Learn about introducing "direct passive voice" and "indirect passive voice"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natsuko: ナツコです。(Natsuko desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #155. Bad Day. Natsuko-san, we are back and today, we are going to be talking about the passive again. |
| Natsuko: Oh yes, we are going back. |
| Peter: We are going back. This is such an important topic in Japanese that we really, really want to make sure you understand it well. So over the next few beginner lessons, we are going to be looking exclusively at the passive. Now Natsuko-san, when you think about the passive and you think about our title, bad day you see a connection there. |
| Natsuko: Umm kind of ominous. |
| Peter: Yeah, but a lot of times in Japanese, the passive has to do with something unfortunate happening to you. |
| Natsuko: Something done to you. |
| Peter: Yeah, exactly. So today we are going to continue on with that and we have a few examples in today’s lesson. Now last week, last week Natsuko-san, what word did we have? |
| Natsuko: だまされる (damasareru) |
| Peter: To be fooled, which is the passive of |
| Natsuko: だます (damasu) |
| Peter: We included intentionally another verb that ends with the syllable す (su) so that you get that one. Pay attention to that one. Then in the grammar section, we will go through the others in today’s conversation. All right, are you ready, Natsuko-san? |
| Natsuko: Okay. |
| Peter: Bad day. What do you think is going to happen? |
| Natsuko: I don’t want to hear that. |
| Peter: Well Natsuko-san, I have some bad news for you. We are about to listen. Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| OL (ōeru) : おはよう。今日の調子はどうですか。(Ohayō. Kyō no chōshi wa dō desu ka.) |
| 社員 (shain) : 今日は最悪です。(Kyō wa saiaku desu.) |
| OL (ōeru) : どうしたんですか。(Dō shita n desu ka.) |
| 社員 (shain) : 今朝５時にカラスに起こされてから眠れないし、電車は混んでて足を踏まれるし、おまけに傘で刺されたんだ。今日はとても機嫌悪いよ。もうついてないよ。(Kesa go-ji ni karasu ni okosarete kara nemurenai shi, densha wa konde te ashi o fumareru shi, omake ni kasa de sasareta n da. Kyō wa totemo kigen warui yo. Mō tsuite nai yo.) |
| OL (ōeru) : まあでも、今朝の会議の発表が終わったら、もう心配ないね。もう少しだよ。(Mā demo, kesa no kaigi no happyō ga owattara, mō shinpai nai ne. Mō sukoshi da yo.) |
| 社員 (shain) : しまった！！！！！家に資料忘れてきた。(Shimatta!!!!! Ie ni shiryō wasurete kita.) |
| OL (ōeru) : あっ、そうなの？じゃあ、机もらっていい？(A, sō na no? Jā, tsukue moratte ii?) |
| もう一度お願いします。今度はゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do onegai shimasu. Kondo wa yukuuri onegai shimasu.) |
| OL (ōeru) : おはよう。今日の調子はどうですか。(Ohayō. Kyō no chōshi wa dō desu ka.) |
| 社員 (shain) : 今日は最悪です。(Kyō wa saiaku desu.) |
| OL (ōeru) : どうしたの。(Dō shita no.) |
| 社員 (shain) : 今朝５時にカラスに起こされてから眠れないし、電車は混んでて足を踏まれるし、おまけに傘で刺されたんだ。今日はとても機嫌悪いよ。もうついてないよ。(Kesa go-ji ni karasu ni okosarete kara nemurenai shi, densha wa konde te ashi o fumareru shi, omake ni kasa de sasareta n da. Kyō wa totemo kigen warui yo. Mō tsuite nai yo.) |
| OL (ōeru) : まあでも、今朝の会議の発表が終わったら、もう心配ないね。もう少しだよ。(Mā demo, kesa no kaigi no happyō ga owattara, mō shinpai nai ne. Mō sukoshi da yo.) |
| 社員 (shain) : しまった！！！！！家に資料を忘れてきた。(Shimatta!!!!! Ie ni shiryō o wasurete kita.) |
| OL (ōeru) : あっ、そうなの？じゃあ、机もらっていい？(A, sō na no? Jā, tsukue moratte ii?) |
| Natsuko: 次は、英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| OL (ōeru) : おはよう。今日の調子はどうですか。(Ohayō. Kyō no chōshi wa dō desu ka.) |
| OL: Good morning. How do you feel today? |
| 社員: (shain) 今日は最悪です。(Kyō wa saiaku desu.) |
| EMPLOYEE: Today is the worst. |
| OL (ōeru) : どうしたんですか。(Dō shita n desu ka.) |
| OL: What happened? |
| 社員 (shain) : 今朝５時にカラスに起こされてから眠れないし、(Kesa go-ji ni karasu ni okosarete kara nemurenai shi,) |
| EMPLOYEE: I was awakened by a crow at 5 am, so I couldn't sleep at all. |
| 社員 (shain) : 電車は混んでて足を踏まれるし、(densha wa konde te ashi o fumareru shi,) |
| EMPLOYEE: The train was really crowded, and my foot was stepped on. |
| 社員 (shain) : おまけに傘で刺されたんだ。(omake ni kasa de sasareta n da.) |
| EMPLOYEE: To top it all off, I was stabbed by an umbrella. |
| 社員 (shain) : 今日はとても機嫌悪いよ。もうついてないよ。(Kyō wa totemo kigen warui yo. Mō tsuite nai yo.) |
| EMPLOYEE: I'm in a bad mood today. It's not my day. |
| OL (ōeru) : まあでも、今朝の会議の発表が終わったら、もう心配ないね。もう少しだよ。(Mā demo, kesa no kaigi no happyō ga owattara, mō shinpai nai ne. Mō sukoshi da yo.) |
| OL: Well, after your presentation at this morning's meeting, everything should be smooth sailing. Hang in there a bit longer. |
| 社員 (shain) : しまった！！！！！家に資料忘れてきた。(Shimatta!!!!! Ie ni shiryō wasurete kita.) |
| EMPLOYEE: Oh no!!!! I left my materials at home! |
| OL (ōeru) : あっ、そうなの？じゃあ、机もらっていい？(A, sō na no? Jā, tsukue moratte ii?) |
| OL: Oh really? In that case, can I have your desk? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: ナツコさん、今日の会話どう思いましたか。(Natsuko-san, kyō no kaiwa dō omoimashita ka.) |
| Natsuko: ずいぶん運のない人ですね。(Zuibun un no nai hito desu ne.) |
| Peter: Yeah, this is a pretty unlucky guy and that ending I guess yeah, he is pretty much done there. |
| Natsuko: Yeah, kind of tragic. |
| Peter: All right Natsuko-san, let’s start off with the vocab. First word, please. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Natsuko: 起こす (okosu) |
| Peter: To raise, to cause, to wake someone up. |
| Natsuko: (slow) おこす (okosu) (natural speed) 起こす (okosu) |
| Peter: Followed by |
| Natsuko: 踏む (fumu) |
| Peter: To step on, to tread on. |
| Natsuko: (slow) ふむ (fumu) (natural speed) 踏む (fumu) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Natsuko: 刺す (sasu) |
| Peter: To pierce, to stab, to prick and so on. Lots for this one. Now for さす (sasu) in Japanese, さす (sasu) there are quite a few verbs. The difference can be realized by context in spoken Japanese and with the kanji character in written Japanese. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Okay, break it down, Natsuko-san. |
| Natsuko: (slow) さす (sasu) (natural speed) 刺す (sasu) |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Natsuko: 機嫌 (kigen) |
| Peter: Humor, temper, mood. |
| Natsuko: (slow) きげん (kigen) (natural speed) 機嫌 (kigen) |
| Peter: For this one, can we have a sample sentence? |
| Natsuko: 母は機嫌がよさそうだ。(Haha wa kigen ga yosasō da.) |
| Peter: Mom looks like she is in a good mood. Next. |
| Natsuko: 発表 (happyō) |
| Peter: Announcement, publication. |
| Natsuko: (slow) はっぴょう (happyō) (natural speed) 発表 (happyō) |
| Peter: Sample sentence, please. |
| Natsuko: 今日は合格発表の日だ。(Kyō wa gōkaku happyō no hi da.) |
| Peter: Today is the pass/fail announcement. Okay Natsuko-san, before we take a look at the grammar point, let’s take a look at the 1, 2, 3, 4th line of today’s conversation. Can you just read that back? |
| Natsuko: 今朝５時にカラスに起こされてから眠れないし、電車は混んでて足を踏まれるし、おまけに傘で刺されたんだ。今日はとても機嫌が悪いんだ。(Kesa go-ji ni karasu ni okosarete kara nemurenai shi, densha wa konde te ashi o fumareru shi, omake ni kasa de sasareta n da. Kyō wa totemo kigen ga warui n da.) |
| Peter: Okay. First part. |
| Natsuko: 今朝５時に (kesa go-ji ni) |
| Peter: This morning at 5 o’ clock. Notice the particle に (ni), marking the time. |
| Natsuko: カラスに起こされてから (karasu ni okosarete kara) |
| Peter: Here we have |
| Natsuko: Crow. |
| Peter: It’s marked by the particle に (ni) here because this is the agent. This is what woke up the subject. Again for the passive in Japanese, the particles are extremely important. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: The subject here is the speaker. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And he is woken up by that crow. So it gets marked by に (ni), then we have the verb |
| Natsuko: 起こされて (okosarete) |
| Peter: To be woken up, followed by |
| Natsuko: から (kara) |
| Peter: Here we have てから (te kara). You should remember this from the earlier lessons. From that, from being woken up at 5 o’ clock by the crow. |
| Natsuko: 眠れないし (nemurenai shi) |
| Peter: I couldn’t sleep and he probably was tossing and turning et cetera. She means other things, among other things. Here we have the negative potential of the form to sleep. |
| Natsuko: 眠れない (nemurenai) |
| Peter: Okay. This sentence is followed by |
| Natsuko: 電車は混んでて足を踏まれるし、(Densha wa konde te ashi o fumareru shi,) |
| Peter: The train was crowded and I was stepped on. First we have |
| Natsuko: 電車は (densha wa) |
| Peter: The train. Here the train is the subject. So it’s marked by the particle は (wa), followed by |
| Natsuko: 混んでて (konde te) |
| Peter: It was crowded. Actually it’s crowded. Again the tense is decided by the end, the final verb in the sentence. The train was crowded and I was stepped on. So actually here, we have the present tense but actually it’s |
| Natsuko: Past tense. |
| Peter: Yeah. So I was stepped on. Can you give us that? |
| Natsuko: 足を踏まれる (ashi o fumareru) |
| Peter: This is the passive of what verb? |
| Natsuko: 踏む (fumu) |
| Peter: To step on. Now for this one, we are looking at it a bit later. The う (u), the dictionary form is replaced by the あ (a) column of the same row. So we stay in the む (mu) row, まみむめも (ma mi mu me mo), we stay in that row, however the う (u) column is now the あ (a) column, ふま (fuma), followed by |
| Natsuko: れる (reru) |
| Peter: Again we have し (shi) among other things, it was crowded, people were pushing, I was stepped on among other things and one of the other things. |
| Natsuko: おまけに傘で刺されたんだ。(omake ni kasa de sasareta n da.) |
| Peter: おまけに (omake ni ), what do we have here? |
| Natsuko: In addition. |
| Peter: In addition. Very interesting words. I have just heard this phrase recently actually… |
| Natsuko: Really? |
| Peter: Today when we did this conversation. |
| Natsuko: In addition, more than that. |
| Peter: More than that yeah, probably more than that. Then we have |
| Natsuko: 傘で刺されたんだ (kasa de sasareta n da) |
| Peter: Here the instrument is marked with で (de) because it’s actually another person that’s doing the stabbing… |
| Natsuko: Yeah. |
| Peter: But they are using |
| Natsuko: 傘 (kasa) |
| Peter: Umbrella and then we have another verb 刺す (sasu) which ends with the す (su) syllable. So this is conjugated in the same way, す (su) becomes |
| Natsuko: さ (sa) |
| Peter: Followed by |
| Natsuko: れる (reru), 刺される (sasareru). |
| Peter: And then we have the past tense |
| Natsuko: 刺された (sasareta) |
| Peter: Okay. So what we also want to point out about the sentence is notice how preceding the final past tense of the passive 刺された (sasareta), the other sentence is we are talking about the past but actually |
| Natsuko: In the present tense. |
| Peter: Yeah, which is what we want to point out. |
| Natsuko: So you can see that Japanese is not so strict about tenses. |
| Peter: Yeah, but Natsuko-san, if I said everything in the past, if I said yeah… |
| Natsuko: Yeah, you can say this all in past tense as well. 今朝５時にカラスに起こされてから、眠れなかったし、電車は混んでて足を踏まれたし、おまけに傘で刺されたんだ。(Kesa go-ji ni karasu ni okosarete kara, nemurenakatta shi, densha wa konde te ashi o fumareta shi, omake ni kasa de sasareta n da.) And that’s perfect. |
| Peter: All right. Thank you very much, Natsuko-san. Okay, two more things we want to point out. Next is the next line by the office lady, ま、でも (mā, demo). ナツコさん、お願いします。(Natsuko-san, onegai shimasu.) |
| Natsuko: まあでも、今朝の会議の発表が終わったら、もう心配ないね。(Mā demo, kesa no kaigi no happyō ga owattara, mō shinpai nai ne.) |
| Peter: Yeah, but after this morning’s meeting’s presentation, there are no worries. Now here we have たら (tara) which is also a conditional and again we have the subordinate clause. Here たら (tara) can mean two things when talking about time as in when something will happen or an if conditional. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Here we are talking about time. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: So it comes out more like when. When that event has taken place, something something. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Okay, and then finally Natsuko-san seems like he lost his job. |
| Natsuko: Oh, poor guy. |
| Peter: Yep. Now again, we are talking about the passive. Now we were going to break it into a separate grammar point but we wound up explaining it inside the conversation. Well actually when we are explaining about the conversation. |
Outro |
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| Peter: So that means we are going to stop here. All right, that’s it, that’s going for today. |
| Natsuko: じゃあ、また明日ね。(Jā, mata ashita ne.) |
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