Learn about the plain present progressive form of verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yoshi: おはよう、バミューダ。ヨシです。(Ohayō, Bamyūda. Yoshi desu.) |
| Haruyo: おはよう、バミューダ。はるよです。(Ohayō, Bamyūda. Haruyo desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #115. Today, we continue on with our casual conversations. These are conversations between people that have an intimate relationship. Good friends, family and today’s conversation is between two close friends who are also co-workers on their way to work. They will be taking the train this morning and chit chatting on the train. Yoshi-san, you saw today’s conversation. What do you think? |
| Yoshi: This is something you would talk about every day. |
| Peter: So with that said, please listen to the following conversation. Two girls who are co-workers, close friends, which is why they are using informal Japanese. Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| まもなく新宿、新宿でございます。(Mamonaku Shinjuku, Shinjuku de gozaimasu.) |
| はるよ (Haruyo) : 今日は電車が特に混んでいるね。(Kyō wa densha ga toku ni konde iru ne.) |
| さくら (Sakura) : お盆休みは終わったからね。(O-bon’yasumi wa owatta kara ne.) |
| はるよ (Haruyo) : 女性専用車両があって良かったね。(Josei sen’yō sharyō ga atte yokatta ne.) |
| さくら (Sakura) : そう、そう。(Sō sō.) |
| はるよ (Haruyo) : 混んでいるけど、安心が一番よ。(Konde iru kedo, anshin ga ichi-ban yo.) |
| Sakura: もう一度、お願いします。ゆっくり、お願いします。(Mō ichi-do, onegai shimasu. Yukkuri, onegai shimasu.) |
| まもなく新宿、新宿でございます。(Mamonaku Shinjuku, Shinjuku de gozaimasu.) |
| はるよ (Haruyo) : 今日は電車が特に混んでいるね。(Kyō wa densha ga toku ni konde iru ne.) |
| さくら (Sakura) : お盆休みは終わったからね。(O-bon’yasumi wa owatta kara ne.) |
| はるよ (Haruyo) : 女性専用車両があって良かったね。(Josei sen’yō sharyō ga atte yokatta ne.) |
| さくら (Sakura) : そう、そう。(Sō sō.) |
| はるよ (Haruyo) : 混んでいるけど、安心が一番よ。(Konde iru kedo, anshin ga ichi-ban yo.) |
| Sakura: 今度は、ピーターが英語をいれます。(Kondo wa, Pītā ga Eigo o iremasu.) |
| まもなく新宿、新宿でございます。(Mamonaku Shinjuku, Shinjuku de gozaimasu.) |
| The train will momentarily arrive at Shinjuku. |
| はるよ (Haruyo) : 今日は電車が特に混んでいるね。(Kyō wa densha ga toku ni konde iru ne.) |
| HARUYO: The train is especially crowded today. |
| さくら (Sakura) : お盆休みは終わったからね。(O-bon’yasumi wa owatta kara ne.) |
| SAKURA: That's because the Obon holidays are over. |
| はるよ (Haruyo) : 女性専用車両があって良かったね。(Josei sen’yō sharyō ga atte yokatta ne.) |
| HARUYO: I'm glad there is a women-only train car. |
| さくら (Sakura) : そう、そう。(Sō sō.) |
| SAKURA: Yeah, that's right. |
| はるよ (Haruyo) : 混んでいるけど、安心が一番よ。(Konde iru kedo, anshin ga ichi-ban yo.) |
| HARUYO: It's crowded, but feeling secure comes first. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: Yoshi-san, let’s find out what Natsuko-san thinks about today’s lesson. |
| Yoshi: ナツコさん、今日の会話はどうでしたか。(Natsuko-san, kyō no kaiwa wa dō deshita ka.) |
| Natsuko: 私も毎朝女性専用車両に乗っています。(Watashi mo maiasa josei sen’yō sharyō ni notte imasu.) |
| Peter: English, please. |
| Natsuko: I take the women-only train car every morning. |
| Peter: Really? |
| Natsuko: Yes, I do. |
| Peter: How crowded is it in there? |
| Natsuko: It’s not crowded. I think non-only train cars are more crowded. |
| Peter: That’s not fair. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: I know every morning it’s really, really crowded. |
| Natsuko: Oh really? |
| Peter: On the train I ride. |
| Natsuko: Maybe it depends on the line. |
| Peter: Yes. I am on the notorious 中央 (Chūō) line. |
| Natsuko: Oh the one always stops when it rains. |
| Peter: Yes. Which line do you take? |
| Natsuko: I take the 田園都市 (Den’en toshi) line |
| Peter: And where is that coming from? |
| Natsuko: From Yokohama and Kawasaki. |
| Peter: Yoshi-san, is it not the same line you take? |
| Yoshi: I take the 東横 (Tōyoko) line. |
| Peter: Another big one. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: All right. Now let’s take a look at today’s vocabulary. Natsuko-san, first word |
| Natsuko: 特に (toku ni) |
| Peter: Especially. |
| Natsuko: (slow)とくに (toku ni) (natural speed)特に (toku ni) |
| Peter: Yoshi-san, example sentence, please. |
| Yoshi: 今日は特に暑いね。(Kyō wa toku ni atsui ne.) |
| Peter: Today it’s especially hot. Here it’s used together with an adjective. That adjective is Yoshi-san, |
| Yoshi: 暑い (atsui) |
| Peter: Add them together |
| Yoshi: 特に暑い (toku ni atsui) |
| Peter: Especially hot. Natsuko-san, what did we have in today’s dialogue? |
| Natsuko: 特に混んでいる (toku ni konde iru) |
| Peter: Especially crowded. Here it’s used with a verb modifying the verb. So it can be used with both. Now this phrase actually takes us to our next vocabulary word. Natsuko-san, |
| Natsuko: 混む (komu) |
| Peter: To be crowded. |
| Natsuko: (slow)こむ (komu) (natural speed)混む (komu) |
| Peter: Give us the sentence from the dialogue. Let’s break this sentence apart. |
| Natsuko: 今日は電車が特に混んでいるね。(Kyō wa densha ga toku ni konde iru ne.) |
| Peter: Today is the topic marked by |
| Natsuko: は (wa) |
| Peter: Then we have the subject, the train. |
| Natsuko: 電車 (densha) |
| Peter: Then we have our phrase. |
| Natsuko: 特に混んでいる (toku ni konde iru) |
| Peter: Especially crowded. Now what we want to point out here is the verb to be crowded. Can you give us the dictionary form? |
| Natsuko: 混む (komu) |
| Peter: So the te-form of this verb is |
| Natsuko: 混んで (konde) |
| Peter: As the last syllable is |
| Natsuko: む (mu) |
| Peter: We conjugate it by dropping the む (mu) and adding |
| Natsuko: んで (n de) |
| Peter: Similar to another one, the verb to drink |
| Natsuko: 飲む (nomu) |
| Peter: Which becomes |
| Natsuko: 飲んで (nonde) |
| Peter: Now what’s unique about this verb is when we have the present progressive |
| Natsuko: 混んでいる (konde iru) |
| Peter: This represents a state that has been achieved. The state of being crowded. |
| Natsuko: Yes, right. Not like you know, people gathering up. |
| Peter: Yeah. |
| Natsuko: Yes, it’s the state. |
| Peter: No, they are already there. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And there are a lot of them. Natsuko-san, finally we did this verb. You know this verb is so crucial in Japan. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: Yeah, I knew you’d like that Yoshi-san. I know they are going to laugh at you because everybody can relate to it. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: The trains, the streets. Yoshi-san, quick, give me a place that isn’t crowded? |
| Yoshi: Umm… |
| Peter: How about the beach? |
| Yoshi: Ah it’s crowded. |
| Peter: So the frequency of this verb is quite high. So finally we got that. Now Natsuko-san, can you tell us about the sentence ending particle here? What’s that particle? |
| Natsuko: ね (ne) |
| Peter: Can you tell us a bit about this? |
| Natsuko: It’s basically asking opinions from the other person but more like expecting an agreement. |
| Peter: So to some degree, you are confident that the listening party would agree with your statement. |
| Natsuko: Yes, right. It’s like isn’t it? |
| Peter: Excellent. Now what about gender use? We read a lot that the particle |
| Natsuko: ね (ne) |
| Peter: Has a feminine touch to it. Yoshi-san, would you use ね (ne) at the end of this sentence if you said it. |
| Yoshi: そうですね...。(Sō desu ne...) |
| Natsuko: Nice. |
| Peter: Really good. |
| Yoshi: Sometimes I do. |
| Peter: And that’s the point we want to get at. There are some things that you may do to give it a feminine touch, perhaps frequency of use. If you are using it at the end of every sentence. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: It might have a feminine touch to it or depending on your intonation, it could come across as a bit feminine but as far as it being used by both girls and guys, it’s all right. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Yoshi: Right. |
| Peter: Natsuko-san, can you give us the sentence from the dialogue, one more time? |
| Natsuko: 今日は電車が特に混んでいるね。(Kyō wa densha ga toku ni konde iru ne.) |
| Peter: Yoshi-san, |
| Yoshi: 今日は電車が特に混んでいるね。(Kyō wa densha ga toku ni konde iru ne.) |
| Peter: On to the next word. Ah, let's have Natsuko-san do this one. |
| Natsuko: Okay. 女性専用車両 (josei sen’yō sharyō) |
| Peter: Women-only train car. |
| Natsuko: (slow)じょせいせんようしゃりょう (josei sen’yō sharyō) (natural speed)女性専用車両 (josei sen’yō sharyō) |
| Peter: Natsuko-san, there is a lot of action going on with this word. Let’s break it down into the three words that it is. Correct? |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: First word. |
| Natsuko: 女性 (josei) |
| Peter: Female, woman. |
| Natsuko: じょせい (josei) |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Natsuko: 専用 (sen’yō) |
| Peter: Exclusive use. |
| Natsuko: (slow)せんよう (sen’yō) (natural speed)専用 (sen’yō) |
| Peter: And finally we have |
| Natsuko: 車両 (sharyō) |
| Peter: Car. |
| Natsuko: (slow)しゃりょう (sharyō) (natural speed)車両 (sharyō) |
| Peter: Yoshi-san, can you give us an example? |
| Yoshi: Okay. このホテルの三階は女性専用フロアです。(Kono hoteru no san-kai wa josei sen’yō furoa desu.) |
| Peter: One more time, slowly please. |
| Yoshi: このホテルの三階は女性専用フロアです。(Kono hoteru no san-kai wa josei sen’yō furoa desu.) |
| Peter: The third floor of this hotel is exclusively for women. Now let’s take a look at the sentence. Natsuko-san, can you give us that sentence? |
| Natsuko: 女性専用車両があってよかったね。(Josei sen’yō sharyō ga atte yokatta ne.) |
| Peter: I am glad there is a woman-only train car. Now let’s take a look at the literal meaning. Natsuko-san, same sentence, one more time. |
| Natsuko: 女性専用車両があってよかったね。(Josei sen’yō sharyō ga atte yokatta ne.) |
| Peter: Notice how the woman-only train car comes first. Then it’s marked by |
| Natsuko: が (ga) |
| Peter: Next comes the te-form of |
| Natsuko: ある (aru) |
| Peter: Which is |
| Natsuko: あって (atte) |
| Peter: There is. So we have train car, there is followed by |
| Natsuko: よかった (yokatta) |
| Peter: Was good. Train car there was good, and the way we interpret this is, it’s good that there is a woman-only train car. Also I am glad. Now let’s take a look at this expression. |
| Natsuko: あってよかった (atte yokatta) |
| Peter: Now you will come across this expression a lot. And the way we interpret it is, it’s good that there is something, something. So for example, Natsuko-san, if it’s raining and you just happened to be carrying |
| Natsuko: 傘があってよかった。(Kasa ga atte yokatta.) |
| Peter: I am glad that I have an umbrella. It’s good that there is an umbrella. You are stuck in the middle of the woods. |
| Natsuko: 携帯があってよかった。(Keitai ga atte yokatta.) Ah that’s I think the rare situation. |
| Peter: Natsuko-san, three times it happened to me already. It’s good that there is a cell phone. I am glad that I have a cell phone. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Now I want to show you a little trick here. Not just this verb ある (aru) there is, we can actually use てよかった (te yokatta) in many situations. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: Can you give us an example? |
| Yoshi: サッカーの試合で、日本が勝ってよかった。(Sakkā no shiai de, Nihon ga katte yokatta.) |
| Peter: I am glad that Japan won the soccer game. Again the literal meaning, it’s the past tense of good, was good but when it’s said, it can often be interpreted as I am glad. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: This is a great structure especially in the case that you need something and it’s there. |
| Natsuko: Right. Very lucky situation. |
| Peter: Yeah, all right. This is getting good. Next we have. |
| Yoshi: お盆休み (o-bon’yasumi) |
| Peter: Bon vacation, Obon vacation. |
| Yoshi: (slow)おぼんやすみ (o-bon’yasumi) (natural speed)お盆休み (o-bon’yasumi) |
| Peter: And again this is two words. First word being |
| Yoshi: お盆 (o-bon) |
| Peter: Obon festival and the second |
| Yoshi: 休み (yasumi) |
| Peter: Vacation. Put them together and we have |
| Yoshi: お盆休み (o-bon’yasumi) |
| Peter: Obon vacation. And we are talking about this because this was pretty recent. You know what I noticed too, not just a week of Obon but the following week, the train was still not too crowded. |
| Natsuko: Yes, right. |
| Peter: Not the situation this morning but quite different. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Now let’s take a look at this sentence. Yoshi-san, can you give us the full sentence that we found in the dialogue? |
| Yoshi: お盆休みは終わったからね。(O-bon’yasumi wa owatta kara ne.) |
| Peter: お盆休み (o-bon’yasumi) marked by the particle |
| Yoshi: は (wa) |
| Peter: It’s followed by the plain past tense of |
| Yoshi: 終わる (owaru) |
| Peter: Which is |
| Yoshi: 終わった (owatta) |
| Peter: Again we cannot stress this trick enough. We spent so much time going through the te-form of verbs. The easiest way to remember how to construct the plain past is just remember the te-form. All you do is turn the て (te) into |
| Natsuko: た (ta) |
| Peter: That’s it. Now what’s interesting about this sentence is what follows the plain past of to finish. |
| Yoshi: から (kara) |
| Peter: The because comes at the end of the sentence. |
| Natsuko: Yes, right. |
| Peter: And then finally here we follow it up with |
| Natsuko: ね (ne) |
| Peter: Now Yoshi-san, in your case, would you use a ね (ne) here? |
| Yoshi: Yes, I can. |
| Peter: So again this one is all right for both. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Yoshi: But maybe I would say 終わったからな (owatta kara na). |
| Peter: And what’s the sentence ending particle you are using? |
| Yoshi: な (na) |
| Peter: Is it a short な (na) or a long な (na)? |
| Yoshi: It’s a short な (na). |
| Peter: And it has a more masculine feel to it. Right, Yoshi-san? |
| Yoshi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: All right. Last we have |
| Natsuko: 安心 (anshin) |
| Peter: Security, safety, ease of mind. |
| Natsuko: (slow)あんしん (anshin) (natural speed)安心 (anshin) |
| Peter: Natsuko-san, can you give us the sentence we had in the dialogue? |
| Natsuko: 混んでいるけど安心が一番よ。(Konde iru kedo anshin ga ichi-ban yo.) |
| Peter: The first part is |
| Natsuko: 混んでいるけど (konde iru kedo) |
| Peter: It’s crowded but – and notice in informal Japanese けれども (keredomo) gets reduced to |
| Natsuko: けど (kedo) |
| Peter: Meaning but. It’s followed by |
| Natsuko: 安心が一番よ。(Anshin ga ichi-ban yo.) |
| Peter: Security is No.1. That’s the literal translation and again we can interpret this as feeling secure is most important. Feeling secure is No.1. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: What particle do we find at the end of this sentence? |
| Natsuko: よ (yo) |
| Peter: What’s the よ (yo) doing here? |
| Natsuko: I think it’s stressing your opinion in a very feminine way. |
| Peter: Yoshi-san, what would you say in this case? |
| Yoshi: I can still use よ (yo) but I would say 安心が一番だよ (anshin ga ichi-ban da yo). |
| Peter: The plain non-past of the copula, です (desu) becomes |
| Yoshi: だ (da) |
| Peter: And it gets inserted before |
| Yoshi: よ (yo) |
| Peter: All right. I think we broke that down very well today. Nice job, Natsuko-san and Yoshi-san. |
| Natsuko: Thank you. |
| Yoshi: Thank you. |
Outro |
|---|
| Peter: Lots of good information in there. We ran really long today. That’s going to do for today. |
| Natsuko: じゃ、また明日ね。(Ja, mata ashita ne.) |
| Yoshi: またね。(Mata ne.) |
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