Lesson 3

9. WH Questions.

  who dare (or dochira-sama in more polite speech)
  where doko (or dochira)
  what nani (but often nan before syllables of T D N)
  which one (= of two) dochira
  which one (= of many) dore
  when itsu
  what's... like dô
  how about dô (or ikaga in more polite speech)
A Who is she? Kanojo wa dare desu ka?
B [She] is a singer. Kashu desu.
A Who are you? Dochira-sama de irasshaimasu ka?
B [I] am Tanaka from Mitsui. Mitsui no Tanaka desu.
A Exscuse me, where is the exit? Sumimasen, deguchi wa doko desu ka?
B [It] is over there. Asoko desu.
A Where is the toilet? O-tearai wa dochira desu ka?
B [It] is that way. Achira desu.
A What is that? Sore wa nan desu ka?
B This is an alien registration card. Kore wa gaijintôrokushô desu.
A Which one (of the two) is his? Kore no wa dochira desu ka?
B His is that one over there. Kore no wa achira no desu yo.
A Which one (of many) is yours, Yumiko? Yumiko-san no wa dore desu ka?
B That one. Are desu.
A When is the basketball match? Yakyû no shiai wa itsu desu ka?
B [It] is tomorrow. Ashita desu.
A What's today's weather like? Kyô no tenki wa dô desu ka?
B [It] is alright. Mâmâ desu.
A How about tomorrow? Ashita wa dô desu ka?
B Tomorrow is not good. Ashita wa dame desu.
A What about some tea? O-cha wa ikaga desu ka?
B [Yes,] please. O-negai shimasu.



10. The particle no (2).

A Whose moeny is it? Dare no wa o-kane desu ka?
B [It] is mine. Watashi no desu.
A Where is he from (a person of where) ? Doko no hito desu ka?
B [He] is from America. Amerika no hito desu.
A What is the book about (a book of what) ? Nan no hon desu ka?
B [The] book is about karate. Karate no hon desu.
A Which newspaper is it (a newspaper of when) ? Itsu no shinbun desu ka?
B [It] is today's. Kyô no desu.



11. Adjectives: This, that, which, etc.

  this kono
  that near speaker and not far from hearer sono
  that near neither speaker nor hearer ano
  which / what dono
  this sort of konna
  that sort of sonna
  that sort of anna
  which / what sort of donna
A That car is a Toyota. Ano kuruma wa Toyota desu yo.
B Which car? Dono kuruma desu ka?
A That brown car. Ano chairo no kuruma desu.
B Oh, is it? A, sô desu ka?
A What sort of person is he? Donna hito desu ka?
B [He] is an ordinary person. Futsû no hito desu yo.



12. Prepositios

  front in fron of mae
  before this side of temae
  back behind ushiro
  inside naka
  outside soto
  top on top of ue
  bottom under shita
  near chikaku
  beside tonari
  beyond mukô
  opposite mukai
  In front of the coffee-shop. Kissaten no mae.
  Behind the door. Doa no ushiro.
  This side of the department-store. Depâto no temae.
  Beyond the police-box. Kôban no mukô.
  Beside the station. Eki no tonari.
  Under the chair. isu no shita.
  On (top of) the table. Têburu no ue.
  The coffee-shop in front of the station. Eki no mae no kissaten.
  The person behind the door. Doa no ushiro no hito.
  The coffee-shop is in front of the station. Kissaten wa eki no mae desu.
  The police-box is beside the bar. Kôban wa sunakku no tonari desu.
  The person in front. Mae no hito.
  The back door. ushiro no doa.
  The top drawer. ue no hikidashi.
  The shop opposite. Mukai no o-mise.



13. Verbs: plain and polite.

  do (plain form) suru
  do (polite form, "masu" form) shimasu
  be (plain form) da
  be (polite form) desu



14. Be - Aru/arimasu, iru/imasu.

  be (in place), there is/are, exist
for inanimate subjects		 Aru/arimasu
  be (in place), there is/are, exist
for inanimate subjects		 Iru/imasu
  there is not negative form masen
A Is there any coffee? Kôhî wa arimasu ka?
B Yes, there is. Hai, arimasu yo.
A Haven't you got the passports. Pasupôto wa arimasen ka?
B I have not. Arimasen.
A Yumiko is not here. Yumiko wa imasen yo.
B Isn't she? Sô desu ka?
A Will you be in tomorrow, Kunio? Kunio-san, ashita imasu ka?
B I will not. Imasen yo.



15. Be - Irassharu/Irasshaimasu, oru/orimasu.

  be (in place), there is/are, exist
honorific form		 Irassharu/Irasshaimasu
  be (in place), there is/are, exist
humble form		 Oru/orimasu
Mr. Murata Is Mr. Habu in? Habu-san wa irasshaimasu ka?
Habu's collegue Yes, he is. Hai, orimasu.
Student Is Professor Tanaka in? Tanaka-sensei wa irasshaimasu ka?
Professor Inoue He is not in now. Ima imasen.
Student Professor Tanaka, are you there? Tanaka-sensei! Irasshaimasu ka?
Professor Tanaka Yes, i am. Hai, orimasu yo.
Student A Is Professor Tanaka in? Tanaka-sensei wa imasu ka?
Student B Yes, He is. Hai, imasu yo.
Student A Is Professor Tanaka in? Tanaka-sensei iru?
Student B Yes, He is. Iru yo.



16. The particle ni - In, of, to.

  In / of / to ni
  to / towards ni / e
A In where is the professor? Sensei wa dochira ni irasshaimasu ka?
B [He] is in the room. Heya ni irasshaimasu yo.
A In where is the dictionary? Jisho wa doko ni arimasu ka?
B Isn't [it] on the table? Têburu no ue ni arimasen ka?
A To where [are you] going. doko ni ikimasu ka?
B [I am] going to the shop. O-mise ni ikimasu.
A [Are you] going home? Uchi ni kaerimasu ka?
B No, [I am] going to a friend's place. Iê, tomodachi no tokoro kaerimasu.



17. The particles kara, made, de.

  from kara
  [I will] walk from the station. Eki kara arukimuse.
  The holidays start from today. Yasumi wa kyô kara hajimarimasu.
  to, until made
  [I] walk from the station to the office. Eki kara kaisha made arukimuse.
  She will be at home from morning until evening. Kanojo wa asa kara ban made uchi ni imuse.
  in, at (place) / by, with (instrument) de
A Where [will you] wait? Doko de machimasu ka?
B [I will] wait i front of the exit. Deguchi no mae de machimasu.
  [I] go by bus to work. Basu de kaisha e ikimasu.
  I will eat with chopsticks too. Watashi mo hashi de tabemasu.
  [I will] speak in English. Eigo de hanashimasu.
  In Tokyo there aren't any [but there are in Kyoto]. Tôkyô wa ni arimasen.
  [I will] not go buy bus [but by bike]. Basu de ikimasen.
  Guests are coming from both Korea and Hong Kong. O-kyaku-san wa Kankoku kara mo Honkon kara mo kimasu.
  [He will] not tell either me or you, will he? Watashi ni mo anata ni mo iimasen ne.



Conversation 3a: Askig for someone

Mr Brown goes to the travel agent and speaks to a colleague of Tanaka.
Brown: Sumimasen, Buraun to môshimasu ga1 Tanaka-san wa irasshaimasu ka?
Colleague: Tanaka wa ima orimasen2 ga...
Brown: Sô desu ka? Sore de wa nochihodo ukagaimasu 3.



Conversation 3b: Where are we?

Mr Brown is on a subway train stopped at a station; he talks to another passenger.
Brown: Sumimasen. Koko wa doko desu ka? Shinjuku desu ka?
passenger: Îe, Shinjuku ja arimasen yo. Etto, Shinbuya desu.
Brown: Sô desu ka? Shinjuku made ikimasu ka?
passenger: Etto, chotto matte kudasai. Hai, Shinjuku ni ikimasu yo.
Brown: Kono tsugi4 desu ka?
passenger: Chigaimasu. Tsugi no tsugi desu.
Brown: Dômo arigatô.



Conversation 3c: A chance meeting

Mr Brown bumps into Mr Katayama whom he hasn't seen for a while.
Brown: Katayama-san, konnichi wa.
Katayama: Braun-san desu ka? O-hisashiburi desu ne. O-genki desu ka?
Brown: O-kagesama de genki desu. Katayama-san wa?
Katayama: Genki desu.
Brown: Dô desu ka5, Katayama-san. O-cha demo6 nomimasen ka7 ?
Katayama: Sô desu ne 8. Nomi ni 9 ikimashô 10. Etto, eki no tonari no kissaten wa dô desu ka?
Brown: Kadota desu ne. Asoko ni shimashô 11.
Katayama: kuruma 12 de ikimasu ka soretomo 13 arukimasu ka?
Brown: Arukimashô.

Notes:

1. ga: a conjunction meaning but, but (as here) it has no adversive force at all. See lesson 4. «

2. orimasu: The humble verb is used by the speaker, who is humbling himself and Tanaka out of respect for the customer, Mr Brown. «

3. ukagaimasu: ukagau/ukagaimasu is a humble verb meaning visit. «

4. kono tsugi: one after this. «

5. dô desu ka: how about it?. «

6. dô desu ka: how about it?. «

7. nomimasen ka: would(n't) you like to drink?; the negative masu form is used often in invitatios. «

8. sô desu ne: depending on the intonation sô desu ne can be either a positive-sounding ummm... or negative-sounding one. «

9. nomi ni: remove masu from any verb, add ni and the verb iku/ikimasu (go) or kuru/kimasu (come) to make go/come and do. «

10. ikimashô: change masu to mashô to make let's... and ka to make shall we....
Consider the following:
A Let's go to a pub. Pubu ni ikimashô.
B [Yes,] let's go. ikimashô.
A Shall we eat in the coffee-shop? Ano kissaten de Tabemashô ka?
B Let's do so Sô shimashô.
«

11. ni shimasô: Let's decide, let's settle on..., let's make it.... «

12. kuruma: here the word car is used to mean taxi. «

13. soretomo: or. «




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