Lesson Dialogues
Situation 1
Yuta and Kaori are walking in front of a restaurant.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ゆうたとかおりは、____を食べる。
A スナック
B ご飯
C スマホ
D お店
ゆうた:もう12時だ。
- 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?
- 時 time, when: 子供の時 when I was a child; 時 o'clock
かおり:もう12時?お昼ご飯食べる?
- ご飯、ごはん 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
ゆうた:いいね。ご飯食べよう。
- 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).
- 食べよう ou form of 食べる; ~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.
かおり:このお店はどう?
- これ this, these; この this, these (possessive): この車 this car
- 店 store; shop; restaurant
- どう how; what: どう思う?What do you think?; how about: ラーメンどう?How about (eating) ramen?
ゆうた:いいね。この店にしよう。
- しよう ou form of する; ~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.
- する to do; to make; to decide on; to choose
Situation 2
Yuta and his mother are eating curry for dinner.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ゆうたは、カレーをもっと食べたいですか?
A はい
B いいえ
お母さん:どう?おいしい?
- おいしい delicious; tasty
ゆうた:うん、ほんとおいしいよ。
- うん (casual, non-keigo) yes; yeah
- 本当、ほんと truth; right; really
- ~よ introduces new information; emphasises a sentence: 朝だよ!It's morning!
お母さん:ゆうたは本当にカレー好きだよね。
- カレー curry
- 好き favorite; to like; to love
- ~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.
ゆうた:うん、好き。もっと食べていい?
- もっと more
- 食べて te-form of 食べる; 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...
- ~ていい、てもいい expression to give or ask for permission: 食べていい? Can I eat?; 食べていいよ。You can eat (it's OK to eat); 食べなくていいよ。You don't have to eat (It's OK not to eat); てもいい is softer: (I) don't mind if: 夕食作ってもいいよ。I don't mind cooking dinner; can I...?: ペン借りてもいい? Can I borrow your pen?
Situation 3
Suzuki-san starts talking to Sato-san, who is listening to something with earphones.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
佐藤さんは____を聞いている。
A 音楽
B ラジオ
C 話
D スマホ
鈴木:何の音楽を聴いてるんですか?
- 何 what
- 音楽 music
- 聞いて、聴いて te-form of 聴く; 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.
佐藤:いえ、音楽ではないです。ラジオを聞いてます。
- いや、いえ no; colloquial version of いいえ
- ラジオ radio
- 聞いて(い)ます ます form of 聞いて(い)る; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
鈴木:へぇー、面白いですか?
- へぇ、へー oh, yes?; really?
- 面白い interesting; fun; funny
佐藤:面白いですよ。
Situation 4
An automobile dealer and customer are looking at cars.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
安い車はありますか?
A はい
B いいえ
お客さん:この車は高いですか?
- 車 car; wheel
- 高い high; tall; expensive
ディーラー:そうですね。結構高いです。
- 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
- 結構 adv. quite, fairly; na-adj. good
お客さん:もっと安い車はありますか。
- 安い cheap; low (price); inexpensive
- 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
ディーラー:あります。あれは結構安いですよ。
- あれ that
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.
Is there any nuance bewteen 聞く and 聴く?
Basically,
聞く is to hear.
When you don’t concentrate on listening to something.
聴く is to listen.
When you listen to something carefully or with some interest
Hope it helps!
Help it does! Thank you!
you are very welcome!