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 #159. Headhunting the Right Way. ナツコさん、どうですか。(Natsuko-san, dō desu ka.) |
| Natsuko: ヘッドハンティング。うーん、何だか、何が起きるんでしょうね。(Heddohantingu. Ūn, nandaka, nani ga okiru n deshō ne.) |
| Peter: Right. How would you say headhunting in Japanese… |
| Natsuko: I think… |
| Peter: And maybe we should specify what headhunting is here as in looking for a job. |
| Natsuko: Oh yes, ヘッドハンティング (heddohantingu). I think you just say it in katakana. |
| Peter: Okay, just one more time please. |
| Natsuko: ヘッドハンティング (heddohantingu) |
| Peter: And up until now in Japan, it hasn’t been that common. Well I should say up until now, up until recently but now the number of companies doing this is starting to increase. |
| Natsuko: Increasing in Japanesepod? |
| Peter: Natsuko-san! That’s a topic for another day. Anyway, let’s get right in. Now in today’s conversation, the boss shows up to work and finds quite a surprise waiting for him. The conversation is between the boss or the manager and a subordinate. You can tell this by the politeness level of the Japanese. Pay attention, here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 部長 (buchō) : おはよう！(Ohayō!) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 部長！大変です！(Buchō! Taihen desu!) |
| 部長 (buchō) : 高田はまだ？(Takada wa mada?) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 只今電話がありまして、高田さんは会社にもう来ません。(Tadaima denwa ga arimashite, Takada-san wa kaisha ni mō kimasen.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : うちのエースが会社来ないって？今日っていう意味？(Uchi no ēsu ga kaisha konai tte? Kyō tte iu imi?) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : いいえ、ずっとです。(Iie, zutto desu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : どういうこと？(Dō iu koto?) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : スカウトされました。(Sukauto saremashita.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : 誰に！(Dare ni!) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : あの会社、名前も言いたくない、あのライバル会社です。(Ano kaisha, namae mo iitakunai, ano raibarugaisha desu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : あの裏切り者！もういい。高田さんはいらない！(Ano uragiri mono! Mō ii. Takada-san wa iranai!) |
| じゃあ、高橋くんを昇進させる。彼女はどこ？(Jā, Takahashi-kun o shōshin saseru. Kanojo wa doko?) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 彼女もスカウトされました。(Kanojo mo sukauto saremashita.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : まさか！(Masaka!) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : そうです。同じ会社です。(Sō desu. Onaji kaisha desu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : って言うか、営業部、誰もいないけど。(Tte iu ka, eigyōbu, dare mo inai kedo.) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 全員です！営業部まるごとスカウトされました！(Zen’in desu! Eigyōbu marugoto sukauto saremashita!) |
| 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 yukkuri onegai shimasu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : おはよう！(Ohayō!) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 部長！大変です！(Buchō! Taihen desu!) |
| 部長 (buchō) : 高田はまだ？(Takada wa mada?) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 只今電話がありまして、高田さんは会社にもう来ません。(Tadaima denwa ga arimashite, Takada-san wa kaisha ni mō kimasen.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : うちのエースが会社来ないって？今日っていう意味？(Uchi no ēsu ga kaisha konai tte? Kyō tte iu imi?) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : いいえ、ずっとです。(Iie, zutto desu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : どういうこと？(Dō iu koto?) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : スカウトされました。(Sukauto saremashita.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : 誰に！(Dare ni!) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : あの会社、名前も言いたくない、あのライバル会社です。(Ano kaisha, namae mo iitakunai, ano raibarugaisha desu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : あの裏切り者！もういい。高田さんはいらない！(Ano uragiri mono! Mō ii. Takada-san wa iranai!) |
| じゃあ、高橋くんを昇進させる。彼女はどこ？(Jā, Takahashi-kun o shōshin saseru. Kanojo wa doko?) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 彼女もスカウトされました。(Kanojo mo sukauto saremashita.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : まさか！(Masaka!) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : そうです。同じ会社です。(Sō desu. Onaji kaisha desu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : って言うか、営業部、誰もいないけど。(Tte iu ka, eigyōbu, dare mo inai kedo.) |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 全員です！営業部まるごとスカウトされました！(Zen’in desu! Eigyōbu marugoto sukauto saremashita!) |
| Natsuko: 次は、ピーターさんの英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa, Pītā-san no Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : おはよう！(Ohayō!) |
| DIRECTOR: Good morning. |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 部長！大変です！(Buchō! Taihen desu!) |
| SECRETARY: Director! There's a problem! |
| 部長 (buchō) : 高田はまだ？(Takada wa mada?) |
| DIRECTOR: Hasn't Takada come yet? |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 只今電話がありまして、高田さんは会社にもう来ません。(Tadaima denwa ga arimashite, Takada-san wa kaisha ni mō kimasen.) |
| SECRETARY: There was a telephone call just now, and Mr. Takada isn't coming in anymore. |
| 部長 (buchō) : うちのエースが会社来ないって？今日っていう意味？(Uchi no ēsu ga kaisha konai tte? Kyō tte iu imi?) |
| DIRECTOR: Our ace isn't coming? You mean today? |
| 秘書 (hisho) : いいえ、ずっとです。(Iie, zutto desu.) |
| SECRETARY: No, not ever. |
| 部長 (buchō) : どういうこと？(Dō iu koto?) |
| DIRECTOR: What do you mean? |
| 秘書 (hisho) : スカウトされました。(Sukauto saremashita.) |
| SECRETARY: He was recruited. |
| 部長 (buchō) : 誰に！(Dare ni!) |
| DIRECTOR: By who! |
| 秘書 (hisho) : あの会社、名前も言いたくない、あのライバル会社です。(Ano kaisha, namae mo iitakunai, ano raibarugaisha desu.) |
| SECRETARY: I don't even want to say the name - our rival company. |
| 部長 (buchō) : あの裏切り者！もういい。高田さんはいらない！(Ano uragiri mono! Mō ii. Takada-san wa iranai!) |
| DIRECTOR: That traitor! That's it. We don't need Takada. |
| 部長 (buchō) : じゃあ、高橋くんを昇進させる。彼女はどこ？(Jā, Takahashi-kun o shōshin saseru. Kanojo wa doko?) |
| DIRECTOR: I'm promoting Takahashi. Where is she? |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 彼女もスカウトされました。(Kanojo mo sukauto saremashita.) |
| SECRETARY: She was recruited, too. |
| 部長 (buchō) : まさか！(Masaka!) |
| DIRECTOR: No way! |
| 秘書 (hisho) : そうです。同じ会社です。(Sō desu. Onaji kaisha desu.) |
| SECRETARY: It's true. The same company. |
| 部長 (buchō) : って言うか、営業部、誰もいないけど。(Tte iu ka, eigyōbu, dare mo inai kedo.) |
| DIRECTOR: So the sales department is empty. |
| 秘書 (hisho) : 全員です！営業部まるごとスカウトされました！(Zen’in desu! Eigyōbu marugoto sukauto saremashita!) |
| SECRETARY: They're all gone. Practically the whole department was recruited. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: ナツコさん、どうでしたか。(Natsuko-san, dō deshita ka.) |
| Natsuko: 何だか大変そうな会社ですね。(Nandaka taihen sō na kaisha desu ne.) |
| Peter: Yeah, how do we say that in English, 大変そうな会社 (taihen sō na kaisha)? |
| Natsuko: Oh in this sense, I mean the company seems to be in big trouble. |
| Peter: A company with a big problem or it looks like – a company that looks like it’s in trouble. Now again, this word 大変 (taihen), very important to listen to the context because the meaning can move around a bit. It’s got a little levy here. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And here we are talking about the companies in trouble. 大変そうな (taihen sō na), looks like it’s in trouble. Okay so yeah, it looks like it’s in big trouble. |
| Natsuko: Yes, it sounds like that. |
| Peter: Why are you enjoying this one, aren’t you Natsuko-san? |
| Natsuko: No, no, no, no, no.. |
| Peter: But this is kind of based on a – you know, based on a true story. |
| Natsuko: Oh really? |
| Peter: Or at least the story that I’ve heard. |
| Natsuko: Not that you experienced, right? |
| Peter: Not that I’ve experienced so far but… |
| Natsuko: I hope not. |
| Peter: Oh boy! That’s why we don’t give out the contact information of the voice actors because... oh boy! Let’s move on to vocab and Natsuko-san, the first word. お願いします。(Onegai shimasu.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Natsuko: 只今 (tadaima) |
| Peter: Right now. |
| Natsuko: (slow) ただいま (tadaima) (natural speed) 只今 (tadaima) |
| Peter: Now many of you are probably familiar with this phrase from the fact that it’s also used as a greeting when returning home. |
| Natsuko: ただいま。(Tadaima.) |
| Peter: お帰りなさい。(Okaerinasai.) This combination of I am back and welcome back. So here the phrase is used differently. Natsuko-san, what’s going on here? |
| Natsuko: Maybe we should say that this was the original meaning because ただ (tada) means just and いま (ima) means now. So right now, just now. |
| Peter: Just now. |
| Natsuko: And the greeting version ただいま (tadaima) used to be ただいま帰りました (tadaima kaerimashita), I am back just now but the 帰りました (kaerimashita) part was shortened into ただいま (tadaima). |
| Peter: Yeah, you don’t need the verb or anything. |
| Natsuko: Because it’s obvious that you are back. |
| Peter: Yep and the Japanese love to shorten things. How do we say that in Japanese? |
| Natsuko: 省略 (shōryaku) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: And actually today’s grammar point was shortened. |
| Natsuko: 省略された (shōryaku sareta) |
| Peter: Yep but we will get into this in a minute. It was abbreviated, sliced down. Okay, next we have |
| Natsuko: 部長 (buchō) |
| Peter: Head of a section. |
| Natsuko: (slow) ぶちょう (buchō) (natural speed) 部長 (buchō) |
| Peter: Sample sentence, please. |
| Natsuko: 部長は出張で大阪に行きました。(Buchō wa shucchō de Ōsaka ni ikimashita.) |
| Peter: The head of the section went to Osaka on business. Next. |
| Natsuko: 意味 (imi) |
| Peter: Meaning. |
| Natsuko: (slow) いみ (imi) (natural speed) 意味 (imi) |
| Peter: 例文お願いします。(Reibun onegai shimasu.) |
| Natsuko: それはどういう意味ですか。(Sore wa dō iu imi desu ka.) |
| Peter: What do you mean by that? What is meant by that? I love this expression, どういう意味？(dō iu imi?) What do you mean or what does it mean? |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter:どういう意味？(Dō iu imi?) Students of Japanese should know this expression by heart because you should be asking this a 100 times a day どういう意味 (dō iu imi), どういう意味 (dō iu imi), どういう意味 (dō iu imi)? Make your friends hate that expression. Okay, next we have |
| Natsuko: 昇進 (shōshin) |
| Peter: Promotion. |
| Natsuko: (slow) しょうしん (shōshin) (natural speed) 昇進 (shōshin) |
| Peter: Sample sentence, please. 例文お願いします。(Reibun onegai shimasu.) |
| Natsuko: 先月部長に昇進しました。(Sengetsu buchō ni shōshin shimashita.) |
| Peter: Last month, I was promoted to Head of the section. Next. |
| Natsuko: 裏切り者 (uragirimono) |
| Peter: Traitor. |
| Natsuko: (slow) うらぎりもの (uragirimono) (natural speed) 裏切り者 (uragirimono) |
| Peter: Here the meaning of the final character 者 (mono) is not thing, but person. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And what comes before that? |
| Natsuko: 裏切り (uragiri) |
| Peter: Which means to betray. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Betray a person, traitor. |
| Natsuko: 裏切り者 (uragirimono) |
| Peter: I didn’t like the way you looked at me right there, Natsuko-san. |
| Natsuko: What! What! |
| Peter: Now Natsuko-san, in Japanese, is there a famous trader or a famous person like whose name is synonymous with traitor. For example, in American English, Benedict Arnold, who was actually a loyalist. So probably in British English, he is some kind of hero but in American English, he is synonymous with traitor. |
| Natsuko: I see. |
| Peter: He was loyal to the British so – and he betrayed the US so it’s synonymous with traitor. |
| Natsuko: Well... how about 明智光秀 (Akechi Mitsuhide)? |
| Peter: One more time slowly, which is the first and what’s the last name? |
| Natsuko: Well 明智 (Akechi) is his last name. |
| Peter: 明智 (Akechi) |
| Natsuko: And 光秀 (Mitsuhide) is… |
| Peter: 光秀 (Mitsuhide) |
| Natsuko: Well, kind of a first name. |
| Peter: Kind of… |
| Natsuko: Kind of…I am, you know, back in those days, people had different names. So I am not really sure but I hope you know 織田信長 (Oda Nobunaga). He is one of the heroes in Japanese history. |
| Peter: Really? |
| Natsuko: Yeah, he is a person back in the 17th century or something. And well he is good – not really good but very capable 将軍 (shōgun). |
| Peter: Aha! |
| Natsuko: And 明智光秀 (Akechi Mitsuhide), he used to work for him but he finally betrayed and fought against him. |
| Peter: Is this Gifu prefecture story? |
| Natsuko: Yes, yes. |
| Peter: Now I know what you are talking about because we just went to Gifu prefecture. |
| Natsuko: Oh yes, right. |
| Peter: And that was at the Gifu castle which is |
| Natsuko: 岐阜城 (Gifujō) |
| Peter: Yeah, and they had a big story about this. |
| Natsuko: Yes and maybe you know, you shouldn’t call him 裏切り者 (uragirimono) because he is regarded something like a very tragic hero who wanted to serve 信長 (Nobunaga) but was forced to betray him, kind of. |
| Peter: Umm interesting, oh very interesting. |
| Natsuko: I think there are more people out there who know more about this. |
| Peter: I don’t know, Natsuko-san. You seem to know a lot. |
| Natsuko: Maybe my general understanding was a bit too rough and there might be some errors. |
| Peter: Anybody out there who would like to – I am sure someone in our community can help. Anybody out there, please feel free to join. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Into this conversation and also I am very interested. Now that I kind of mentioned it, any of our British listeners out there, I would love to see what they write about Benedict Arnold in your textbooks, cultural comparison here. |
| Natsuko: Yes, maybe they don’t even mention one. |
| Peter: Yeah, interesting. Okay, next we have |
| Natsuko: 営業部 (eigyōbu) |
| Peter: Sales department. |
| Natsuko: (slow) えいぎょうぶ (eigyōbu) (natural speed) 営業部 (eigyōbu) |
| Peter: One of the most important parts of the company. |
| Natsuko: I wonder whether japanesepod101.com has 営業部 (eigyōbu). |
| Peter: I think we are – kind of start today, anybody out there interested in joining our sales department. |
| Natsuko: Peter is recruiting. |
| Peter: Contact us at japanesepod101.com. Okay, and now let’s – sorry we are running short on time. Yeah, let’s take a look at the conversation because there are some real interesting points in here. Let’s start out with the third line where the boss asks about Mr. Takada. |
| Natsuko: 高田はまだ？(Takada wa mada?) |
| Peter: Literally “Takada yet” but Natsuko-san, what’s inferred here? |
| Natsuko: まだ来ない？(Mada konai?) |
| Peter: He still hasn’t come yet? He still isn’t here? That was inferred. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: But just the name and まだ (mada), kind of explains it all. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Again from the context and again this is the boss speaking to his subordinate. Next we have |
| Natsuko: 只今電話がありまして、(Tadaima denwa ga arimashite,) |
| Peter: We just got a call. There was just the call. |
| Natsuko: 高田さんは会社にもう来ません。(Takada-san wa kaisha ni mō kimasen.) |
| Peter: Mr. Takada won’t come to the company again anymore and that’s what this もう (mō) in there is indicating もう来ません (mō kimasen), more won’t come. He won’t come anymore. He won’t come again. Then we have |
| Natsuko: うちのエースは会社来ないって？(Uchi no ēsu wa kaisha konai tte?) |
| Peter: First, うちのエース (uchi no ēsu), what do we got here? |
| Natsuko: うち (uchi), he means by the company. |
| Peter: Yeah, and this is a term to refer to inside your group. So you can use it for sports team or somebody on your side, うち (uchi). |
| Natsuko: Yes. Literally it means your house, your home. |
| Peter: But it’s extended to other groups. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Okay, followed by |
| Natsuko: のエース (no ēsu) |
| Peter: Here エース (ēsu) means the best. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: うちのエース (uchi no ēsu), the best person. And in this case, the sales team but this can be used in other contexts. Sports, usually when you are competing and since the company is kind of competing with the rest… |
| Natsuko: Yeah, right. |
| Peter: Of the world, it’s used in this context too but the best person is the エース (ēsu). This is followed by |
| Natsuko: 会社来ないって？(Kaisha konai tte?) |
| Peter: Now why do we get this little って (tte) here at the end? He says the sentence and then he says って (tte). What is he doing? |
| Natsuko: He is kind of confirming. |
| Peter: What was said. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And that’s why he adds a って (tte), like 言う (iu). |
| Natsuko: So here again, something is not over, you know って言ったの？(tte itta no?) |
| Peter: Thank you, Natsuko-san! |
| Natsuko: So it’s like, did you say this this this? |
| Peter: Perfect, perfect, perfect explanation. It’s all indicated by that って？(tte?) |
| Natsuko: って？(tte?) |
| Peter: And like, it’s almost like he is being a parrot. He knows he is in disbelief. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And he is just confirming it and he is like hoping that there was some kind of misunderstanding. |
| Natsuko: Yes, he just doesn’t want to believe what he heard. |
| Peter: Yep. What Natsuko just gave us, what comes after this, what’s inferred is the key to understanding this. Then we have another って (tte) in the following sentence which here we have |
| Natsuko: 今日っていう意味？(Kyō tte iu imi?) |
| Peter: And what about this って (tte), what do we have here? |
| Natsuko: という (to iu) |
| Peter: So again, it’s the shortened version of this. |
| Natsuko: Yes. So you can also say 今日という意味 (kyō to iu imi) |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Natsuko: いいえ、ずっとです。(Iie, zutto desu.) |
| Peter: No, the whole time and this means he is not coming back. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: And then he follows up yeah, you could see – you are learning a lot about how to really grill somebody, how to really get a lot of information out of them because he is repeating and どういう意味 (dō iu imi), どういうこと (dō iu koto) because next we have |
| Natsuko: どういうこと？(Dō iu koto?) |
| Peter: What do you mean literally, what’s this thing, what do you mean? |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: What’s going on and we have the answer. |
| Natsuko: スカウトされました。(Sukauto saremashita.) |
| Peter: He was headhunted and literally here we have スカウト (sukauto) which is he was scouted or recruited. |
| Natsuko: Yeah. |
| Peter: So he was recruited, followed by |
| Natsuko: どこに！(Doko ni!) |
| Peter: Now here you have to figure out the passive from the context because as you will find out されました (saremashita) can also be a polite way to refer to another person’s actions but the context is what tells us this is the passive. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And what confirms it is the next sentence. |
| Natsuko: どこに！(Doko ni!) |
| Peter: And here we have the particle に (ni). So if we put it altogether, it’s literally |
| Natsuko: どこにスカウトされましたか。(Doko ni sukauto saremashita ka.) |
| Peter: Where was he recruited by? |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: And here again the どこ (doko) the Japanese, what company was he recruited by or where was he recruited by. Okay, and we go on and on and there are a lot more interesting points in here but we are out of time. One more thing we want to kind of point out, this されました (saremashita), the passive of class 3 verb する (suru), the irregular verb する (suru) is today’s grammar point. We are going to get to that now. We are out of time. We can’t go over the rest of the dialogue but stop by. Any questions, leave us a post at japanesepod101.com. Okay Natsuko-san, let’s quickly go over the conjugation of する (suru), the irregular class 3 verb into the passive. する (suru) becomes |
| Natsuko: される (sereru) |
Outro |
| Peter: All right Natsuko-san, that’s going to do for today. |
| Natsuko: じゃあ、また明日ね。(Jā, mata ashita ne.) |
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