Learn about the plain past form of "i" and "na" adjectives
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Peter: Okay, without further adieu, let’s get in today's lesson. Here we go. |
| Natsuko: おはよう、タヒチ。ナツコです。(Ohayō, Tahichi. Natsuko desu.) |
| Yoshi: おはよう、タヒチ。ヨシです。(Ohayō, Tahichi. Yoshi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Beginner lesson #67. Okay, shall we start off with some greetings, Natsuko? |
| Natsuko: ヨシ、今日は元気ですか。(Yoshi, kyō wa genki desu ka.) |
| Yoshi: 元気です。ナツコさんは元気ですか。(Genki desu. Natsuko-san wa genki desu ka.) |
| Natsuko: すっごく元気ですよ。ピーターは？(Suggoku genki desu yo. Pītā wa?) |
| Peter: 相変わらず絶好調です。(Aikawarazu zekkōchō desu.) So let’s jump right into the conversation. Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 夏子 (Natsuko) : みきちゃん、試験はどうでしたか。(Miki-chan, shiken wa dō deshita ka.) |
| 美樹 (Miki) : そうですね。試験は・・・(Sō desu ne. Shiken wa…) |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : 楽勝でした。本当に簡単でした。(Rakushō deshita. Hontō ni kantan deshita.) |
| とにかくよくできました。２０分で終わりました。(Tonikaku yoku dekimashita. Ni-juppun de owarimashita.) |
| 美樹 (Miki) : へえ？あの試験は難しかったです。ものすごく大変でした。(Hee? Ano shiken wa muzukashikatta desu. Monosugoku taihen deshita.) |
| 一時間ほとんど全部使いましたよ。なんとか間に合いましたけどね。(Ichi-jikan hotondo zenbu tsukaimashita yo. Nantoka ma ni aimashita kedo ne.) |
| 夏子 (Natsuko) : 私もあの試験は難しかったと思います。(Watashi mo ano shiken wa muzukashikatta to omoimasu.) |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : まあね、頭が鈍い人もいますからね。では、失礼します。(Mā ne, atama ga nibui hito mo imasu kara ne. Dewa, shitsurei shimasu.) |
| 夏子 (Natsuko) : 何？鈴木君はとんでもない人ですね。(Nani? Suzuki-kun wa tondemonai hito desu ne.) |
| Natsuko: 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.) |
| 夏子 (Natsuko) : みきちゃん、試験はどうでしたか。(Miki-chan, shiken wa dō deshita ka.) |
| 美樹 (Miki) : そうですね。試験は・・・(Sō desu ne. Shiken wa…) |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : 楽勝でした。本当に簡単でした。(Rakushō deshita. Hontō ni kantan deshita.) |
| とにかくよくできました。２０分で終わりました。(Tonikaku yoku dekimashita. Ni-juppun de owarimashita.) |
| 美樹 (Miki) : へえ？あの試験は難しかったです。ものすごく大変でした。(Hee? Ano shiken wa muzukashikatta desu. Monosugoku taihen deshita.) |
| 一時間ほとんど全部使いましたよ。なんとか間に合いましたけどね。(Ichi-jikan hotondo zenbu tsukaimashita yo. Nantoka ma ni aimashita kedo ne.) |
| 夏子 (Natsuko) : 私もあの試験は難しかったと思います。(Watashi mo ano shiken wa muzukashikatta to omoimasu.) |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : まあね、頭が鈍い人もいますからね。では、失礼します。(Mā ne, atama ga nibui hito mo imasu kara ne. Dewa, shitsurei shimasu.) |
| 夏子 (Natsuko) : 何？鈴木君はとんでもない人ですね。(Nani? Suzuki-kun wa tondemonai hito desu ne.) |
| Yoshi: 次はピーターの英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa Pītā no Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 夏子 (Natsuko) : みきちゃん、試験はどうでしたか。(Miki-chan, shiken wa dō deshita ka.) |
| NATSUKO: Miki, how was the test? |
| 美樹 (Miki) : そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| MIKI: Mmm, |
| 美樹 (Miki) : 試験は・・・(Shiken wa…) |
| MIKI: The test was... |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : 楽勝でした。(Rakushō deshita.) |
| SUZUKI: Piece of cake! |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : 本当に簡単でした。(Hontō ni kantan deshita.) |
| SUZUKI: It was really easy. |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : とにかくよくできました。(Tonikaku yoku dekimashita.) |
| SUZUKI: Anyway, I did really well. |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : ２０分で終わりました。(Ni-juppun de owarimashita.) |
| SUZUKI: I was done in 20 minutes. |
| 美樹 (Miki) : へえ？あの試験は難しかったです。(Hee? Ano shiken wa muzukashikatta desu.) MIKI: Huh? That test was difficult. |
| 美樹 (Miki) : ものすごく大変でした。(Monosugoku taihen deshita.) |
| MIKI: It was almost impossible. |
| 美樹 (Miki) : 一時間ほとんど全部使いましたよ。(Ichi-jikan hotondo zenbu tsukaimashita yo.) |
| MIKI: I used almost all of the hour. |
| 美樹 (Miki) : なんとか間に合いましたけどね。(Nantoka ma ni aimashita kedo ne.) |
| MIKI: Somehow I made it though. |
| 夏子 (Natsuko) : 私もあの試験は難しかったと思います。(Watashi mo ano shiken wa muzukashikatta to omoimasu.) |
| NATSUKO: I also think that test was difficult. |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : まあね、頭が鈍い人もいますからね。(Mā ne, atama ga nibui hito mo imasu kara ne.) |
| SUZUKI: Well, we all can't be the brightest crayons in the box. |
| 鈴木 (Suzuki) : では、失礼します。(Dewa, shitsurei shimasu.) |
| SUZUKI: Well, I'll excuse myself now. |
| 夏子 (Natsuko) : 何？鈴木君はとんでもない人ですね。(Nani? Suzuki-kun wa tondemonai hito desu ne.) |
| NATSUKO: What? Suzuki is a real jerk. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: Oh, you were a little too good at that part there. Weren’t you? |
| Yoshi: Do you think so? |
| Natsuko: Yes, I do. |
| Peter: Natural. |
| Yoshi: No. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: All right. What we are going to do now is get into the vocab. Here we go. |
| Natsuko: 楽勝 (rakushō) |
| Peter: Easy win, easy, piece of cake. |
| Natsuko: Yes. (slow)らくしょう (rakushō) (natural speed)楽勝 (rakushō) |
| Peter: Now Natsuko, what are the characters – the kanji characters that make up this word? |
| Natsuko: 楽 (raku) and 勝 (shō) |
| Peter: Okay, what does the first character mean? |
| Natsuko: Easy or fun. |
| Peter: And the second character? |
| Natsuko: Is “win”. |
| Peter: So put them together and we have |
| Natsuko: Easy win. |
| Peter: And this word also takes on the meaning of what? |
| Natsuko: Like so simple or piece of cake. I think the latter meaning is more often used. |
| Peter: Piece of cake or easy. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Natsuko and Yoshi, can you give us an example? |
| Natsuko: 12時半に間に合いますか。(Jū ni-ji han ni ma ni aimasu ka.) |
| Yoshi: 楽勝でしょう。(Rakushō deshō.) |
| Peter: One more time. |
| Natsuko: 12時半に間に合いますか。(Jū ni-ji han ni ma ni aimasu ka.) |
| Peter: Will we make it by 12:30? |
| Yoshi: 楽勝でしょう。(Rakushō deshō.) |
| Peter: Piece of cake. Next, what do we have? |
| Natsuko: 次は、簡単 (Tsugi wa, kantan) |
| Peter: Easy, simple. |
| Natsuko: (slow)かんたん (kantan) (natural speed)簡単 (kantan) |
| Peter: And what’s the opposite of this word? |
| Natsuko: 難しい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: Difficult. |
| Natsuko: (slow)むずかしい (muzukashii) (natural speed)難しい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: Now Natsuko, how can we ask Yoshi which subject is difficult for him? |
| Natsuko: ヨシはどの科目が難しいですか。(Yoshi wa dono kamoku ga muzukashii desu ka.) |
| Yoshi: 数学が難しいです。(Sūgaku ga muzukashii desu.) |
| Natsuko: 私もです。(Watashi mo desu.) |
| Peter: One more time, please. |
| Natsuko: ヨシはどの科目が難しいですか。(Yoshi wa dono kamoku ga muzukashii desu ka.) |
| Peter: Yoshi, which subject is difficult for you? |
| Yoshi: 数学が難しいです。(Sūgaku ga muzukashii desu.) |
| Peter: Mathematics is difficult for me. |
| Natsuko: 私もです。(Watashi mo desu.) |
| Peter: Me too. Oh oh! You just got us in trouble. Thanks Yoshi. We got an interesting email from a math teacher in Florida and he complained – he loved the show but…. |
| Natsuko: Hey, let’s move on to another topic. |
| Peter: No, no, no, no we are going to go over the words for I am sorry now because Yoshi, you really got us into trouble. So Yoshi, what should we say to him? |
| Yoshi: ごめんなさい。(Gomen nasai.) |
| Peter: I don’t know why but I like the way you apologize. All right, what’s next? Okay, what’s next? |
| Natsuko: 次は、使う (Tsugi wa, tsukau) |
| Peter: To use. |
| Natsuko: (slow)つかう (tsukau) (natural speed)使う (tsukau) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Natsuko: 何とか (nantoka) |
| Peter: Somehow. |
| Natsuko: (slow)なんとか (nantoka) (natural speed)何とか (nantoka) |
| Peter: Now how did we use this in the dialogue? |
| Natsuko: 何とか間に合いました。(Nantoka ma ni aimashita.) |
| Peter: Somehow I was on time. Now can you give us another example of using this word, 何とか (nantoka)? |
| Natsuko: 何とかなる (nantoka naru). Somehow we can figure it out. |
| Peter: Yes, now let’s do a little example of an office. You can be the boss and Yoshi will be your subordinate. Now you hear this a lot. |
| Natsuko: この仕事、5時までに何とかなりますか。(Kono shigoto, go-ji made ni nantoka narimasu ka.) |
| Yoshi: 何とかしましょう。(Nantoka shimashō.) |
| Peter: One more time. |
| Natsuko: この仕事、5時までに何とかなりますか。(Kono shigoto, go-ji made ni nantoka narimasu ka.) |
| Peter: Will this work somehow get done by 5 o’ clock? |
| Yoshi: 何とかしましょう。(Nantoka shimashō.) |
| Peter: Let’s somehow do it. Yes, it’s a quite useful phrase when you have no idea how something is going to get done but you know it has to get done, this is the phrase to use. |
| Natsuko: It’s always heard in japanesepod101 office, right? |
| Peter: It’s our model. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: Deadline is 11. |
| Natsuko: 何とかします。(Nantoka shimasu.) |
| Peter: Yes, oh this is a great point Natsuko, but don’t give away too much. Okay, what do you have next? |
| Natsuko: 次は、鈍い (Tsugi wa, nibui) |
| Peter: Dull. |
| Natsuko: (slow)にぶい (nibui) (natural speed)鈍い (nibui) |
| Peter: What’s the opposite of dull? |
| Natsuko: 鋭い (surudoi) |
| Peter: Sharp. |
| Natsuko: (slow)するどい (surudoi) (natural speed)鋭い (surudoi) |
| Peter: Okay, now how did we use dull in our dialogue? |
| Natsuko: 頭が鈍い (atama ga nibui) |
| Peter: Very strong words, right? |
| Natsuko: Uhoo. |
| Peter: Now the literal translation is dull head, but of course this is not a literal translation. It’s an idiomatic expression and it has the meaning of unintelligent. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: Really strong language. Would you find – these are fighting words – hah, Natsuko? |
| Natsuko: Yeah, you don’t usually use it on someone else. |
| Peter: Okay, and then if we wanted to call someone else sharp, what would we say? |
| Natsuko: 鋭い (surudoi) |
| Peter: All right. Can you give us an example? |
| Natsuko: ヨシは鋭いね。(Yoshi wa surudoi ne.) |
| Peter: Why? |
| Natsuko: 良い質問をしてくるね。(Ii shitsumon o shite kuru ne.) Like a teacher. |
| Peter: Yeah, he always asks good questions. So what do we have next? |
| Natsuko: ちゃん (chan) |
| Peter: A suffix used for small children with girls and sometimes for making things cute. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: Now the best example we can think of this is the name of the governor of California. |
| Natsuko: シュワちゃん？(Shuwa-chan?) |
| Peter: Yes. Somehow he has his ちゃん (chan) suffix attached to his name. |
| Natsuko: Yeah. |
| Peter: I guess it’s kind of like a reverse image for him because he is so tough and always in these action movies. So I guess they did it on purpose to kind of make him cuter. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: But can you give us an example of who would use this word? |
| Natsuko: Like between girls of the same age. |
| Peter: Aaha... |
| Natsuko: Or to children. |
| Peter: Okay, and for children, boys and girls are both okay? |
| Natsuko: Usually. |
| Peter: Usually. |
| Natsuko: Uhoo. |
| Peter: Can you break down the word? |
| Natsuko: (slow)ちゃん (chan) (natural speed)ちゃん (chan) |
| Peter: And what else do we have, another suffix. |
| Natsuko: くん (kun) |
| Peter: This too is a suffix and this is used for guys when you are talking about guys on the same level as you, maybe classmates or young children. Male young children. |
| Natsuko: くん (kun) |
| Peter: Break it down. |
| Natsuko: (slow)くん (kun) (natural speed)くん (kun) |
| Peter: So me and Yoshi are of the same age. So I call ヨシくん (Yoshi-kun). |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Yoshi: ピーターくん (Pītā-kun) |
| Peter: And as Natsuko is a bit younger than us, we can refer to her as |
| Yoshi: なっちゃん (Natchan) |
| Natsuko: Thank you. |
| Peter: I like that one. One more time. |
| Yoshi: なっちゃん (Natchan) |
| Peter: So for more intimate friends and this isn’t limited to age. Again if you have intimate friends, you may wind up calling each other, even though the age difference can swing either way, you might wind up using these more informal intimate suffixes. |
| Natsuko: Yes, I think ちゃん (chan) gives a more further intimate feeling because some very close friends call each other by ちゃん (chan) even if they are boys. |
| Peter: Really? |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Yoshi? |
| Yoshi: Yes, as, like, it’s like a nickname. |
| Natsuko: Uhoo, like よっちゃん (Yotchan). |
| Peter: I see yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Natsuko: It gives a very intimate feeling and くん (kun) is maybe more a bit formal because some boss calls their subordinates by くん (kun). |
| Peter: Okay. |
| Natsuko: ピーターくん (Pītā-kun). They are like… |
| Peter: To show the positions. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: To show the position difference. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: I recall that yes. In school, I often hear that suffix. |
| Natsuko: Really? |
| Peter: Okay, in the PDF, we are going to have more about this. So stop by japanesepod101.com. So up to this point, we have covered how many suffixes? We have covered |
| Natsuko: 様、さん、ちゃん、くん (sama, san, chan, kun) |
| Peter: Are there any more? |
| Natsuko: Yeah, but you know, most often used ones we have already covered then. |
| Peter: All right. What’s in store next? |
| Natsuko: とんでもない (tondemonai) |
| Peter: Unbelievable, unbearable. |
| Natsuko: (slow)とんでもない (tondemonai) (natural speed)とんでもない (tondemonai) |
| Peter: Next, we have |
| Natsuko: 次は、よくできました (Tsugi wa, yoku dekimashita) |
| Peter: Well done. Did it well. |
| Natsuko: (slow)よくできました (yoku dekimashita) (natural speed)よくできました (yoku dekimashita) |
| Peter: Okay, what we have here is an adverb, which is |
| Natsuko: よく (yoku) |
| Peter: Plus the past tense of the potential, which is |
| Natsuko: できました (dekimashita) |
| Peter: Now the potential verb is |
| Natsuko: できる (dekiru) |
| Peter: Now we are going to cover this in a few lessons but this phrase taken together is kind of a standard phrase for well done or I did it well. |
| Natsuko: But you have to be a bit careful when using this expression. |
| Peter: Yeah, this is to be used among equals or people below you. |
| Natsuko: Usually yes. |
| Peter: Or if someone in your class did something at the same level, you could say this too, but you wouldn’t say it to your boss. |
| Natsuko: No. You better not. |
| Peter: Natsuko, can you imagine, like, if the boss closes a big deal and he comes back and you say to him? |
| Natsuko: 良くできました。(Yoku dekimashita.) That’s quite awkward. |
| Peter: Yoshi, you’ve done this before. What happened? |
| Yoshi: I got fired. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: No but she got the point. Okay, all right. So let’s move on to our point of the day. |
| Natsuko: 今日のポイントは、(Kyō no pointo wa,) |
| Peter: Past tense of adjectives. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: Yes, adjectives have a past tense. |
| Natsuko: In Japanese. |
| Peter: Some people get a bit confused by this, but we are going to walk you through it and we really – are really confident that things are going to come together for you. Now what we are going to do is start out with – again there are two types of adjectives. Right, Natsuko? |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: What kind of adjectives? |
| Natsuko: na-adjectives and i-adjectives. |
| Peter: Okay, we are going to start with the na-adjectives because they are a bit easier. |
| Natsuko: Uhoo. |
| Peter: Now we have the copula and what’s the copula? |
| Natsuko: です (desu) |
| Peter: Now break this down. |
| Natsuko: (slow)です (desu) |
| Peter: What does this end in? |
| Natsuko: す (su) |
| Peter: Last week, we went over the polite past. And what did we do for that? |
| Natsuko: Changed す (su) into した (shita) |
| Peter: So for the copula |
| Natsuko: です (desu) |
| Peter: We do the same thing. |
| Natsuko: です (desu) |
| Peter: Becomes |
| Natsuko: でした (deshita) |
| Peter: That’s it. Just change the |
| Natsuko: す (su) |
| Peter: To |
| Natsuko: した (shita) |
| Peter: And then we have |
| Natsuko: でした (deshita) |
| Peter: And then we just simply add this to na-adjectives. All right Natsuko, how do we say happy? |
| Natsuko: 幸せ (shiawase) |
| Peter: Okay, and how do we say the polite form of happy? |
| Natsuko: 幸せです (shiawase desu) |
| Peter: Okay Natsuko, it’s been a rough couple of months. How do you say was happy? |
| Natsuko: 幸せでした (shiawase deshita) |
| Peter: That’s all there is to it. Okay Natsuko, who is the famous guy in Japan? |
| Natsuko: How about 中田 (Nakata)? |
| Peter: Okay, everybody knows Nakata, right? |
| Natsuko: Uhoo. |
| Peter: So he is famous. |
| Natsuko: Yeah. |
| Peter: Can we get that sentence? |
| Natsuko: 中田は有名です。(Nakata wa yūmei desu.) |
| Peter: All right, 100 years goes by. I don’t think too many people are going to remember him. |
| Natsuko: I think they will. |
| Peter: Natsuko, you are ruining the example! |
| Natsuko: Right, right, right… |
| Peter: Okay, so he was famous. |
| Natsuko: 中田は有名でした。(Nakata wa yūmei deshita.) |
| Peter: Yes. You will be telling your grandkids this sentence. Mark my words. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: So the point is that to make na-adjectives into the polite past, all we do is |
| Natsuko: Add でした (deshita). |
| Peter: Yes, the polite past. Okay, next up we have a bit of a tricky situation but Natsuko is going to get us through this. No problem. Can you give us an example? |
| Natsuko: 難しい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: Okay, that last い (i). Now what we do for the past is it seems tricky but it’s really not. Natsuko, what do we do to form the past? |
| Natsuko: Drop い (i) and add かった (katta). |
| Peter: That’s all there is to it. Give us the word for difficult one more time. |
| Natsuko: 難しい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: And break this down. |
| Natsuko: (slow)むずかしい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: Now it’s that last い (i) that gets dropped and we replace it with |
| Natsuko: かった (katta) |
| Peter: So can you give us the past tense of difficult? |
| Natsuko: 難しかった (muzukashikatta) |
| Peter: Inside of |
| Natsuko: かった (katta) |
| Peter: There is a small |
| Natsuko: つ (tsu) |
| Peter: Yes. So you hold for a second in there. |
| Natsuko: Uhoo, かった (katta). |
| Peter: There it is. Now where some people may get confused is this is the impolite past tense. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: One more time give it to us. |
| Natsuko: 難しかった (muzukashikatta) |
| Peter: And what do we start with? |
| Natsuko: 難しい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: Okay. |
| Natsuko: 難しかった (muzukashikatta) |
| Peter: This is the impolite past. How do we make this polite? |
| Natsuko: Add です (desu). |
| Peter: There it is. na-adjectives, the です (desu) changes. It changes from |
| Natsuko: です (desu) |
| Peter: To |
| Natsuko: でした (deshita) |
| Peter: For the polite past. |
| Natsuko: Yes. |
| Peter: For the i-adjectives, the です (desu) doesn’t change. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: It’s the い (i) that changes. |
| Natsuko: Right. |
| Peter: And that’s what you have to watch out for. So to better understand this, we are going to give you a side by side comparison. Give us the polite form of “happy”. |
| Natsuko: 幸せです (shiawase desu) |
| Peter: Now, give us the polite past. |
| Natsuko: 幸せでした (shiawase deshita) |
| Peter: It’s the です (desu) that changes for na-adjectives. Now give us the polite of difficult. |
| Natsuko: 難しいです (muzukashii desu) |
| Peter: Okay. One more time, really emphasize the い (i) at the end. |
| Natsuko: 難しいです (muzukashii desu) |
| Peter: Now, give us the polite past. |
| Natsuko: 難しかったです (muzukashikatta desu) |
| Peter: There it is. For i-adjectives, the です (desu) stays the same. It’s the い (i) that changes from い (i) to |
| Natsuko: かった (katta) |
| Peter: And that’s all there is to it. |
| Natsuko: 楽勝 (rakushō) |
| Peter: Piece of cake. Natsuko, thank you so much. |
| Natsuko: You are welcome. |
| Peter: You really walked us through that well. Look at Yoshi, he is like wow! I am learning. |
| Yoshi: Exactly. |
| Peter: You like that, right? |
| Yoshi: Uhoo. |
Outro |
| Peter: All right. So I think that’s going to do it for today. |
| Natsuko: じゃあ、また明日ね。(Jā, mata ashita ne.) |
| Yoshi: またね。(Mata ne.) |
Get complete breakdowns, review with quizzes and download printable practice sheets! Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide