Learn how to use essential social expressions
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Welcome to Can-Do Japanese by JapanesePod101.com. |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use essential social expressions in Japanese. |
| For example, "Excuse me" is |
| すみません。 |
| Rin Sasaki is on the train. A fellow passenger drops his wallet as he exits the train. Rin picks up the wallet and chases after the man. |
| Before you listen to the dialogue, let's preview some of its key components. |
| すみません |
| "Excuse me" or "sorry" depending on the context |
| すみません (enunciated) |
| すみません |
| どういたしまして |
| "you're welcome" |
| どういたしまして (enunciated) |
| どういたしまして |
| ありがとうございます |
| "Thank you" |
| ありがとうございます (enunciated) |
| ありがとうございます |
| だいじょうぶ |
| "alright" |
| だいじょうぶ (enunciated) |
| だいじょうぶ |
| Listen to the following three short dialogues between Rin and the man. |
| Rin is chasing the man on the platform with the wallet in his hand. |
| すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| はい。(Hai.) |
| Rin hands the man the wallet. |
| ありがとうございます。(Arigatō gozaimasu.) |
| どういたしまして。(Dōitashimashite.) |
| Rin turns to board the train, but the doors shut. The man apologizes. |
| すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| だいじょうぶです。(Daijōbu desu.) |
| Once more with the English translation. |
| すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| "Excuse me." |
| はい。(Hai.) |
| "Yes." |
| ありがとうございます。(Arigatō gozaimasu.) |
| "Thank you." |
| どういたしまして。(Dōitashimashite.) |
| "You’re welcome." |
| すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| "I’m sorry." |
| だいじょうぶです。(Daijōbu desu.) |
| "It’s alright." |
| Let's break down the conversations. |
| First, do you remember how Rin Sasaki says, |
| ”Excuse me.” |
| すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| In this context, すみません is used to get someone’s attention, and translates as, “Excuse me.” す-み-ま-せ-ん. |
| すみません。 |
| This expression can also be a mild apology and even a very polite thank you. It’s most fundamental, and perhaps most frequent use, though, is when you want to get someone’s attention. In this case, Rin wants to get the attention of the person he is chasing after. |
| Remember this expression. You’ll use it later in the lesson. |
| Do you remember how the passenger acknowledges Rin by saying, |
| “Yes?” |
| はい。(Hai.) |
| はい, “Yes”. は-い. |
| はい。 |
| This expression is often used in response to すみません。 |
| The second part of the conversation takes place after Rin returns the passenger’s wallet. |
| Do you remember how the passenger politely says, |
| “Thank you.” |
| ありがとうございます。(Arigatō gozaimasu.) |
| ありがとうございます。"Thank you very much." ありがとうございます。 |
| This expression has two parts: |
| First, ありがとう, which means something like ‘gratitude,’ あ-り-が-と-う. ありがとう。 |
| ありがとう originally comes from a phrase あり がたし, which literally means “hard to exist” or “rarely exists.” It came to mean “gratitude,” because you should appreciate something that rarely happens to you. |
| The second part is ございます, a polite way to say “I have” or “there exists. ”ご-ざ-い-ま-す. ございます。 |
| Together, ありがとうございます. means something like, “gratitude there exists,” but translates as, “Thank you very much.” |
| ありがとうございます。 |
| In more informal situations, you can drop the ございます and just say ありがとう. Thank you. ありがとう。 |
| Do you remember how Rin says, |
| “You’re welcome.” |
| どういたしまして。 |
| どういたしまして。“You’re welcome.” どういたしまして。 |
| どういたしまして means something like "What did I do [for you]?" and it implies that the speaker didn't do anything, so there is no need for gratitude. |
| First is どう meaning "how" or "what." どう |
| Second is いたしまして, meaning something like, “I did," in the context. いたしまして. |
| いたしまして is a form of the humble verb いたす meaning "to do." いたす. |
| Together, どういたしまして。“You’re welcome.” |
| どういたしまして。 |
| This is the appropriate response to ありがとうございます. |
| After the train doors shut and Rin misses his train, do you remember how the passenger apologies to Rin by saying, |
| “I’m sorry...” |
| すみません。(Sumimasen.) |
| In this context,すみません, means “I’m sorry.” |
| すみません。 |
| The passenger feels responsible for Rin missing her train and is apologizing. |
| So here, すみません (sumimasen)… means "I’m sorry." |
| While in the first dialogue, すみません (sumimasen) means, "excuse me," as Rin is trying to get the passenger’s attention. |
| The meaning of すみません (sumimasen) depends on context. |
| Do you remember how Rin replies, |
| “It’s okay.” |
| だいじょうぶです。(Daijōbu desu.) |
| The first part is だいじょうぶ alright だ-い-じょ-う-ぶ. だいじょうぶ。 |
| Next is です, in this case, it’s like the “am” in “I am.” で-す. です。 |
| Together, だいじょうぶです。literally means, “Alright [it] is,” but translates as, “It’s alright.” |
| だいじょうぶです。 |
| This is a common phrase used to express that things are alright referring to situations and physical well being. |
| Do you remember how Rin says, |
| “You’re welcome.” |
| どういたしまして。 |
| This expression is often preceded by, いいえ。meaning, “No.” い-い-え. いいえ。 |
| Together, the full expression is: いいえ。どういたしまして。No. What did I do [for you],” but translates as, “You’re welcome.” いいえ。どういたしまして。 |
| Sometimes you might hear only the first part of this expression, いいえ。 |
| without どういたしまして。 In this case, the どういたしまして. is inferred from context, so it is omitted. |
| Let’s look at some examples of people using these expressions. |
| すみません。 |
| "Excuse me." |
| すみません。 |
| はい。 |
| "Yes." |
| はい。 |
| ありがとうございます。 |
| "Thank you." |
| ありがとうございます。 |
| どういたしまして。 |
| "You're Welcome." |
| どういたしまして。 |
| すみません。 |
| "I'm sorry." |
| すみません。 |
| だいじょうぶです。 |
| "It's alright." |
| だいじょうぶです。 |
| Let's review. |
| Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Ready? |
| Do you remember how to say, |
| “Excuse me.” |
| すみません。 |
| すみません。 |
| And how to “yes”? |
| はい。 |
| はい。 |
| When using polite Japanese, do you remember how to say, |
| “Thank you.” |
| ありがとうございます。 |
| ありがとうございます。 |
| And how to say, |
| “You’re welcome.” |
| どういたしまして。 |
| どういたしまして。 |
| Do you remember how to say, |
| “I'm sorry.” |
| すみません。 |
| すみません。 |
| And how to say, |
| “It’s alright.” |
| だいじょうぶです。 |
| だいじょうぶです。 |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you’re Megumi Sasaki, and you receive a popular Japanese candy from your Japanese teacher. |
| Say, "Thank you." |
| Ready? |
| ありがとうございます。 |
| どういたしまして。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| ありがとうございます。 |
| ありがとうございます。 |
| Let’s try another. |
| Imagine you are Jun Sasaki, and a passenger bumps into you. |
| Respond by saying, "It’s okay." |
| Ready? |
| すみません。 |
| だいじょうぶです。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| だいじょうぶです。 |
| だいじょうぶです。 |
| Let’s try one more. |
| Imagine you’re Jun Sasaki, and you see a man drop his wallet. |
| Get his attention. |
| Ready? |
| すみません。 |
| はい。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| すみません。 |
| すみません。 |
| Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Use Essential Social Expressions unit of this course. |
| Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
Comments
Hide