Lesson Dialogues
Situation 1
Aki and Jun are in a cafe.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ジュンはケーキを食べますか?
A はい
B いいえ
アキ:ケーキ、食べようかな。
- ケーキ cake
- 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.
- 食べる to eat
- ~かな indicates uncertainty; softens a sentence: ちょっと寒いかな。I think it's a bit cold.
ジュン:ここの、おいしいよね。
- ここ here
- おいしい delicious; tasty
- ~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.
アキ:ジュンは?
ジュン:私は食べない。
- 食べない negative form of 食べる
アキ:なんで?
- なぜ、なんで why; how come
ジュン:今、やめてるんだ。ケーキ食べるの。
- 今 now
- やめて te-form of やめる; 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...
- やめる、辞める 止める to stop, to give up; 辞める to quit (a job)
- ~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.
- ~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?
Situation 2
Jun, who likes cakes, is saying she won't eat cake.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ジュンは____をしている。
A 勉強
B 仕事
C 電話
D ダイエット
アキ:ほんとに食べないの?
- 本当、ほんと truth; right; really
ジュン:うん、食べないよ。
- うん (casual, non-keigo) yes; yeah
- ~よ、~よー introduces new information; emphasises a sentence: 朝だよ!It's morning!
アキ:ダイエットしてるの?
- ダイエット diet; losing weight
- して te-form of する; 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...
- する to do; to make; to decide on; to choose
- ダイエットする to be on a diet; to go on a diet
ジュン:そう。今度はうまくやるよ。
- 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
- 今度 next time; sometime; this time
- うまい delicious, tasty; good at: ギターうまいね!You are good at playing the guitar!; うまく well
- やる to do; to give; often more casual than する
アキ:前もそう言ったよね。
- 前 forward; front; before
- 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".
Situation 3
Sato-san and Tanaka-san are doing overtime.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
佐藤さんが買いに行きますか?
A はい
B いいえ
田中:今、何時ですか?
- 何 what
- 時 time, when: 子供の時 when I was a child; 時 o'clock
- 何時 what time
佐藤:もう7時ですよ。
- 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?
田中:何か食べますか?
- 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.
- 食べます ます form of 食べる; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
佐藤:そうですね。買ってきましょうか?
- ~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).
- 買って te-form of 買う; 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...
- 買う to buy
- ~てきましょう ましょう form of ~てくる; ~ましょう is a keigo form of ~よう which expresses desire; let's __
- ~てくる [1] go and ___; indicates that you will do something and come back to the original place; indicates you are doing something in addition to coming to a place: 学校に行ってくる。 I'll go to school (and come back.) [2] indicates a gradual process: 空が赤くなってくる。The sky is becoming red. [3] indicates something you've been doing in the past. 今まで一人で仕事してきた。I've been working alone up until now.
田中:私が行ってきます。
- 行って te-form of 行く; 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...
- 行く to go
- ~てきます ます form of ~てくる; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
Situation 4
During overtime, it seems like Tanaka-san will go out to buy food for everyone at work.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
田中さんは____まで行く。
A カフェ
B レストラン
C コンビニ
D 会社
田中:何か食べたいものありますか?
- 食べたい たい form of 食べる; ~たい expresses desire; I want to __
- 物 thing; object; stuff
- 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
佐藤:どんなものでもいいですよ。
- どんな what kind of: どんな音楽が好き?What kind of music do you like?
- 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?
- 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.
田中:分かりました。
- 分かりました past form of 分かります
- 分かります ます form of 分かる; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
- 分かる to understand; to see; to know
佐藤:どこまで行きますか?
- どこ where
- ~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.
- 行きます ます form of 行く; ~ます makes a keigo (polite) sentence
田中:すぐそこのコンビニまで。
- すぐそこ right there
- コンビニ convenience store
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.