Learn about talking about past actions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: 直美です。 (Naomidesu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Your First Trip to Japan. In this lesson, you will learn more about formal and informal speech by reviewing the past tense of a verb. |
| Naomi: And the suffix 系 (Kei) as in フランス系カナダ人 (Furansu-kei Kanada hito) French Canadian. |
| Peter: This conversation takes place at |
| Naomi: ホテルのロビー (Hoteru no robī) |
| Peter: In a lobby at a hotel. The conversation is between |
| Naomi: ガイドさん、おじいさん、それからおばあさん。 (Gaido-san, ojīsan, sorekara obāsan.) |
| Peter: The tour guide, an old man and an old woman. |
| Naomi: ガイドさんはお客さんをロビーで待っています。 (Gaido-san wa ogyakusan o robī de matteimasu.) |
| Peter: The tour guide is waiting for his customers to come back to the lobby. The tour guide and the old lady are speaking in |
| Naomi: Formal Japanese. |
| Peter: The old man is speaking in informal Japanese. Okay let’s listen to this conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| (カチカチ カチカチ) (Kachi kachi kachi kachi) |
| ガイド (Gaido): もう、3時10分...。 (Mō, san-ji juppun....) |
| (タクシー) ((Takushī)) |
| おばあさん (Obāsan): おじいさん、おじいさん。ホテルに 着きましたよ。起きてください。 (O-jii-san, o-jii-san. Hoteru ni tsukimashita yo. Okite kudasai.) |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): ん?もう着いた?そうか...。よく 寝た。 (N? Mō tsuita? Sō ka.... yoku neta.) |
| (タクシーをおりる) (バタン) ((Takushī o oriru) (Batan)) |
| おばあさん (Obāsan): 疲れましたね。 (Tsukaremashita ne.) |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): ああ、疲れた、疲れた。ああ、ガイドさん。 (Ā, tsukareta, tsukareta. Ā, gaido-san.) |
| ガイド (Gaido): あ、中川様。お帰りなさい。 (A, Nakagawa-sama. Oーkaerinasai.) |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): ふう...。今日は よく 歩きましたよ。 (Fū.... kyō wa yoku arukimashita yo.) |
| ガイド (Gaido): そうですか。鎌倉は 初めてですか。 (Sō desu ka. Kamakura wa hajimete desu ka.) |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): はい。私達は、日系ブラジル人です。 (Hai. Watashi-tachi wa, nikkei Burajiru-jin desu.) ブラジルで 生まれて、ブラジルで 育ちました。 (Burajiru de umarete, Burajiru de sodachimashita.) 実は 日本は、初めてです。孫が 日本に 住んでいるので、初めて 来ました。 (Jitsu wa Nihon wa, hajimete desu. Mago ga Nihon ni sunde iru no de, hajimete kimashita.) |
| もう一度、お願いします。今度は、ゆっくりお願いします。 (Mōichido, onegaishimasu. Kondo wa, yukkuri onegaishimasu.) |
| ガイド (Gaido): もう、3時10分...。 (Mō, san-ji juppun....) |
| おばあさん (Obāsan): おじいさん、おじいさん。ホテルに 着きましたよ。起きてください。 (O-jii-san, o-jii-san. Hoteru ni tsukimashita yo. Okite kudasai.) |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): ん?もう着いた?そうか...。よく 寝た。 (N? Mō tsuita? Sō ka.... yoku neta.) |
| おばあさん (Obāsan): 疲れましたね。 (Tsukaremashita ne.) |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): ああ、疲れた、疲れた。ああ、ガイドさん。 (Ā, tsukareta, tsukareta. Ā, gaido-san.) |
| ガイド (Gaido): あ、中川様。お帰りなさい。 (A, Nakagawa-sama. Oーkaerinasai.) |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): ふう...。今日は よく 歩きましたよ。 (Fū.... kyō wa yoku arukimashita yo.) |
| ガイド (Gaido): そうですか。鎌倉は 初めてですか。 (Sō desu ka. Kamakura wa hajimete desu ka.) |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): はい。私達は、日系ブラジル人です。 (Hai. Watashi-tachi wa, nikkei Burajiru-jin desu.) ブラジルで 生まれて、ブラジルで 育ちました。 (Burajiru de umarete, Burajiru de sodachimashita.) 実は 日本は、初めてです。孫が 日本に 住んでいるので、初めて 来ました。 (Jitsu wa Nihon wa, hajimete desu. Mago ga Nihon ni sunde iru no de, hajimete kimashita.) |
| 今度は、英語が入ります。 (Kondo wa, eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| (カチカチ カチカチ) (Kachi kachi kachi kachi) |
| (tick-tock) |
| ガイド (Gaido): もう、3時10分...。 (Mō, san-ji juppun....) |
| GUIDE: It's already three ten ... |
| (タクシー) ((Takushī)) |
| (in a taxi) |
| おばあさん (Obāsan): おじいさん、おじいさん。ホテルに 着きましたよ。起きてください。 (O-jii-san, o-jii-san. Hoteru ni tsukimashita yo. Okite kudasai.) |
| OLD WOMAN: Dear, dear, we’ve arrived at the hotel. Wake up. |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): ん?もう着いた?そうか...。よく 寝た。 (N? Mō tsuita? Sō ka.... yoku neta.) |
| OLD MAN: Hm? We're here already? I see...that was a good nap. |
| (タクシーをおりる) (バタン) ((Takushī o oriru) (Batan)) |
| (gets out of taxi and closes door) |
| おばあさん (Obāsan): 疲れましたね。 (Tsukaremashita ne.) |
| OLD WOMAN: I'm tired. |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): ああ、疲れた、疲れた。ああ、ガイドさん。 (Ā, tsukareta, tsukareta. Ā, gaido-san.) |
| OLD MAN: Ah, I'm beat, I'm beat. Oh, hello Mr. Guide. |
| ガイド (Gaido): あ、中川様。お帰りなさい。 (A, Nakagawa-sama. Oーkaerinasai.) |
| GUIDE: Ah, Mr. Nakagawa, welcome back. |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): ふう...。今日は よく 歩きましたよ。 (Fū.... kyō wa yoku arukimashita yo.) |
| OLD MAN: Pheew. I walked a lot today. |
| ガイド (Gaido): そうですか。鎌倉は 初めてですか。 (Sō desu ka. Kamakura wa hajimete desu ka.) |
| GUIDE: Really? Is this your first time in Kamakura? |
| おじいさん (Ojīsan): はい。私達は、日系ブラジル人です。 (Hai. Watashi-tachi wa, nikkei Burajiru-jin desu.) |
| OLD MAN: Yes, we're Japanese-Brazilians. |
| ブラジルで 生まれて、ブラジルで 育ちました。 (Burajiru de umarete, Burajiru de sodachimashita.) |
| We were born and raised in Brazil. |
| 実は 日本は、初めてです。 (Jitsu wa Nihon wa, hajimete desu.) |
| Actually, this is our first time in Japan. |
| 孫が 日本に 住んでいるので、初めて 来ました。 (Mago ga Nihon ni sunde iru no de, hajimete kimashita.) |
| Our granddaughter lives in Japan, so we‘re here to visit her. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: Naomi Sensei? |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Peter: So they are Japanese Brazilian? |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sōdesu ne.) That’s right おじいさんとおばあさんは日系ブラジル人です。(Ojīsan to obāsan wa nikkeiburajirujindesu.) ピーターさんは？(Pītā-san wa?) How about you Peter? |
| Peter: そうですね。私はイタリア系ポーランド系ロシア系アイルランド系アメリカ人ですね。 (Sōdesu ne. Watashi wa Itaria-kei pōrando-kei Roshia-kei airurandokeiamerikajindesu ne.) |
| Naomi: Good mistake. |
| Peter: I am Italian, I am Polish, I am Russian, I am Irish. |
| Naomi: I know you are doing it on purpose but it’s a really good mistake because you can’t use 系 (Kei) more than once. |
| Peter: So if you give detailed information about your family origin |
| Naomi: Maybe in that case, you actually have to say some sentences. For example, 私の母は中国人で、父はアメリカ人です。 (Watashinohaha wa chūgokujin de, chichi wa amerikahitodesu.) 私はオーストラリアで生まれました。 (Watashi wa ōsutoraria de umaremashita.) like that. |
| Peter: So my mother is Chinese, my father is American and I was born in Australia. |
| Naomi: Something like that. |
| Peter: 勉強になりました。 (Benkyō ni narimashita.) |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Peter: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter: Naomi Sensei first word. |
| Naomi: 初めて (Hajimete) |
| Peter: For the first time. |
| Naomi: (slow)はじめて (Hajimete) (natural speed) 初めて (Hajimete) |
| Peter: Next |
| Naomi: 日系 (nikkei) |
| Peter: Japanese descent. |
| Naomi: (slow)にっけい (Nikkei) (natural speed) 日系 (nikkei) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: ブラジル (Burajiru) |
| Peter: Brazil. |
| Naomi: (slow)ブラジル (Burajiru) (natural speed) ブラジル (Burajiru) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 生まれる (umareru) |
| Peter: To be born. |
| Naomi: (slow)うまれる (Umareru) (natural speed) 生まれる (umareru) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 育つ (sodatsu) |
| Peter: To be raised. |
| Naomi: (slow)そだつ (Sodatsu) (natural speed) 育つ (sodatsu) |
| 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, what’s the first phrase or word we will look at? |
| Naomi: 生まれる (Umareru) and 育つ (Sodatsu) |
| Peter: That’s two. Okay first we have 生まれる (Umareru) to be born and |
| Naomi: 育つ (Sodatsu) |
| Peter: To be raised or to grow up. Now the particle で (De) follows the place one was born or raised. For example |
| Naomi: 私はメキシコで生まれました。 (Watashi wa Mekishiko de umaremashita.) |
| Peter: I was born in Mexico. |
| Naomi: 私はフランスで育ちました。 (Watashi wa Furansu de sodachimashita.) |
| Peter: I grew up in France or I was raised in France. |
| Naomi: And if you want to combine two sentences, use the te form like 私はメキシコで生まれて、フランスで育ちました。 (Watashi wa Mekishiko de umarete, Furansu de sodachimashita.) |
| Peter: I was born in Mexico and I grew up in France. 直美先生は？ (Naomi sensei wa?) |
| Naomi: 千葉で生まれて、千葉で育ちました。 (Chiba de umarete, Chiba de sodachimashita.) |
| Peter: I was born in Chiba and I grew up in Chiba. |
| Naomi: ピーターさんは？ (Pītā-san wa?) |
| Peter: ニューヨークで生まれて育ちました。 (Nyūyōku de umarete sodachimashita.) I was born in New York and I grew up in New York. Actually the better translation here is I was born and grew up in New York. If you noticed, I left out the “New York” in the second part of the sentence. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sōdesu ne.) Actually your sentence sounds much nicer. |
| Peter: ありがとうございます。 (Arigatōgozaimasu.) Okay Naomi Sensei, what’s the next word we are going to look at? |
| Naomi: 初めて (Hajimete) |
| Peter: For the first time, first time. Now it’s an adverb. So it’s generally used with a verb. For example |
| Naomi: 私は初めて日本に来ました。 (Watashi wa hajimete Nihon ni kimashita.) |
| Peter: I came to Japan for the first time. However to mention that it’s one’s first time experiencing something, we use the structure. |
| Naomi: Noun は、初めてです。 (Wa, hajimetedesu.) For example, 日本は初めてです。 (Nihon wa hajimetedesu.) |
| Peter: It’s my first time in Japan and that’s the translation but literally it’s closer to Japan, first time. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sōdesu ne.) |
| Peter: Okay on to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: Naomi Sensei, in this lesson, we are going to learn about formal and informal speech by reviewing the past tense of a verb. |
| Naomi: In the dialogue, おばあさん (Obāsan) said 着きました。 (Tsukimashita.) |
| Peter: Literally we arrived but we are here. |
| Naomi: おじいさん (Ojīsan) said 着いた。 (Tsuita.) |
| Peter: Same meaning, we are here but it’s informal. 着きました (Tsukimashita) is the formal past. 着いた (Tsuita) is the informal past. Both mean arrived. Now how to create the past form of a verb is all explained in the PDF. So please check the lesson notes for the conjugation. Naomi Sensei actually the formal past and the informal past, they are not so bad if you’ve already mastered the masu form and the te form of verbs. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Tsuita.) For formal speech, change ます (Masu) to ました (Ma shita). |
| Peter: When you want the past for example, Naomi Sensei to sleep? |
| Naomi: 寝る (Neru) |
| Peter: The masu form is |
| Naomi: 寝ます (Nemasu) |
| Peter: Now to get the formal past, slept in Japanese. |
| Naomi: 寝ました (Nemashita) |
| Peter: So 寝ます (Nemasu) becomes |
| Naomi: 寝ました (Nemashita) |
| Peter: For informal speech, the past is very close to the te form. So just think about the te form. For example, Naomi Sensei to sleep in Japanese is |
| Naomi: 寝る (Neru) |
| Peter: The corresponding te form is |
| Naomi: 寝て (Nete) |
| Peter: Slept in informal Japanese is |
| Naomi: 寝た (Neta) |
| Peter: 寝て (Nete) becomes |
| Naomi: 寝た (Neta) |
| Peter: So in the second line, おじいさん (Ojīsan) the old man said 良く寝た (Yoku neta). よく (Yoku) is well. 寝た (Neta) means slept. So literally well slept. Now of course, it means I slept well or I had a good nap. In Japanese, a lot of times the subject is implied so the speaker often leaves out the subject. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sōdesu ne.) This informal past tense of a verb is called ta form depending on the textbook. |
| Peter: Naomi Sensei クリスマス、何をしましたか？ (Kurisumasu, nani o shimashita ka?) What did you do on Christmas? |
| Naomi: タイに行きました。初めて行きました。 (Tai ni ikimashita. Hajimete ikimashita.) |
| Peter: Naomi went to Thailand for the first time. |
| Naomi: 皆さんは、最近、何を初めてしましたか？ (Minasan wa, saikin, nani o hajimete shimashita ka?) |
| Peter: So everyone, have you done anything for the first time recently? If so let us know. |
| Naomi: 教えてください。 (Oshietekudasai.) |
Outro |
| Peter: Now that just about does it for today. |
| Naomi: それじゃあ、また。 (Sore jā, mata.) |
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Comments
HideKon'nichi wa Mina-san! Have you been to Japan before? Tell us about your first time.
こんにちは Leam！(Konnichiwa Leam! "Hello Leam!")
素晴らしいですね！ (Subarashii desu ne! "That's wonderful!") アルゼンチンでの生活はどんな感じですか？ (Aruzenchin de no seikatsu wa donna kanji desu ka? "What is life like in Argentina?") 日本語の勉強を頑張ってくださいね！ (Nihongo no benkyou o ganbatte kudasai ne! "Please keep up the good work with your Japanese studies!")
Let me know if you have any questions or need help with your Japanese studies! 😊
ありがとうございます！
Team JapanesePod101.com
僕はアルゼンチンで生まれて育ちました。🇦🇷
Hello Cynthia-san,
That's a great question! 初めて (hajimete) and 始める (hajimeru) are indeed related in terms of their pronunciation and they both have meanings connected to "beginning". However, they are used in different contexts and hence, they have different kanji.
始める (hajimeru) is a verb that means "to begin" or "to start". For example, ピアノを始める (Piano o hajimeru) means "to start playing the piano".
On the other hand, 初めて (hajimete) is an adverb that means "for the first time". For example, 初めて日本に行った (Hajimete Nihon ni itta) means "I went to Japan for the first time".
The use of different kanji helps to differentiate these two words with different meanings and usages, despite their similar pronunciation. This is quite common in Japanese.
I hope this helps! Keep up the good work and continue asking such insightful questions!
ありがとうございます！
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
How does 初めて relate to relate to the verb 始める? (It seems to me that it could be just be the て-form of 始める, but then, why use a different kanji?)
Hi Jia Jia,
Thank you for studying with us😇
はじめてじゃないです？
Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
Hajimete ga nai desu.
simaさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
*私はシリアで生まれてエジプトで育ちました。
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
私はシリヤで生まれてイジプトで育ちました。
SUNさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
良いですね👍
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
私は中国で生まれて育ちました。
マイクさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
良いですね👍
*生まれて
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
私は日本で生れてイギリスでそだちました。👍
マニーさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
いいですね！
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
私はアメリカで生まれてメキシコで育ちました。
Hi Stephan,
Thank you for your question!
I'm really sorry for this late reply.
Yes, exactly. よく食べました can mean both "I ate well (a lot)" and "I often ate."
They are exactly same so we can only distinguish the meaning from the context or the situation.
And we can also say たくさん食べました for "I ate a lot."
Hope you enjoy learning Japanese with us😊
Sincerely,
Miho
Team JapanesePod101.com
Der JP101-team,
I have a question regarding the example sentence よく食べました ("I ate well", i.e. "I ate a lot").
Since よく can mean both well (as the adverb of "good"), but also "often", couldn't it also mean "I ate often"? If not, how would you say that instead?
Thanks in advance for your reply,
Stephan
Rachelさん
You can say いいえ、行ったことがありません。
ことがある have done👍
https://www.japanesepod101.com/learningcenter/reference/grammar/172?
ヨルダンさん
そうなんですね😄
楽しかったですか？
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Thank you for studying with us!
Sincerely,
Erica
Team JapanesePod101.com
はい、一度日本に行きました。
いいえ、行きませんでした。
vasuさん
Thank you for the question😄
思う is subjective and emotional,
考える is objective logical judgement.
Thank you for studying with us!
Sincerely,
Erica
Team JapanesePod101.com