Japanese Lesson #9

Horrible, isn't it! (Iya desu ne!)

Uses of deshō

-deshō ka = I wonder...

eg.

Kore wa nan desu ka. (What's this?)

Kore wa nan deshō ka. (I wonder what this is?)

Kaigi wa nan-ji desu ka. (What time is the meeting?)

Kaigi wa nan-ji deshō ka. (I wonder that time the meeting is?)

-similar to ne, but softer and less direct

eg.

Are wa Watanabe san no uchi deshō. (That's Mr. Watanabe's house, right?)

Asoko no kodomo wa Fumiko chan deshō. (That child over there is Fumiko, isn't it?)

-probably/must be/almost certainly

eg.

Hokkaidō wa ima samui deshō. (It's probably cold in Hokkaido now.)

Sono saizu wa daijōbu deshō. (I guess that size will be okay.)

-extra polite

eg. Sumimasen ga, Tanaka san deshō ka. (Excuse me, but would you be Mr. Tanaka?)

Vocabulary for clothing

burausu (blouse)

sētā (sweater)

sukāto (skirt)

jaketto (jacket)

beruto (belt)

wanpiisu (dress/one-piece)

kutsu (shoes)

sūtsu (suit)

nekutai (necktie)

shatsu (shirt)

kōto (coat)

T-shatsu (T-shirt)

G-pan (jeans pants)

zubon (pants, trousers)

Gozaimasu = (We have) use instead of arimasu, in situations demand a high degree of courtesy

eg.

Kono hoteru ni wa, fakkusu ga arimasu ka. (Do you have a fax in this hotel?)

Hai, gozaimasu. (Yes, we do)

-de gozaimasu instead of desu

eg.

Sore wa kyū-sen en de gozaimasu. (It's Y9,000)

Colors

-i adjectives

kuroi (black)

shiroi (white)

aoi (blue,green,blue green)

akai (red)

eg.

Asoko no shiroi tatemono wa hoteru desu ka. (That white building over there is it a hotel?)

Sono akai kuruma wa dare no desu ka. (Whose is that red car?)

-turn into nouns by dropping the final -i

eg.

Kono kuroi sukāto wa ii desu ne. Watashi wa kuro ga suki desu. (That black skirt is nice, isn't it? I like black.)

Shingō wa aka desu. (The traffic lights are red.)

-other colors are nouns, followed by -na (nature)

chairo (brown)

kiiro (yellow) = kiiroi as -i adj

midori (green)

murasaki (purple)

eg.

Sono chairo to midori no nekutai wa ikura desu ka. (How much is that brown and green necktie?)

-tend to be used to describe man-made things, followed by -na when used before the word they are describing

burū (blue)

gurē (grey)

orenji (orange)

guriin (green)

buraun (brown)

pinku (pink)

eg.

Mata pinku no wanpiisu o kaimasu ka. (You are going to buy another pink dress?)

-na adjectives

iya-na (horrible)

dame-na (no good, useless)

taihen-na (terrible, tough)

shinsetsu-na (kind)

suki-na (like)

genki-na (healthy, cheerful)

kirei-na (pretty, clean)

yūmei-na (famous)

shizuka-na (quiet, peaceful)

kantan-na (dislike)

hen-na (strange, odd)

eg.

Ima no shigoto wa taihen desu. (My current job is really tough.)

Atarashii jimu no hito wa itsumo genki desu ne. (The new office working is always cheerful, isn't she?)

-negative statement use ja arimasen

eg.

Ogawa san no atarashii uchi wa amari shizuka ja arimasen ne. (Mr. Ogawa's new house isn't very quiet, is it?)

-na, to join to the thing they are describing

eg.

Hen-na hito desu ne! (He's a weird person, isn't he!)

Kantan-na repōto o kaite kudasai. (Please write a brief report.)

ōkii to ōki-na

chiisai to chiisa-na

Motto = more

motto yasui (cheaper)

motto ōkii (bigger)

eg.

Sumimasen ga, motto chiisai no wa arimasu ka. (Excuse me, do you have a smaller one?)

Sumimasen, motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai. (Excuse me, could you please speak more slowly?)

Joining sentences with "ga" (but)

(ends the first part of the sentence before the comma)

eg.

Maiku san wa kimasu ga, Takahashi san wa kimasen. (Mike is coming, but Ms. Takahashi san isn't.)

Tomoko wa mada chiisai kodomo desu ga, mainichi shinbun o yomimasu. (Tomoko is still a small kchild, but she reads the newspapers every day.)

- link two sentences which there isn't very strong element of contrast

eg.

Watashi wa kaimono ga totemo suki desu ga, Takahashi san wa dō desu ka. ( I really enjoy shopping, how about you, Ms. Takahashi?)

Asatte wa haha no tanjōbi desu ga, nani o kaimashō ka. (It's Mom's birthday the day after tomorrow, what shall we buy her?)

O-genki desu ka (How are you?)

0-kage sama de. (Thank you, I'm fine.)

Itsumo (always)

tokidoki (sometimes)

yoku (often)

amari (not often)

zenzen (never, not at all)

eg.

Ani wa ima daigakusei desu ga, zenzen benkyō shimasen. (My elder brother is a university student now, but he never does any work.)

Itsumo ginkō no tonari no resutoran de hiru-gohan o tabemasu. (We always eat lunch at the restaurant next to the bank.)

Vocabulary

beruto : belt

Chiba : satellite city of Tokyo

daijōbu : fine, all right

dame-na : no good, useless

de gozaimasu : is, are

depāto : department store

deshō : I wonder if, probably, must be

dezain : design

dezainā : designer

fakkusu : fax

G-pan : jeans

ga : but (when joining two sentences)

genki : healthy, energetic

gozaimasu : have (formal)

hen-na : odd, strange

Hokkaidō : northernmost of the four main islands of Japan

hoteru : hotel

ii desu ga : it's fine, but...

itsumo : always

iya-na : horrible

jaketto : jacket

kaimashō ka : shall we buy?

kaimono : shopping

kantan-na : brief, simple

kirei-na : pretty, clean

kodomo : child

kondo imasu : is crowded

kōto : coat

kutsu : shoes

mo : too, also

motto yasui : cheaper

motto : more

nekutai : necktie

0-genki desu ka : how are you?

o-hisashiburi : it's been a long time

o-kage sama de : thank you for asking (response to o-genki desu ka)

repōto : report

saizu : size

sēta : sweater

shatsu : shirt

shinsetsu-na : kind, gentle

shizuka-na : quiet, peaceful

sora : sky

sukāto : skirt

suki ja nai : don't like

sūtsu : suit

T-shatsu : T-shirt

taihen-na : terrible, awful

tokidoki : sometimes

totemo : very, extremely

wanpiisu : dress

yoku : often

yūmei-na : famous

zenzen : never

Quoted from Berlitz Essential Japanese

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