Learn how to say "even though"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: なおみです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Kat: Kat here. A Lonely Birthday in Japan. In this lesson you are going to learn how to say "even though" in Japanese. |
| Naomi: Right. We'll cover the usage of のに (noni). |
| Kat: And where does this conversation take place? |
| Naomi: 金曜日の会社です。(Kin-yōbi no kaisha desu.) |
| Kat: At the office on Friday. And who is the conversation between? |
| Naomi: Two colleagues. 二人の同僚です。ジョシュさんとモエさん。(Futari no dōryō desu. Joshu-san to Moe-san.) |
| Kat: So, the conversation is between Josh and his co-worker Moe. |
| Since Josh is the newest employee at the company, he uses formal Japanese. While Moe is speaking informally. |
| Naomi:じゃ、聞いてみましょう。(Ja, kiite mimashō.) |
| Kat: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : あ、今日は、給料日ですね！やったー。(A, kyō wa, kyūryōbi desu ne! Yattā.) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : ジョシュ、仕事の後、一杯どうですか。(Joshu, shigoto no ato, ippai dō desu ka.) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : 今日はちょっと。(Kyō wa chotto.) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : だめなの？(Dame na no?) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : すみません。明日の朝早く、海外のお客さんに電話しなくちゃいけないんです。(Sumimasen. Ashita no asa hayaku, kaigai no o-kyaku-san ni denwa shinakucha ikenai n desu.) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : 明日土曜日なのに働くの？(Ashita do-yōbi na noni hataraku no?) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : ええ。残念ですが、また今度誘ってください。(Ee. Zannen desu ga, mata kondo sasotte kudasai.) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : あーあ、誕生日なのに、予定がない・・・。あーあ。(Āa, tanjōbi na noni, yotei ga nai. ... Āa.) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : え？彼氏と会わないんですか？(E? Kareshi to awanai n desu ka?) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : ...メールしたのに、返事がないんだ。(... Mēru shita noni, henji ga nai n da.) |
| 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.) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : あ、今日は、給料日ですね！やったー。(A, kyō wa, kyūryōbi desu ne! Yattā.) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : ジョシュ、仕事の後、一杯どうですか。(Joshu, shigoto no ato, ippai dō desu ka.) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : 今日はちょっと。(Kyō wa chotto.) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : だめなの？(Dame na no?) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : すみません。明日の朝早く、海外のお客さんに電話しなくちゃいけないんです。(Sumimasen. Ashita no asa hayaku, kaigai no o-kyaku-san ni denwa shinakucha ikenai n desu.) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : 明日土曜日なのに働くの？(Ashita do-yōbi na noni hataraku no?) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : ええ。残念ですが、また今度誘ってください。(Ee. Zannen desu ga, mata kondo sasotte kudasai.) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : あーあ、誕生日なのに、予定がない・・・。あーあ。(Āa, tanjōbi na noni, yotei ga nai. ... Āa.) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : え？彼氏と会わないんですか？(E? Kareshi to awanai n desu ka?) |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : ...メールしたのに、返事がないんだ。(... Mēru shita noni, henji ga nai n da.) |
| 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.) |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : あ、今日は、給料日ですね！やったー。(A, kyō wa, kyūryōbi desu ne! Yattā.) |
| Kat: Oh, today's pay day, isn't it! Yay! |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : ジョシュ、仕事の後、一杯どうですか。(Joshu, shigoto no ato, ippai dō desu ka.) |
| Kat: Josh, how about a drink after work? |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : 今日はちょっと。(Kyō wa chotto.) |
| Kat: Today's a bit... |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : だめなの？(Dame na no?) |
| Kat: Today's no good? |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : すみません。明日の朝早く、海外のお客さんに電話しなくちゃいけないんです。(Sumimasen. Ashita no asa hayaku, kaigai no o-kyaku-san ni denwa shinakucha ikenai n desu.) |
| Kat: I'm sorry. I have to make a phone call to an overseas customer early tomorrow morning. |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : 明日土曜日なのに働くの？(Ashita do-yōbi na noni hataraku no?) |
| Kat: Are you working tomorrow, even though it's Saturday? |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : ええ。残念ですが、また今度誘ってください。(Ee. Zannen desu ga, mata kondo sasotte kudasai.) |
| Kat: Yes. It's unfortunate, but please invite me next time. |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : あーあ、誕生日なのに、予定がない・・・。あーあ。(Āa, tanjōbi na noni, yotei ga nai. ... Āa.) |
| Kat: Sigh... Even though it's my birthday, I have no plans. Sigh. |
| ジョシュ (Joshu) : え？彼氏と会わないんですか？(E? Kareshi to awanai n desu ka?) |
| Kat: Huh? Aren't you seeing your boyfriend? |
| 森野 モエ (Morino Moe) : ...メールしたのに、返事がないんだ。(... Mēru shita noni, henji ga nai n da.) |
| Kat: Even though I messaged him, he hasn't replied. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Naomi: じゃあ、今日は金曜日で、モエさんの誕生日なんですね～。(Jā, kyō wa kin-yōbi de, Moe-san no tanjōbi nan desu nē.) |
| Kat: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) So it's Friday and it's also Moe's birthday! モエさんかわいそうですね。(Moe-san kawaisō desu ne.) I feel sorry for Moe-san. No plans on her birthday... 悲しいですよねー。(Kanashii desu yo nē.) That's really sad! |
| Naomi: ねぇ、かわいそうに。あ、ところで。(Nee, kawaisō ni. A, tokorode.) By the way, 一杯どうですか (ippai dō desu ka) is an interesting phrase, isn't it？ |
| Kat: うん。(Un.) Yes! There's a detailed explanation in Lesson Notes, but 一杯どうですか (ippai dō desu ka) is a set phrase used to invite someone out for an alcoholic drink, so… 覚えておいてください。(Oboete oite kudasai.) Remember it! It literally means "how about one cup?" You can't use this to invite someone out for coffee or another kind of soft drink, so please be careful! It's only for お酒 (o-sake) or alcohol！ |
| Naomi: If you're talking to your close friend, you can drop ですか (desu ka) and say… 一杯どう？(Ippi dō?) |
| Kat: We also say sometimes 一杯行かない？ (Ippai ikanai?) Or 一杯行きませんか。(Ippai ikimasen ka.) |
| Naomi: ああ～！言う。よく言いますね。キャット、今日暇？一杯行かない？(Ā! Iu. Yoku iimasu ne. Kyatto, kyō hima? Ippai ikanai?) Like that. |
| で、この発音、難しいですよね。(De, kono hatsuon, muzukashii desu yo ne.) |
| Kat: ああ、難しいです。(Ā, muzukashii desu.) The pronunciation is difficult. So please listen. |
| Naomi: いっ（↓）ぱい (ippai), it’s not いっ（↑）ぱい (ippai). |
| Kat: So the first one |
| Naomi: いっ（↓）ぱい (ippai) |
| Kat: means "a cup of ..." or "one drink", but the second one |
| Naomi: いっ（↑）ぱい (ippai) |
| Kat: means "a lot". It's a really important difference! |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Kat: Can we hear them one more time? |
| Naomi: はい。いっ（↓）ぱい。(Hai. Ippai.) |
| Kat: So the い (i) is high and the ぱい (pai) is low. いっぱい (ippai) and this means "a cup of..." or "one drink". Can we hear the second one? |
| Naomi: いっ（↑）ぱい (ippai) |
| Kat: い (i) is low and ぱい (pai) is high. いっぱい (ippai) and this means "a lot of". So drink a lot. Please be careful to practice the difference of these, because as I said there's a huge difference between asking someone 一杯（↓）飲もう！(Ippai nomō!), "Let's have one drink" and |
| Naomi: 一杯（↑）飲もう!! (Ippai nomō!!) |
| Kat: "Let's drink lots!!" |
| Naomi: キャットさん、このピッチアクセントは難しいですよね。(Kyatto-san, kono pitchi akusento wa muzukashii desu yo ne.) |
| Kat: 難しいですね。(Muzukashii desu ne.) In Japanese this doesn’t appear in very many Japanese textbooks, because it’s difficult to explain. The sound often changes depending on context, even depending on what area in Japan you are in. But somewhere in Japanese have homonyms or words that sound the same except for the pitch accent they are spoken in. |
| Naomi: でも、あんまり心配しないでください。大体、前後で、言っていることがわかりますからね。(Demo, anmari shinpai shinaide kudasai. Daitai, zengo de, itte iru koto ga wakarimasu kara ne.) |
| Kat: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) So even though we say that, please don’t worry about it too much, because usually a person listening to you will be able to understand which word you mean from the context just like in English. So, please don’t worry about it too much. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Kat: OK. So let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| And the first word is: |
| Naomi: 一杯 (ippai) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: a cup of .., a drink |
| Naomi: 一杯 (ippai) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 一杯 (ippai) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: And next: |
| Naomi: 誘う (sasou) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: to invite, to ask someone |
| Naomi: 誘う (sasou) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 誘う (sasou) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: And next: |
| Naomi: 働く (hataraku) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: to work |
| Naomi: 働く (hataraku) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 働く (hataraku) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: And next: |
| Naomi: 残念 (zannen) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: a shame, regrettable |
| Naomi: 残念 (zannen) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 残念 (zannen) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: And finally: |
| Naomi: 今度 (kondo) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: next time, this time |
| Naomi: 今度 (kondo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 今度 (kondo) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Kat: Now let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Now we're going to introduce some useful expressions for saying no to an invitation. |
| And the first phrase is? |
| Naomi: 今日はちょっと… (kyō wa chotto…) |
| Kat: “today is a bit…” This sentence implies that today is inconvenient for you. Though the full sentence would be? |
| Naomi: 今日はちょっとダメなんです。(Kyō wa chotto dame nan desu.) |
| Kat: 今日はちょっと... (kyō wa chotto…) is sufficient for the listeners to understand what the speaker is trying to say without the speaker having to make it plain which is the cases so often in Japanese. |
| Naomi: We use this sentence pattern “[such and such] はちょっと (wa chotto)…" a lot to mean simply "No." |
| Kat: Since Japanese people generally avoid saying “No” or making refusals directly and clearly, this なになにはちょっと… (naninani wa chotto…) sentence pattern is often used to turn down an invitation or a request in quite polite situations. |
| Naomi: 例えば。(Tatoeba.) For example...キャットさん。(Kyatto-san.) |
| Kat: はい。(Hai.) |
| Naomi: 水曜の夜、一杯行かない？(Sui-yō no yoru, ippai ikanai?) Kat? |
| Kat: Yes? |
| Naomi: “How about a drink on Wednesday night?" |
| Kat: And I could decline this invitation like... 水曜の夜はちょっと... (Sui-yō no yoru wa chotto…), "Ah, Wednesday night's a bit..." |
| Naomi: Or if you can't drink or don't like alcohol, you could say... お酒はちょっと...。(O-sake wa chotto…) |
| Kat: "Alcohol's a bit..." |
| Kat: OK so what's the next phrase we have? |
| Naomi: 残念ですが (zannen desu ga) |
| Kat: "it’s unfortunate but…" or "sorry to inform you but..." |
| 残念 (zannen) means “regret” or “unfortunate” so this phrase indicates the speaker’s disappointment or feelings of regret. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) We often say 残念ですが (zannen desu ga) or 残念だけど (zannen da kedo) before we tell people bad information. |
| Kat: Hm. You can use 残念ですが (zannen desu ga) by itself to reject an invitation, right? |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) For example… キャットさん、今夜一杯どう？ (Kyatto-san, kon’ya ippai dō?) "Kat, what about a drink tonight?" |
| Kat: 残念だけど...。(Zannen da kedo…) Like that. |
| Naomi: また、断られました。(Mata, kotowararemashita.) |
| Kat: So I turned her down again. |
| Naomi: This whole lesson makes it sound like I really want to go out for a drink and you really don't want to come with me. |
| Kat: えー、そんなことないですよー！(Ē, sonna koto nai desu yō!) Of course I don't not want to go with you! |
| Naomi: Don’t not want to!? (laugh) |
| Kat: ただ、なおみ先生のタイミングはちょっと...。(Tada, Naomi-sensei no taimingu wa chotto…) It's just that your timing is a bit... |
| Now, in English we also use phrases like "Maybe next time" or "Can we take a rain check?" when turning down an invitation politely, don't we? |
| Naomi: そうですよね。(Sō desu yo ne.) In Japanese we say… また今度誘って。(Mata kondo sasotte.) Or… また今度誘ってください。(Mata kondo sasotte kudasai.) |
| Kat: "Please invite me again", or "Please invite me next time." I use this quite a lot myself actually. Let's break this phrase down. |
| Naomi: はい。また (mata) |
| Kat: “again” |
| Naomi: 今度 (kondo) |
| Kat: “next time” |
| Naomi: 誘って (sasotte) |
| Kat: the -te form of the verb 誘う (sasou), “to invite” |
| Naomi: ください (kudasai) |
| Kat: “please”. Can we hear the whole phrase one more time? |
| Naomi: Sure. また今度誘ってください。(Mata kondo sasotte kudasai.) |
| Kat: また今度誘ってください。(Mata kondo sasotte kudasai.) So I actually really should have said this phrase after saying 水曜日はちょっと... (sui-yōbi wa chotto…) or 残念だけどね (zannen da kedo ne) then. Right? |
| Naomi: It's not something you HAVE TO say, but if you say it, it gives a good impression. It makes it sound like you really want to go, but just can't. |
| Kat: So it’s kind of a friendly way of refusing and still leaving the door open for the future opportunities. |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Kat: Alright. So the focus of this lesson is how to say "even though" or “despite the fact that…” in Japanese. |
| Naomi: “Even though” は「のに」です。(“Even though” wa “noni” desu.) |
| Kat: Right. You can connect two contrastive facts using のに (noni). Can we hear a sample sentence, please? |
| Naomi: これは高いのに、人気がある。(Kore wa takai noni, ninki ga aru.) |
| Kat: “Even though this is expensive, it’s popular.” OK. Let's break down this phrase. Can we hear the first part? |
| Naomi: はい。これは高い (Hai. kore wa takai) |
| Kat: "this is expensive" which is followed by? |
| Naomi: のに (noni) |
| Kat: "Even though" and then |
| Naomi: 人気がある (ninki ga aru) |
| Kat: "it's popular". Now the subject is omitted because it's the same subject as in the first sentence. Can we hear the sentence again? |
| Naomi: これは高いのに、人気がある。(Kore wa takai noni, ninki ga aru.) |
| Kat: "Even though this is expensive, it's popular." Did you notice that the word order is different? In English we say "Even though [A], [B]” but in Japanese... |
| Naomi: [A]のに[B] ([A] noni [B]) |
| Kat: のに (noni) appears between the two facts. Listeners, listen and repeat. |
| Naomi: これは高いのに、人気がある。(Kore wa takai noni, ninki ga aru.) |
| Kat: (pause) Say "Even though this is expensive, it's popular" in Japanese. |
| Naomi: (pause) これは高いのに、人気がある。(Kore wa takai noni, ninki ga aru.) |
| Kat: OK. So let’s try saying "Even though this is cheap, it's tasty." |
| How do you say "this is cheap"? |
| Naomi: これは安い (kore wa yasui) |
| Kat: Attach のに (noni). |
| Naomi: これは安いのに (kore wa yasui noni) |
| Kat: This means "Even though this is cheap." Then you have to add "tasty." |
| Naomi: おいしい (oishii) |
| Kat: And so, altogether we have… |
| Naomi: これは安いのに、おいしい。(Kore wa yasui noni, oishii.) |
| Kat: "Even though this is cheap, it's tasty." Listeners, listen and repeat. |
| Naomi: これは安いのに、おいしい。(Kore wa yasui noni, oishii.) |
| Kat: (pause) Say "Even though this is cheap, it's tasty" in Japanese. |
| Naomi: (pause) これは安いのに、おいしい。(Kore wa yasui noni, oishii.) |
| Kat: Naomi-sensei, can you think of anything popular despite the fact that it's expensive? |
| Naomi: うーん。ああ、ディズニーランド！ディズニーランドはとても高いのに、人気があります。(Ūn. Ā, Dizunīrando! Dizunīrando wa totemo takai noni, ninki ga arimasu.) |
| Kat: Ah, that’s a great example! Especially in Japan, it’s ridiculously popular. "Even though DisneyLand is expensive, it's popular." |
| Naomi: How about… 安いのにおいしい。キャットさん。(Yasui no ni oishii. Kyatto-san.) Can you think of anything? なんかありますか。(Nanka arimasu ka.) |
| Kat: This is Japan so I can think of lots of things, but at a forefront of my mind, 牛丼は安いのに美味しいです。(Gyūdon wa yasui noni oishii desu.) Even though 牛丼 (gyūdon), which is beef and vegetables in sauce on rice, is cheap, it's yummy. 250円ですよ！(Ni-hyaku go-jū-en desu yo!) 250 yen! Wow! |
| Naomi: でもなんか牛丼って男の食べ物！っていうイメージがありますけど。(Demo nanka gyūdon tte otoko no tabemono! tte iu imēji ga arimasu kedo.) |
| Kat: いや、そういうイメージだめなんですよ。(Iya, sō iu imēji dame nan desu yo.) So in Japan, there is this kind of like stereotype that 牛丼 (gyūdon) is only really for a man to eat. But I personally try to break stereotypes like going to eat 牛丼 (gyūdon) by myself. (laugh) なおみ先生、今度一緒に行きませんか。(Naomi-sensei, kondo issho ni ikimasen ka.) |
| Naomi: あ、是非。行きたいです！(A, zehi. Ikitai desu!) |
| Kat: Let’s go together. Yay! |
| Naomi: 安いのにおいしい牛丼、食べに行きましょう。(Yasui noni oishii gyūdon, tabe ni ikimashō.) |
| Kat: 行きましょう。(Ikimashō.) OK. l think that's about all the time we’ve got for this lesson unfortunately. |
| Naomi: では、みなさん、また今度！(Dewa, mina-san, mata kondo!) |
| Kat: じゃーねー！(Jā nē!) Bye! |
Outro |
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