Japanese Lesson #6

Go-ji han ni aimashō. (Let's meet at 5:30)

Moshi moshi = Hello? (on telephone)

eg.

Tanaka san desu ka. (Is this Mr. Tanaka?)

Tanaka san wa irrashaimasu ka. (Is Mr. Tanaka there?) (very polite form of "imasu")

Tanaka san onegai shimasu. (Mr. Tanaka, please)

Harisu desu. (This is Haris.)

Sumisu Enjiniaringu no Harisu desu. (This is Harris, from Smith Engineering)

Goodbye

eg.

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. (Please treat me well)

Shitsurei shimasu. (Excuse me.)

Gomen kudasai. (Pardon me for any convenience)

chan = informal, affectionate, is used to small children, younger members of the family, and young women.

sama = very formal and polite, to customers by sales assistants.

imasu = used only to refer to the existence or location of animate objects, such as people, animals and fish.

arimasu = used only to refer to inanimate objects, such as tables, chairs and buildings.

eg.

Kyō no shinbun wa doko ni arimasu ka. (Where's today's newspaper?)

Watanabe san wa doko ni imasu ka. (Where's Mr. Watanabe?)

Uchi ni terebi ga arimasen. (At home, there isn't a television)

Uchi ni inu ga imasen. (At home, there isn't a dog)

mada = still(followed by positive verb)

eg.

Gohan wa mada takusan arimasu. (There's still a lot of rice.)

Maiku san wa mada gakkō ni imasu ka. (Is Mike still at the school?)

Kōhii wa mada arimasu. ( I still have some coffee)

mada = not yet(followed by negative verb)

Nihongo ga mada wakarimasen. (I don't understand Japanese yet.)

Takushii wa mada kimasen ne. (The taxi hasn't come yet, has it?)

Kaigi wa mada hajimarimasen. (The meeting hasn't started yet.)

mada desu = not yet

-mashō = Let's...

eg.

Ashita Yokohama e ikimashō. (Let's go to Yokohama tomorrow.)

Kā rajio o kikimashō. (Let's listen to the car radio.)

Nihongo o benkyō shimashō. (Let's study Japanese.)

= if turns it into a question, it will becomes "shall we-?; shall i-?"

eg.

Kyō wa nani o shimashō ka. (What shall we do today?)

Nani o tabemashō ka. Sakana ni shimashō ka. (What shall we eat? Shall we have fish?)

Telling the time

1 ichi

2 ni

3 san

4 yo/yon/shi

5 go

6 roku

7 shichi/nana

8 hachi

9 kyū/ku

10 jū

11 jū-ichi

12 jū-ni

hour = adding -ji to the numbers

eg.

Ichi-ji desu. (It's one o'clock.)

Yo-ji desu. (It's four o'clock.)

Ima nan-ji desu ka. Shichi-ji desu ka. (What time is it now? Is it seven o'clock?)

10 jū

20 ni-jū

30 san-jū

21 ni-jū ichi

22 ni-jū ni

57 go-jū nana

1 minute ip-pun

2 minutes ni-fun

3 minutes san-pun

4 minutes yon-pun

5 minutes go-fun

6 minutes rop-pun

7 minutes nana-fun

8 minutes hap-pun

9 minutes kyū-fun

10 minutes jup-pun

ni = at

go-ji jup-pun ni (at 5:10)

san-ji ni-jup-pun ni (at 3:20)

han = half, used instead of san-jup-pun

jū-ji han ni (at 10:30)

jū-ni-ji han ni (at 12:30)

eg.

ni-ji han ni aimashō. (let's meet at 2.30)

Ichi-ji no nyūsu o mimashō. (Let's watch the one o'clock news.)

Kaigi wa nan-ji kara nan-ji made desu ka. (From what time to what time...is the meeting?)

Jū-ji kara jū-ichi-ji han made desu. (It's from 10:00 to 11:30)

takushii de = by taxi

eg.

San-ji no densha de ikimashō. (Let's go by the 3:00 train)

Nihongo de hanashimashō. (Let's speak in Japanese)

Sushi o hashi de tabemasu ka. (Do you eat sushi with chopsticks?)

Benkyō (o) shimasu (to study)

denwa (o) shimasu (to telephone, call)

shigoto (o) shimasu (to work)

tenisu (o) shimasu (to play tennis)

hanashi (o) shimasu (to have a conversation)

eg.

Ashita, tomodachi to tenisu o shimasu. (I'm going to play tennis with a friend tomorrow.)

Itō san wa tokodoki shichi-ji made shigoto shimasu. (Mr. Itō sometimes works until 7:00.)

kimasu = come; to leave where you are now and go anywhere except where the person you are speaking to is.

ikimasu = go; to leave where you are now, regardless of where you are going

eg.

Ashita, watashi no uchi ni kimasu ka. (Are you coming over to my house tomorrow?)

Hai, ikimasu. Nan-ji ni ikimashō ka. (Yes, I am. What time shall I come?)

Vocabulary

aimashō : let's meet

benkyō (o) shimasu : to study

benkyō : study

chan : used for girls and small children

de : by

demo : however, but

densha : train

dō shite : why?

dōzo dozō : please do so, please go ahead

-fun/pun : minute

gaijin : foreigner

go : five 5

gomen kudasai : pardon me for causing any inconvenience

hachi : eight

hajimarimasu : to begin

-han : half past-

hanashi : a talk, conversation, chat

hanashi o shimasu : have a talk, chat

hanashimashō : let's talk

hashi : chopsticks

ichi : one

ikimashō ka : shall we go?

ima : now, at the moment

imasu : am, is, are (animate objects)

inu : dog

irasshaimasu : is, are (polite form of imasu)

-ji : o'clock

jikan : time, hour

jū : ten

jū-ichi : eleven

jū-ni : twelve

jup-pun : ten minutes

kā rajio : car radio

kyū/ku : nine

made : still/ not yet

made : until

mata : again, once more, another time

mata ashita : until tomorrow, see you tomorrow

mimashō : let's see

moshi moshi : hello (on telephone)

nan-ji : what time>

nana/shichi : seven

ni : at

ni : two

nyūsu : the news

-onegai shimasu : could I speak to -?

roku-ji : six o'clock

roku : six

sama : Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss

san : three

SF (ess sfu) : science-fiction

shi/yo/yon : four

shichi/nana : seven

shigoto shimasu : to work

shigoto : work, employment

shitsurei shimasu : goodbye (on telephone)

sore kara : and also

sugu : soon

takusan : a lot of, many, much

takushii de : by taxi

tenisu : tennis

terebi : television, TV

tesuto : a test

yon/yo/shi : four

yoroshiku onegai shimasu : goodbye (on telephone)

Quoted from Berlitz Essential Japanese