Learn the other usages of dekiru
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| Hi everybody! Hiroko here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Japanese questions. |
| The question for this lesson is…How do I use できる(dekiru) to talk about making a new friend or family member in Japanese? |
| You may already know that できる(dekiru) means “to be able to.” However, you can also use it in a few other situations. |
| できる(dekiru) also means something has been made or completed. Therefore you can use it in this situation, 新しいビルができました。(Atarashii biru ga dekimashita.) “The new building was built/made.” You can also use it when you’ve made a friend or have fallen in love with someone, because it can be literally translated as “a friend is made” in Japanese. |
| Let’s go through some examples so you can learn how to use できる(dekiru) correctly. |
| 妹ができました。(Imōto ga dekimashita.) |
| This phrase literally translates as “I ‘got’ a younger sister.” The nuance is that your mother has just given birth and has essentially “made” you a sister. |
| Let’s do another example-- |
| 新しいお父さんができました。(Atarashii o-tōsan ga dekimashita.) |
| This phrase means, “I’ve got a step father.” Literally, “I have a new father.” You would use this if your mother got divorced and then remarried, thus, “making” her new husband your “new father.” |
| Remember, you can’t say, 先生ができました(Sensei ga dekimashita) if you get a new teacher. This is because as long as there are lessons, there’s always a teacher. You can say, 新しいクラスメートができました。(Atarashii kurasu-mēto ga dekimashita.) ”I have a new classmate,” because that’s not something that’s guaranteed; something has been essentially “made” where nothing was before. |
| How was this lesson? Pretty interesting, right? |
| Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them! |
| またね！[mata ne!] See you! |
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