Episode 7 – Japanese Made Easy

Full Episode Audio (download link is to the right of the volume icon)

Exercises Only

This is Greg. Welcome to Japanese Made Easy Episode 7.

In the last episode we primarily worked with casual Japanese, so let’s go over the polite versions really quick. This isn’t too difficult so we’ll go fast. First though, when asking where something is.. what particle do we us in front of

どこ? (doko?)   If you aren’t sure, please go back and listen to Episode 6 again.

Previously we heard

リモコンどこ？(Rimokon doko?)  Then

サンドイッチどこ？(Sandoicchi doko?)  and the short and casual

健司どこ？ (Kenji doko?) 

So the “wa” particle belongs in their grammatically, and is understood to be there by the listener, but because this is casual and really short, it would be normal to drop it. In polite Japanese as you know by now, we won’t drop the particles so easily.

So first just listen then you give it a try. By the way,

すみません (Sumimasen)  isn’t part of this construction so let’s assume you have a person’s attention already. At the electronics shop…

リモコンはどこですか？ (Rimokon wa doko desuka?) 

Can’t find sandwiches at the convenience store..

サンドイッチはどこですか？(Sandoicchi wa doko desuka?) And speaking politely, it’s more likely we’d be using a person’s last name. So instead of Kenji, let’s use his last name, Tanaka.

田中(たなか)さんはどこですか？(Tanaka-san wa doko desuka?)  Again, I imagine you have some experience with Japanese and the

“ですか” (desuka)  part of these sentences is so common I’m guessing you are familiar with it already.

So really quick. か is used at the end of a sentence in polite Japanese to form questions, and です (desu)、generally translates as “is” So lets take a look closer at just one of these

リモコンはどこですか？ (Rimokon wa doko desuka?) 

remote control wa, where, is? With か making it a question. We will get deeper into this wa usage, for now just remember this is a “where is something” question so we use “thing wa doko”.

Ok you give it a try. First say the casual version, then switch to polite.

At a friends house, ask where the remote is.

リモコンどこ？ (Rimokon doko?) 

At an electronics shop, ask a store employee where the computers are

パソコンはどこですか？(Pasokon wa doko desuka?) 

At a friends house, looking in the refrigerator ask where the ketchup is

ケチャップどこ？ (Kechappu doko?) A a grocery store ask an employee where the mayonnaise is

マヨネーズはどこですか？ (Mayonēzu wa doko desuka?) The teacher of the calligraphy class has disappeared. In polite Japanese ask.. Where’s Ogawa-sensei?

小川先生(おがわせんせい)はどこですか？(Ogawa sensei wa doko desuka?) 

Now, let’s look at the polite versions of the “Where are you going?” questions and sentence ending “の” that we encountered. Previously when Kenji’s girlfriend was headed out the door, wanting to know what’s up he asked…

どこ行くの？(Doko ikuno?) and she replied

恵子(けいこ)とスタバに行(い)くよ。(Keiko to sutaba ni ikuyo.) 

Literally, Keiko, with, Starbucks (target location of go). In natural English we’d translate this as.. I’m going to go to Starbucks with Keiko. Kenji’s co-worker Daiki, is a slacker. Yet again, Daiki seems to be headed to the break-room… In a somewhat accusatory tone, Kenji asks..

どこに行くんですか？(Doko ni ikundesuka?) Daiki says something about needing another cup of coffee and he thought he heard some noise and better check it out…

The casual version…

どこ行くの？(Doko ikuno?)  and polite…

どこに行くんですか？(Doko ni ikundesuka?)  You, is implied. So Literally, where, target location of will go, and instead of the full “の” we have an abbreviated sound just .. “n”, and then “is?” Listen one more time.

どこに行くんですか？(Doko ni ikundesuka?)  

Now you are in charge at the office and there goes Daiki again. He mumbled something about smoke coming out of the break room, and he better check it out. Let him know that he’s on your radar. Ask him where he’s going?

どこに行くんですか？ (Doko ni ikundesuka?) 

—————————— Tip Of The Day ————————

You need to know both the normal English version and the super-literal version for each phrase you learn. Don’t write off SLT as unimportant, or just a side-note.

In the previous episode we learned Sumimasen, which is usually translated as “Excuse me.” “I’m sorry.” or even “Thank you.”

But the underlying meaning, or Super Literal Translation that works in any of those situations is “Sorry to have bothered you in some way.”

A big mistake that virtually all language students make is they don’t learn the super-literal translation of things. It’s often not their fault though, as most teachers don’t think to provide it, or just aren’t aware of the concept.

Take the word Dozo… it’s generally taught as “Go ahead”, or “Here you are”.

But really, at the core of that is the Super Literal Translation.. “Please do the implied action.”

If you hold the door for somebody and say “Dozo”, it can translate as “Go ahead.” but the underlying meaning that works for all situations is “please do the implied action” in this case go through the door while I’ll hold it.

If I hold a plate of salad out for a person and say “dozo”. That can translate as “Here you go.” but again, the underlying meaning or Super Literal Translation is “please do the implied action” (take the plate).

SLT is a great shortcut to actually thinking in Japanese, as it gets down to the core underlying usage, and is also what is going to make particles in Japanese much easier to understand and use.

—————————— Tip Of The Day ————————

Moving on, let’s pickup some more easy cognates we can use as places we can go. Repeat after our native speaker.

フランス　 フ ラ ン ス (furansu) The Eifel tower is located in

フ ラ ン ス (furansu) Ok next…

スぺイン　ス ペ イ ン (Supein)  Barcelona is located in

スペイン (Supein) and next…

ロシア　ロ シ ア (roshia)  Moscow is located in ロシア (roshia) 

Since we have some new countries we can also easily make nationalities, and ultimately languages as well. Recalling our “pointing out the existence of somebody or something with ga iru or ga aru pattern”, In polite Japanese, point out and mention the group of people from Canada

カナダ人(じん)がいます。(Kanada-jin ga imasu.) 

Point out and mention the group of people from Spain

スペイン人がいます。(Supein-jin ga imasu.) 

You were expecting to see some people from Russian at a Russian food restaurant, but … no Russian people.

ロシア人がいません。(Roshia-jin ga imasen.) 

Mention and point out the people from France.

フランス人がいます。(Furansu-jin ga imasu.) 

Let’s do just a few of those in casual Japanese… Your friend didn’t notice but you did, and you want to mention it… point out the existence of some people from France.

フランス人いるよ。(Furansu-jin iruyo.)  From Spain…

スペイン人いるよ。(Supein-jin iruyo.)  … and there aren’t any people from Russia

ロシア人いないよ。(Roshia-jin inaiyo.) 

You’re surprised to hear that your friend is headed to Russia, ask or confirm what you just heard.. You’re going to Russia?

ロシアに行くの？(Roshia ni ikuno?)   They reply..

そう。 (Sou) This “sou” is another affirmative response. It could translate as “That’s right” or the response could have been..

うん。そう。(Un, sou.)  Yeah, that’s right.

Your friend is going to go to Spain. Inquire further with,You’re going to Spain?

スペインに行くの？(Supein ni ikuno?)  

How would they respond to the affirmative, basically… Yeah, that’s right.

うん。そう。(Un, sou.)  Now a little Comprehensible Input, that is absorbing without explanation. Based on the answer to the question, what’s the question?

誰(だれ)と？ (Dare to?)  They answer… I’m going with Kenji

健司と行くよ。(Kenji to ikuyo.)  The answer to the meaning of

誰と？(Dare to?)  will be revealed in just a second.

Recalling this country

フランス (furansu) ask “You’re going to France?”

フランスに行くの？ (Furansu ni ikuno?)  and respond.. “Yeah, that’s right. “

うん。そう。(Un, sou.)  Ask.. Who with?

誰と？(Dare to?)  Tell them, Kenji with, will go, yo.

健司(けんじ)と行くよ。(Kenji to ikuyo.) 

So far we’ve learned how to ask where a person is going, so let’s compare patterns. I might ask..

Tomorrow, どこ行くの？(Doko ikuno? ) I could also ask.. Yesterday,

どこ行った？(Doko itta?) 

Next Monday, どこ行くの？(Doko ikuno?) 

Last Tuesday, どこ行った？(Doko itta? )

This coming weekend,どこ行くの？(Doko ikuno?) 

Last weekend, どこ行った？ (Doko itta?) 

Ok, you give it a try…

Next Tuesday… どこ行くの？ (Doko ikuno?) 

Last Tuesday.. どこ行った？ (Doko itta?) 

In Japan, in May there is a national holiday called Golden Week. If you live in Japan for at least a year you’ll likely hear people talking about their plans, or discussing what they did when they get back.

As you know I don’t want to just tell you things up front, so follow along and watch how 行く changes when we talk about where we went.

Two friends are talking about their plans for the upcoming Golden Week holiday,

ゴールデンウイークはどこに行くの？ (Gōrudenwīku wa doko ni ikuno?) 

ゴールデンウイークはどこに行くの？ (Gōrudenwīku wa doko ni ikuno?) 

Golden week, regarding it, where go?

Now if Golden Week were finished and the friends get together a few days later, they might ask…

どこに行ったの？ (Doko ni ittano?) 

Where, target location of, went? In natural English, Where did you go?

どこに行ったの？(Doko ni ittano?) 

How would you translate this answer?

東京(とうきょう)に行った。(Tōkyō ni itta. ) I’d translate that as, “I went to Tokyo.”

Another holiday in Japan that you will definitely hear about if you stay long enough is Obon.

お盆(おぼん)はどこに行くの？ (Obon wa doko ni ikuno?) 

For this one, can you tell me the Super Literal translation? That is can you do the break down? Here’s the sentence…

お盆(おぼん)はどこに行くの？(Obon wa doko ni ikuno?) 

Take your time… Obon, then the “wa” regarding it, then we had doko or where, ni target location of… go or going to go.. and attaching “の” on the end is common in casual Japanese and lends a bit of emotion, or gives the feeling we expect an answer of some sort.

How would you say.. I went to Kyoto.

京都(きょうと)に行った。(Kyōto ni itta.)  Hopefully with that you are getting a feel for how we can change “go” to “went.” So, let’s give it a try.

Our native speaker will say where they’re going, you say the same place, but change it to where you went. We’ll continue in casual Japanese.

スぺインに行く。(Supein ni iku.) That’s, “I’m going to Spain.”

Now you say… “I went to Spain.”

スペインに行った。(Supein ni itta.) 

ロシアに行く。(Roshia ni iku.)  Say, “I went to Russia.”

ロシアに行った。(Roshia ni itta.) 

フランスに行く。(Furansu ni iku.)  Change that to, “I went to France.”

フランスに行った。(Furansu ni itta.)  Try saying both before our native speaker does.. Ready…

Canada カナダに行く。(Kanada ni iku.) カナダに行った。(Kanada ni itta.) 

Australia オーストラリアに行く。(Ōsutoraria ni iku.) オーストラリアに行った。(Ōsutoraria ni itta.) 

Since we are learning Japanese, of course we need to be able to talk about Japan. Listen and repeat..

日本(にほん) 日本 (nihon) 

Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto are major cities in

日本 (nihon) 

Ask, “Where are you going?”

どこ行くの？(Doko ikuno?)  Answer, “I’m going to Japan.”

日本に行く。(Nihon ni iku.) 

A friend stops by and you are talking about where they went for the Obon holiday. Ask.. “Obon, regarding it, where did you go? “

お盆はどこに行ったの？ (Obon wa doko ni ittano?) Answer.. “I went to Japan.”

日本に行った。(Nihon ni itta.) That’s cool and surprising, ask… “You went to Japan?”

日本に行ったの？ (Nihon ni ittano?) 

And, let’s get the equivalent polite versions…　So far we’ve learned how to ask where a person is going, so let’s compare patterns…

Tomorrow 東京に行きます。(Tōkyō ni ikimasu.) 

Yesterday 東京に行きました。(Tōkyō ni ikimashita.) 

Next Monday 京都に行きます。(Kyōto ni ikimasu.) 

Last Tuesday　京都に行きました。(Kyōto ni ikimashita.) 

This coming weekend　スペインに行きます。(Supein ni ikimasu.) 

Last weekend ロシアに行きました。(Roshia ni ikimashita.) 

You give it a try… I’ll give the hint and you make the sentence.

Next Tuesday, France… フランスに行きます。(Furansu ni ikimasu.) 

Last Tuesday, Japan… 日本に行きました。(Nihon ni ikimashita.) 

And let’s make these into polite questions.

First, I’m going to Tokyo.

東京に行きます。(Tōkyō  ni ikimasu.) 

Ask.. Did you go to Tokyo?

東京に行きましたか？ (Tōkyō ni ikimashitaka?) 

Keep in mind this isn’t asking, have you ever been, this is just “Did you go?”

Starting with, “Mayumi と” Say.. “I went to Kyoto with Mayumi.”

まゆみと京都に行きました。(Mayumi to Kyōto ni ikimashita.) 

You’ll get used to the word order as it’s fairly common.

Ask… Did you go to Kyoto with Suzuki-san？

鈴木(すずき)さんと京都に行きましたか？ (Suzuki-san to kyōto ni ikimashitaka?) 

I’ve never been to Sapporo… pronounced

札幌(さっぽろ) 札幌　 (Sapporo) 

Tell somebody you’re going to 札幌 (Sapporo) 

札幌に行きます。(Sapporo ni ikimasu.) Same city, but tell them you went.

札幌に行きました。(Sapporo ni ikimashita.) 

Ask, “Did you go to Osaka and Sapporo?”

大阪(おおさか)と札幌に行きましたか？ (Ōsaka to Sapporo ni ikimashitaka?) 

Ok, and the final exam for this lesson… Just one question.

Still in polite Japanese.. say..

I went to Japan and Spain, with Kenji. Take your time…

健司と日本とスペインに行きました。(Kenji to nihon to supein ni ikimashita.) 

Alright, great job with all of that. As usual, I’ve made an extra practice version of todays lesson. You can grab that over at Japanese Made Easy.com

See you in the next episode.