Lesson Dialogues
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* Hover over or tap words to see definitions:
Situation 1
Takeshi is talking with his girlfriend, Rika, in front of a movie theater.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
タケシは、____観た映画を観たい。
A この前
B 今度
C 少しだけ
D あまり
リカ：今日は何する？
タケシ：また映画観ない？
リカ：いいよ。どの映画にする？
タケシ：この前観た映画。
リカ：えー？同じの観るの？
Situation 2
Saito-san is talking with his colleague, Matsui-san, at a bookstore.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
斎藤さんは、その本が好きですか？
A はい
B いいえ
斉藤：これ、最近読んだ本です。
松井：へー。面白かったですか？
斉藤：いえ、あまり。私は好きじゃないです。
松井：そうなんですね。
Situation 3
Yamada-san is talking with her boss, Saito-san, at the company.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
山田さんの仕事は簡単でしたか？
A はい
B いいえ
斉藤：お疲れ。
山田：お疲れ様です。
斉藤：もう仕事終わった？
山田：はい、終わりました。
斉藤：そっか。簡単だった？
山田：いえ、結構大変でした。
Situation 4
Yuko, a college student, came to hang out with Naoki, her junior, in the city he lives.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ここは、____街だ。
A 少し大きい
B ちょっと小さい
C かなり大きい
D なかなか小さい
ユウコ：かなり大きい街だね。ここ。
ナオキ：はい。なかなかいい所ですよ。
ユウコ：いつから住んでるの？
ナオキ：大学入ってからです。
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’s the difference between かなり and なかなか? Is かなりa little stronger?
かなり can be translated as “considerably”. It indicates something exceeds the standard or is beyond the normal.
なかなか is used when something exceeds one’s expectations or imagination.
Hi, I have a question.
In the sentence 大学入ってからです, is てform used for 入る because he entered college, but is still in college?
Hi, Amy!
To answer your question, the sentence 大学入ってからです is actually incomplete and a full one should be ここには大学に入ってから住み始めました。(I have been living here since I entered university.)
So in this context, the てform is used on 入る, followed by から to indicate a sequence of events.
You can break it down like this:
大学入って (I entered university)
から (and since)
です (have been [living here])
I hope this helps!
There seem to be a good number of words that mean very, quite, and pretty. Having learned two more today, I’ll have to keep in mind the intensity and nuance of each in relation to each other.
That’s great. It will be helpful for you to understand the difference in nuance if you try to see in what situation or context the words are used.
Hello, and thank you for another great lesson!
There is one question that I have. What is the difference between 結構大変でした and 結構大変かったです?
Thank you for your kind comment. Our team is happy to hear that.
>There is one question that I have. What is the difference between 結構大変でした and 結構大変かったです?
ー 大変 is a na-adjective, which doesn’t connect with かった.
It can work as 大変な when you put it before a noun, or 大変だ when you use it as a complement.
Its polite form is 大変です and 大変でした is the past form.
Oh, I see. So the na-adjectives in the past should be だった, right? Then can’t it be 大変だったです? What is the difference between 大変だったです and 大変でした in this case?
大変だった is the past form of 大変だ. It’s used when you write sentences in だ/た form. It doesn’t connect with です.
When you write texts in です/ます form, it’s 大変です. And it’s past tense is 大変でした.
※
だ･た ending – 大変だ (present tense) ⇒ 大変だった (past tense)
です･ます ending – 大変です (present tense) ⇒ 大変でした (past tense)
If you use んです form when you want to explain or claim, you can say
大変だったんです.
先生
なぜこれの方が当然ですか
より。。。
なぜこれの方が正しい ですか
In the sentence これ、最近読んだ本です, the subject and the は particle are omitted.
The full sentence should be これは私が最近読んだ本です。, and it means:
“This is a book I’ve read recently.”
Your sentence これ、最近本読んだ。can mean “This has read a book recently,” which doesn’t make sense.
Could it be この本, 最近読んだ? In the meaning of “I’ve read this book recently”?
If you say この本、最近読んだ?, it means “Have you read this book recently?”
この本、最近読んだ。 (declarative sentence) sounds a bit odd and blunt.
If we’d like to say “I’ve read this book recently,” we’d change the ending of the word.
この本、最近読んだんだ。/ この本、最近読んだんです。(polite)
いい人ですね
松井さんと斉藤さんはいい人だと思います。:D