Lesson Dialogues
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* Hover over or tap words to see definitions:
Situation 1
At the office, Matsui-san is speaking to her subordinate, Yamada-san.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
松井さんは、山田さんのペンを使いますか？
A はい
B いいえ
松井：このペン、山田さんの？
山田：はい、そうです。
松井：今、ちょっと使ってもいい？
山田：もちろんです。
松井：ありがとう。
Situation 2
Yuri is talking with her boyfriend, Kaito, while eating lunch at a cafe.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
ユリとカイトは、映画を観ますか？
A はい
B いいえ
ユリ：この後、どうする？
カイト：映画でも観てかない？
ユリ：いいよ。面白いのやってるかな。
カイト：俺、アクション映画観たいな。
Situation 3
Yuya and his girlfriend, Saki, are talking while looking at smartphones in a store.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
一番____のが、一番高いだろう。
A 大きい
B 新しい
C 面白い
D すごい
ユウヤ：スマホ、結構高いね。
サキ：ほんとだね。
ユウヤ：どれが一番高いかな。
サキ：えー、どれだろう。
ユウヤ：やっぱ、一番新しいのかな。
サキ：たぶんね。
Situation 4
Matsui-san is talking with her neighbor, Ohnishi-san.
Comprehension Quiz (Skip if you don't understand the conversation yet)
そのお店は、____みたいだ。
A レストラン
B カフェ
C オフィス
D ホテル
松井：そこ、なんかお店できましたね。
大西：そうですね。何のお店ですか？
松井：レストランみたいですよ。
大西：へー。行ってみたいですね。
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In Situation 4, what indicates that it’s a new shop that opened? “ そこ、なんかお店みせできましたね。”
It looks like this was answered before, “ The meaning of なんか depends on the context, but here, it works as ‘somehow’ or ‘out of nowhere.’
The sentence can mean “Looks like a shop has popped up.” or “A shop just appeared out of nowhere.””?
Actually, it’s more like, “I don’t really know much about it, but it looks like a new shop has opened there. Did you notice?”
なんか here implies a lack of knowledge or certainty — as if the shop opened without the speaker even noticing.
Hi I think translation of そうですね in そうですね。何なんのお店みせですか？ as “It does” is incorrect. Especially since you have translated the first sentence of the 4th dialog as”A new shop opened there’.
You’re right. The tense doesn’t match.
I guess it should be:
Matsui: It looks like a new shop has opened there.
Ounishi: Yes, it does. What kind of shop is it?
What’s the meaning or the grammar behind Kanai?
Is it short for 行かない?
And what does なんかmean? I hear it the whole time with Japanese native speakers and I want to understand how and why I’d use it
Are you talking about かない as in 観てかない？
If so, the sound い tends to be dropped in a daily conversation when 行く works as a subsidiary verb.
観ていく ⇒ 観てく
観ていかない？ ⇒ 観てかない？
When you ask a question, it would be helpful if you could tell us the whole sentence so that we can answer more smoothly.
The meaning of なんか depends on the context, but here, it works as ‘somehow’ or ‘out of nowhere.’
The sentence can mean “Looks like a shop has popped up.” or “A shop just appeared out of nowhere.”