Learn how to describe the reason for something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: なおみです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Kat: Kat here. Does Cold Weather Stop You Drinking Japanese Beer? In this lesson you are going to learn how to give reasons or causes in Japanese. |
| Naomi: Such as, おかげで (okage de) |
| Kat: “thanks to” |
| Naomi: and せいで (sei de) |
| Kat: “through the fault of”. This conversation takes the form of a TV interview on the street. |
| Naomi: はい。テレビのレポーターが町の人にインタビューをしています。(Hai. Terebi no repōtā ga machi no hito ni intabyū o shite imasu.) |
| Kat: Yes. A TV a reporter is interviewing people on the street. |
| The reporter is using formal Japanese. And people on the street are using both formal and informal Japanese. |
| Naomi: では、聞いてみましょう。(Dewa, kiite mimashō.) |
| Kat: Let's listen to the conversation! |
| DIALOGUE |
| アナウンサー (anaunsā) : 今年の夏は涼しいですね。(Kotoshi no natsu wa suzushii desu ne.) |
| : みなさんは、涼しい夏が好きですか？嫌いですか？(Mina-san wa, suzushii natsu ga suki desu ka? Kirai desu ka?) |
| : みなさんの意見を聞いてみました。(Mina-san no iken o kiite mimashita.) |
| 女 (onna) : 毎晩涼しいおかげで、よく寝られるの。(Maiban suzushii o-kage de, yoku nerareru no.) |
| : だから、体調がいいのよ。(Dakara, taichō ga ii no yo.) |
| 男 (otoko) : この天気のおかげで、電気代が安いよ。(Kono tenki no okage de, denkidai ga yasui yo.) |
| : エアコン使わないから。(Eakon tsukawanai kara.) |
| 女２ (onna 2) : 植物が育たないせいで、野菜が高いんです。(Shokubutsu ga sodatanai sei de, yasai ga takai n desu.) |
| : 本当に困ります。(Hontō ni komarimasu.) |
| 男２ (otoko 2) : 僕、ビール会社に勤めているんです。(Boku, bīrugaisha ni tsutomete iru n desu.) |
| : 今年、涼しいせいで、ビールが売れないんです。(Kotoshi, suzushii sei de, bīru ga urenai n desu.) |
| : みなさん、ビール買ってください。お願いします。(Mina-san, bīru katte kudasai. Onegai shimasu.) |
| Naomi: もう一度、会話を聞いてください。今度はゆっくり話します。(Mō ichi-do, kaiwa o kiite kudasai. Kondo wa yukkuri hanashimasu.) |
| アナウンサー (anaunsā) : 今年の夏は涼しいですね。(Kotoshi no natsu wa suzushii desu ne.) |
| : みなさんは、涼しい夏が好きですか？嫌いですか？(Mina-san wa, suzushii natsu ga suki desu ka? Kirai desu ka?) |
| : みなさんの意見を聞いてみました。(Mina-san no iken o kiite mimashita.) |
| 女 (onna) : 毎晩涼しいおかげで、よく寝られるの。(Maiban suzushii o-kage de, yoku nerareru no.) |
| : だから、体調がいいのよ。(Dakara, taichō ga ii no yo.) |
| 男 (otoko) : この天気のおかげで、電気代が安いよ。(Kono tenki no okage de, denkidai ga yasui yo.) |
| : エアコン使わないから。(Eakon tsukawanai kara.) |
| 女２ (onna 2) : 植物が育たないせいで、野菜が高いんです。(Shokubutsu ga sodatanai sei de, yasai ga takai n desu.) |
| : 本当に困ります。(Hontō ni komarimasu.) |
| 男２ (otoko 2) : 僕、ビール会社に勤めているんです。(Boku, bīrugaisha ni tsutomete iru n desu.) |
| : 今年、涼しいせいで、ビールが売れないんです。(Kotoshi, suzushii sei de, bīru ga urenai n desu.) |
| : みなさん、ビール買ってください。お願いします。(Mina-san, bīru katte kudasai. Onegai shimasu.) |
| Naomi: 今度は、英語の訳と一緒に聞いてみましょう。(Kondo wa, Eigo no yaku to issho ni kiite mimashō.) |
| アナウンサー (anaunsā) : 今年の夏は涼しいですね。(Kotoshi no natsu wa suzushii desu ne.) |
| Kat: Summer is cool this year, isn't it? |
| : みなさんは、涼しい夏が好きですか？嫌いですか？(Mina-san wa, suzushii natsu ga suki desu ka? Kirai desu ka?) |
| Kat: Everyone, do you like cool summers? Do you hate them? |
| : みなさんの意見を聞いてみました。(Mina-san no iken o kiite mimashita.) |
| We asked your opinions on this. |
| 女 (onna) : 毎晩涼しいおかげで、よく寝られるの。(Maiban suzushii okage de, yoku nerareru no.) |
| Kat: Every night is cool, so thanks to that I can sleep well. |
| : だから、体調がいいのよ。(Dakara, taichō ga ii no yo.) |
| Kat: So I feel in good shape. |
| 男 (otoko) : この天気のおかげで、電気代が安いよ。エアコン使わないから。(Kono tenki no okage de, denkidai ga yasui yo. Eakon tsukawanai kara.) |
| Kat: Thanks to this weather, my electricity bill is low, since I'm not using the air conditioner. |
| 女２ (onna 2) : 植物が育たないせいで、野菜が高いんです。(Shokubutsu ga sodatanai sei de, yasai ga takai n desu.) |
| Kat: Because plants won't grow, vegetables are expensive. |
| : 本当に困ります。(Hontō ni komarimasu.) |
| Kat: It's really bothersome. |
| 男２ (otoko 2) : 僕、ビール会社に勤めているんです。(Boku, bīrugaisha ni tsutomete iru n desu.) |
| Kat: I work for a beer company. |
| : 今年、涼しいせいで、ビールが売れないんです。(Kotoshi, suzushii sei de, bīru ga urenai n desu.) |
| Kat: Because it's cool this year, beer isn't selling well. |
| : みなさん、ビール買ってください。お願いします。(Mina-san, bīru katte kudasai. Onegai shimasu.) |
| Kat: Everyone, please buy beer! Please! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Kat: なおみ先生。私は、日本の四季が大好きです。(Naomi-sensei. Watashi wa Nihon no shiki ga daisuki desu.) I love Japan's four seasons. |
| Naomi: ああ、いいですよね～。四季は四つの季節という意味です。(Ā, ii desu yo nē. Shiki wa yottsu no kisetsu to iu imi desu.) 四つ (yottsu) means “four” and 季節 (kisetsu) is “season”. |
| Kat: Right. Japan has four clear-cut seasons which are 春 (haru) |
| Kat: "spring" |
| Naomi: 夏 (natsu) |
| Kat: "summer" |
| Naomi: 秋 (aki) |
| Kat: "autumn" |
| Naomi: 冬 (fuyu) |
| Kat: "winter" |
| Naomi: 夏はとても暑くなりますし、冬はとても寒くなります。(Natsu wa totemo atsuku narimasu shi, fuyu wa totemo samuku narimasu.) |
| Kat: Yeah, that’s right. It gets really hot in summer and it gets really cold in winter in Japan. |
| Naomi: うん、だから日本では、着るものや食べるものが季節によって変わりますよね。(Un, dakara Nihon de wa, kiru mono ya taberu mono ga kisetsu ni yotte kawarimasu yo ne.) |
| Kat: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) In Japan people try to care what season they are in and appreciate the season in various ways. |
| Naomi: そう。例えば、夏には夏の食べ物を食べて、冬には冬の食べ物を食べる、とか。(Sō. Tatoeba, natsu ni wa natsu no tabemono o tabete, fuyu ni wa fuyu no tabemono o taberu, toka.) |
| Kat: Umm. So in Japan, there are certain foods which are only eaten in certain seasons. |
| 例えば、どんな感じですか。(Tatoeba, donna kanji desu ka.) |
| Naomi: うーん、例えば、春、たけのこを食べたり。(Ūn, tatoeba, haru, takenoko o tabetari.) |
| Kat: Ah. So people eat bamboo shoots or たけのこ (takenoko) in spring? |
| Naomi: そう。冬はねぇ、あ、鍋料理を食べたり。 (Sō. Fuyu wa nee, a, nabe ryōri o tabetari.) |
| Kat: Yeah that’s right. And in Japan, we eat hotpot or Nabe in winter. I love Nabe. |
| Naomi: 美味しいですよね。(Oishii desu yo ne.) |
| Kat: で、夏はビール？(De, natsu wa bīru?) And people drink beer in Summer? |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。やっぱり、夏が一番ビールが売れる季節みたいですね。・・・ま、ビールは一年中みんな飲みますけどね。(Un, sō desu ne. Yappari, natsu ga ichi-ban bīru ga ureru kisetsu mitai desu ne. …Ma, bīru wa ichi-nenjū minna nomimasu kedo ne.) |
| Kat: That’s right. So even though people obviously drink beer in summer a lot because it’s hot. Beer is popular all year around. |
| Naomi: そうそう。(Sō sō.) |
| Kat: あと、私は、日本に来て、洋服にビックリしました。(Ato, watashi wa, Nihon ni kite, yōfuku ni bikkuri shimashita.) |
| Naomi: ああ、季節によって変わるから？(Ā, kisetsu ni yotte kawaru kara?) |
| Kat: そうです。(Sō desu.) People also change their wardrobe when the season changes in Japan, no matter what the actual weather... so even for example, if October even November is unseasonably warm which is something is, you'll still see many people wearing coats, jumpers and boots! Because it’s winter therefore you must wear winter clothes. I think these unwritten season-rules are much more strongly adhered to in Japan than in Europe and America maybe. |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。 でも私は逆に、アメリカに行ったときに、冬にＴシャツを着ている人を見てスゴーくびっくりしました。「なんで、Ｔシャツ着てるの？冬なのに？」って最初思いました。(Un, sō desu ne. Demo watashi wa gyaku ni, Amerika ni itta toki ni, fuyu ni tīshatsu o kite iru hito o mite sugōku bikkuri shimashita. “Nande, tīshatsu kite ru no? Fuyu na noni?” tte saisho omoimashita.) |
| Kat: あ、たしかに。(A, tashika ni.) So, when you went to America, you had an opposite experience where you saw people wearing, for example, T-shirts in winter, you were like why are you wearing a T-shirt? Because it’s winter, you should be wearing a coat. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Kat: OK. So now, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| And the first word we are going to see is: |
| Naomi: エアコン (eakon) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: air conditioning, air-conditioner |
| Naomi: エアコン (eakon) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: エアコン (eakon) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: And next: |
| Naomi: 電気代 (denkidai) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: electric bill, electricity expenses |
| Naomi: 電気代 (denkidai) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 電気代 (denkidai) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK. And next: |
| Naomi: 意見 (iken) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: opinion, comment |
| Naomi: 意見 (iken) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 意見 (iken) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: And next: |
| Naomi: 植物 (shokubutsu) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: plant, green thing, vegetable |
| Naomi: 植物 (shokubutsu) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 植物 (shokubutsu) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: And finally: |
| Naomi: 売れる (ureru) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: to sell well, to be popular |
| Naomi: 売れる (ureru) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 売れる (ureru) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Kat: Ok, so now let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. And the first one we are going to look at is? |
| Naomi: 電気代 (denkidai) |
| Kat: “electricity bill”, “electric expenses” |
| 電気 (denki) is “electricity” and 代 (dai) means “charge,” “cost” or “price.” |
| You can talk about utility bills in Japanese by using 代 (dai), right? |
| Naomi: はい。じゃあみなさん、考えてください。(Hai. Jā mina-san, kangaete kudasai.) Listeners, can you guess the meaning of this word? 電話代 (denwadai) |
| Kat: (pause) Ok, so 電話 (denwa) is “telephone”, isn't it? So 電話代 (denwadai) is… “telephone bill.” |
| Naomi: そうです、ピンポン！(Sō desu, pinpon!) |
| Kat: OK, so how about another one? |
| Naomi: ガス代 (gasudai) |
| Kat: (pause) OK. I think it’s pretty easy. ガス (gasu) means “gas”. So ガス代 (gasudai) is… “a gas bill.” |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) Here's a sample sentence. 今月の電話代は高かった。(Kongetsu no denwadai wa takakatta.) |
| Kat: “This month's telephone bill was expensive.” |
| Naomi: 私、今月の電話代高かったですね。(Watashi, kongetsu no denwadai takakatta desu ne.) |
| Kat: あ、本当ですか。いくらぐらいでしたか。(A, hontō desu ka. Ikura gurai deshita ka.) |
| Naomi: えー、思い出したくないです。(Ē, omoidashitakunai desu.) |
| Kat: So Naomi-sensei doesn’t want to remember how much her phone bill was. (laugh) OK, so what’s the next item on our list? |
| Naomi: エアコン (eakon) |
| Kat: “air conditioner”, “air conditioning”. Actually エアコン (eakon) is the abbreviation of エアーコンディショナー (eā kondishonā) which is just “air conditioner” with Japanese accent. |
| Naomi: はい。エアーコンディショナー。あと、「冷房」とか「クーラー」もエアーコンディショナーですね。(Hai. Eā kondishonā. Ato, “reibō” toka “kūrā” mo eā kondishonā desu ne.) |
| Kat: Ah that’s right. However 冷房 (reibō) and クーラー (kūrā) are exclusively used for refrigerated air conditioning. |
| Naomi: ああ、そうです。(Ā, sō desu.) |
| Kat: Hm. So how would you say a "heater" or "heated air conditioning"? |
| Naomi: 暖房 (danbō) |
| Kat: Ah. |
| Naomi: なので「暖房」と「冷房」をセットで覚えるといいかもしれないですね。(Nanode, “danbō” to “reibō” o setto de oboeru to ii kamo shirenai desu ne.) |
| Kat: Hm, I agree you should try to remember these two words 冷房 (reibō) for air conditioner and 暖房 (danbō) for heater as a pair to make them easier to remember. OK. And lastly we have? |
| Naomi: 売れる (ureru) |
| Kat: “to sell well”, “to be popular”, “to be a big seller” |
| Naomi:「売れる」は「売る」の可能形です。(“Ureru” wa “uru” no kanōkei desu.) 売れる (ureru) is the potential form of a verb 売る (uru), "to sell". |
| Kat: Hm. Right. However 売れる (ureru) doesn’t only mean “able to sell” or “salable” but also as we just mentioned “to sell well”, “to be bought by people a lot” or “popular”. |
| Naomi: 例えば。(Tatoeba.) For example… 今年は暑いので、エアコンが売れている。(Kotoshi wa atsui node, eakon ga urete iru.) |
| Kat: “This year it's hot, so air conditioning units are selling well.” |
| Naomi: ところで 今、何が売れているんですかね？(Tokorode ima, nani ga urete iru n desu ka ne?) |
| Kat: Hmm.. So what is selling well at the moment? What's popular? Hmm... やっぱり夏だからビールかなあ？(Yappari natsu da kara bīru ka nā?) |
| Naomi: まあ、そうでしょうね。(Mā, sō deshō ne.) |
| Kat: So in Japan, it’s really hot because it’s summer, so possibly we are thinking beer is selling well at the moment. |
| Naomi: 皆さんの国では何が売れていますか。(Mina-san no kuni de wa nani ga urete imasu ka.) |
| Kat: What's the hot-selling item in your country right now? 教えてください！(Oshiete kudasai!) Please let us know. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Kat: The focus of this lesson is how to say “through the fault of…” or “thanks to…” in Japanese. |
| Naomi: "Through the fault of..." is せいで (sei de). "Thanks to" is おかげで (okage de) in Japanese. |
| Kat: OK. First let’s start with the usage of せいで (sei de). せいで (sei de) indicates a reason or cause which brings about a negative result, and it is attached to informal forms. Now, how do you say "cool" as in temperature in Japanese? |
| Naomi: 涼しい (suzushii) |
| Kat: Attach せいで (sei de). |
| Naomi: 涼しいせいで (suzushii sei de) |
| Kat: This means "All because it's cool" or ‘because it’s cool” with a negative implication. OK. Can we have a sample sentence, please? |
| Naomi: 涼しいせいで、ビールが売れない。(Suzushii sei de, bīru ga urenai.) |
| Kat: “All because it's cool, beer isn't selling well.“ The speaker is blaming the fact that the temperature is cool for beer not selling well. OK. Listeners, listen and repeat. |
| Naomi: 涼しいせいで、ビールが売れない。(Suzushii sei de, bīru ga urenai.) |
| Kat: (pause) Listeners, say "All because it's cool, beer isn't selling well". |
| Naomi: (pause) 涼しいせいで、ビールが売れない。(Suzushii sei de, bīru ga urenai.) |
| Kat: So "Beer isn't selling well" is an unfavorable result for the speaker, and so that's why in this case, せいで (sei de) is used. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Kat: So what about the opposite situation and it being cool bringing about a favorable result? What would we say there? |
| Naomi: その時は「おかげで」を使います。(Sono toki wa “okage de” o tsukaimasu.) In that case we use おかげで (okage de) instead. |
| Kat: おかげで (okage de) is "thanks to" or "owing to" in English. So how would you say "cool in temperature" again in Japanese? |
| Naomi: 涼しい (suzushii) |
| Kat: Attach おかげで (okage de). |
| Naomi: 涼しいおかげで (suzushii okage de) |
| Kat: This means "Thanks to it being cool." |
| Naomi: 例えば。(Tatoeba.) Here's a sample sentence. 涼しいおかげでよく寝られる。(Suzushii okage de yoku nerareru.) |
| Kat: "Thanks to it being cool, I can sleep well." "To be able to sleep well" is a favorable result obviously. So that's why おかげで (okage de) is used here. |
| Ok. Everyone, listen and repeat. |
| Naomi: 涼しいおかげでよく寝られる。(Suzushii okage de yoku nerareru.) |
| Kat: (pause) Say "Thanks to it being cool, I can sleep well" in Japanese. |
| Naomi: (pause) 涼しいおかげでよく寝られる。(Suzushii okage de yoku nerareru.) |
| Kat: OK so now, let's recap this lesson with a little quiz. Naomi-sensei is going to read two phrases. And your job is to connect those two phrases using either せいで (sei de) or おかげで (okage de). Alright, so what's the first phrase? |
| Naomi: Japanesepod101.comを聞いた (Japanīzupoddo ichi maru ichi dotto komu o kiita) |
| Kat: And what's the second phrase? |
| Naomi: 日本語が上手になった (Nihon-go ga jōzu ni natta) |
| Kat: Did you get it? Naomi-sensei, can we possibly hear those phrases again? |
| Naomi: Sure. Japanesepod101.comを聞いた (Japanīzupoddo ichi maru ichi dotto komu o kiita) |
| Kat: And this means "I listened to Japanesepod101.com." And what's the second phrase? |
| Naomi: 日本語が上手になった (Nihon-go ga jōzu ni natta) |
| Kat: This means "I became good at Japanese." So this is a favorable result isn't it? |
| Naomi: そうですよね。(Sō desu yo ne.) |
| Kat: So you have to use |
| Naomi: おかげで (okage de) |
| Kat: Alright. So now can we hear the whole sentence? |
| Naomi: Japanesepod101.comを聞いたおかげで日本語が上手になった。(Japanīzupoddo ichi maru ichi dotto komu o kiita okage de Nihon-go ga jōzu ni natta.) |
| Kat: “Thanks to listening to Japanesepod101.com, I became good at Japanese.” |
| Naomi: 言ってほしいですね～！(Itte hoshii desu nē!) |
| Kat: I was about to say that such self promotion is going on there. (laugh) |
| OK. So, how did you do just then? Be sure to check the formation when せいで (sei de) and おかげで (okage de) directly follows either na-adjectives or nouns in the lesson notes where there is a really good explanation. OK, I think that's about it for the lesson, Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: はい。じゃあまた。(Hai. Jā mata.) |
| Kat: じゃーね！(Jā ne!) Bye bye! |
Outro |
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