Learn the key pattern to talk about your spouse and children
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| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how the teacher asks, |
| "Is this your family?" |
| リーさんの かぞくですか。(Rī-san no kazoku desu ka.) |
| First is リーさん, "Ms. Lee." リーさん. |
| This starts with Karen's family name, Lee, in Japanese. リー, リ-ー. リー. |
| After this is さん, a polite suffix attached to a person's name. さ-ん. さん. |
| This suffix can be used with any gender and translates as "Ms." in Karen's case. |
| Together, it's リーさん, "Ms. Lee." リーさん. |
| Next is the particle, の, the possessive-marking particle. の. |
| Think of の as a way to indicate possession, like the ‘s in Karen's family. The word it follows possesses the thing that comes after it. In this sentence, it marks リーさん, Ms. Lee, as the possessor. |
| Together, リーさんの is "Ms. Lee's." リーさんの. |
| After this is かぞく. "Family." か-ぞ-く. かぞく. |
| Together, リーさんのかぞくliterally means "Ms. Lee's family." リーさんのかぞく. |
| But it translates as "your family." |
| In Japanese, it's more common and polite to address a person by their name and polite suffix rather than directly with words like "you" or "your." |
| Next is です. In this case, it's like the "is" in "Is [this] your family?" で-す. です. |
| Last is the particle, か, the question-marking particle. This turns the sentence into a question. か. |
| All together, it's リーさんの かぞくですか. This literally means "Ms. Lee's family [this] is," but it translates as "Is [this] your family?" リーさんの かぞくですか。 |
| Note that "this" is understood from the context of the conversation, as the teacher is pointing at the picture when she asks the question, |
| リーさんの かぞくですか。(Rī-san no kazoku desu ka.) |
| Remember this question. You'll hear it again later. |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Karen says, |
| "Yes. This is my husband, son, daughter, and me." |
| はい。おっとと むすこと むすめと わたしです。 (Hai. Otto to musuko to musume to watashi desu.) |
| There are two parts to the response. |
| The first part is はい, meaning, "yes." は-い. はい. |
| It answers the teacher's yes-or-no question, "Is [this] your family?" リーさんの かぞくですか。 |
| In the second part, Karen lists the different members of her family while pointing at each family member. |
| おっとと むすこと むすめと わたしです。 |
| "This is my husband, son, daughter, and me." |
| おっとと むすこと むすめと わたしです。 |
| First is おっと. Literally, "husband," but translates as, " [my] husband." お-っ-と. おっと. |
| Note: the "my" is understood from context. |
| Next is the particle, と, meaning "and," in this context. と. |
| むすこ. "Son." む-す-こ. むすこ. |
| After this, と "and." と. |
| むすめ. "Daughter." む-す-め. むすめ. |
| Again, と "and." と. |
| わたし translates as "me" in this context. わ-た-し. わたし. |
| Last is です. In this case, it's like the "is" in "This is my husband...." It's a linking verb. です. |
| All together, it's おっとと むすこと むすめと わたしです。This literally means, "Husband and son and daughter and me [this] is," but it translates as, "[This] is [my] husband, son, daughter, and me." |
| Note: "this" is understood from context and refers to the group of family members in the photograph Karen and Tomoko are looking at. |
| Notice this Japanese sentence doesn't include a specific word that means "my" like in English. Instead, it is understood through context. |
| Again, |
| おっとと むすこと むすめと わたしです。 (Otto to musuko to musume to watashi desu.) |
| The pattern is: |
| {family member} と {family member} と {family member} と わたしです。 |
| "{family member}, and {family member}, and {family member} and me." |
| Note the particle と follows each family member. |
| This is an important pattern for your task. |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the {family member} placeholders with members of your family. |
| Imagine your family members are your wife, your son, your daughter and you. |
| つま, wife. つ-ま (slow). つま. |
| Say |
| "This is my wife, son, daughter, and me." |
| Ready? |
| つまと むすこと むすめと わたしです。 (Tsuma to musuko to musume to watashi desu.) |
| "My wife, son, daughter, and me." |
| つまと むすこと むすめと わたしです。 (Tsuma to musuko to musume to watashi desu.) |
| When talking about your own husband or wife, use the words: |
| おっと, "husband," and つま, "wife." |
| However, when referring to another person's husband or wife, use the following words: |
| だんなさん (danna-san), "husband." だんなさん |
| おくさん (oku-san), "wife." おくさん |
| In addition, when referring to someone else's son or daughter: |
| むすこさん. "Son." むすこさん. |
| むすめさん. "Daughter." むすめさん. |
| Note the suffix -san attached to each word. |
| You should be aware of these terms referring to other people's family members, but you won't need them for this lesson. |
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