Episode 18 – Japanese Made Easy

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Exercises Only

Hi Greg here. Welcome to Japanese Made Easy Episode 18. We haven’t been doing to much review to start the lessons in the past few episodes, so make sure you are listening to the exercise audios from previous lessons.

In this lesson we’ll learn a new usage of the “wa” particle, and a new counter.

First just repeat…

１匹(いっぴき)、(ippiki) ２匹(にひき)、(nihiki) ３匹(さんびき）(sanbiki) 　one more time…

１匹、(ippiki) ２匹、(nihiki) ３匹 (sanbiki) 

When Yuko asked Kazuya, how many pet dogs he has, he held up one finger and said

１匹（いっぴき）、飼（か）ってるよ。(Ippiki katteruyo.)   Then holding up two fingers Yuko said.. Oh really, I thought

２匹(にひき) 飼ってる。(NIhiki katteru.)  Kazuya replied..

いや、一匹だけだよ。(Iya, ippiki dake dayo.) 

In English we use the word “have” as in I have one dog, or I have two dogs. In Japanese, think of the word as “keep” as in, to keep a dog, to keep two dogs. With that in mind, listen to the exchange one more time.

When Yuko asked Kazuya, how many pet dogs he has, he held up one finger and said

１匹、飼っているよ。(Ippiki katteiruyo.)  Then holding up two fingers Yuko said.. “Oh really, I thought…”

２匹 飼っている。(Nihiki katte iru.) Kazuya replied..

いや、１匹だけだよ。 (Iya, ippiki dake dayo.) 

Speaking of dogs, but not using the word dog, and instead using our counter for small animals… tell a friend you keep one.

１匹、飼っている。 (Ippiki katteiru.)  Tell an elderly neighbor you keep one.

１匹、飼っていますよ。(Ippiki katteimasuyo.) 

Speaking of cats, tell a friend you have two.

２匹 飼っているよ。(Nihiki katteiruyo.)  and polite

２匹 飼っていますよ。(Nihiki katteimasuyo.) 

Again, we cover the ている (teiru)  and ています (teimasu)  verb endings in Japanese Mastery Method, but simply put think of it as “current situation is” So literally this is along the lines of, 2 small creatures, current situation is to keep.

Speaking of hamsters, tell a friend literally, “Three small animals, current situation is keep.”

３匹（さんびき）飼っているよ。(Sanbiki katteiruyo.)  and polite…

３匹飼っていますよ。 (Sanbiki katteimasuyo.) 

Let’s round it out by learning how to ask how many of a particular animal a person has.

Pet is a super easy cognate. Just listen.

ペット 　ペット (petto)  Yumi asks Kenji if he “keeps” any pets.

ペット飼っている？ (Petto katteiru? ) He replies…

うん、犬(いぬ)飼っているよ。(Un, inu katteiruyo.)  Yumi asks..

何匹(なんびき)？(Nanbiki?) 

１匹。(ippiki) 

Listen again.

ペット飼っている？ (Petto katteiru?) 

うん、犬飼っているよ。(Un, inu katteiruyo.)  

何匹？ (Nanbiki?)  

１匹。 (ippiki) 

Ok, you try it. Ask somebody if they have any pets.

ペット飼っている？ (Petto katteiru?)  How would you say.. “Yeah, I have a dog?”

うん、犬(いぬ)を飼っているよ。(Un, inu o katteiruyo.)  Try saying, “Yeah, I have a cat.” more literally, “Yeah, current situation is to keep a cat.”

うん、猫(ねこ)を飼っているよ。(Un, neko o katteiruyo.)  Polite Japanese, Yes. I have a hamster.

はい。ハムスターを飼っていますよ。(Hai, hamusutā o katteimasuyo.)  

Speaking of pets, or the animal that was just mentioned, ask.. How many?

何匹？(Nanbiki?)  

Literally, that’s… What number of and then the counter for animals.

Let’s expand on that. Ask, How many do you have?

何匹飼っている？(Nanbiki katteiru?)   and polite?

何匹飼っていますか？(Nanbiki katteimasuka?) 

Alright, let’s get a new usage of the “wa” particle. This is a surprisingly simple concept and I think you’ll find it refreshingly easy.

First, I assume you know the numbers 1 – 4 in Japanese. We need them for this usage of wa, so here they are just in case.

1 2 3 4 

Now just listen.

2 + 2 = 4 Expressed in Japanese.

2 + 2 = 4 (2 たす 2 は 4 です。) (ni tasu ni wa yon desu.)  Listen one more time.

2 たす 2 は 4 です。　(Ni tasu ni wa yon desu.) 　So,

たす (tasu) 

translates as plus.

2 たす (tasu) 2 then は (wa)  and 4 です(desu) 。

You try real quick. In Japanese, and paying attention to the role of the は (wa)  particle, How do you express the idea… Two plus two equals four?

2 たす(tasu)  2 は (wa)  4 です(desu)。 Let that idea sink in a bit, and we’ll come back to it.

Let’s try another one. This is a common and joked about example of basic Japanese grammar. Holding up a pen, real or imaginary, and pointing to it saying

これはペンです。(Kore wa pen desu.) This は (wa) pen is.

Notice anything in common in the は (wa) usage? We have..

2 plus 2 は(wa) 4 is.

This, は(wa) pen is. How about if we express this idea…

Mr. Donuts は (wa) Donut Shop is.

My name は (wa) Greg is.

It’s probably not apparent yet, but all of those sentences have a common underlying theme. Yes, they contain は(wa) , yes they contain desu. But what else? I just want to get you thinking, and maybe you figured it out. I don’t want to give the answer just yet though.

Let’s do some Native Language Integration. This is a great technique to get you thinking in terms of correct Japanese word order and particle usage, without being overwhelmed by meaning, and vocabulary.

So let’s try it. I want you to rephrase the following English sentences using

は (wa) and です。(desu) 

For example, If I say, “Her name is Jill.” You say,

“Her name は(wa)  Jill です。(desu)  Ok… let’s try it. This is coffee.

This は (wa) coffee です。(desu) 

Even if you can say the whole thing in Japanese, don’t for now. We’ll do all Japanese later. The point is to focus on the は(wa)  particle usage. I really want it to sink in here.

Change this phrase. McDonald’s is a hamburger shop.

McDonald’s は (wa) hamburger shop です(desu)  。3 plus 3 is 6.

Three plus three は (wa) six desu. Last one…His name is Eric.

His name は (wa) Eric です(desu) 。

If you did all of that without any trouble, you’ve just mastered a fundamental usage of the は (wa)  particle. With that lets dig a bit deeper. First, we need to talk about the SLT, or Super Literal Translation.

For this usage of は(wa), we’ll go with the idea of “in fact” So, let’s try it with the examples we’ve seen so far.

2 plus 2 は(wa) 4 です(desu)。Let’s replace は with “in fact” giving us…

2 plus 2 in fact 4, is.

This, は(wa) pen です(desu)。This, in fact, pen is.

Mr. Donuts は(wa) Donut Shop です(desu)。Mr. Donuts, in fact Donut Shop is.

My name は(wa) Greg です(desu)。My name, in fact is Greg, or Greg is.

So, that’s what this usage of the は(wa) particle is doing. It’s used when we make simple factual statements or demonstrate equivalency.

By simple, I mean there is no emphasis, we aren’t stressing it, we are just making a statement that some thing is in fact some thing.

We aren’t making comparisons, these statements aren’t opinion. My name is Greg, the thing in my hand is a pen, Mr. donuts is a donut shop.

Simple non opinion, factual statements. This is the underlying idea I was hoping you might pick up on. So, let’s try some more examples but all in Japanese.

Imagine you are at a party, and somebody points to cake in the shape of flower, so it’s not clear that it’s cake. They ask you…

What’s this flower shaped thingy here?

Using our, “Stating simple facts with はpattern”, make an unemotional, unstressed simple factual statement, telling them simply. This is cake.

これはケーキです。 (Kore wa kēki desu.) 

That’s a little bit firm sounding, so we’ll add the よ particle on the end, which softens and is used when giving new information to somebody. So, this is a bit better.

これはケーキですよ。(Kore wa kēki desuyo.)  A little kid is learning math, and makes a mistake.. saying…

2 + 2 は(wa) 5 です(desu)。 Let’s help out, say.. 2 + 2 is 4.

2 + 2 は(wa) 4 です(desu)。Around Easter, we start seeing rabbits made of brown

チョコレート チョコレート (chokorēto) 

for sale in stores. Let’s go with the short version of the word, just

チョコ チョコ  (choko) A Japanese person asks.. “What’s this tin foil covered Rabbit? Tell them. This is chocolate.

これはチョコです。(Kore wa choko desu.)  Referring to the pen in your hand, somebody asks..

What is that? Tell them.. This is a pen.

これはぺンです。 (Kore wa pen desu.) You thought it would be cool to give your pet poodle a lion’s mane hair cut. A little kid asks.. Is that a lion? Tell them, “No, this is a dog.”

いいえ、これは犬ですよ。(Iie, kore wa inu desuyo.) 

We’ll switch over to casual in just a minute. But as usual, so that you won’t confuse this usage of wa, with other particles let’s give the pattern a name.

We’ll call this. Stating simple facts with は(wa).

Definitely write that down, commit it to memory, if you’re over 18 maybe tattoo it on your ankle or something. But do remember this, as again it is how you can self check, and keep different は usages separate and clear from each other. So again, this is

Stating simple facts with は(wa)

——————————- Tip Of The Day

In the field of language learning among both students, and those who create courses there seems to be an assumption that, well, language is something we speak and something we hear, so an audio-only course is the best way to learn.

Well… not really.

I mean, here I am, making these podcasts, and I’m nevertheless telling you that an all-audio format is not ideal. It’s pretty good. I mean, you’ve hopefully learned a lot here, but here’s the thing:

For the majority of people, vision played a major role in your acquisition of language. I don’t mean for reading. I mean, for learning the meaning of words and phrases.

Honestly, all five senses play a role in learning a language, but since we are primarily visual creatures that is, most of what we know about the world is processed through our vision that means most of what you learned in English was done visually and had visual context.

In an all-audio format, the stimulus, if you will, always has to come through your hearing, and that’s often not the ideal way. So, for me to test your recall of the Japanese word for red, for example, I have to ask you: “Ok, now how do you say red in Japanese?”

Whereas, in a course that uses video, I can say: “You’re about to see a series of colors onscreen. Please say each one in Japanese.” So I can just show you a color and you name it. With video, I can make you think directly in Japanese.

That limitation of an all-audio format is why there are a lot of topics and themes I’m avoiding in this podcast. And it’s why I always encourage you to check out our Japanese Mastery Method course, because it features video as well as audio. Long term, if you really want to become conversational in Japanese, a combination of video and audio is the way to go.

——————————- Tip Of The Day

Ok, back to it…

Megumi, Uhh..my mind went blank.. What’s one plus one again?

1 + 1 は(wa) 2 だよ(dayo)。

What is this desert?

これはケーキだよ。 (Kore wa kēki dayo.) 

What’s that brown looking candy over there in the shape of a rabbit?

それはチョコだよ。(Sore wa choko dayo.) 

Easy enough. For casual Japanese instead of です, we can use だ, and よ on the end when giving unknown information, and softening the statement a bit.

Is that a lion? Tell them, “No, this is a dog.”

いいえ、これは犬ですよ。(Iie, kore wa inu desuyo.) 

We’ll eventually learn to ask these questions in Japanese as well, but as the questions also require particles, I don’t want to mix up different uses for now.

So, let’s do a few more common, useful constructions that might come up in daily conversation. If you know how to say these in Japanese, go for it, if not, don’t worry about it as it’s the simple facts with wa pattern that we really care about for now.

Polite Japanese… Somebody says..

“Excuse me, do you know what day it is today?”

Tell them the fact that today is Tuesday. Start with the time word.. “today”.

今日(きょう)は火曜日(かようび)です。　(Kyou wa kayoubi desu.)  Today は Tuesday is.

Same thing but casual Japanese.

今日は火曜日だよ。(Kyou wa kayoubi dayo.) You overhear a person say to themselves “Wait, what day is tomorrow again?”

Help them out. Say Tomorrow is Thursday.

明日(あした)は木曜日(もくようび)です。 (Ashita wa mokuyoubi desu. ) 明日は木曜日です。 (Ashita wa mokuyoubi desu.) 

Change that to casual.

明日は木曜日だよ。 明日は木曜日だよ。(Ashita wa mokuyoubi dayo.) 

A really little kids points to a dog and asks.. “Is this a dog?”

First polite.. say, “Yes, this is a dog.”

はい、これは犬です。(Hai, kore wa inu desu.) Let’s try casual, so we need to replace “はい” and desu… Casual Japanese, “Yeah, it’s a dog.”

そう。これは犬だよ。　(Sou. Kore wa inu dayo.) 

You hear a commercial mention that Valentines day is Feb 14th. How might they have stated this simple fact.

バレンタインは２月(にがつ)14日(じゅうよっか)です。(Barentain wa nigatsu jyuuyokka desu.)   and casual.

バレンタインは２月14日だよ。(Barentain wa nigatsu jyuuyokka dayo.) 

A quick note, since we are learning this usage of は, it’s possible that it would be dropped in these casual sentences. But, it’s not a rule, it may or may not be. So, for the sake of getting very used to where it belongs, and having it sink in. We won’t be dropping it.

The word for

京都(きょうと)(kyouto)  Kyoto the city, and

今日(きょう) (kyou) 　　the word for Today, sound similar. So, let that help you remember.

今日(kyou)、I’m going to 京都(kyouto) .

今日(kyou)、I’m going to 京都(kyouto) .

Casual Japanese, ask somebody.. “Is today Valentines day?”

今日はバレンタイン ？(Kyou wa barentain? )  “Is today Halloween?”

今日はハロウィン？ (Kyou wa harowīn?) “Is today, Christmas?”　

今日はクリスマス？ (Kyou wa kurisumasu? )

Alright your homework is to make simple factual statements, using English and the は particle, first. Do about 1 0 of them throughout the day.

Then, do another 10 using only Japanese that you know, and or using the practice audio which is available at JapaneseMadeEasy.com.

As always, feel free to get in touch at Greg at Japanese Made Easy dot com with questions or comments. And, I’ll see you in the next episode.