Learn how to superlative sentences that compare quantity or quality
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: 直美です。 (Naomidesu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. The Best Japanese is Here. Now Naomi Sensei, in the previous lesson, Miyu’s parents' place was broken and Miyu’s mother was knocked down by a burglar right? |
| Naomi: 多分、はい。そうですね。 (Tabun, hai. Sōdesu ne.) |
| Peter: And Miyu’s boyfriend Haruya ran after the burglar and caught him at the station, Narita station? |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Peter: よくわかんない。 (Yoku wakan'nai.) I really don’t understand the story but anyway that’s the background for this lesson. |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Peter: The focus of this lesson is superlatives. |
| Naomi: 一番 (Ichiban) |
| Peter: Superlative sentences. This lesson takes place at |
| Naomi: 成田病院 (Narita byōin) |
| Peter: Narita hospital. The conversation is between |
| Naomi: おじいさん、きり、それから美雨。 (Ojīsan, kiri, sorekara Miu.) |
| Peter: So the old man who is the criminal right? |
| Naomi: No he is not. He is Kiri’s father, Miyu’s grandpa. |
| Peter: I don’t understand. Okay an old man, Kiri, Miyu’s mother and Miyu and what kind of Japanese will they be speaking? |
| Naomi: Informal Japanese. |
| Peter: As they are all family members. |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Peter: Okay with that said, on we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| (成田病院) ((Narita byōin)) |
| 老人 (Rōjin): あのぉ、すみません。天道きりの病室はどこですか。 (Anō, sumimasen. Tendō Kiri no byōshitsu wa doko desu ka.) |
| 看護士 (Kango-shi): 天道...きりさん?ああ、天道さんの病室は205号室です。 (Tendō... Kiri-san? Ā, Tendō-san no byōshitsu wa ni maru go-gō-shitsu desu.) そのエレベーターで二階に上がってください。205号室は一番奥です。 (Sono erebētā de ni-kai ni agatte kudasai. Ni maru go-gō-shitsu wa ichi-ban oku desu.) |
| 老人 (Rōjin): 2階の一番奥、一番奥...。ここか...。 (Ni-kai no ichi-ban oku, ichi-ban oku.... Koko ka....) (コンコン)きり?どうだ?体調は? (Kiri? Dō da? Taichō wa?) |
| 天道 きり (Tendō kiri): あ、お父さん。 (A, o-tō-san.) |
| 天道 美雨 (Tendō Miu): おじいちゃん。 (O-jii-chan.) |
| 老人 (Rōjin): おお。美雨。いいボーイフレンドを持っているね。強い男はいい。わしはスポーツの中でボクシングが一番好きだ。はっはっは。 (Ō. Miu. Ii bōi furendo o motte iru ne. Tsuyoi otoko wa ii. Washi wa supōtsu no naka de bokushingu ga ichi-ban suki da. Hahhahha.) |
| 天道 美雨 (Tendō Miu): でも、パパは。 (Demo, papa wa.) |
| 老人 (Rōjin): 愛が一番大事だよ、美雨。パパは関係ない。お金も関係ない。美雨の幸せが一番大切だ。ははは。 (Ai ga ichi-ban daiji da yo, Miu. Papa wa kankei nai. O-kane mo kankei nai. Miu no shiawase ga ichi-ban taisetsu da. Hahaha.) |
| もう一度、お願いします。今度は、ゆっくりお願いします。 (Mōichido, onegaishimasu. Kondo wa, yukkuri onegaishimasu.) |
| 老人 (Rōjin): あのぉ、すみません。天道きりの病室はどこですか。 (Anō, sumimasen. Tendō Kiri no byōshitsu wa doko desu ka.) |
| 看護士 (Kango-shi): 天道...きりさん?ああ、天道さんの病室は205号室です。 (Tendō... Kiri-san? Ā, Tendō-san no byōshitsu wa ni maru go-gō-shitsu desu.) そのエレベーターで二階に上がってください。205号室は一番奥です。 (Sono erebētā de ni-kai ni agatte kudasai. Ni maru go-gō-shitsu wa ichi-ban oku desu.) |
| 老人 (Rōjin): 2階の一番奥、一番奥...。ここか...。 (Ni-kai no ichi-ban oku, ichi-ban oku.... Koko ka....) きり?どうだ?体調は? (Kiri? Dō da? Taichō wa?) |
| 天道 きり (Tendō kiri): あ、お父さん。 (A, o-tō-san.) |
| 天道 美雨 (Tendō Miu): おじいちゃん。 (O-jii-chan.) |
| 老人 (Rōjin): おお。美雨。いいボーイフレンドを持っているね。強い男はいい。わしはスポーツの中でボクシングが一番好きだ。はっはっは。 (Ō. Miu. Ii bōi furendo o motte iru ne. Tsuyoi otoko wa ii. Washi wa supōtsu no naka de bokushingu ga ichi-ban suki da. Hahhahha.) |
| 天道 美雨 (Tendō Miu): でも、パパは。 (Demo, papa wa.) |
| 老人 (Rōjin): 愛が一番大事だよ、美雨。パパは関係ない。お金も関係ない。美雨の幸せが一番大切だ。ははは。 (Ai ga ichi-ban daiji da yo, Miu. Papa wa kankei nai. O-kane mo kankei nai. Miu no shiawase ga ichi-ban taisetsu da. Hahaha.) |
| 今度は、英語が入ります。 (Kondo wa, eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| (成田病院) ((Narita byōin)) |
| (Narita Hospital) |
| 老人 (Rōjin): あのぉ、すみません。天道きりの病室はどこですか。 (Anō, sumimasen. Tendō Kiri no byōshitsu wa doko desu ka.) |
| OLD MAN: Excuse me, what room is Tendo Kiri in? |
| 看護士 (Kango-shi): 天道...きりさん?ああ、天道さんの病室は205号室です。 (Tendō... Kiri-san? Ā, Tendō-san no byōshitsu wa ni maru go-gō-shitsu desu.) |
| NURSE: Mrs. Tendo Kiri? Her room is #205. |
| そのエレベーターで二階に上がってください。205号室は一番奥です。 (Sono erebētā de ni-kai ni agatte kudasai. Ni maru go-gō-shitsu wa ichi-ban oku desu.) |
| Take the elevator to the second floor. 205 is the last room. |
| 老人 (Rōjin): 2階の一番奥、一番奥...。ここか...。 (Ni-kai no ichi-ban oku, ichi-ban oku.... Koko ka....) |
| OLD MAN: The last room on the second floor...Here. |
| (コンコン)きり?どうだ?体調は? (Kiri? Dō da? Taichō wa?) |
| (knock, knock) Kiri? How do you feel? |
| 天道 きり (Tendō kiri): あ、お父さん。 (A, o-tō-san.) |
| TENDO KIRI: Oh, dad. |
| 天道 美雨 (Tendō Miu): おじいちゃん。 (O-jii-chan.) |
| TENDO MIU: Grandpa. |
| 老人 (Rōjin): おお。美雨。いいボーイフレンドを持っているね。(Ō. Miu. Ii bōi furendo o motte iru ne.) |
| OLD MAN: Oh, Miu. You have a good boyfriend, eh? |
| 強い男はいい。わしはスポーツの中でボクシングが一番好きだ。はっはっは。 (Tsuyoi otoko wa ii. Washi wa supōtsu no naka de bokushingu ga ichi-ban suki da. Hahhahha.) |
| A strong man is good. Boxing is my favorite sport...ha..ha..ha.) |
| 天道 美雨 (Tendō Miu): でも、パパは。 (Demo, papa wa.) |
| TENDO MIU: But, dad is... |
| 老人 (Rōjin): 愛が一番大事だよ、美雨。パパは関係ない。お金も関係ない。美雨の幸せが一番大切だ。ははは。 (Ai ga ichi-ban daiji da yo, Miu. Papa wa kankei nai. O-kane mo kankei nai. Miu no shiawase ga ichi-ban taisetsu da. Hahaha.) |
| OLD MAN: Love is the most important thing Miu. Your dad doesn’t matter. Money doesn’t matter. Your happiness matters most. Hahaha. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: Naomi Sensei このおじいさんは本当に美雨のおじいさんですか？ (Kono ojīsan wa hontōni Miu no ojīsandesu ka?) So is this old man really Miyu’s grandfather? |
| Naomi: Yeah I think so because Miyu is referring to him as おじいちゃん (Ojīchan) and Kiri called him as お父さん (Otōsan). So 美雨のおじいさんです。で、きりのお父さんです。 (Miu no ojīsandesu. De, kiri no otōsandesu.) |
| Peter: So Kiri’s father and Miyu’s grandfather and it seems like the grandfather likes Haruya. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sōdesu ne.) He said 強い男が好きだ。 (Tsuyoi otoko ga sukida.) |
| Peter: So he likes strong guys. |
| Naomi: そう。よかったですね。 (Sō. Yokattadesu ne.) Finally someone likes him. |
| Peter: Now what’s interesting here is the old man referred to himself as わし (Washi). Now is this a common expression or is this a common way for someone to refer to themselves? |
| Naomi: I don’t think it’s common. It’s only used by old men but in drama or cartoon, to emphasize the speaker is old, わし (Washi) is often used. |
| Peter: So it’s a pronoun for elderly men. |
| Naomi: でもおばあさんも時々言いますね。 (Demo obāsan mo tokidoki iimasu ne.) Sometimes old women use that expression. I heard that わし (Washi) is from 私。わたし、わたし、わし、わし･･･ (Watashi. Watashi, watashi, washi, washi) |
| Peter: Yeah it’s much easier to say it. The whole syllable is dropped. |
| Naomi: そうね。 (Sō ne.) |
| Peter: Okay on to the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter: What do we have first? |
| Naomi: 病室 (byōshitsu) |
| Peter: Sickroom, hospital room. |
| Naomi: (slow)びょうしつ (Byō shitsu) (natural speed) 病室 (byōshitsu) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 奥 (oku) |
| Peter: Inner part. |
| Naomi: (slow)おく (oku) (natural speed) 奥 (oku) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 体調 (taichō) |
| Peter: Physical condition. |
| Naomi: (slow)たいちょう (Ta ichō) (natural speed) 体調 (taichō) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 愛 (ai) |
| Peter: Love. |
| Naomi: (slow)あい (ai) (natural speed) 愛 (ai) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 関係 (kankei) |
| Peter: Relation, connection. |
| Naomi: (slow)かんけい (Kan kei) (natural speed) 関係 (kankei) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Naomi Sensei, what do we have first? |
| Naomi: 体調 (Taichō) |
| Peter: Now this means physical condition. In the previous lesson, a similar word 気分 (Kibun) was introduced. What’s the big difference? |
| Naomi: 体調 (Taichō) is small like a physical condition and 気分 (Kibun) is more related to emotion or feeling. |
| Peter: Ah… |
| Naomi: I think in the conversation, they used it interchangeably. |
| Peter: Got you. So how would you translate them into English? For example, 気分はどうですか (Kibun wa dōdesu ka). How would you translate that? |
| Naomi: How are you feeling or how do you feel? |
| Peter: And how about 体調はどうですか。 (Taichō wa dōdesu ka.) |
| Naomi: How are you feeling or how do you feel? 同じですね。 (Onajidesu ne.) You can’t really translate. Can you say like how is your condition, how is your health condition. Can you say that? |
| Peter: Yeah it’s kind of like how are you feeling but I think the key here is that the kanji characters and for 体調 (Taichō), they have the character for body in that compound. So it’s kind of clear you are talking about the physical aspects usually. |
| Naomi: And in the casual situation, you can drop ですか (Desu ka) and ask 体調はどう (Taichō wa dō) or 気分はどう？ (Kibun wa dō?) |
| Peter: And these are questions again asking about one’s physical condition to a person who is sick or has been sick. So if I saw you and I didn’t know you are sick and I said 体調はどうですか？ (Taichō wa dōdesu ka?) |
| Naomi: It sounds very strange. Yeah nothing wrong with me, what are you talking about? |
| Peter: Sorry you didn’t know that you are sick. |
| Naomi: Ah… |
| Peter: Ah I want to use that now これから。 (Korekara.) |
| Naomi: そうなんだ。 (Sōna nda.) |
| Peter: And I guess mental one is the 気分。直美先生、気分はどうですか？ん？ (Kibun. Naomi sensei, kibun wa dōdesu ka? N?) |
| Naomi: Sounds like I have been in a really bad mood or having mental problems. |
| Peter: And that’s my intention. |
| Naomi: Okay next phrase. |
| Peter: Next phrase is |
| Naomi: 関係ない。 (Kankeinai.) |
| Peter: Have nothing to do with something or none of one’s business. So 関係 (Kankei) means relation. |
| Naomi: And ない (Nai) means doesn’t exist. So 関係がない (Kankei ga nai) or 関係ない (Kankeinai) means no relation. |
| Peter: Okay now in a formal situation, what would you say? |
| Naomi: ない (Nai) becomes ないです (Naidesu) or ありません (Arimasen) So 関係ありません (Kankei arimasen) or 関係ないです。 (Kankeinaidesu.) |
| Peter: And who is the guy recently? Is his 50 minutes of fame over? |
| Naomi: そうね。あの (Sō ne. Ano) Yoshio Kojima? |
| Peter: I think so right? |
| Naomi: Yeah he is not popular any more. I am not sure he was popular. |
| Peter: Oh he was popular. |
| Naomi: Okay. |
| Peter: And for those of you who don’t know, he would appear on Japanese TV in Tight Speedos and repeat a phrase. |
| Naomi: 関係ない。 (Kankeinai.) |
| Peter: With そんなの (Son'na no) in front of it and that’s primarily it but he was very, very popular. |
| Naomi: そうね。 (Sō ne.) |
| Peter: On every station doing his, like gimmick. Anyway, we will put something in the comments. You could comment and see what we are talking about. |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Peter: We should warn you though. It could be a little traumatic to see him. |
| Naomi: あの、子供には見せないほうがいいと思いますね。 (Ano, kodomo ni wa misenai hō ga ī to omoimasu ne.) |
| Peter: Okay on to today’s grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: The focus of this lesson is superlative sentences which compare quantity or quality of three or more objects. Now Naomi Sensei, what do we have in the dialogue? |
| Naomi: スポーツの中で、ボクシングが一番好きです。 (Supōtsu no naka de, bokushingu ga ichiban sukidesu.) |
| Peter: I like boxing the most of all the sports. Now if we take a look at this, we have in these types of sentences, the subject is marked with |
| Naomi: は (Wa) |
| Peter: The topic marking particle but in the sentence we gave you, that’s actually omitted. So can we hear the sentence one more time like, kind of the way you would find it in a textbook? |
| Naomi: 私はスポーツの中でボクシングが一番好きです。 (Watashi wa supōtsu no naka de bokushingu ga ichiban sukidesu.) |
| Peter: Then we have the group. So whatever you are talking about. So in this case, it was sports followed by |
| Naomi: の (No) |
| Peter: The particle の followed by. |
| Naomi: 中 (Naka) |
| Peter: Which is inside. |
| Naomi: で (De) |
| Peter: So inside of sports if we work backwards 中 (Naka) inside の (No) here is of sports, inside of sports. This is marked with the particle |
| Naomi: で (De) |
| Peter: Then you choose the one you like the most. That’s followed by |
| Naomi: が (Ga) |
| Peter: And then we have |
| Naomi: 一番 (Ichiban) |
| Peter: First and then this is followed by |
| Naomi: Adjective 好き (Suki) |
| Peter: Okay so let’s take a look at the whole sentence one more time. |
| Naomi: 私はスポーツの中でボクシングが一番好きです。 (Watashi wa supōtsu no naka de bokushingu ga ichiban sukidesu.) |
| Peter: First part is |
| Naomi: 私は (Watashi wa) |
| Peter: I followed by |
| Naomi: スポーツの中で (Supōtsu no naka de) |
| Peter: Of sports. |
| Naomi: ボクシングが (Bokushingu ga) |
| Peter: Boxing. |
| Naomi: 一番好きです。 (Ichiban sukidesu.) |
| Peter: Number one like I of all sports, boxing most like. I like boxing the best of all the sports. So this is almost like a set phrase. You have the subject first followed by the group. That’s followed by |
| Naomi: の中で (No naka de) |
| Peter: The thing you like followed by |
| Naomi: が一番好きです。 (Ga ichiban sukidesu.) |
| Peter: Okay so Naomi Sensei, how would you say what’s your favorite month? |
| Naomi: 一年の中で何月が一番好きですか？ (Ichinen no naka de nan tsuki ga ichiban sukidesu ka?) |
| Peter: And Naomi Sensei, how about your answer? |
| Naomi: うーん。一年の中でね。十月。十月が一番好きです。 (U ̄n. Ichinen no nakade ne. 10Gatsu. 10Gatsu ga ichiban sukidesu.) |
| Peter: え、なんでですか？ Why? (E, nandedesu ka? Why?) |
| Naomi: 食べ物が美味しいから。 (Tabemono ga oishīkara.) |
| Peter: Because the food is delicious. Let’s take a quick look at this の中で (No naka de) like group plus の中で (No naka de). So how we say out of the year. |
| Naomi: 一年の中で (Ichinen no naka de) |
| Peter: Out of these three. |
| Naomi: 三つの中で (Mittsu no naka de) |
| Peter: Among three people. |
| Naomi: 三人の中で (San'nin no naka de) |
| Peter: Among buses, cars and trains. |
| Naomi: バスと車と電車の中で (San'nin no naka de) |
| Peter: So the three things are the group followed by の中で。 (No naka de.) |
| Naomi: ピーターさんは、日本の日本の食べ物の中で何が一番好きですか。 (Pītā-san wa, Nihon no Nihon no tabemono no naka de nani ga ichiban sukidesuka.) |
| Peter: そうですね。日本の食べ物の中でカレーライスが一番好きです。 (Sōdesu ne. Nihon no tabemono no naka de karēraisu ga ichiban sukidesu.) |
| Naomi: そうですか。 (Sōdesu ka.) |
| Peter: Out of all the Japanese food, I like curry rice the best. |
| Naomi: でもさ (Demo sa) Some listeners might say oh! Curry rice is not Japanese food. |
| Peter: But there is a special kind of curry rice that’s very different from the Indian. |
| Naomi: ま、違いますよね。 (Ma, chigaimasu yo ne.) Japanese curry rice is very different from Indian curry. |
Outro |
| Peter: Correct. All right. That’s going to do for today. |
| Naomi: じゃあまた。 (Jā mata.) |
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