Learn how to use the Japanese word that means "too"
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.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: こんにちは！なおみです！(Kon’nichiwa! Naomi desu.) |
| Kat: Hi everyone, Kat here! I love learning Japanese too! Thanks for hearing us again. |
| Naomi: Kat-san, please tell us what we're going to learn in this lesson. |
| Kat: In this lesson, you will learn about two very important Japanese particles, も (mo) and から (kara). |
| Naomi: Where does this conversation take place and who is it between? |
| Kat: This conversation takes place at home - Kent is on the phone with his father. Madoka’s mother answers the phone and then hands it to Kent to speak with his father. |
| Naomi: What’s the formality level of the conversation? |
| Kat: Madoka's mother speaks politely to Kent's father on the phone, and then after that Kent and his father speak informally on the phone. OK, so let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| (電話）(denwa) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):はい、赤木です。(Hai, Akagi desu.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):あら。こんばんは。元気ですか。・・・(Ara. Konbanwa. Genki desu ka.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):ええ。ケント君も元気ですよ。・・・(Ee. Kento-kun mo genki desu yo.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):はーい。(Hāi.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):ケント君、ケント君。お父さんから電話。(Kento-kun, Kento-kun. O-tō-san kara denwa.) |
| ケント (Kento):あ、もしもし？・・・(A, moshimoshi?) |
| ケント (Kento):うん。元気。お父さんは？・・・(Un. Genki. O-tō-san wa?) |
| ケント (Kento):ふーん。お母さんも元気？(Fūn. O-kā-san mo genki?) |
| もう一度、お願いします。今度はゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do, onegai shimasu. Kondo wa yukkuri onegai shimasu.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):はい、赤木です。(Hai, Akagi desu.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):あら。こんばんは。元気ですか。・・・(Ara. Konbanwa. Genki desu ka.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):ええ。ケント君も元気ですよ。・・・(Ee. Kento-kun mo genki desu yo.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):はーい。(Hāi.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):ケント君、ケント君。お父さんから電話。(Kento-kun, Kento-kun. O-tō-san kara denwa.) |
| ケント (Kento):あ、もしもし？・・・(A, moshimoshi?) |
| ケント (Kento):うん。元気。お父さんは？・・・(Un. Genki. O-tō-san wa?) |
| ケント (Kento):ふーん。お母さんも元気？(Fūn. O-kā-san mo genki?) |
| 今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| (電話）(denwa) |
| (Madoka's mother answers the phone) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):はい、赤木です。(Hai, Akagi desu.) |
| Kat: Hello, this is the Akagi residence. |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):あら。こんばんは。元気ですか。・・・(Ara. Konbanwa. Genki desu ka.) |
| Kat: Oh, hello. How are you?... |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):ええ。ケント君も元気ですよ。・・・(Ee. Kento-kun mo genki desu yo.) |
| Kat: Yes. Kent's also doing fine... |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):はーい。(Hāi.) |
| Kat: All right. |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):ケント君、ケント君。お父さんから電話。(Kento-kun, Kento-kun. O-tō-san kara denwa.) |
| Kat: Kent, Kent. It's your father on the phone. |
| ケント (Kento):あ、もしもし？・・・(A, moshimoshi?) |
| Kat: Oh, hello? ... |
| ケント (Kento):うん。元気。お父さんは？・・・(Un. Genki. O-tō-san wa?) |
| Kat: Yeah. I'm fine. How are you, Dad? ... |
| ケント (Kento):ふーん。お母さんも元気？(Fūn. O-kā-san mo genki?) |
| Kat: Hmmm. Is Mum good too? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Kat: Also, Kent got a phone call from his dad! |
| Naomi: そうですね！(Sō desu ne!) He must be pretty happy. |
| Kat: I wonder if he's homesick at all? |
| Naomi: Hmm, it's hard to tell! It sounds like he's having a lot of fun in Japan, though. By the way, do you call your family back home a lot? |
| Kat: Um, my mum and dad may actually be listening so I'm going to be honest and say "not as much as I should"... but I blame the nine-hour time difference! |
| Naomi: そうか。(Sō ka.) So, what's the cheapest way to call Scotland? |
| Kat: I use Skype, like most people, I think. And it’s really cheap. |
| Naomi: ね、スカイプ？(Ne, Sukaipu?) |
| Kat: Oh, yeah. I think less than one yen in one minute. |
| Naomi: Oh! |
| Kat: And, Naomi-sensei, do you call your parents often? よくご両親に電話しますか。(Yoku go-ryōshin ni denwa shimasu ka.) |
| Naomi: Not very often. But only when I have a favor. |
| Kat: Oh, that is so terrible. OK, so now let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Naomi: 電話 (denwa) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: telephone |
| Naomi: 電話 (denwa) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 電話 (denwa) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, and next. |
| Naomi: 元気 (genki) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: well, fine, energy, health |
| Naomi: 元気 (genki) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 元気 (genki) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, next. |
| Naomi: お父さん (o-tō-san) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: father |
| Naomi: お父さん (o-tō-san) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: お父さん (o-tō-san) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: Ok, and next. |
| Naomi: こんばんは (konbanwa) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: good evening |
| Naomi: こんばんは (konbanwa) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: こんばんは (konbanwa) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, next. |
| Naomi: もしもし (moshimoshi) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: hello (on the telephone) |
| Naomi: もしもし (moshimoshi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: もしもし (moshimoshi) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Kat: OK, so now, let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Naomi: The first phrases we are look at is もしもし (moshimoshi). |
| Kat: "Hello", used when answering the phone. |
| Naomi: In the dialogue, Kent said... あ、もしもし？ (a, moshimoshi?) when Madoka's mother handed him the phone. |
| Kat: And can the person calling also say もしもし (moshimoshi)? |
| Naomi: Sure! They could say もしもし (moshimoshi) and then give their name, like... もしもし、なおみです。(Moshimoshi, Naomi desu.) |
| Kat: We mentioned that you can use this on the phone, but there are other situations which you can use it in, aren't there? |
| Naomi: Ah, good point! |
| Kat: Like, if you are trying to get someone's attention and they aren't paying attention or are spacing out, you could say もしもし (moshimoshi). It's kind of like "hello? Anybody home? What are you, so and so..." |
| Naomi: Right! "Can you hear me? Hello?" Like that. |
| Kat: Our next vocabulary word is actually related to もしもし (moshimoshi) |
| Naomi: 電話 (denwa) |
| Kat: Phone or phone call. |
| Naomi: It's important to remember that it refers to both. |
| Kat: Yes, 電話 (denwa) is the actual phone machine itself, and a phone call. |
| Naomi: In the dialogue, Madoka's mother said お父さんから電話。(O-tō-san kara denwa.) |
| Kat: "It's your father on the phone.", or literally, "it's a phone call from your father". |
| Naomi: Remember that お父さん (o-tō-san) means "father". We will go into the particle から (kara) in the grammar section, so stay tuned for that. |
| Kat: Alright, and the last word we'll go over is...? |
| Naomi: 元気 (genki) |
| Kat: energetic, fine, well. |
| Naomi: I'm sure a lot of listeners already know this from the phrase, 元気ですか (genki desu ka). |
| Kat: Which literally means "are you well?" but it is used just like "how are you?" in English. |
| Naomi: When Kent was on the phone, he said... うん。元気。(Un. Genki.) |
| Kat: "Yeah. I'm fine." |
| Naomi: So we can assume his father asked him 元気 (genki)? |
| Kat: “How are you?” |
| Kat: Now, we learned this a couple of lessons ago, but do you remember how to say you're NOT fine? |
| Naomi: 元気じゃない (genki ja nai) |
| Kat: Oh, no. Remember that 元気 (genki) is a na-adjective, so you can simply add じゃない (ja nai) to it to make it negative. |
| Naomi: But, if you say 元気じゃない (genki ja nai), it sounds like something is really wrong though, so be careful. |
| Kat: Yes, definitely. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Kat: OK, in this lesson, we'll look at two really important particles in Japanese, も (mo) and から (kara). Let's first start out with the particle も (mo), which means "too" or "also". In one of the very first lessons, we learned the A は (wa) B structure, which means "A is B". This も (mo) can replace the は (wa), so you get A も (mo) B, which means "A is also B". |
| Naomi: This is best explained with some examples. |
| Kat: Let's get into those. First, pretend there are two liquid-filled glasses in front of you. Naomi-sensei, how would you say "this is water"? |
| Naomi: Well, water is 水 (mizu), so that would be... これは水。(Kore wa mizu.) |
| Kat: This is water. Now, we have one more glass, which is also filled with water. How would we say "this is ALSO water"? |
| Naomi: Use the particle も (mo), and これも水 (kore mo mizu). |
| Kat: This is also water. So も (mo) replaces は (wa). これも水。(Kore mo mizu.) Sounds good, how about another example? |
| Naomi: Hmm, let's pretend I go to school right now. I'm a student. Student is 学生 (gakusei), so, the sentence will be 私は学生 (watashi wa gakusei). |
| Kat: I’m a student. I want to say I'm also a student, so... replace は (wa) with も (mo). 私も学生。(Watashi mo gakusei.) "I'm a student, too." |
| Naomi: Right! |
| Kat: Let's check how it was used in the conversation. On the phone, Kent said to his father… |
| Naomi: うん。元気。(Un. Genki.) "Yeah. I'm fine." お父さんは？(O-tō-san wa?) "How about you, Dad?" |
| Kat: He asked his Dad if he was fine, and now he wants to ask if his Mom is also fine. |
| Naomi: お母さんも元気？(O-kā-san mo genki?) |
| Kat: "And how about Mom?", or literally, "Is Mom OK, too?" |
| Okay, now, let's move on to the next particle, から (kara). から (kara) means "from" and it comes AFTER the noun you are talking about. This is the opposite way round from English, so please be careful. |
| Naomi: Let's look at the sentence from the dialogue... Madoka's mother said... お父さんから電話。(O-tō-san kara denwa.) |
| Kat: "It's a phone call from your father". Let's break this down. |
| Naomi: お父さん (o-tō-san) |
| Kat: father |
| Naomi: から (kara) |
| Kat: from |
| Naomi: 電話 (denwa) |
| Kat: phone call |
| Naomi: お父さんから電話 (o-tō-san kara denwa) |
| Kat: Father, from, phone call. In natural English, a phone call from your father. |
| Naomi: See how the order is different from English? |
| Kat: That’s right. Now, let's try some other examples. You can use a place name. |
| Naomi: 日本から (Nihon kara) |
| Kat: From Japan. |
| Naomi: スコットランドから (Sukottorando kara) |
| Kat: From Scotland. You can also talk about a point in time. |
| Naomi: Right. How about 今日から (kyō kara)? |
| Kat: From today, meaning "starting today". |
| Naomi: 明日から (ashita kara) |
| Kat: From tomorrow, meaning "starting tomorrow". And of course, like we saw earlier, you can use it with people. |
| Naomi: Right. 友達 (tomodachi) is friend, so 友達から (tomodachi kara) would be... |
| Kat: From a friend. |
| Naomi: There were a lot of examples! |
| Kat: Yeah, has it really sunk in yet? Maybe. |
| Naomi: How about we end this lesson with a little quiz? |
| Kat: That sounds good! We'll give you a phrase in English that we want you to translate into Japanese using what you've learned today. Here's the situation. |
| Naomi: Your friend tells you 英語は難しい (Eigo wa muzukashii). English is hard. You want to say, Japanese is also hard. |
| Kat: Remember that Japanese is 日本語 (Nihon-go). Can we hear what the friend said one more time? |
| Naomi: Sure. 英語は難しい。(Eigo wa muzukashii.) |
| [pause] |
| Kat: And the answer is...? |
| Naomi: 日本語も難しい。(Nihon-go mo muzukashii.) |
| Kat: 日本語 (Nihon-go), Japanese, particle も (mo), meaning "also", and 難しい (muzukashii), meaning hard or difficult. |
| Naomi: So, how did you do? Did you get the right answer? |
Outro |
| Kat: We hope you enjoyed this lesson. OK, well that is all the time we have for this lesson. |
| Naomi: Until next time.... |
| Kat: Bye everyone! |
| Naomi: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.) |
| (電話）(denwa) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):はい、赤木です。(Hai, Akagi desu.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):あら。こんばんは。元気ですか。・・・(Ara. Konbanwa. Genki desu ka.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):ええ。ケント君も元気ですよ。・・・(Ee. Kento-kun mo genki desu yo.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):はーい。(Hāi.) |
| お母さん (O-kā-san):ケント君、ケント君。お父さんから電話。(Kento-kun, Kento-kun. O-tō-san kara denwa.) |
| ケント (Kento):あ、もしもし？・・・(A, moshimoshi?) |
| ケント (Kento):うん。元気。お父さんは？・・・(Un. Genki. O-tō-san wa?) |
| ケント (Kento):ふーん。お母さんも元気？(Fūn. O-kā-san mo genki?) |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get complete breakdowns, review with quizzes and download printable practice sheets! Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide