Learn how to use the Japanese verb that means "to try
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: なおみです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. If You Don’t Try This Japanese Activity, How Will You Know Whether You Can Do It? In this lesson, you will learn how to say "to try" in Japanese. |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) Right. Such as 食べてみる (tabete miru) |
| Peter: “try to eat” |
| Naomi: してみる (shite miru) |
| Peter: “try to do.” This conversation takes place at? |
| Naomi: 新の部屋 (Shin no heya) |
| Peter: In Shin's room at his apartment. |
| Naomi: 新とガールフレンドの歩が話しています。(Shin to gārufurendo no Ayumu ga hanashite imasu.) |
| Peter: Shin and his girlfriend Ayumu are talking. Since it's a conversation between a boyfriend and a girlfriend, you'll hear? |
| Naomi: カジュアルな日本語 (kajuaru na Nihon-go) |
| Peter: Informal Japanese. |
| Naomi: では、聞いてみましょう。(Dewa, kiite mimashō.) |
| DIALOGUE |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : おいしい！(Oishii!) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : 本当？よかった。近森の豆腐のレシピを 作って みたんだ。(Hontō? Yokatta. Chikamori no tōfu no reshipi o tsukutte mita n da.) |
| : わさびも 使ってみて。(Wasabi mo tsukatte mite.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : うん。・・・うん！うまい！(Un. …Un! Umai!) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・そうだ。来週の 金曜日 新の 誕生日でしょう。(...Sō da. Raishū no kin-yōbi Shin no tanjōbi deshō.) |
| : よかったら、その日 お寿司屋さんに 行かない？(Yokattara, sono hi o-sushiya-san ni ikanai?) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : いいね。どこの 寿司屋？(Ii ne. Doko no sushiya?) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : 青山のゴンロクっていう お寿司屋さん・・・知ってる？(Aoyama no Gonroku tte iu o-sushiya-san... Shitte ru?) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : ああ、聞いたことある。(Ā, kiita koto aru.) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : 話題になっているから、行ってみたいんだ。(Wadai ni natte iru kara, itte mitai n da.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : いいね。行こう。(Ii ne. ikō.) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : じゃ、予約するね。(Ja, yoyaku suru ne.) |
| 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.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : おいしい！(Oishii!) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : 本当？よかった。近森の豆腐のレシピを 作って みたんだ。(Hontō? Yokatta. Chikamori no tōfu no reshipi o tsukutte mita n da.) |
| : わさびも 使ってみて。(Wasabi mo tsukatte mite.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : うん。・・・うん！うまい！(Un. …Un! Umai!) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・そうだ。来週の 金曜日 新の 誕生日でしょう。(...Sō da. Raishū no kin-yōbi Shin no tanjōbi deshō.) |
| : よかったら、その日 お寿司屋さんに 行かない？(Yokattara, sono hi o-sushiya-san ni ikanai?) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : いいね。どこの 寿司屋？(Ii ne. Doko no sushiya?) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : 青山のゴンロクっていう お寿司屋さん・・・知ってる？(Aoyama no Gonroku tte iu o-sushiya-san... Shitte ru?) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : ああ、聞いたことある。(Ā, kiita koto aru.) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : 話題になっているから、行ってみたいんだ。(Wadai ni natte iru kara, itte mitai n da.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : いいね。行こう。(Ii ne. ikō.) |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : じゃ、予約するね。(Ja, yoyaku suru ne.) |
| Naomi: 今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : おいしい！(Oishii!) |
| This tastes great! |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : 本当？よかった。(Hontō? Yokatta.) |
| Really? Oh good! |
| : 近森の豆腐のレシピを 作って みたんだ。(Chikamori no tōfu no reshipi o tsukutte mita n da.) |
| I tried out one of Chikamori's tofu recipes! |
| : わさびも 使ってみて。(Wasabi mo tsukatte mite.) |
| Try some wasabi with it too. |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : うん。(Un.) |
| Okay. |
| : うん！うまい！(Un! Umai!) |
| Yeah! It's really good! |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : ・・・そうだ。来週の 金曜日 新の 誕生日でしょう。(...Sō da. Raishū no kin-yōbi Shin no tanjōbi deshō.) |
| ...Oh yeah. Friday of next week is your birthday, right? |
| : よかったら、その日 お寿司屋さんに 行かない？(Yokattara, sono hi o-sushiya-san ni ikanai?) |
| If you like, why don't we go to a sushi restaurant that day? |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : いいね。どこの 寿司屋？(Ii ne. Doko no sushiya?) |
| Sounds good. Which one? |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : 青山のゴンロクっていう お寿司屋さん・・・知ってる？(Aoyama no Gonroku tte iu o-sushiya-san... Shitte ru?) |
| A sushi restaurant in Aoyama called Gonroku...do you know it? |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : ああ、聞いたことある。(Ā, kiita koto aru.) |
| Ah, I've heard of it. |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : 話題になっているから、行ってみたいんだ。(Wadai ni natte iru kara, itte mitai n da.) |
| It's become the talk of the town, so I want to go try it out. |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : いいね。行こう。(Ii ne. ikō.) |
| Great! Let's go. |
| 遠井 歩 (Tōi Ayumu) : じゃ、予約するね。(Ja, yoyaku suru ne.) |
| Okay, then I'll make reservations. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Naomi: ピーターさんは「うまい」って言いますか。それとも「おいしい」って言いますか。(Pītā-san wa “umai” tte iimasu ka. Soretomo “oishii” tte iimasu ka.) |
| Peter: Do I use the word うまい (umai) meaning “tasty”? Or do I use the word おいしい (oishii) meaning “tasty” or “delicious”? I would say a kind of case by case. |
| Naomi: あぁ…。フォーマルなときはおいしいって言います？(Ā… Fōmaru na toki wa oishii tte iimasu?) |
| Peter: Yeah, I think it’s a bit formal, for example if I’m using a polite Japanese, I’ll use おいしい (oishii). But if I'm out my friends, I'll probably use うまい (umai). Again they mean the same thing, but うまい (umai) is quite informal. |
| Naomi: そうですね。男の人がよく「うまい」って使いますね。(Sō desu ne. Otoko no hito ga yoku “umai” tte tsukaimasu ne.) |
| Peter: And guys tend to use うまい (umai). |
| Naomi: そうね。(Sō ne.) |
| Peter: But Naomi-sensei, I often hear you say, うまーい！(Umāi!) |
| Naomi: 言ってないよ。言ったことないです。(Itte nai yo. Itta koto nai desu.) |
| Peter: Okay I'm just teasing Naomi-sensei a little bit. So, Naomi-sensei, what do you say? |
| Naomi: おいしい！(Oishii!) |
| Peter: Notice how Naomi-sensei used just the plain form, おいしい (oishii), going up. |
| Naomi: あぁ、そうですね。おいしい～。(Ā, sō desu ne. Oishiī.) |
| Peter: おいしいです (oishii desu) is quite formal, right? |
| Naomi: そうですね。丁寧ですね。(Sō desu ne. Teinei desu ne.) |
| Peter: I have a pretty good example of the differences between おいしい (oishii) and うまい (umai). When I first came to Japan, I had a host family. And when I went to the host family's home, I would always use おいしいです (oishii desu). |
| Naomi: ああ...、そうですね。(Ā… sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: But as the conversation went on and time went on and sometimes if I had a drink some alcohol, I kinda slipped and used おいしい (oishii). おいしい！(Oishii!) But I would not say うまい (umai). |
| Naomi: ああ、そうですか。(Ā, sō desu ka.) |
| Peter: Or the even more informal, うめぇ (umee). |
| Naomi: ああ。(Ā.) |
| Peter: Where the うま (uma) and い (i) get contracted into the め (me). I tend to kinda stay away from that, but when I was at my friends, |
| Naomi: You used うめぇ (umee). |
| Peter: Or うまい (umai). |
| Naomi: Ah, Okay. |
| Peter: I kinda start with うまい (umai) and then as again time went on in a dinner and if I |
| had a little more to drink, I’d probably switch to うめぇ (umee). |
| Naomi: なるほど。(Naruhodo.) |
| Peter: So that’s kinda of the ranking, おいしいです (oishii desu), おいしい (oishii), うまい (umai), うめぇ (umee). |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。(Un, sō desu ne.) But I'd say if you're a woman, it's safe to stick to おいしい (oishii). |
| Peter: On to the vocabulary section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| First word: |
| レシピ (reshipi) [natural native speed] |
| recipe |
| レシピ (reshipi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| レシピ (reshipi) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| わさび (wasabi) [natural native speed] |
| wasabi (Japanese horseradish) |
| わさび (wasabi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| わさび (wasabi) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| うまい (umai) [natural native speed] |
| delicious, tasty (often used by men) |
| うまい (umai) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| うまい (umai) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 話題 (wadai) [natural native speed] |
| topic, subject |
| 話題 (wadai) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 話題 (wadai) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 予約 (yoyaku) [natural native speed] |
| reservation |
| 予約 (yoyaku) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 予約 (yoyaku) [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. Naomi-sensei? |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: What is the first word, actually phrase we're looking at? |
| Naomi: お寿司屋さん (o-sushiya-san) |
| Peter: "Sushi restaurant" |
| Naomi:「屋」は suffix ですね。(“Ya” wa suffix desu ne.) 屋 (ya) is a suffix meaning "shop" or "store", so 寿司屋 (sushiya) means "sushi shop" or "sushi restaurant". |
| Peter: Some people add the polite prefix お (o) in front and the polite suffix さん (san) after it and call sushi restaurants |
| Naomi: お寿司屋さん (o-sushiya-san) |
| Peter: This sounds much more polite than just saying 寿司屋 (sushiya). |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) It sounds very conversational. Slightly feminine, though. |
| Peter: Now, does this rule apply to other shops or stores? |
| Naomi: Not all shops or stores... but for florist and buckwheat noodle shop ...yes. |
| Peter: How do you say "florist"? |
| Naomi: 花屋 (hanaya) |
| Peter: That's how men say "florist", right? Women might say |
| Naomi: お花屋さん (o-hanaya-san) |
| Peter: How about buckwheat noodle shop? |
| Naomi: そば屋 (sobaya) |
| Peter: If you want to be a little bit more polite? |
| Naomi: おそば屋さん (o-sobaya-san) |
| Peter: OK. Next please. |
| Naomi: 話題になる (wadai ni naru) |
| Peter: "to be talked about" "to be a hot topic" |
| Naomi: 話題 (wadai) means "topic" or "subject", and になる (ni naru) means "to become." |
| Peter: This phrase 話題になる (wadai ni naru) is used for being talked about in either a good way or bad way, isn't it? |
| Naomi: そうですね。いいことにも悪いことにも使えます。(Sō desu ne. Ii koto ni mo warui koto ni mo tsukaemasu.) 例えば (tatoeba), for example… 2009年はマイケルジャクソンが話題になりました。 (Ni-sen kyū-nen wa Maikeru Jakuson ga wadai ni narimashita.) |
| Peter: “Michael Jackson was talked about a lot in 2009.” That was kind of neutral. He passed away, so it was kind of a neutral topic. But let’s give 2 examples, which will kind of clarify this quite quickly and show you the good news or bad news. So, when Michael Jackson had his trials… |
| Naomi: うーん、話題になりましたね。(Ūn, wadai ni narimashita ne.) |
| Peter: And that was not such a good topic, because of kind of the content and the basis of the trial. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: Now let’s rewind 30 years and then in early 80s we could say |
| Naomi: マイケルジャクソンは、話題になりましたね。(Maikeru Jakuson wa, wadai ni narimashita ne.) |
| Peter: So again, Michael Jackson was being talked about a lot and this time was very good. Everyone was talking about how amazing his songs were and how popular they were, of course, in videos. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: So again, it just depends a lot on the subject matter but it could be either good or bad. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: The focus of this lesson is how to say "to try" in Japanese. |
| Naomi: Such as 食べてみる (tabete miru) |
| Peter: “to try to eat” |
| Naomi: And 見てみる (mite miru) |
| Peter: “to try to see.” Now, みる (miru) is a class 2 verb and means "to see" "to look" or "to watch." When みる (miru) is attached to a te-form of a verb, it adds the meaning "to do that action and see what will happen or what is like." |
| Naomi: The formation is “te-form of a verb plus みる (miru).” |
| Peter: Let's say "to try to eat". First word, Naomi-sensei, what’s the verb "to eat"? |
| Naomi: 食べる (taberu) |
| Peter: The te-form is? |
| Naomi: 食べて (tabete) |
| Peter: To that, attach みる (miru). |
| Naomi: 食べてみる (tabete miru) |
| Peter: “To try to eat.” |
| Naomi: Here's a sample sentence. これを食べてみる。(Kore o tabete miru.) |
| Peter: "I'll try to eat this" in a sense of "I'll try this and see how it tastes." or “I try to see if I can eat it.” |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。(Un, sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: Let's do one more example. How do you say "I'll try to use it"? |
| Naomi: “To use” is 使う (tsukau). |
| Peter: The te-form is? |
| Naomi: 使って (tsukatte) |
| Peter: To that, add みる (miru). |
| Naomi: 使ってみる (tsukatte miru) |
| Peter: “To try to use it.” |
| Naomi: Here's a sample sentence. 新しい言葉を使ってみる。(Atarashii kotoba o tsukatte miru.) |
| Peter: "I'll try to use a new word" as in "I'll try to use a new word to see if people understand me." OK. Listen and repeat. "I'll try to use a new word." |
| Naomi: 新しい言葉を使ってみる。(Atarashii kotoba o tsukatte miru.) |
| Peter: [pause] OK. Listeners, say "I'll try to use a new word." |
| Naomi: [pause] 新しい言葉を使ってみる。(Atarashii kotoba o tsukatte miru.) |
| Peter: So, Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: What's the difference between これを食べる (kore o taberu) and これを食べてみる (kore o tabete miru)? |
| Naomi: Well, これを食べる (kore o taberu) is just a general statement. |
| On the other hand, これを食べてみる (kore o tabete miru) sounds like the speaker doesn't know what the food tastes like. Maybe they've never tried it before or something. |
| Peter: So これを食べてみる (kore o tabete miru) is like "to eat to find out if I like it." |
| Naomi: そうそうそう。(Sō sō sō.) Exactly. |
| Naomi: みなさんも「〜てみる」を使ってみてください！(Mina-san mo “-te miru” o tsukatte mite kudasai!) |
| Peter: So listeners, please try to use this 〜てみる (-te miru) sentence structure to see if people understand you. |
| Naomi: それから、レッスンノートも読んでみてください。(Sorekara, ressun nōto mo yonde mite kudasai.) |
| Peter: Please read the lesson notes to see what they're like. That’s all for this lesson. |
| Naomi: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.) |
| Peter: See you next time. |
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