Lesson Dialogues
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* Hover over or tap words to see definitions:
Situation 1
Two friends are talking while looking at a photo of Keita's child.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ケイタの子供は、最近____。
A ほとんどしゃべらない
B すごくしゃべりたい
C よくしゃべる
D ちょっとしゃべる
ケイタ：うちの子供、かわいくて。
ユウマ：ほんとにかわいいな。
ケイタ：最近はちょっとしゃべるんだ。
ユウマ：もう？まだ小さいよな？
ケイタ：うん。
Situation 2
Colleagues Yanagi-san and Otani-san are talking about their hobbies.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
柳さんは写真を____。
A よく見たい
B 好きじゃない
C 今度持ってくる
D あまり撮らない
柳：写真撮るの好きで。よく撮るんです。
大谷：へー。撮った写真、見てみたいです。
柳：じゃあ、今度持ってきますよ。
Situation 3
Yamada-san (of lower standing) and Saito-san (of higher standing) are talking during a break in the office.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
山田さんは、大きい車を買いますか？
A はい
B いいえ
山田：車買おうと思うんです。
斉藤：どんな車？
山田：安いのがいいです。
斉藤：えー？安いのは、小さいよ。
山田：それでいいです。一人で乗るんで。
Situation 4
An elementary school student, Chie, is talking with a teacher in the library at school.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
先生は、英語の本を読めますか？
A はい
B いいえ
ちえ：先生、その本何ですか？
先生：見てみる？
ちえ：英語の本だ！読めるんですか？
先生：うん。
ちえ：すごいですね。面白いですか？
先生：結構面白いよ。
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.
What is the difference between 「することに決めました」and 「しようと思いました」？
例えば、「何か楽しいことをしようと思った」or「何か楽しいことをすることに決めた」。
教えてください。
「何か楽しいことをすると決めた」
決める means “decide”, “determine”, “choose” or “make up one’s mind.”
So, xxxすると決めました means “I’ve decided to do xxx” or “I’ve chosen to do xxx.”
When you use こと, you can just say xxxすることにした. xxxすることに決めた is okay, but it sounds a bit wordy.
Example:
外国に行くことにした。- I’ve decided to go abroad.
思う here indicates intention or plan.
xxxしようと思いました means “I thought I would do xxx.”
Do you see the difference?
はい。でも、まだわかりません。
So right now I am actually trying to pretend that some one asked me a question and I’m trying to come up with my own sentence.
For example, I am pretending someone asked me,「昨日、何をしましたか？」and I’m trying to give them a response.
My sentence is like this so far 「かなり退屈だったので、何か楽しいことをすると決めました。」(I was quite bored so I decided to do something fun.)
But I don’t know if I should say 「何か楽しいことをしようと思っていました」or 「何か楽しいことをすると決めました。」
少しややこしいですよ。
Both sound odd as an answer to the question 「昨日、何をしましたか？」(What did you do yesterday?), though.
Because neither of them answered exactly what you did.
Usually, we’d say 退屈だったので、友達と出かけました。or 退屈だったので映画を観に行きました, for example.
決めた means “Has decided”, so you have most likely done something already or you are going to do something for sure.
When you say「かなり退屈だったので、何か楽しいことをすると決めました。」, you already decided to do something fun. Therefore, you should be able to tell others what you exactly did after that.
Whereas 思いました just means “thought”. You must’ve thought something strongly, but you haven’t actually done what you thought.
何か楽しいことをしようと思っていました can mean “I was thinking I would do something fun.” You were just “thinking”, so people are not sure if you actually did something fun after that.
For a future plan, you can use them in almost the same way:
今度の日曜日には何か楽しいことをすると決めました。今から友達と一緒に計画を立てます。
– I have decided to do something fun this coming Sunday. Now I’m going to make plans with my friends.
今度の日曜日には何か楽しいことをしようと思います。今から友達と一緒に計画を立てます。
– I think I am going to do something fun this Sunday. Now I’m going to make plans with my friends.
決める sounds a bit stronger as a determination than 思う.
It would be easier to answer if you could be more specific about what part bothers you.
Ok makes sense. The thing that tripped me up was what the difference was between the two. I just didn’t know how to use them properly. I get it now.
As a side note, anytime I don’t understand something I usually go on YouTube or search through the web but they sometimes don’t have everything that I’m looking for. If you have more resources for me to look at please let me know.
By the way the books you recommended are coming along pretty well. Thanks again for that ^_^。
Okay, I was not really sure which part you had difficulty understanding at first, like if it’s する and しよう, or 決める and 思う.
Basically, することに決めました means you’ve already made up your mind on how to act. And しようと思いました is like a plan or a vow. You might do that in the future, but you are not going to prepare anything for it yet.
It also depends on what exactly you want to know: if it’s about the meaning of words, grammar, kanji, or cultural background.
It may be difficult to solve everything in one place, so you might as well ask us each time when you have a question.
No problem! I’m glad to hear that. Reading helps you a lot. You’re on the right track!