Lesson Dialogues
Situation 1
Haru and Ryo are talking.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
リョウは、ジャズが好きですか?
A はい
B いいえ
ハル:音楽好き?
- 音楽 music
- 好き favorite; to like; to love
リョウ:うん、好きだよ。
- うん (casual, non-keigo) yes; yeah
- ~よ、~よー introduces new information; emphasises a sentence: 朝だよ!It's morning!
ハル:どんな音楽が好き?
- どんな what kind of: どんな音楽が好き?What kind of music do you like?
リョウ:ジャズとか。
- ジャズ jazz
- ~とか such as; or something; and so on; something like: 家とか車とか買いたい。I want to buy things like cars or houses; people often add とか to soften a word: 車とか買いたい。I want to buy a car (とか here doesn't always have a lot of meaning depending on the context).
ハル:よく聞いてるの?
- よく good; well; often: 日本によく行きます。 I go to Japan often.
- 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、聴く to hear; to listen; to ask; to obey
- ~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?
- ~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.
リョウ:ううん、そんなに。でも、好き。
- ううん nuh-uh; no (non keigo)
- 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.
- 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?
Situation 2
Haru and Ryo are talking about jazz.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
リョウは、ジャズを、____聞きたい。
A 一人で
B 友達と
C 会社で
D みんなで
ハル:ジャズってなんかいいね。
- ~って (は) 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?ん)
- 何か、なんか 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.
- よい、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.
- ~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).
リョウ:夜、聞くのがいいんだよね。
- 夜 night; evening
- ~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?
- ~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.
- ~よね、よな 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.
ハル:分かる。仕事から帰った後なんかにね。
- 分かる to understand; to see
- 仕事 work, job; 仕事する to work
- ~から from; after: 日本から来ました。I'm from Japan.
- 帰った past form of 帰る
- 帰る to return; to go home; to go back
- 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).
リョウ:うん、一人で聞きたい感じ。
- 一人 one person; alone
- 聞きたい たい form of 聞く; ~たい expresses desire; I want to __
- 感じ feeling; impression; atmosphere; often used to express your impression: この部屋いい感じ。 This room looks good.
Situation 3
Today is the day that the trash collection vehicle comes.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
もう____は行ってしまった。
A 音楽
B 店
C 家族
D 車
山田:おはようございます。
加藤:もう車行っちゃいましたよ。
- 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?
- 車 car; wheel
- 行く to go
- ~ちゃいました past form of ~ちゃいます
- ~ちゃいます ます form of ~ちゃう; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- ~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 past form: 食べちゃう to end up eating
山田:えー、今日は早いですね。
- えー、え expresses surprise or disappointment: えー、本当? What? Really?
- 今日 today
- 早い early; soon; 速い fast
加藤:ほんと。私が来たのも、車が行った後でした。
- 本当、ほんと truth; right; really
- 来た past form of 来る
- 来る to come
- 行った past form of 行く
Situation 4
This is a conversation at a supermarket.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
今日、レタスはありますか?
A はい
B いいえ
客:レタスはありますか?
- レタス lettuce
- 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:今日はもうなくなりました。
- なくなりました past form of なくなります
- なくなります ます form of なくなる; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- なくなる to disappear; to be gone
客:えー、もう、ないんですか?
- 無い There is no . . . ; no . . .
店員:はい。少し前まであったんですけど。
- 少し a little; a few
- 前 forward; front; before
- ~まで to, as far as:日本まで行った。I went to (as far as) Japan; till, until: 朝まで仕事した。I worked until morning.
- あった past form of ある
- けれど、けど but; however; although; though; a lot of people finish a sentence with (だ)けど because it makes the sentence less direct.
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.
This is the most challenging lesson in Level 1 I have had so far, but I like it.
Good to know! Keep going 🙂
ハル:分かる。仕事から帰った後なんかにね。
ーーーーーーーー
this に in the end is のように ?
can i replace なんかにね for something like 仕事から帰った後のようにね?
you can say, 仕事から帰った後のような時にね。
or
仕事から帰った後などにね。
にindicates the time.