Learn popular Japanese phrases you'll need to be able to describe the weather
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: なおみです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. It’s always sunny in Japan. This series continues from Newbie series season 2 Nihongo Dojo "Welcome to Style You", Newbie series season 3 Nihongo Dojo "Style You and beyond, and Beginner series season 4. |
| Peter: In this lesson, you will learn… |
| Naomi: 天気予報の言葉とフレーズ (Tenki yohō no kotoba to furēzu) |
| Peter: Expressions used in a weather forecast. This conversation takes place at... |
| Naomi: テレビ局 (terebikyoku) |
| Peter: A T.V. Station. The conversation is between a TV crew and a weather forecaster, right? |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) You hear the 天気予報 (tenki yohō) or weather forecast in Japanese. |
| Peter: Now, since the weather forecaster is talking to the viewers at home, she is using... |
| Naomi: 丁寧な日本語 (teinei na Nihon-go) |
| Peter: Formal Japanese. Let’s have a listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 男 (otoko) : 五秒前、四、三、二、一 (Go-byō mae, yon, san, ni, ichi) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : みなさん、おはようございます。遠井歩（とおいあゆむ）の天気予報の時間です。(Mina-san, ohayō gozaimasu. Tōi Ayumu no tenki yohō no jikan desu.) |
| 今日、東京は とても寒くなるでしょう。天気は晴れ のち くもりでしょう。(Kyō, Tōkyō wa totemo samuku naru deshō. Tenki wa hare nochi kumori deshō.) |
| 朝は 晴れますが、午後から くもるでしょう。夕方からは 雨でしょう。(Asa wa haremasu ga, gogo kara kumoru deshō. Yūgata kara wa ame deshō.) |
| ところによって 雪が 降るかもしれません。(Tokoro ni yotte yuki ga furu kamo shiremasen.) |
| 外出の時、暖かいコートと 傘を 忘れないでくださいね。(Gaishutsu no toki, atatakai kōto to kasa o wasurenaide kudasai ne.) |
| それでは、みなさん今日も 頑張りましょう。(Soredewa, mina-san kyō mo ganbarimashō.) |
| 男 (otoko) : はい！カット！オッケイです。遠井さん、お疲れ様でした。(Hai! Katto! Okkei desu. Tōi-san, otsukare-sama deshita.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ふー。お疲れ様です。(Fū. Otsukare-sama desu.) |
| Naomi: 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.) |
| 男 (otoko) : 五秒前、四、三、二、一 (Go-byō mae, yon, san, ni, ichi) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : みなさん、おはようございます。遠井歩（とおいあゆむ）の天気予報の時間です。(Mina-san, ohayō gozaimasu. Tōi Ayumu no tenki yohō no jikan desu.) |
| 今日、東京は とても寒くなるでしょう。天気は晴れ のち くもりでしょう。(Kyō, Tōkyō wa totemo samuku naru deshō. Tenki wa hare nochi kumori deshō.) |
| 朝は 晴れますが、午後から くもるでしょう。夕方からは 雨でしょう。(Asa wa haremasu ga, gogo kara kumoru deshō. Yūgata kara wa ame deshō.) |
| ところによって 雪が 降るかもしれません。(Tokoro ni yotte yuki ga furu kamo shiremasen.) |
| 外出の時、暖かいコートと 傘を 忘れないでくださいね。(Gaishutsu no toki, atatakai kōto to kasa o wasurenaide kudasai ne.) |
| それでは、みなさん今日も 頑張りましょう。(Soredewa, mina-san kyō mo ganbarimashō.) |
| 男 (otoko) : はい！カット！オッケイです。遠井さん、お疲れ様でした。(Hai! Katto! Okkei desu. Tōi-san, otsukare-sama deshita.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ふー。お疲れ様です。(Fū. Otsukare-sama desu.) |
| Naomi: 今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 男 (otoko) : 五秒前、四、三、二、一 (Go-byō mae, yon, san, ni, ichi) |
| Five seconds remaining, four, three, two, one. |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : みなさん、おはようございます。遠井歩（とおいあゆむ）の天気予報の時間です。 |
| (Mina-san, ohayō gozaimasu. Tōi Ayumu no tenki yohō no jikan desu.) |
| Good morning, everybody. It's time for the weather forecast with Ayumu Tōi. |
| : 今日、東京は とても寒くなるでしょう。(Kyō, Tōkyō wa totemo samuku naru deshō.) |
| Today, Tokyo will get very cold. |
| : 天気は晴れ のち くもりでしょう。(Tenki wa hare nochi kumori deshō.) |
| The weather will be clear, followed by clouds later on. |
| : 朝は 晴れますが、午後から くもるでしょう。(Asa wa haremasu ga, gogo kara kumoru deshō.) |
| The morning will be clear, but from the afternoon onward it will become cloudy. |
| : 夕方からは 雨でしょう。(Yūgata kara wa ame deshō.) |
| Rain is forecast for the evening. |
| : ところによって 雪が 降るかもしれません。(Tokoro ni yotte yuki ga furu kamo shiremasen.) |
| Depending on your location, there is a chance of snow. |
| : 外出の時、暖かいコートと 傘を 忘れないでくださいね。(Gaishutsu no toki, atatakai kōto to kasa o wasurenaide kudasai ne.) |
| If you go out, please don't forget a warm jacket and an umbrella. |
| : それでは、みなさん今日も 頑張りましょう。(Soredewa, mina-san kyō mo ganbarimashō.) |
| As always, give it your best today, everyone! |
| 男 (otoko) : はい！カット！オッケイです。(Hai! Katto! Okkei desu.) |
| Okay, cut! That's fine. |
| : 遠井さん、お疲れ様でした。(Tōi-san, otsukare-sama deshita.) |
| Thank you, Ms. Tōi. |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ふー。お疲れ様です。(Fū. Otsukare-sama desu.) |
| [sigh] Thank you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: Naomi-sensei, what do you call this person? The weather woman...天気姉さん (tenki nee-san)? |
| Naomi: Ah, you mean「お天気お姉さん」ですね。(“o-tenki o-nee-san” desu ne.) |
| Peter: Right. お天気お姉さん・・・かわいいですね。(O-tenki o-nee-san… kawaii desu ne.) |
| Naomi: あ、お天気お姉さんが？ああ、そうですね。お天気お姉さんは、うん、若くて、かわいいですね。(A, o-tenki o-nee-san ga? Ā, sō desu ne. O-tenki o-nee-san wa, un, wakakute, kawaii desu ne.) |
| Peter: So according to Naomi-sensei, お天気お姉さん (o-tenki o-nee-san), or weather ladies, are usually young and pretty. |
| Naomi: うん。で、お金持ちとか、スポーツ選手とかと結婚しますね。(Un. De, o-kanemochi toka, supōtsu senshu toka to kekkon shimasu ne.) |
| Peter: And most of them get married to sports players or rich people or the like. |
| Naomi: そうそうそうそう。(Sō sō sō sō.) Maybe I'm stereotyping too much, I don't know! (笑） |
| Peter: その通りですね。(Sono tōri desu ne.) |
| Naomi: あぁ、 そう思う？(Ā, sō omou?) Do you agree? |
| Peter: I agree. But I think it's actually interesting that in Japan it's お天気お姉さん (o-tenki o-nee-san), like 'the weather woman'. |
| Naomi: うん、そう。(Un, sō.) There's usually no お天気お兄さん (o-tenki o-nii-san). |
| Peter: Or 'weather guys', or 'weather man'. And in the US there are usually a lot of weather men. |
| Naomi: あ、そう？(A, sō?) |
| Peter: And usually a guy is doing the weather man. |
| Naomi: ふーん。おもしろいですね。(Fūn. Omoshiroi desu ne.) |
| Peter: So usually young women are doing the weather forecast. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter: Ok. Let's take a look at the vocabulary. |
| First word: |
| 秒 (byō) [natural native speed] |
| second |
| 秒 (byō) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 秒 (byō) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 天気予報 (tenki yohō) [natural native speed] |
| weather forecast |
| 天気予報 (tenki yohō) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 天気予報 (tenki yohō) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 夕方 (yūgata) [natural native speed] |
| evening |
| 夕方 (yūgata) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 夕方 (yūgata) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 雪 (yuki) [natural native speed] |
| snow, snowy |
| 雪 (yuki) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 雪 (yuki) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 外出 (gaishutsu) [natural native speed] |
| outing, trip, going out |
| 外出 (gaishutsu) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 外出 (gaishutsu) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: Let's take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Peter: Naomi-sensei? What's the first word we're looking at? |
| Naomi: 頑張る (ganbaru) |
| Peter: to try one's best, to hang in there. |
| Naomi: This word is often used in the te-form, right? Like 頑張ってください (ganbatte kudasai). |
| Peter: Which in English means "Do your best", or "Hang in there". And, I think it's used in the same way as "Good luck" in English. |
| Naomi: うん、そうだと思います。(Un, sō da to omoimasu.) I think so too. I'd translate 頑張ってください (ganbatte kudasai) or 頑張って (ganbatte) as "Good luck". |
| Peter: Of course this is a kind of relative, and dependent on the context in which it's used. In the dialogue, the weather woman said in the weather forecast, |
| Naomi: 頑張りましょう。(Ganbarimashō.) |
| Peter: 'Let's do our best', or 'let's give our best'. |
| Naomi: うん。(Un.) Of course, she could have said 頑張ってください (ganbatte kudasai) "Give it your best." "Do your best". That'll work too. |
| Peter: Now, 頑張りましょう (ganbarimashō). You learned this grammatical structure in Beginner Series Season 4. And this is a verb stem plus ましょう (mashō). If you are not familiar with this grammar point, please review Beginner series season 4 Lesson 33. |
| Peter: Ok. Next, we are going to go over the announcement to describe the weather. Naomi-sensei, ‘Sunny’ is? |
| Naomi: 晴れ (hare) |
| Peter: 'Cloudy' is? |
| Naomi: くもり (kumori) |
| Peter: 'Rain' or 'shower' is? |
| Naomi: 雨 (ame) |
| Peter: There are corresponding verbs listed in the lesson notes, so be sure to read those. |
| Naomi: Also, I'd like to introduce two phrases often used in weather forecast, which are ときどき(tokidoki) |
| Peter: sometimes, occasionally |
| Naomi: and のち (nochi) later, after. |
| Peter: later, after. Can we hear a sample sentence using ときどき (tokidoki)? |
| Naomi: 晴れときどきくもり (hare tokidoki kumori) |
| Peter: 'Clear, partly cloudy'. Literally 'Clear, sometimes clouds' or 'Sometimes cloudy'. Now how about the sample sentence using のち (nochi)? |
| Naomi: くもりのちあめ (kumori nochi ame) |
| Peter: 'Cloudy conditions followed by rain'. And Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: This word のち (nochi), this is a pretty formal word, right? |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: So it's not something you'd use in a conversation with your friends. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: Remember this is a television conversation, so they're being pretty formal, because they're presenting to everybody watching. |
| Naomi: うん。(Un.) |
| Peter: So this のち (nochi) is quite formal. How about if you were talking with your friends? How would you say this? |
| Naomi: Ah, ok. Noun plus のあと (no ato). |
| Peter: Yeah. |
| Naomi: That grammar will be explained in the PDF of the next lesson. |
| Peter: OK, on to the Grammar Section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about predictions using some new sentence-ending expressions. Now, these expressions are used to talk about probability, possibility or the speaker's guess about something. We're going to introduce four sentence-ending expressions. The first two expressions we're going to look at are... |
| Naomi: だろう (darō) and でしょう (deshō). |
| Peter: Darō, and the formal, deshō. These express the speaker's guess or prediction about something and is similar to "probably" in English. The speaker's guess is based on some information or knowledge they have. In the dialogue, the weather forecaster said... |
| Naomi: 天気は晴れのちくもりでしょう。(Tenki wa hare nochi kumori deshō.) |
| Peter: The weather will be clear, followed by clouds later on. Split this sentence down. |
| Naomi: はい。天気は (tenki wa) |
| Peter: As for the weather, |
| Naomi: 晴れ (hare) |
| Peter: sunny |
| Naomi: のち (nochi) |
| Peter: after, or later |
| Naomi: くもり (kumori) |
| Peter: cloudy |
| Naomi: でしょう(deshō) |
| Peter: probably. So literally, "As for the weather, sunny after cloudy probably". Of course in more natural English it means "The weather will be clear, followed by clouds later on." And, please notice that でしょう (deshō) follows the noun. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: And here, でしょう (deshō) has a pretty high degree of certainty - at least higher than the other expressions we're going to introduce. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) For affirmative sentences, だろう (darō) or でしょう (deshō) follows the dictionary form of a verb or adjective. And for negative sentences, だろう (darō) or でしょう (deshō) follows the informal negative form of a verb or adjective. |
| Peter: And please note, the only difference between だろう (darō) and でしょう (deshō) is just the politeness level. |
| Naomi: Right. |
| Peter: So if I was speaking with my friend, I could use だろう (darō) . But in formal situations, でしょう (deshō). |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: But the meaning is exactly the same. |
| Peter: OK Naomi-sensei, let's look at some examples. First how do you say "It will rain"? |
| Naomi: 雨が降る。(Ame ga furu.) |
| Peter: How about "It will probably rain"? And again, 'probably' here has a pretty high degree of certainty. |
| Naomi: 雨が降る だろう。(Ame ga furu darō.) |
| Peter: And in this case this is informal Japanese, so kind of give some context, maybe a husband and wife riding the train and looking at a very cloudy sky with low clouds and kind of dark clouds. So 雨が降るだろう (ame ga furu darō) - pretty high degree of certainty that it's going to rain. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) And… 雨が降るでしょう。(Ame ga furu deshō.) |
| Peter: Same exact meaning, just a higher degree of politeness; and, this is something that again you would hear on the news. |
| Naomi: Right. |
| Peter: Now, Naomi-sensei, how do you say "It won't rain"? |
| Naomi: 雨が降らない。(Ame ga furanai.) |
| Peter: Ok. How about "It probably won't rain"? |
| Naomi: For informal situations, 雨が降らないだろう (ame ga furanai darō), and for formal situations, 雨が降らないでしょう (ame ga furanai deshō). |
| Peter: OK. On to the next expressions. |
| Naomi: かもしれない (kamo shirenai) and かもしれません (kamo shiremasen) |
| Peter: かもしれない (kamo shirenai) and its formal counterpart かもしれません (kamo shiremasen) express probability. Now, it indicates that something is possible, but that the speaker is uncertain whether sure or not. It's similar to the English "might" or "maybe". Now remember this is a lower degree of certainty than the expressions we just introduced of だろう (darō) and でしょう (deshō). |
| Naomi: The formation is the same as だろう (darō) and でしょう (deshō). They also follow the informal form of a verb or adjective. |
| For example, 雨が降るかもしれない (ame ga furu kamo shirenai) or 雨が降るかもしれません (ame ga furu kamo shiremasen). |
| Peter: It might rain. |
| So, Naomi-sensei, for the sentence, 雨が降るでしょう (ame ga furu deshō) and 雨が降るかもしれません (ame ga furu kamo shiremasen), which has a higher possibility or probability? |
| Naomi: I would say だろう (darō) or でしょう (deshō) has higher probability. And でしょう (deshō) is the one the weather forecaster usually uses. |
| Peter: For the forecaster predicting. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Of course they use かもしれません (kamo shiremasen) if the probability is low. |
| Peter: Kind of for uncertainty, if they're not quite sure. |
| Naomi: そうそうそう。(Sō sō sō.) |
| Peter: Or less confident. In the dialogue, the woman said... |
| Naomi: ところによって 雪が 降るかもしれません。(Tokoro ni yotte yuki ga furu kamo shiremasen.) |
| Peter: So, “depending on your location, there is a chance of snow.” |
| Naomi: うん。雪が降るかもしれません。(Un. Yuki ga furu kamo shiremasen.) "There's a chance of snow." So...雨が降るかもしれません (ame ga furu kamo shiremasen) would be? |
| Peter: There's a chance of rain. ところによって (tokoro ni yotte) is a good phrase to know. |
| Naomi: ああ、そうですね。(Ā, sō desu ne.) Right. ところ (tokoro) means place. ～による (ni yoru) is depend on. |
| Peter: So, 人による (hito ni yoru) is depends on the person. 日による (hi ni yoru), depends on the day. |
| Naomi: そうですね。ピーターの態度は日によりますね。(Sō desu ne. Pītā no taido wa hi ni yorimasu ne.) |
| Peter: So, 'Peter's attitude kind of changes depending on the day.' |
| Naomi: And mood. |
| Peter: OK, and one more point. I just want to revisit something about かもしれません (kamo shiremasen). This is the most polite way, and the informal way is かもしれない (kamo shirenai). But often, in very casual conversations, you can hear かも (kamo). |
| Naomi: Ah, actually, I use it a lot! |
| Peter: So see, ultra-short version. |
| Naomi: そう。「かも」。(Sō. “Kmo.”) |
| Peter: Yeah. 'Maybe'. So the same level of certainty, but it's just a very short version. |
| Naomi: Right. 「かも」は便利かも。(”Kamo” wa benri kamo.) |
| Peter: The sentence-ending phrase かも (kamo) may be useful. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: Naomi-sensei's little play on words! OK, in the lesson notes, there's a reference for the grammar used in the dialogue. We tell you which lessons contain the grammar seen in the lesson so that you can go back and review if needed! That’s going to do it. |
| Naomi: じゃあ、また。(Jā, mata.) |
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