Learn about inviting someone to do something
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Natsuko: こんにちは、ナツコです。 (Konnichiwa, Natsuko desu.) |
| Akihiro: アキヒロです。 (Akihiro desu.) |
| Peter: A Night at the Symphony. Natsuko san, is this JapanesePod101.com? |
| Natsuko: Sounds pretty academic, isn’t it? |
| Peter: Yes it does. How do we say “symphony” in Japanese? |
| Natsuko: 交響曲だったと思います。 (Kōkyōkyoku datta to omoimasu.) |
| Akihiro: あと、最近はカタカナでシンフォニーでも通じると思います。 (Ato, saikin wa katakana de shinfonī demo tsūjiru to omoimasu.) |
| Natsuko: あ、通じますね。 (A, tsūjimasu ne.) |
| Peter: All right. So that is the topic for today. Now Natsuko san, who is participating in this? |
| Natsuko: It sounds like two colleagues. |
| Peter: So what kind of politeness level are we using? |
| Natsuko: They are pretty polite to each other. |
| Peter: So not casual Japanese? |
| Natsuko: No. |
| Peter: Now, the point of today’s lesson, Natsuko san is. |
| Natsuko: Inviting. |
| Peter: Yeah so one of the colleagues will be inviting the other one. So just to recap before we head in, two colleagues on the polite level and one is inviting the other. |
| Natsuko: Hmm sounds nice. |
| Peter: Yes it does. Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 井上:山田さん、もしよかったら、クラシックのコンサートに行きませんか。 |
| Inoue: Yamada-san, moshi yokattara, kurashikku no konsāto ni ikimasen ka. |
| 山田:誰のコンサートですか？。 |
| Yamada: Dare no konsāto desu ka.? |
| 井上:小沢征爾のコンサートです。チケットを2枚もらったので、山田さんと行きたいなあと思って。 |
| Inoue: Ozawa Seiji no konsāto desu. Chiketto o ni mai moratta no de, Yamada san to ikitai nā to omotte. |
| 山田:本当ですか？ 小沢征爾は大好きなんです。 |
| Yamada: Hontō desu ka. Ozawa Seiji wa daisuki na n desu. |
| 井上:じゃあ決まり。では、来週の日曜日の6時に、上野駅の改札口の前で。 |
| Inoue: Jā kimari. De wa, raishū no nichiyōbi no 6 ji ni Ueno eki no kaisatsuguchi no mae de. |
| 山田:わかりました。楽しみにしてます。 |
| Yamada: Wakarimashita. Tanoshimi ni shite masu. |
| もう一度お願いします。ゆっくりお願いします。 |
| (Mōichido onegaishimasu. Yukkuri onegaishimasu. ) |
| ＜繰り返し＞ () |
| 次は英語が入ります。 |
| (Tsugi wa eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 井上:山田さん、もしよかったら、クラシックのコンサートに行きませんか。 |
| Inoue: Yamada-san, moshi yokattara, kurashikku no konsāto ni ikimasen ka. |
| Inoue:Mr. Yamada, by chance would you like to go to a classical concert? |
| 山田:誰のコンサートですか？ |
| Yamada: Dare no konsāto desu ka? |
| Yamada:Whose concert? |
| 井上:小沢征爾のコンサートです。チケットを2枚もらったので、山田さんと行きたいなあと思って。 |
| Inoue: Ozawa Seiji no konsāto desu. Chiketto o ni mai moratta no de, Yamada san to ikitai nā to omotte. |
| Inoue:It's a Seiji Ozawa concert. I happened to get two tickets, and I was thinking I'd like to go with you.... |
| 山田:本当ですか？ 小沢征爾は大好きなんです。 |
| Yamada: Hontō desu ka. Ozawa Seiji wa daisuki na n desu. |
| Yamada: Really? I love Seiji Ozawa! |
| 井上:じゃあ決まり。では、来週の日曜日の6時に、上野駅の改札口の前で。 |
| Inoue: Jā kimari. De wa, raishū no nichiyōbi no 6 ji ni Ueno eki no kaisatsuguchi no mae de. |
| Inoue: Then it's a deal. Next Sunday at 6 o'clock in front of the ticket gate in Ueno station. |
| 山田:わかりました。楽しみにしてます。 |
| Yamada: Wakarimashita. Tanoshimi ni shite masu. |
| Yamada: Got it. I'm looking forward to it! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: Natsuko san, |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Let’s find out what Akihiro-san thought of today’s lesson. |
| Natsuko: アキヒロさん、今日の会話どう思いましたか？ (Akihiro-san, kyō no kaiwa dō omoimashita ka?) |
| Peter: 小沢征爾なんて、チケット高いでしょうね。 (Ozawa Seiji nante, chiketto takai deshou ne.) |
| Natsuko: ね、すごいですよね。 (Ne, sugoi desu yo ne.) |
| Peter: Okay slow, slow down. Let’s just back up a bit. So… |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And who is the person you mentioned? |
| Natsuko: Seiji Ozawa. |
| Peter: Who is |
| Natsuko: Conductor. I think he is a world-class conductor. |
| Peter: Very, very famous. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: So Akihiro-san was mentioning how expensive the tickets would be… |
| Natsuko: It must be. |
| Peter: はい。たぶんお相撲より高いと思います。 (Hai. Tabun o sumou yori takai to omoimasu.) |
| Peter: More than sumo but I heard that sometimes sumo is free. |
| Natsuko: Really? |
| Peter: Yeah, no? |
| Natsuko: Ah I am not sure. I am not very… |
| Peter: Okay so disregard that but how much is sumo? |
| Akihiro: Actually I went to watch a sumo match last month. The ticket was like 10,000 yen one person. |
| Natsuko: Wow! |
| Peter: Wow! And where were the seats? |
| Akihiro: Yeah. It’s like a box seat, yeah. |
| Natsuko: Oh so it was a very good seat? |
| Akihiro: Well actually most seats are box seats where it’s like two Zabuton mats. |
| Peter : Yeah, yeah and you sit on the ground? |
| Akihiro: Yeah on the mat. |
| Peter: Yeah. |
| Akihiro: Yeah. Well it’s… |
| Natsuko: It’s a grand reliable. |
| Peter: Right. Okay where were we Natsuko-san? Vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Natsuko: Oh yes. |
| Peter: Oh yes. |
| Natsuko: I almost forgot. |
| Peter: We haven’t had a culture class in a while, it’s good. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Okay start us off. |
| Natsuko: 誰 (dare) |
| Peter: “Who.” How about a sample sentence? |
| Natsuko: これは誰のお財布ですか？ (Kore wa dare no o-saifu desu ka?) |
| Peter: Who is 財布 (saifu) is this? Whose wallet is this? |
| Natsuko: 私のです。 (Watashi no desu.) |
| Peter: It’s not yours? |
| Natsuko: What! |
| Peter: It sounded good though. |
| Natsuko: You are right. |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Akihiro: 本当 (hontō) |
| Peter: “Truth, reality.” Sample sentence, please. |
| Akihiro: それは本当ですか？ (Sore wa hontō desuka?) |
| Peter: “Is that true, really.” Next we have |
| Natsuko: 来週 (raishū) |
| Peter: Next week. |
| Natsuko: ら・い・しゅ・う「来週」 (Ra i shu u `raishū') |
| Peter: Sample sentence please. |
| Natsuko: 来週、一緒に出かけませんか？ (Raishū, issho ni dekakemasen ka?) |
| Peter: Would you like to go somewhere together next week? Next. |
| Akihiro: 楽しみ (tanoshimi) |
| Peter: Enjoyment, pleasure. |
| Akihiro: 今度の旅行が楽しみだ。 (Kondo no ryokō ga tanoshimi da.) |
| Peter: The upcoming vacation will be a pleasure. Next. |
| Natsuko: 改札口 (kaisatsu) |
| Peter: Ticket gate. |
| Natsuko: か・い・さ・つ・ぐ・ち「改札口」 (Ka i-satsu gu chi `kaisatsu-guchi') |
| Peter: Yeah. This is a great word. If you are going to be in Japan, you really need to know this word. This is where people come out and enter the station and considering that there are like five of them. |
| Natsuko: Depends on the station. |
| Peter: Yeah some are even like 20. |
| Natsuko: No way. |
| Peter: 20 Natsuko-san? Yeah I know. Some are more than others. |
| Natsuko: Yeah. |
| Akihiro: そうですね。新宿って、新宿駅は南口と新南口ってありませんでした？ (Sō desu ne. Shinjuku tte, nījukueki wa minamiguchi to shin Minamiguchi tte arimasen deshita?) |
| Natsuko: あ、あります、あります。 (A, arimasu, arimasu.) |
| Akihiro: そうですよね。 (Sō desu yo ne.) |
| Peter: There is – in Shinjuku, there is the new southern exit, the old southern exit. |
| Natsuko: It’s really complicated. |
| Peter: Yeah. |
| Natsuko: I always get lost. |
| Peter: But usually when people plan to meet, they set up a meeting at one of these places because that’s where someone will come out. |
| Natsuko: Yes, right. |
| Peter: With that covered, let’s take a look at today’s conversation. Now, the first part is actually – the first sentence is actually going to be probably the most important part. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Natsuko: You are right. The critical part of this conversation. |
| Peter: Pretty much everything we need to cover in here. |
| Natsuko: Oh yes right. |
| Peter: So let’s have ambitious Natsuko-san inviting お願いします (onegaishimasu). |
| Natsuko: 山田さん、もしよかったら、クラッシックのコンサートに行きませんか？ (Yamada-san, moshi yokattara, Kurasshikku no konsāto ni ikimasen ka?) |
| Peter: “Mr. Yamada, by chance, would you like to go to a classic concert?” Now Natsuko-san, points of interest here, what do we have first? |
| Natsuko: Yes. 山田さん (Yamada-san) |
| Peter: Mr. Yamada and again, there is no way to know if it’s Mr. or Mrs. unless hearing the voice or knowing something about the person. This is just the honorific suffix. This is followed by |
| Natsuko: もしよかったら (Moshi yokattara) |
| Peter: “If it’s good.” “If it’s okay” もしよかったら (moshi yokattara) this is a great expression. |
| Natsuko: Yeah I like it very much. |
| Peter: Very versatile. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: So this is setting up for a question and it usually involves the listening party doing something. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: Like when you hear this, you are directly involved. |
| Natsuko: Right yeah. |
| Peter: もしよかったら (moshi yokattara), you or someone in your party and then this is followed by |
| Natsuko: クラッシックのコンサートに行きませんか？ (Kurasshikku no konsāto ni ikimasen ka?) |
| Peter: “Would you like to go to a classical concert?” but literally we have “classic” followed by |
| Natsuko: の (no) |
| Peter: Possessive classics |
| Natsuko: コンサート (konsāto) |
| Peter: Concert. So “concert of classics.” So “a classic concert.” Then, |
| Natsuko: に (ni) |
| Peter: Direction marking particle. |
| Natsuko: 行きませんか (Ikimasen ka) |
| Peter: “Won’t you go.” In Japanese, the negative polite non-past form of a verb followed by ka is used when asking people if they would like to do something. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And depending on the context, it could be an invitation. |
| Natsuko: Yes I think most cases. |
| Peter: Most cases, yeah. |
| Natsuko: Yeah. It’s like “why don’t you join?” |
| Peter: Yeah. Asking a listening party to partake in some kind of action. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And usually involving the speaker and the speaker’s party. So in this case, “would you like to go to a concert” and “together” is inferred although it’s not said here. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: I’d like to back up here and ask Natsuko-san, can you give us the proper, like if you saw this in a textbook, how this sentence would be? |
| Natsuko: 山田さん、もしよかったら、私と一緒にクラッシックに行きませんか？ (Yamada-san, moshi yokattara, watashi to isshoni Kurasshikku ni ikimasen ka?) |
| Peter: So what’s new in there? |
| Natsuko: 私と一緒に (Watashi to isshoni) |
| Peter: 私に (watashi ni) “me,” then we have the particle と (to) “with me,” then we have |
| Natsuko: 一緒に (issho ni) |
| Peter: Together. So “me, with together classic concert, won’t you go.” |
| Natsuko: So in that case, it’s clear that it’s an invitation. |
| Peter: Yeah. “Would you like to go to a classic concert together with me?” and what do you think of Yamada’s response here? |
| Akihiro: 誰のコンサートですか？ (Dare no konsāto desu ka?) |
| Peter: “Whose concert like” |
| Natsuko: Well it’s a regional thing to ask. |
| Peter: I guess what do you mean like I think it’s a bit – I’d be a bit offended. |
| Natsuko: Really? |
| Peter: You know it’s kind of like depending on who the concert or who is … yeah then I will go, oh yeah. |
| Natsuko: Yeah, pretty obvious, isn’t it? |
| Peter: Right. 切符はただですか？ (Kippu wa tada desu ka?) |
| Natsuko: That’s the thing you are going to ask, uh oh! |
| Peter: “Are the tickets free?” So you can use here もし、ただだったら (moshi, tada dattara) If they are free. So what do we have next? |
| Natsuko: 小沢征爾のコンサートです。 (Ozawa Seiji no konsāto desu.) |
| Peter: “Seiji Ozawa concert.” Literally “it’s a concert of Seiji Ozawa”. And we have |
| Natsuko: チケットを2枚もらったので、山田さんと行きたいなと思って。 (Chiketto o ni-mai morattanode, Yamada-san to ikitai na to omotte.) |
| Peter: “I happened to get two tickets and I was thinking I’d like to go with you.” So here what we’d like to look at is the な (na) before と思う (to omou) and this is expressing Natsuko san? |
| Natsuko: Pretty strong emotion. |
| Peter: Yeah pretty straightforward here. |
| Natsuko: Yeah right. |
| Peter: “I want to go with you.” And again, I don’t think this guy really gets it because let’s hear his answer. |
| Peter: 本当ですか？ (Hontō desu ka?) |
| Peter: Really! |
| Peter: 小沢征爾は大好きなんです。 (Ozawa Seiji wa daisuki na n desu.) |
| Peter: I like… |
| Natsuko: That’s not the topic here. |
| Peter: Yeah he is like, “I like Seiji Ozawa.” |
| Natsuko: Yeah ummm.. |
| Peter: Oh I think it’s a real one-sided relationship here. |
| Akihiro: ちょっと温度差があるみたいですね。 (Chotto ondo-sa ga aru mitai desu ne.) |
| Natsuko: Oh yeah that’s a good word. |
| Peter: Can we get that word one more time? |
| Akihiro: 温度差 (ondo-sa) |
| Peter: “Difference in degree.” So then we have |
| Natsuko: じゃあ決まり。 (Jā kimari.) |
| Peter: “It’s been decided” and now let’s look at this. Where are they going to meet which is |
| Natsuko: では、来週の日曜日の6時に、上野駅の改札口の前で。 (Dewa, raishū no nichiyōbi no 6-ji ni, Ueno-eki no kaisatsu-guchi no mae de.) |
| Peter: Is where they will meet. Now let’s just break this down では (dewa) okay then, well then, we have |
| Natsuko: 来週の (raishū no) |
| Peter: Next week’s |
| Natsuko: 日曜日の (nichiyōbi no) |
| Peter: Sunday’s |
| Natsuko: 6時 (roku-Ji) |
| Peter: 6 o’clock. So “next week at 6 o’clock on Sunday”, we start first with next week followed by the day followed by the time. |
| Natsuko: So we are narrowing down? |
| Peter: Exactly, funneling. Then we get. |
| Natsuko: に (ni) |
| Peter: Marking place and time followed by |
| Natsuko: 上野駅の (ueno-eki no) |
| Peter: Ueno Station’s |
| Natsuko: 改札口の (kaisatsu-guchi no) |
| Peter: Ticket gates. |
| Natsuko: 前で (mae de) |
| Peter: “In front of.” So again narrowing down. |
| Natsuko: Yeah. |
| Peter: “Station, ticket gate, in front of.” And this is marked with |
| Natsuko: で (de) |
| Peter: Where they will meet. Where that action will take place. So に (ni) marks the time and で (de) marks where it takes place. Oh, particle fun. And finally we have |
| Akihiro: わかりました。 (Wakarimashita.) |
| Peter: I got it. |
| Akihiro: 楽しみにしています。 (Tanoshimi ni shiteimasu.) |
| Peter: “I am looking forward to it.” And I love this expression 楽しみにしています (tanoshimi ni shiteimasu). |
| Natsuko: Yeah, it's pretty nice. |
| Peter: Yeah I am looking forward to it and it really adds a lot. You know, like if you are going to go do something with somebody 楽しみ (tanoshimi) and if you just say in short like that, it kind of conveys the whole nuance of I am looking forward to doing it 楽しみ (tanoshimi). |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And it is a shortened version of 楽しみにしています (tanoshimi ni shiteimasu) |
| Natsuko: 楽しみです (Tanoshimi desu). You can also use that when you want to be polite. |
Outro |
| Peter: All right. I think that’s going to do for today. |
| Natsuko: うん。じゃあ、また今度！ (Un. Jā, mata kondo!) |
| Akihiro: お疲れさまです。 (Otsukaresama desu.) |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get complete breakdowns, review with quizzes and download printable practice sheets! Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide