; to like; to love
- ~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.
ハヤト:はい。僕も、こんな写真が撮りたいんです。
- 僕 I (used by male speakers)
- こんな so; such; like that; こんなに may indicate a great degree of quality or quantity: こんなに食べたの? Did you eat this much?
- 撮りたい たい form of 撮る; ~たい expresses desire; I want to __
- 取る to take; to get; to have; to pass; 撮る to take (pictures, movies, etc.)
先生:へぇ。今度、撮った写真見たいな。
- 今度 next time; sometime; this time
- 撮った past form of 撮る
- 見たい たい form of 見る; ~たい expresses desire; I want to __
- 見る to see; to look; to watch; to check; we use 観る for things like sports or TV shows
- ~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.
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.