Lesson 1
SECTION B
Core Conversations (CC)
Note: Every CC in this course is presumed to have as one of its participants a non-native speaker of Japanese (N) and a native Japanese (J).
The CC of this section are brief exchanges between individuals who maintain a certain amount of distance when communicating with each other. The participants are business colleagues or supervisors with their assistants. All of the exchanges take place in an office setting.
Instructions:
1 (N) Ii desu ka. (J) Ii desu yo.
'Is it all right?' 'Yes, it's fine (I assure you).
(N) checks with (J) on the quality of some work or the appropriateness of an action.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
ii (desu) (SP 1, refer to Structural Pattern I below) is good; is fine; is all right
2(N) Ii desu ka. (J) Doozo.
'Do you mind?' 'Go right ahead.'
(N) asks for -- and receives -- permission.
3(N) Takai desu ka. (J) Iie, yasui desu yo.
'Is it expensive?' 'No, it's cheap (I assure you).'
The participants discuss the price of an item.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
takai (desu) is expensive; is high
yasui (desu) is cheap
+ookii (desu) is big
+tiisai (desu) is small
+atarasii (desu) is new, fresh
+hurui (desu) is old (i.e., not new)
4(J) Totemo omosiroi desu yo.
Simasen ka. (N) Arigatoo gozaimasu.
'It's a lot of fun. Won't you play(or do [it])?' 'Thank you.'
(J) invites (N) to join in a game.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
tot(t)emo very, extremely
omosiroi (desu) is interesting; is amusing; is fun
5 (J) Omosirokatta desu ka. (N) Maa maa desu nee.
'Was it interesting?' 'So-so.'
(J) checks on (N)'s reaction to a completed event.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
omosirokatta desu (SP1) was interesting; was amusing was fun
maa-maa so-so
nee (SP3) /sentence-particle of confirmation, agreement, or deliberation/
6 (N) Kaimasita ka. (J) Ee. Takakatta desu yo.
'Did you buy [it]?' 'Yes. It was expensive (I inform you).
(N) checks on the purchase that (J) just made.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
kaimasu /-masita/ buy
takakatta (desu) was expensive; was high
7 (J) a. Dekimasita ka. (N) Ee, dekimasita.
'(Has it become) finished?' 'Yes, (it has become) finished.'
b. Yokatta desu ne!
'Great!'
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
yokatta (desu) was good; was fine; was all right
8 (J) Takai desu ka. (N) Ie, amari takaku nai desu yo.
'Is it expensive?' 'No, it's not very expensive ( I assure you).'
(J) checks on the cost of a product.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
a(n)mari /+negative/ not much, not very
takaku nai (desu) or
+takaku arimasen (SP2) isn't expensive; isn't high
9 (J) Yoku nai desu nee. (N) Ee. Komarimasita nee.
'It's not good, is it!' '(That's right). We've got a problem, haven't we!'
The participants share concern over somthing that has not gone well.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
yoku nai (desu) or
+yoku arimasen isn't good; isn't all right
komarimasu /-masita/ become upset; become a problem
10 (N) Amari omosiroku nakatta desu nee. (J) Ee, tumaranakatta desu nee.
'It wasn't very interesting, was it!' 'That's right. It was boring, wasn't it!'
The participants agree on their unfavorable reaction to an event they both attended.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
omosiroku nakatta (desu) or
+omosiroku arimasen desita wasn't interesting; wasn't amusing; wasn't fun
tumaranai (desu) is boring; is trifling
tumaranakatta (desu) was boring; was trifling
11. Yoku dekimasu nee. (J) Ieie, doo itasimasite.
'You're good at that. aren't you!' 'Oh, no! (Don't mention it.)'
A compliment concerning ability is politely contradicted by the recipient.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
yoku dekimasu can do well
12 (J) a. Asita ikimasu yo. (N) Yoku ikimasu nee.
'Say, I'm going [there] tomorrow.' 'You go there often, don't you!'
b. Ee, maa.
'Yes, I guess I do.'
(J)'s intention to go somewhere elicits a comment from (N) about how often (J) goes to such functions.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
yoku ikimasu go often
maa /expression of qualified agreement/
Structural Patterns (SP)
1. ADJECTIVALS: AFFIRMATIVE IMPERFECTIVE (Unfinished) AND PERFECTIVE (Finished)
Japanese major sentences belong to three types. Verbal sentence (Verbal) have already been introduced. In this section, a second type is introduced: the adjectival sentence (adjectival), one which consists of or ends with an adjectival expression (with or without following sentence particles).
DEFINITION: A Japanese ADJECTIVAL is a word which has a number of forms, including one ending in - i and another in - katta. The - i ending, like the - u ending of verbal - masu forms, is the sign of the imperfective (unfinished); the -katta ending, like the - ta ending of verbal - masita forms, is the sign of the perfective (finished). By adding the desu you will convert these adjectivals to distal-style (polite form).
SECTION B
Core Conversations (CC)
Note: Every CC in this course is presumed to have as one of its participants a non-native speaker of Japanese (N) and a native Japanese (J).
The CC of this section are brief exchanges between individuals who maintain a certain amount of distance when communicating with each other. The participants are business colleagues or supervisors with their assistants. All of the exchanges take place in an office setting.
Instructions:
- Please go to the "Pronunciation and Romaji" page first to learn the correct pronunciation
and familiarize yourself with the Romaji - To play the audio file for this Core Conversations (CC), press the "play button" at
the bottom of this page - You can pause the audio at anytime by pressing the "pause button"
- After each lesson, please go to the "Drills" section for that lesson. It is the most important part of your learning process, make sure you master the drills before proceeding to next lesson.
1 (N) Ii desu ka. (J) Ii desu yo.
'Is it all right?' 'Yes, it's fine (I assure you).
(N) checks with (J) on the quality of some work or the appropriateness of an action.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
ii (desu) (SP 1, refer to Structural Pattern I below) is good; is fine; is all right
2(N) Ii desu ka. (J) Doozo.
'Do you mind?' 'Go right ahead.'
(N) asks for -- and receives -- permission.
3(N) Takai desu ka. (J) Iie, yasui desu yo.
'Is it expensive?' 'No, it's cheap (I assure you).'
The participants discuss the price of an item.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
takai (desu) is expensive; is high
yasui (desu) is cheap
+ookii (desu) is big
+tiisai (desu) is small
+atarasii (desu) is new, fresh
+hurui (desu) is old (i.e., not new)
4(J) Totemo omosiroi desu yo.
Simasen ka. (N) Arigatoo gozaimasu.
'It's a lot of fun. Won't you play(or do [it])?' 'Thank you.'
(J) invites (N) to join in a game.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
tot(t)emo very, extremely
omosiroi (desu) is interesting; is amusing; is fun
5 (J) Omosirokatta desu ka. (N) Maa maa desu nee.
'Was it interesting?' 'So-so.'
(J) checks on (N)'s reaction to a completed event.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
omosirokatta desu (SP1) was interesting; was amusing was fun
maa-maa so-so
nee (SP3) /sentence-particle of confirmation, agreement, or deliberation/
6 (N) Kaimasita ka. (J) Ee. Takakatta desu yo.
'Did you buy [it]?' 'Yes. It was expensive (I inform you).
(N) checks on the purchase that (J) just made.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
kaimasu /-masita/ buy
takakatta (desu) was expensive; was high
7 (J) a. Dekimasita ka. (N) Ee, dekimasita.
'(Has it become) finished?' 'Yes, (it has become) finished.'
b. Yokatta desu ne!
'Great!'
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
yokatta (desu) was good; was fine; was all right
8 (J) Takai desu ka. (N) Ie, amari takaku nai desu yo.
'Is it expensive?' 'No, it's not very expensive ( I assure you).'
(J) checks on the cost of a product.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
a(n)mari /+negative/ not much, not very
takaku nai (desu) or
+takaku arimasen (SP2) isn't expensive; isn't high
9 (J) Yoku nai desu nee. (N) Ee. Komarimasita nee.
'It's not good, is it!' '(That's right). We've got a problem, haven't we!'
The participants share concern over somthing that has not gone well.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
yoku nai (desu) or
+yoku arimasen isn't good; isn't all right
komarimasu /-masita/ become upset; become a problem
10 (N) Amari omosiroku nakatta desu nee. (J) Ee, tumaranakatta desu nee.
'It wasn't very interesting, was it!' 'That's right. It was boring, wasn't it!'
The participants agree on their unfavorable reaction to an event they both attended.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
omosiroku nakatta (desu) or
+omosiroku arimasen desita wasn't interesting; wasn't amusing; wasn't fun
tumaranai (desu) is boring; is trifling
tumaranakatta (desu) was boring; was trifling
11. Yoku dekimasu nee. (J) Ieie, doo itasimasite.
'You're good at that. aren't you!' 'Oh, no! (Don't mention it.)'
A compliment concerning ability is politely contradicted by the recipient.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
yoku dekimasu can do well
12 (J) a. Asita ikimasu yo. (N) Yoku ikimasu nee.
'Say, I'm going [there] tomorrow.' 'You go there often, don't you!'
b. Ee, maa.
'Yes, I guess I do.'
(J)'s intention to go somewhere elicits a comment from (N) about how often (J) goes to such functions.
BREAKDOWNS (AND SUPPLEMENTARY VOCABULARY)
yoku ikimasu go often
maa /expression of qualified agreement/
Structural Patterns (SP)
1. ADJECTIVALS: AFFIRMATIVE IMPERFECTIVE (Unfinished) AND PERFECTIVE (Finished)
Japanese major sentences belong to three types. Verbal sentence (Verbal) have already been introduced. In this section, a second type is introduced: the adjectival sentence (adjectival), one which consists of or ends with an adjectival expression (with or without following sentence particles).
DEFINITION: A Japanese ADJECTIVAL is a word which has a number of forms, including one ending in - i and another in - katta. The - i ending, like the - u ending of verbal - masu forms, is the sign of the imperfective (unfinished); the -katta ending, like the - ta ending of verbal - masita forms, is the sign of the perfective (finished). By adding the desu you will convert these adjectivals to distal-style (polite form).
Direct-Style |
Distal-Style
(formal or polite) |
Meaning |
|
Imperfective (Unfinished) Perfective (Finished) |
X - i eg. taka - i X - katta eg. taka - katta |
X - i desu eg. taka - i desu X - katta desu eg. taka - katta desu |
'(it) is or will
be X' '(it) was X' |
X = an adjective root, i.e. taka - , yasu - , omosiro - , etc.
2. ADJECTIVALS: THE -ku FORM AND THE NEGATIVE
- The ending of the adjectival is always preceded by another vowel, other than -e. This means that adjectivals in their imperfective form all end in -ai, -ii, -ui, or oi. This is also the citation form--i,e., the form listed in dictionaries.
- Yokatta is derived from yoi, which is an older form of the currently preferred ii. All dervied forms of ii/yoi are based on the yo- root.
2. ADJECTIVALS: THE -ku FORM AND THE NEGATIVE
Affirmative |
Negative |
|
Imperfective |
X -
i
'(it) is or will be X' eg. taka - i |
X - ku
nai
'(it) isn't or won't be X' eg. taka - ku nai |
Perfective |
X -
katta
'(it) was X' eg. taka - katta |
X - ku
nakatta
'(it)
wasn't X' eg. taka - ku nakatta |
X - an adjectival root, i.e. taka - , yasu - , omosiro - , etc.
- To change the above chart to distal-style (polite), simply add desu to each example
- An alternative for nai desu is arimasen, and an alternative for nakatta desu, is arimasen desita. The forms with arimasen, which follow the patterning of the negative of verbals (introduced in previous lesson), are considered a bit more formal, and in the view of some speakers, are slightly more elegant. Our expanded adjectival chart, then, looks like this:
Affirmative |
Negative |
|||
Direct |
Distal (polite,
formal) |
Direct |
Distal (polite,
formal) |
|
Imperfective (Unfinished) |
X - i eg. taka - i |
X - i desu eg. taka - i desu |
X - ku nai eg. taka - ku nai |
X - ku nai desu or eg. taka - ku nai desu X - ku arimasen eg. taka - ku arimasen |
Perfective (Finished) |
X - katta eg. taka - katta |
X - katta desu eg. taka - katta desu |
X - ku nakatta eg. taka - ku nakatta |
X - ku nakatta desu or eg.taka - ku nakatta desu X - ku arimasen desita eg. taka - ku arimasen desita |
- In the above chart, it is nai, nakatta, and arimasen that are actually negative. When an adjectival precedes and occurs in combination with them, the adjectival itself changes to its corresponding -ku form (i.e. the final -i is dropped and -ku is added).
- The -ku form is not itsellf negative; it is required by the negative forms that follow. A combination like takaku nai (desu) or takaku arimasen means something like "being expensive -- there isn't". Our rule can now be extended to cover /adjectival + verbal/ or /adjectival + adjectival/ in more general terms, regardless of whether the combination is affirmative or negative. Compare the following:
Yasui desu. 'It's cheap' but Yasuku dekimasen ka 'Can't you make [it] cheap?' 'Can't you lower the price?'
In other words, the adjectival in its -ku form ( the STEM) links up with verbals and other adjectivals, affimative and negative.
3. SENTENCE-PARTICLE: nee./ne!
- Nee, occurs at the end of sentences (1) as an exclamatory indication of assumed or actual agreement --frequently of admiration or disapproval--between speaker and addressee, implying shared information; or (2) as an indication of subjective reflection by the speaker which is non-abrupt and non-confrontational. Thus:
Ee. Tumaranai desu nee. 'You're right. It's boring, isn't it!'
Dekimasen ka. 'Isn't it possible?'; 'Can't you do it?'
Dekimasen nee. It isn't possible, is it (as I think about it).'
The avoidance fo confrontation is extremely important in Japanese conversation.
- Utterances ending in /nee/, often refer to persons other than the speaker. Thus:
Yoku dekimasu nee. 'You're very capable, aren't you!'
Yoku kimasu nee. 'They (known by context) come here often, don't they!'
- /ne!/, is very close in meaning with /nee./ but it lacks the exclamatory force of /nee./.
Next step, please go to the "Drills". Proceed to a following drill only after mastering the one at hand.