Learn how to use the sentence pattern "They say ..."
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, I'm John. |
| Risa: And I'm Risa. |
| John: And welcome to Must-Know Japanese Sentence Structures, Season 1, Lesson 41. Talking about Hearsay. |
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern to talk about something you heard. |
| PATTERN |
| John: For example, |
| John: "They say that it'll snow tomorrow." |
| Risa: 明日は雪が降るそうです。 (Ashita wa yuki ga furu sō desu.) |
| Risa: [slow] 明日は雪が降るそうです。 (Ashita wa yuki ga furu sō desu.) |
| John: The pattern for talking about hearsay has two elements. First, a sentence in informal form, meaning "it will snow tomorrow." |
| Risa: 明日は雪が降る (Ashita wa yuki ga furu). |
| John: Second, an auxiliary adjective meaning "they say that..." or "I hear that..." |
| Risa: そうです (sō desu). |
| John: Altogether, we have... "They say that it'll snow tomorrow." |
| Risa: 明日は雪が降るそうです。 (Ashita wa yuki ga furu sō desu.) [slow] 明日は雪が降るそうです。 (Ashita wa yuki ga furu sō desu.) [normal] 明日は雪が降るそうです。 (Ashita wa yuki ga furu sō desu.) |
| John: The sentence pattern to say "They say that..." in Japanese, is a sentence starting with what you've heard from another source in informal form, followed by the auxiliary adjective, which expresses hearsay. Again, to say "They say that it'll snow tomorrow." you say... |
| Risa: 明日は雪が降るそうです。 (Ashita wa yuki ga furu sō desu.) |
| John: So remember, to talk about hearsay, first say the sentence you've heard in informal form, then just add the auxiliary adjective meaning "they say that..." at the end. |
| John: Here is another example meaning, "They say that Ms. Kawakami is very rich." First, a sentence in informal form, meaning "Ms. Kawakami is very rich." |
| Risa: 川上さんは、とてもお金持ちだ (Kawakami-san wa, totemo o-kanemochi da). |
| John: Second, the auxiliary adjective meaning "they say that..." or "I hear that..." |
| Risa: そうです (sō desu). |
| John: Altogether we have... |
| Risa: 川上さんは、とてもお金持ちだそうです。 (Kawakami-san wa, totemo o-kanemochi da sō desu.) [slow] 川上さんは、とてもお金持ちだそうです。 (Kawakami-san wa, totemo o-kanemochi da sō desu.) [normal] 川上さんは、とてもお金持ちだそうです。 (Kawakami-san wa, totemo o-kanemochi da sō desu.) |
| John: "They say that Ms. Kawakami is very rich." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 川上さんは、とてもお金持ちだそうです。 (Kawakami-san wa, totemo o-kanemochi da sō desu.) |
| John: How do you say, "They say that Haruko is good at cooking." To give you a hint, "to be good at cooking" is... |
| Risa: 料理が得意だ (ryōri ga tokui da) [slow] 料理が得意だ (ryōri ga tokui da) [normal] 料理が得意だ (ryōri ga tokui da) |
| John: "They say that Haruko is good at cooking." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: はるこさんは、料理が得意だそうです。 (Haruko-san wa, ryōri ga tokui da sō desu.) [slow] はるこさんは、料理が得意だそうです。 (Haruko-san wa, ryōri ga tokui da sō desu.) [normal] はるこさんは、料理が得意だそうです。 (Haruko-san wa, ryōri ga tokui da sō desu.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: はるこさんは、料理が得意だそうです。 (Haruko-san wa, ryōri ga tokui da sō desu.) |
| REVIEW |
| John: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I will give you the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud in Japanese. Here we go. |
| John: "They say that it'll snow tomorrow." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 明日は雪が降るそうです。 (Ashita wa yuki ga furu sō desu.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 明日は雪が降るそうです。 (Ashita wa yuki ga furu sō desu.) |
| John: "They say that Ms. Kawakami is very rich." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 川上さんは、とてもお金持ちだそうです。 (Kawakami-san wa, totemo o-kanemochi da sō desu.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 川上さんは、とてもお金持ちだそうです。 (Kawakami-san wa, totemo o-kanemochi da sō desu.) |
| John: "They say that Haruko is good at cooking." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: はるこさんは、料理が得意だそうです。 (Haruko-san wa, ryōri ga tokui da sō desu.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: はるこさんは、料理が得意だそうです。 (Haruko-san wa, ryōri ga tokui da sō desu.) |
Outro |
|---|
| John: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for talking about hearsay, as in... |
| Risa: 明日は雪が降るそうです。 (Ashita wa yuki ga furu sō desu.) |
| John: meaning "They say that it'll snow tomorrow." |
| John: You can find more vocab or phrases that go with this sentence pattern in the lesson notes. So please be sure to check them out on JapanesePod101.com. Thanks everyone, see you next time! |
| Risa: またね！(Mata ne!). |
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