Learn the Japanese words that mean "something" and "anything"
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 |
| Naomi: なおみです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. This Japanese lesson is something special. In this lesson, you'll review what you've learned so far in this Beginner Series Season 5. |
| Naomi: そうです。復習のレッスンですね。(Sō desu. Fukushū no ressun desu ne.) That's right, this is a review lesson. |
| Peter: This conversation takes place at |
| Naomi: 遠井歩さんの会社です。(Tōi Ayumu-san no kaisha desu.) |
| Peter: The office Ayumu is working at. |
| Naomi: 歩さんは同僚の渡さんと話しています。(Ayumu-san wa dōryō no Wataru-san to hanashite imasu.) |
| Peter: Ayumu is talking with her co-worker, her friend, Wataru. |
| Peter: Since it's a conversation between two friends, you'll hear |
| Naomi: カジュアルな日本語。(Kajuaru na Nihon-go.) |
| Peter: Informal Japanese. |
| Naomi: では、会話を聞きましょう。(Dewa, kaiwa o kikimashō.) |
| Peter: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 歩、一時間位前に 下山さんから 電話が あったよ。(Ayumu, ichi-jikan kurai mae ni Shimoyama-san kara denwa ga atta yo.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・ふーん。(...Fūn.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 「電話が 欲しいと 伝えてください」って 言ってた。(“Denwa ga hoshii to tsutaete kudasai” tte itte ta.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・ふーん。(...Fūn.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : ・・・電話しないつもり？(...Denwa shinai tsumori?) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・電話するつもりはない。(...Denwa suru tsumori wa nai.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 会って、話した方がいいと思うよ。(Atte, hanashita hō ga ii to omou yo.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・話すことは何もないから。(...Hanasu koto wa nani mo nai kara.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 何か理由があるかも。(Nani ka riyū ga aru kamo.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・理由？どんな？(...Riyū? Donna?) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 知らないけど。(Shiranai kedo.) |
| (電話) (denwa) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : はい。１０１テレビです。(Hai. Ichi maru ichi terebi desu.) |
| : あ、下山様ですね。(A, Shimoyama-sama desu ne.) |
| : はい、いますよ。少々 お待ちください。・・・(Hai, imasu yo. Shōshō o-machi kudasai…) |
| : 歩。電話。下山さんから。(Ayumu. Denwa. Shimoyama-san kara.) |
| 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.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 歩、一時間位前に 下山さんから 電話が あったよ。(Ayumu, ichi-jikan kurai mae ni Shimoyama-san kara denwa ga atta yo.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・ふーん。(...Fūn.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 「電話が 欲しいと 伝えてください」って 言ってた。(“Denwa ga hoshii to tsutaete kudasai” tte itte ta.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・ふーん。(...Fūn.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : ・・・電話しないつもり？(...Denwa shinai tsumori?) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・電話するつもりはない。(...Denwa suru tsumori wa nai.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 会って、話した方がいいと思うよ。(Atte, hanashita hō ga ii to omou yo.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・話すことは何もないから。(...Hanasu koto wa nani mo nai kara.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 何か理由があるかも。(Nani ka riyū ga aru kamo.) |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・理由？どんな？(...Riyū? Donna?) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 知らないけど。(Shiranai kedo.) |
| (電話) (denwa) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : はい。１０１テレビです。(Hai. Ichi maru ichi terebi desu.) |
| : あ、下山様ですね。(A, Shimoyama-sama desu ne.) |
| : はい、いますよ。少々 お待ちください。・・・(Hai, imasu yo. Shōshō o-machi kudasai…) |
| : 歩。電話。下山さんから。(Ayumu. Denwa. Shimoyama-san kara.) |
| Naomi: 今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 歩、一時間位前に 下山さんから 電話が あったよ。(Ayumu, ichi-jikan kurai mae ni Shimoyama-san kara denwa ga atta yo.) |
| Ayumu, You got a call from Mr. Shimoyama about an hour ago. |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・ふーん。(...Fūn.) |
| ...Hmm. |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 「電話が 欲しいと 伝えてください」って 言ってた。(“Denwa ga hoshii to tsutaete kudasai” tte itte ta.) |
| He said he'd like a call back. |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・ふーん。(...Fūn.) |
| ...Hmm. |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : ・・・電話しないつもり？(...Denwa shinai tsumori?) |
| ...You don't intend to call him back? |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・電話するつもりはない。(...Denwa suru tsumori wa nai.) |
| ...I have NO intention of calling him. |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 会って、話した方がいいと思うよ。(Atte, hanashita hō ga ii to omou yo.) |
| I think you should meet up and talk things out. |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・話すことは何もないから。(...Hanasu koto wa nani mo nai kara.) |
| ...There's nothing to talk about. |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 何か理由があるかも。(Nani ka riyū ga aru kamo.) |
| There might be some kind of reason. |
| 遠井歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・理由？どんな？(...Riyū? Donna?) |
| ...Reason? What kind of reason? |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : 知らないけど。(Shiranai kedo.) |
| I'm not sure, but... |
| 近森渡 (Chikamori Wataru) : はい。１０１テレビです。(Hai. Ichi maru ichi terebi desu.) |
| Yes, this is 101 TV? |
| : あ、下山様ですね。(A, Shimoyama-sama desu ne.) |
| Ah, Mr. Shimoyama! |
| : はい、いますよ。少々 お待ちください。・・・(Hai, imasu yo. Shōshō o-machi kudasai…) |
| Yes, she's here. Wait just a moment please... |
| : 歩。電話。下山さんから。(Ayumu. Denwa. Shimoyama-san kara.) |
| Ayumu. Phone. It's Mr. Shimoyama. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Naomi: ふーん。ふーん。(Fūn. Fūn.) |
| Peter: ふーん (fūn) is like hmm. But it’s kind of a disinterested tone, right? |
| Naomi: Well, I think it really depends on how you say it. Like… ふ～ん！(Fūn!) sounds like you're really interested. |
| Peter: If you watch Japanese TV, you hear this phrase a lot. It’s kind of a rising intonation, right? |
| Naomi: ふーん。ふんふんふんふん。(Fūn. Fun fun fun fun.) Right. I sometimes say ふーん (fūn) to buy some time to digest what I've heard. |
| Peter: And that’s one of a kind of flat intonation. |
| Naomi: Right. ふーん。(Fūn.) |
| Peter: And then, let’s just hear the disinterested one one more time. |
| Naomi: ふーん。(Fūn.) |
| Peter: So this is three. Interested? |
| Naomi: ふーん。(Fūn.) |
| Peter: The buying time? |
| Naomi: ふーん。(Fūn.) |
| Peter: And this interested. |
| Naomi: ふーん。(Fūn.) |
| Peter: We give you three intonations about but this phrase itself is kind of a filler, right? |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。(Un, sō desu ne.) Right. |
| Peter: Some phrases that I can think of similar are へー (hē) or そっか (sokka). |
| Naomi: あ～、そうですね。(Ā, sō desu ne.) Right. |
| Peter: へー (hē) is kind of like "I see" or "ah!" |
| Naomi: うん。(Un.) |
| Peter: "aha!" そっか (sokka) is kind of like "Is that right?" |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) We use ふーん (fūn) and へー (hē) a lot in a casual conversation. |
| Peter: So, what about polite conversation? If you were talking to your boss, your client or a stranger, what would you say? |
| Naomi: I would stick to そうですか (sō desu ka) or はい (hai). |
| Peter: OK, on to the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| First word: |
| 何か (nani ka) [natural native speed] |
| something |
| 何か (nani ka) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 何か (nani ka) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 理由 (riyū) [natural native speed] |
| reason |
| 理由 (riyū) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 理由 (riyū) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 知る (shiru) [natural native speed] |
| to know, to understand |
| 知る (riyū) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 知る (riyū) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 少々 (shōshō) [natural native speed] |
| a little, small quantity |
| 少々 (shōshō) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 少々 (shōshō) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| お待ちください。(O-machi kudasai.) [natural native speed] |
| Please wait. |
| お待ちください。(O-machi kudasai.) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| お待ちください。(O-machi kudasai.) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. First we have? |
| Naomi: 少々 (shōshō) |
| Peter: a little, a few. Now, ちょっと (chotto) or すこし (sukoshi) also mean "a little" or "a few" |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。(Un, sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: However 少々 sounds more formal so it's preferred in business situations. |
| Naomi: Right. |
| Peter: Next, we have a phrase. |
| Naomi: お待ちください (o-machi kudasai) |
| Peter: Please wait. |
| 待ってください (matte kudasai) also means "please wait" as a formal expression. However, when the speaker needs to be even more polite such as business situation when talking to a client. |
| Naomi: お待ちください。(O-machi kudasai.) |
| Peter: ...is more preferable. For a detailed explanation on how to form お (o) the prefix o plus a verb ください (kudasai) structure, please read the lesson notes. |
| Naomi: If you think the structure is too complicated, just memorize お待ちください (o-machi kudasai) as a super polite way to say "please wait." |
| Peter: Can we hear it one more time? And listeners, please repeat after Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: お待ちください。(O-machi kudasai.) |
| [pause] |
| Peter: Now let's combine both phrases we just learned. Naomi-sensei. How do you say, "Please wait a little" or "Please wait a moment". |
| Naomi: 少々お待ちください。(Shōshō o-machi kudasai.) |
| Peter: Please say nice and slow. |
| Naomi: しょうしょう おまち ください。(Shōshō o-machi kudasai.) |
| Peter: しょうしょう (shōshō), a little, お待ちください (o-machi kudasai), please wait. |
| Naomi: Right. 少々お待ちください。(Shōshō o-machi kudasai.) |
| Peter: Now, again this is more business situation’s very very polite Japanese. |
| Naomi: Right. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: In this lesson, we'll focus on reviewing the usage of 何か (nani ka) and 何も (nani mo), which respectively mean "something" and "anything". |
| Naomi: Let's start with 何か (nani ka), meaning something. |
| Peter: 何か (nani ka) means "something" and, or "anything" |
| Naomi: Right. For example 飲む (nomu) is "to drink " and 飲みたい (nomitai) is "want to drink" |
| So 何か飲みたい (nani ka nomitai) means |
| Peter: "something, I want to drink", or "I want to drink something".Please repeat after Naomi."I want to drink something." |
| Naomi: 何か飲みたい。(Nani ka nomitai.) |
| [pause] |
| Peter: So Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter How do you say "I want to eat something"? |
| Naomi: 何か食べたい。(Nani ka tabetai.) |
| Peter: "I want to see something"? |
| Naomi: 何か見たい。(Nani ka mitai.) |
| Peter: Next let's learn how to say "Would you like something to drink?" Naomi-sensei, help us out. |
| Naomi: OK. 飲みますか (nomimasu ka) is "Do you drink? or "Are you going to drink?", right? If you add 何か (nani ka) in front of it, and say 何か飲みますか (nani ka nomimasu ka), that becomes... |
| Peter: Literally, “Something, or anything, do you drink?". but what it's really asking is "Would you like something to drink?" |
| Please repeat after Naomi-sensei."Would you like something to drink?" |
| Naomi: 何か飲みますか。(Nani ka nomimasu ka.) |
| Peter: [pause] So how would you say "Would you like something to eat?"then? |
| Naomi: 何か食べますか。(Nani ka tabemasu ka.) |
| Peter: [pause] So, Naomi-sensei. How would you respond to 何か飲みますか (nani ka nomimasu ka) or 何か食べますか (nani ka tabemasu ka), if you don't need anything. |
| Naomi: The easiest answer is 結構です (kekkō desu) No thank you) or 大丈夫です (daijōbu desu) I'm OK.) |
| But you can also say 何もいりません (nani mo irimasen) I don't need anything.) |
| Peter: Or literally, nothing needs necessary. |
| Naomi: Right. |
| Peter: 何もいりません (nani mo irimasen), "anything” or “don't need" "I don't need anything." Please note that this 何も (nani mo) usually appears in a negative sentence and means "anything” with a negative sentence, or "nothing". Can we hear that sentence again? |
| Naomi: Sure. 何もいりません。(Nani mo irimasen.) |
| Peter: OK. Repeat after Naomi. |
| Naomi: 何もいりません。(Nani mo irimasen.) |
| Peter: [pause] |
| Peter: Now let's review! It's time for you to think of what you want to say in a given situation. |
| Pretend you have a guest over at your house. Ask them if they want something to drink? [pause] Naomi-sensei, the answer is? |
| Naomi: 何か飲みますか。(Nani ka nomimasu ka.) |
| Peter: OK. That's it for this lesson. There's more detailed explanation in the lesson notes, so be sure to read through those to grasp the meanings of other related words, such as? |
| Naomi: 誰か (dare ka), 誰も (dare mo), どこか (doko ka), どこも (doko mo) |
| Peter: And so on. |
| Naomi: 皆さん、何か質問ありますか。(Mina-san, nani ka shitsumon arimasu ka.) |
| Peter: Do you have any questions? |
| Naomi: If you do, please ask us in the comment section. |
| Peter: It’s very easy to do. Just up by Japanesepod101.com. |
| Naomi: Click on comments. |
| Peter: And do your comment and name. |
| Naomi: And that’s it. |
| Peter: No excuses. We’re looking forward to hearing from you. |
| Naomi: 待ってます。 じゃあ、また。(Matte masu. Jā, mata.) |
| Peter: See you next time! |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
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