Learn how to talk about inanimate objects in Japanese using arimasu
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| Introduction |
| Jessi: Is There Any Japanese Fried Chicken Left? ジェシーです。(Jeshii desu.) Jessi here! |
| Naomi: こんにちは！なおみです。(Kon'nichi wa! Naomi desu.) Hi, everyone. Naomi here. |
| Jessi: Welcome back to our Absolute Beginner series! In the last lesson, we learned how to say that we like or dislike something. For example? |
| Naomi: チョコレートがすきです。(Chokorēto ga suki desu.) |
| Jessi: I like chocolate. |
| Naomi: Or... 肉がきらいです。(Niku ga kirai desu.) |
| Jessi: I hate meat. And in this lesson, we're going to learn how to say that something exists, as in "there is a (blank)", and also how to say that you have something. What kind of things will we be able to say by the end of this lesson? |
| Naomi: You'll be able to say things like "There's a supermarket" and "I have time". |
| Jessi: The word we'll use to express both of these concepts is the same! |
| Naomi: Yes! Jessi, what's happening in the conversation? |
| Jessi: Taylor, Masato, and Kaori are going on a drive, and they start to feel hungry. Okay, let's listen to the conversation and see what they talk about. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| (On a drive) |
| (Stomach rumbling) |
| まさと:おなかがすきました。(Onaka ga sukimashita.)(laughs) |
| テイラー:あ、あそこに、ドライブスルーがあります。(A, asoko ni, doraibu surū ga arimasu.) |
| フライドチキン、すきですか？(Furaido chikin, suki desu ka?) |
| かおり:フライドチキン・・・。(Furaido chikin....) |
| テイラー:きらいですか？(Kirai desuka?) |
| かおり:アレルギーがあります。(Arerugī ga arimasu.) |
| テイラー:チキンアレルギー？(Chikin arerugī?) |
| Jessi: Let’s listen to the conversation again slowly. |
| まさと:おなかがすきました。(Onaka ga sukimashita.)(laughs) |
| テイラー:あ、あそこに、ドライブスルーがあります。(A, asoko ni, doraibu surū ga arimasu.) |
| フライドチキン、すきですか？(Furaido chikin, suki desu ka?) |
| かおり:フライドチキン・・・。(Furaido chikin....) |
| テイラー:きらいですか？(Kirai desuka?) |
| かおり:アレルギーがあります。(Arerugī ga arimasu.) |
| テイラー:チキンアレルギー？(Chikin arerugī?) |
| Jessi: Now, let’s listen to it with the translation. |
| まさと:おなかがすきました。(Onaka ga sukimashita.)(laughs) |
| Jessi: I'm hungry. (laughs) |
| テイラー:あ、あそこに、ドライブスルーがあります。(A, asoko ni, doraibu surū ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: Oh, there's a drive-thru over there... |
| フライドチキン、すきですか？(Furaido chikin, suki desu ka?) |
| Jessi: Do you like fried chicken? |
| かおり:フライドチキン・・・。(Furaido chikin....) |
| Jessi: Fried...chicken... |
| テイラー:きらいですか？(Kirai desuka?) |
| Jessi: You don't like it? |
| かおり:アレルギーがあります。(Arerugī ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: I'm allergic... |
| テイラー:チキンアレルギー？(Chikin arerugī?) |
| Jessi: Allergic to chicken? |
| Post conversation banter |
| Jessi: Okay. So they're on a drive in California! Driving around, enjoying the sights, when someone's stomach rumbles! |
| Naomi: I think it was Masato's. |
| Jessi: Yeah, I think you're right! |
| Naomi: Because after we heard the noise, he said お腹がすきました。(Onaka ga sukimashita.) |
| Jessi: お腹がすきました。(Onaka ga sukimashita.) A new phrase for us! |
| Naomi: Yes, this is a polite way to say "I'm hungry". |
| Jessi: It's a little long... can you say it slowly for us? |
| Naomi: (slowly) お腹がすきました。(Onaka ga sukimashita.) |
| Jessi: And one more time at natural speed? |
| Naomi: お腹がすきました。(Onaka ga sukimashita.) |
| Jessi: We've included the informal way to say this phrase in the Lesson Notes as a bonus, so be sure to check that out as well. |
| Naomi: You'll hear that variation all the time as well. |
| Jessi: Okay, and our next word? |
| Naomi: アレルギー (Arerugī) |
| Jessi: アレルギー (Arerugī) [slowly]. This means allergy. In the dialogue, Kaori talked about having allergies. And we'll cover that a little more later on in the lesson, but just know that the word for allergy is アレルギー (arerugī). Can we hear it again slowly? |
| Naomi: (slowly) アレルギー (arerugī) |
| Jessi: And again at natural speed. |
| Naomi: アレルギー (Arerugī) |
| Jessi: This is really important to know if you are allergic to something, like some kind of food, and need to let it be known. |
| Naomi: Yes! If you travel to Japan or stay with a Japanese person, it will help to be able to talk about any allergies you may have. |
| Jessi: Okay. So now let's move on to the lesson focus, and learn how to say that you have allergies, among other things. In this lesson, you'll learn how to say that something exists, as in "there is a (blank)", and also how to say that you have something. |
| Naomi: The same pattern is used for both of these meanings. |
| Jessi: Yes, and that pattern is...? |
| Naomi: Aがあります。(A ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: Aがあります。(A ga arimasu.) So let's take a look at the first meaning, talking about something existing. When we say it this way, it sounds really deep, but.. (笑) What are we really trying to say? |
| Naomi: Well, it's like saying, "There's a..." in English. Like, There's a supermarket... |
| Jessi: Or there's a convenience store... |
| Naomi: There's a party, things like that. |
| Jessi: How about there's a person? |
| Naomi: Nope. This pattern is used for inanimate objects only. |
| Jessi: Got it. So, objects, things, places, anything that's not alive, basically. |
| Naomi: Right. |
| Jessi: So again, the pattern is...? |
| Naomi: Aがあります。(A ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: Let's hear some examples. How about the ones we just gave in English? |
| Naomi: Okay! Supermarket is スーパー (sūpā) in Japanese. So to say, "there's a supermarket", we'd say スーパーがあります。(Sūpā ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: スーパー (sūpā) plus があります(ga arimasu)。スーパーがあります。(Sūpā ga arimasu.) |
| Naomi: Right. Convenience store is コンビニ (konbini), So to say, "there's a Convenience store", we'd say コンビニがあります。(konbini ga arimasu) |
| Jessi: コンビニ(konbini) plus があります(ga arimasu)。コンビニがあります。(Konbini ga arimasu) |
| Naomi: That's it! |
| Jessi: How did they use it in the dialogue? |
| Naomi: Masato was hungry, so Taylor said あ、あそこに、ドライブスルーがあります。(A, asoko ni, doraibu surū ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: "Oh, there's a drive-thru over there..." So the important part is |
| Naomi: ドライブスルーがあります。(Doraibu surū ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: "There's a drive-thru." Okay. So like we said earlier, this があります (ga arimasu) has another meaning. |
| Naomi: Yes, and that's the meaning of "to have". |
| Jessi: As in "I have", "you have", "he has" et cetera. So to say that you have something, the structure is [item + があります (ga arimasu)]. Just like before. So~ let's go through some examples. |
| Naomi: Okay. How about saying you have time? Time is 時間 (jikan), so to say "I have time", you'd say 時間があります。 (Jikan ga arimasu) |
| Jessi: 時間 (jikan) plus があります (ga arimasu). 時間があります。 (Jikan ga arimasu) And then there's the example we had in the dialogue, which I think is pretty important, too. |
| Naomi: Ah, アレルギー? (Arerugī) Allergies? |
| Jessi: Yes, talking about having allergies. You would use があります (ga arimasu) to talk about being allergic to something. |
| Naomi: That's right! In the dialogue, Kaori said アレルギーがあります (Arerugī ga arimasu). |
| Jessi: アレルギー (Arerugī) plus があります (ga arimasu). アレルギーがあります (Arerugī ga arimasu). "I have allergies", or "I'm allergic". Listeners, please repeat after Naomi. |
| Naomi: アレルギーがあります (Arerugī ga arimasu) |
| Jessi: Okay. Excellent. And if you want to specify what you are allergic to, that would come before the word アレルギー (Arerugī). |
| Naomi: Right. If it were cats, 猫 (neko), you would say 猫アレルギー (neko arerugī)。 |
| Jessi: Yes, and in Kaori's case it was チキンアレルギー。(Chikin arerugī.) Allergic to chicken. |
| Naomi: Right, poor Kaori. |
| Jessi: Yeah, they couldn't go get fried chicken at the drive thru due to that. Are you allergic to anything, Naomi? |
| Naomi: Ah, I'm allergic to dust. ダストアレルギーがあります。(Dasuto arerugī ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: Ah, dust. Ah, so when you have to clean. That's pretty tough, huh. |
| Naomi: Right. |
| Jessi: Okay. Let's give the listeners a chance to practice now. |
| Naomi: Sounds good! |
| Jessi: Let's say you want to tell someone there's a party. Naomi, the word for party is...? |
| Naomi: Very easy. パーティー (Pātī). |
| Jessi: パーティー (Pātī). So, "there's a party" would be...? Naomi, the answer is? |
| Naomi: パーティーがあります (Pātī ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: パーティーがあります. (Pātī ga arimasu.) There's a party. |
| Naomi: Excellent. How about one with the other meaning. |
| Jessi: Ah, okay! The other meaning of I have. Let's say you want to tell someone that you have plans. |
| Naomi: Good one. Plans are 予定 (yotei). |
| Jessi: 予定 (Yotei). Okay. So we plug this one in, and we get, listeners...? Okay, Naomi, the answer is? |
| Naomi: 予定ーがあります (Yotei ga arimasu.) |
| Jessi: 予定ーがあります (Yotei ga arimasu). I have plans. |
| Naomi: Great job, everyone. How did it go? |
| Jessi: Now you know how to use があります (ga arimasu) to talk about the existence of inanimate objects and having something. |
| Naomi: And we'll talk about animate objects like people and animals, in the next lesson... |
| Jessi: Yes! So be sure to stay tuned. Okay. Well, that's going to do it for this lesson. |
| Naomi: See you next time! じゃまた。(Ja mata.) |
Lesson conversation |
| (On a drive) |
| (Stomach rumbling) |
| まさと:おなかがすきました。(Onaka ga sukimashita.)(laughs) |
| テイラー:あ、あそこに、ドライブスルーがあります。(A, asoko ni, doraibu surū ga arimasu.) |
| フライドチキン、すきですか？(Furaido chikin, suki desu ka?) |
| かおり:フライドチキン・・・。(Furaido chikin....) |
| テイラー:きらいですか？(Kirai desuka?) |
| かおり:アレルギーがあります。(Arerugī ga arimasu.) |
| テイラー:チキンアレルギー？(Chikin arerugī?) |
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