Learn about more adjectives
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jessi: A Japanese Double Mac Attack. |
| Naomi: ナオミです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. So Naomi-sensei, what are we talking about today? |
| Naomi: We are going to review some adjectives. |
| Peter: Oh it is nice and we are also going to learn some adverbs of degree. |
| Naomi: そうです。とても (Sō desu. totemo) |
| Peter: Very. |
| Naomi: 全然 (zenzen) |
| Peter: Completely. So today’s conversation is between Kim Mi Yeon and Haruhito Higashi and they are talking about what kind of computers? |
| Naomi: マック (Makku) or マッキントッシュ (Makkintosshu). |
| Peter: And Natsumi Minami is popping in and out of the conversation. |
| Naomi: She talks about マック (Makku) too, but different マック (Makku). |
| Peter: She is kind of talking about the restaurant and they are talking about the computer. Can we call it a restaurant, Naomi-sensei? |
| Naomi: ええと、ファーストフードレストランかな？(Eeto, fāsuto fūdo resutoran ka na?) |
| Peter: Fast food restaurant. So it’s half way there. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: Okay, so the conversation is in polite Japanese as it's between three people and they are colleagues. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: All right, and the conversation takes place? |
| Naomi: In the office. |
| Peter: So with that said, let’s get into today’s conversation. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: Here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| キム ミ ヨン (Kimu Mi Yon) : すみません、東さん。忙しいですか。マックのコンピューターは難しいです。(Sumimasen, Higashi-san. Isogashii desu ka. Makku no konpyūtā wa muzukashii desu.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : ああ、これは・・・。はい、どうぞ。(Ā, kore wa.... Hai, dōzo.) |
| キム ミ ヨン (Kimu Mi Yon) : うわー。ありがとうございます。東さんはすごいですね。(Uwā. Arigatō gozaimasu. Higashi-san wa sugoi desu ne.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : いえいえ。全然すごくないです。マックは簡単ですよ。(Ie ie. Zenzen sugokunai desu. Makku wa kantan desu yo.) |
| 南 夏見 (Minami Natsumi) : マック？そう。マックは便利ですね。それからとても安いです。(Makku? Sō. Makku wa benri desu ne. Sorekara totemo yasui desu.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : 安い？マックは安いですか。(Yasui? Makku wa yasui desu ka.) |
| 南 夏見 (Minami Natsumi) : はい。とても安いです。ハンバーガー、100円です！でもあまりヘルシーじゃないです。(Hai. Totemo yasui desu. Hanbāgā, hyaku-en desu! Demo amari |
| herushī ja nai desu.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : ん？(N?) |
| 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.) |
| キム ミ ヨン (Kimu Mi Yon) : すみません、東さん。忙しいですか。マックのコンピューターは難しいです。(Sumimasen, Higashi-san. Isogashii desu ka. Makku no konpyūtā wa muzukashii desu.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : ああ、これは・・・。はい、どうぞ。(Ā, kore wa.... Hai, dōzo.) |
| キム ミ ヨン (Kimu Mi Yon) : うわー。ありがとうございます。東さんはすごいですね。(Uwā. Arigatō gozaimasu. Higashi-san wa sugoi desu ne.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : いえいえ。全然すごくないです。マックは簡単ですよ。(Ie ie. Zenzen sugokunai desu. Makku wa kantan desu yo.) |
| 南 夏見 (Minami Natsumi) : マック？そう。マックは便利ですね。それからとても安いです。(Makku? Sō. Makku wa benri desu ne. Sorekara totemo yasui desu.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : 安い？マックは安いですか。(Yasui? Makku wa yasui desu ka.) |
| 南 夏見 (Minami Natsumi) : はい。とても安いです。ハンバーガー、100円です！でもあまりヘルシーじゃないです。(Hai. Totemo yasui desu. Hanbāgā, hyaku-en desu! Demo amari |
| herushī ja nai desu.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : ん？(N?) |
| 次は、英語が入ります。(Tsugi wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| キム ミ ヨン (Kimu Mi Yon) : すみません、東さん。忙しいですか。マックのコンピューターは難しいです。(Sumimasen, Higashi-san. Isogashii desu ka. Makku no konpyūtā wa muzukashii desu.) |
| KIM MI YEON: Excuse me, Mr. Higashi. Are you busy? It's difficult using a Macintosh computer. |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : ああ、これは・・・。はい、どうぞ。(Ā, kore wa.... Hai, dōzo.) |
| HARUHITO HIGASHI: Oh...this..... Here you go. |
| キム ミ ヨン (Kimu Mi Yon) : うわー。ありがとうございます。東さんはすごいですね。(Uwā. Arigatō gozaimasu. Higashi-san wa sugoi desu ne.) |
| KIM MI YEON: Wow. Thank you. You are amazing, Mr. Higashi. |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : いえいえ。全然すごくないです。マックは簡単ですよ。(Ie ie. Zenzen sugokunai desu. Makku wa kantan desu yo.) |
| HARUHITO HIGASHI: No, no. Not at all. Macs are easy. |
| 南 夏見 (Minami Natsumi) : マック？そう。マックは便利ですね。それからとても安いです。(Makku? Sō. Makku wa benri desu ne. Sorekara totemo yasui desu.) |
| NATSUMI MINAMI: Mac? Yes. Mac is useful. And it's very cheap. |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : 安い？マックは安いですか。(Yasui? Makku wa yasui desu ka.) |
| HARUHITO HIGASHI: Cheap? Is Mac cheap? |
| 南 夏見 (Minami Natsumi) : はい。とても安いです。ハンバーガー、100円です！でもあまりヘルシーじゃないです。(Hai. Totemo yasui desu. Hanbāgā, hyaku-en desu! Demo amari |
| herushī ja nai desu.) |
| NATSUMI MINAMI: Yes. Very cheap. A hamburger costs 100 yen. But it's not very healthy. |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : ん？(N?) |
| HARUHITO HIGASHI: Uh. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: ナオミ先生はマックユーザーですか。(Naomi-sensei wa Makku yūzā desu ka.) |
| Naomi: ああ、マックユーザー？うーん。(Ā, Makku yūzā? Ūn.) |
| Peter: Are you a Mac user? |
| Naomi: いいえ、違います。(Iie, chigaimasu.) だから (dakara) so for me, マックは難しいです (Makku wa muzukashii desu). |
| Peter: It’s difficult. |
| Naomi: はい。とても難しいです。(Hai. Totemo muzukashii desu.) |
| Peter: Ah I can understand that. It’s sometimes hard to make that switch. |
| Naomi: そうですね。ピーターさんはマックユーザーですか。(Sō desu ne. Pītā-san wa Makku yūzā desu ka.) |
| Peter: はい、マックユーザーです。(Hai, Makku yūzā desu.) |
| Naomi: そうですか。(Sō desu ka.) |
| Peter: So I am a Mac user. |
| Naomi: じゃあ、もう一つのマックについて話しましょう。(Jā, mō hitotsu no Makku ni tsuite hanashimashō.) Let’s talk about the other Mac. |
| Peter: As in MacDonald’s. |
| Naomi: マクドナルドは安いですよね。(Makudonarudo wa yasui desu yo ne.) |
| Peter: Yes, that’s right Mac is cheap. |
| Naomi: ハンバーガーはいくらですか。(Hanbāgā wa ikura desu ka.) |
| Peter: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) How much is a hamburger? 100円ぐらいですね。(Hyaku-en gurai desu ne.) |
| Naomi: With tax? |
| Peter: About… |
| Naomi: 税込み？(Zeikomi?) |
| Peter: About a ¥100 without tax? Okay with tax, いくらですか (ikura desu ka). |
| Naomi: 105円です。(Hyaku go-en desu.) |
| Peter: A ¥105. |
| Naomi: 多分ね。(Tabun ne.) Not sure. |
| Peter: I haven’t been there in a while. |
| Naomi: Me neither. |
| Peter: It’s good for us. |
| Naomi: そうですね。ヘルシーですね。(Sō desu ne. Herushī desu ne.) |
| Peter: Yep, as long as we are not advertising for them. Okay, so on to today’s vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Naomi: 忙しい (isogashii) |
| Peter: Busy. |
| Naomi: (slow) いそがしい (isogashii) (natural speed) 忙しい (isogashii) |
| Peter: Rising on the second syllable そ (so) and coming down on the final syllable い (i). |
| Naomi: 忙しい (isogashii) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 難しい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: Difficult. |
| Naomi: (slow) むずかしい (muzukashii) (natural speed) 難しい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: Again rising on the second syllable ず (zu) and coming down on the last syllable い (i). |
| Naomi: 難しい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: すごい (sugoi) |
| Peter: Great, amazing. |
| Naomi: (slow) すごい (sugoi) (natural speed) すごい (sugoi) |
| Peter: Rising on the second syllable ご (go) and coming down on the last syllable い (i). |
| Naomi: すごい (sugoi) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 安い (yasui) |
| Peter: Cheap. |
| Naomi: (slow) やすい (yasui) (natural speed) 安い (yasui) |
| Peter: Rising on the second syllable す (su), coming down on the last syllable い (i). |
| Naomi: 安い (yasui) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 簡単 (kantan) |
| Peter: Easy, simple. |
| Naomi: (slow) かんたん (kantan) (natural speed) 簡単 (kantan) |
| Peter: Rising on the second syllable ん (n) and staying high. |
| Naomi: 簡単 (kantan) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 便利 (benri) |
| Peter: Convenient. |
| Naomi: (slow) べんり (benri) (natural speed) 便利 (benri) |
| Peter: Starts high, comes down on the second syllable ん (n) stays low. |
| Naomi: 便利 (benri) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: とても (totemo) |
| Peter: Very. |
| Naomi: (slow) とても (totemo) (natural speed) とても (totemo) |
| Peter: Rises on the second syllable て (te) and stays high. |
| Naomi: とても (totemo) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: それから (sorekara) |
| Peter: And, and then. |
| Naomi: (slow) それから (sorekara) (natural speed) それから (sorekara) |
| Peter: Rises on the second syllable れ (re), stays high. |
| Naomi: それから (sorekara) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: でも (demo) |
| Peter: But. |
| Naomi: (slow) でも (demo) (natural speed) でも (demo) |
| Peter: Starts high, falls on も (mo) the second syllable. |
| Naomi: でも (demo) |
| Peter: Okay Naomi-sensei, let’s take a closer look at some of these words. Now the first word we will look at is |
| Naomi: とても (totemo) |
| Peter: Now can you give us an example sentence, please? |
| Naomi: 私はとても忙しいです。(Watashi wa totemo isogashii desu.) |
| Peter: I am very busy. Notice that this precedes the adjective and in this case, it’s the i-adjective. So first we have |
| Naomi: 私 (watashi) |
| Peter: Followed by |
| Naomi は (wa) |
| Peter: Topic marking particle. Then we have |
| Naomi: とても (totemo) |
| Peter: The adverb very here, followed by |
| Naomi: 忙しい (isogashii) |
| Peter: There is the adjective. So paired together とても (totemo) adjective. |
| Naomi: とても忙しい (totemo isogashii) |
| Peter: How about very difficult? |
| Naomi: とても難しい (totemo muzukashii) |
| Peter: Very convenient. |
| Naomi: とても便利 (totemo benri) |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Naomi: あまり (amari) |
| Peter: Very but always used in negative sentences. So not very. |
| Naomi: はい。そうです。私はあまり忙しくないです。(Hai. Sō desu. Watashi wa amari isogashikunai desu.) |
| Peter: I am not very busy. Now Naomi-sensei, this is almost like the sentence above except for what changes below is とても (totemo) is replaced with |
| Naomi: あまり (amari) |
| Peter: And the adjective we had above 忙しい (isogashii), it changes to the negative form. |
| Naomi: 忙しくない (isogashikunai) |
| Peter: And then it’s followed by |
| Naomi: です (desu) |
| Peter: So the few changes are the adverb and the negative form of the adjective. Now let me ask you a question. Can we use とても (totemo) in the second sentence 私はとても忙しくないです (watashi wa totemo isogashikunai desu)? |
| Naomi: We use あまり (amari) in the negative sentence. |
| Peter: Yeah. So it sounds a bit – we wanted to hear that because it sounds a bit weird. |
| Naomi: うーん。そうですね。(Ūn. sō desu ne.) People would understand. |
| Peter: I think so, too. |
| Naomi: Yeah. |
| Peter: So remember, when using the negative form of an adjective, you want to use |
| Naomi: あまり (amari) |
| Peter: All right. |
| Naomi: In the sense of very. |
| Peter: Next we have |
| Naomi: 全然 (zenzen) |
| Peter: Can you give us an example sentence, please? |
| Naomi: 私は全然忙しくないです。(Watashi wa zenzen isogashikunai desu.) |
| Peter: I am not busy at all. So let’s just take a close look at the sentence. I am completely not busy. |
| Naomi: 全然は (zenzen wa) usually used in a negative sentence. |
| Peter: Originally it was used exclusively for negative sentences. However in modern Japanese, it’s also used in affirmative sentences. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Some scholars don’t like it though. So if you are learning at a school, you should be careful. |
| Peter: You know but it’s so natural like sometimes you meet your friend and it’s like sometimes you are asked a question 大丈夫ですか (daijōbu desu ka). |
| Naomi: 全然大丈夫です。(Zenzen daijōbu desu.) I am completely fine. |
| Peter: But it’s really not correct but it’s been used so much and it is acceptable. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) People say that. |
| Peter: I am perfectly all right. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: 全然大丈夫です。(Zenzen daijōbu desu.) |
| Naomi: はい。でも、テストはだめです。(Hai. Demo, tesuto wa dame desu.) |
| Peter: Okay, let’s move on to today’s grammar point. Naomi-sensei, |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: Let’s have a look through more of the grammar used in this lesson. Now what did we cover in this lesson? |
| Naomi: The usage of i- and na-adjectives. |
| Peter: So let’s go back to where this appeared in the conversation. Can you repeat the sentence? |
| Naomi: マックのコンピューターは難しいです。(Makku no konpyūtā wa muzukashii desu.) |
| Peter: Literally Mac computers are difficult but of course that would mean that the Mac is doing something on its own and so what we really mean to say here is using Macs is difficult, but of course when you give this sentence, literally Mac computers are difficult. What is inferred is completely understood. Let’s take a look at how the grammar was applied in this sentence. So what do we have first? |
| Naomi: マック (Makku) |
| Peter: In this case, right now, we have the word meaning Mac and as we know, it can mean MacDonald’s or Mac computers in Japanese. So we don’t know yet but we know we have a Mac. This is followed by |
| Naomi: の (no) |
| Peter: Possessive. |
| Naomi: コンピューター (konpyūtā) |
| Peter: So there we go, Mac computers. |
| Naomi: は (wa) |
| Peter: Topic marking particle. |
| Naomi: 難しい (muzukashii) |
| Peter: Here comes our adjective. So we have this topic followed by topic marking particle. Then we have the adjective. In this case, it’s an i-adjective because it ends in the い (i). So literally we have Mac computers difficult are. Mac computers are difficult. It’s this pattern we want to introduce. Topic は (wa), topic marking particle followed by the adjective followed by です (desu). Can we have a look at a na-adjective which again gets its name from the fact that when this adjective is placed in front of a noun, we have to separate the adjective and the noun with a な (na)? |
| Naomi: マックは簡単です。(Makku wa kantan desu.) |
| Peter: Macs are easy. Literally Mac easy. Macs are easy. Okay, and let’s quickly just review the negative form, the affirmative and negative form of both types of adjectives because again in Japanese, adjectives can be conjugated. Okay, what do we have first? Let’s start with the i-adjectives and again they get their name from the fact that they end in the syllable い (i). |
| Naomi: これは難しいです。(Kore wa muzukashii desu.) |
| Peter: This is difficult. That was the affirmative. Now the negative, please. |
| Naomi: これは難しくないです。(Kore wa muzukashikunai desu.) |
| Peter: This is not difficult. The only difference between this sentence and the previous sentence is |
| Naomi: 難しい (muzukashii) and 難しくない (muzukashikunai) |
| Peter: Yeah I’d even take it a step further and say right after. The only difference between the sentence before is 難しい (muzukashii) ends in い (i) and in the second sentence, it ends in くない (kunai). |
| Naomi: くない (kunai) |
| Peter: So just a few syllable changes. That’s it. One more time side by side, affirmative. |
| Naomi: これは難しいです。(Kore wa muzukashii desu.) |
| Peter: Negative. |
| Naomi: これは難しくないです。(Kore wa muzukashikunai desu.) |
| Peter: Now on to na-adjectives which again get their name from the fact that when they are placed before noun, you need a な (na) to separate them from the noun. When they precede です (desu), there is nothing there. Okay. |
| Naomi: これは簡単です。(Kore wa kantan desu.) |
| Peter: This is easy. That was the affirmative form. Negative form. |
| Naomi: これは簡単じゃないです。(Kore wa kantan ja nai desu.) |
| Peter: This is not easy. Literally, this easy not is. This is not easy. Now the only difference between this sentence and the previous sentence is |
| Naomi: じゃない (ja nai) |
| Peter: That’s it. The adjective doesn’t change it all. We just add this extra part in. Now a couple of things here. Some of you who use textbooks may be wondering, where did this come from? This formation actually comes from the casual way of creating the negative with na-adjectives. We are going to give you the other ways right now that you can have this. This formation comes from the most casual way of forming the negative of na-adjective. The next step in politeness would be |
| Naomi: ではない (de wa nai) |
| Peter: So the whole sentence, please. Instead of じゃない (ja nai), we are going to put in ではない (de wa nai). |
| Naomi: これは簡単ではないです。(Kore wa kantan de wa nai desu.) |
| Peter: And then finally the most polite way to refer to this is |
| Naomi: これは簡単ではありません。(Kore wa kantan de wa arimasen.) |
| Peter: Now this is – we are going to explain all of this but we just want to cover this because in spoken Japanese, you probably hear じゃないです (ja nai desu), much more than you will hear ではありません (de wa arimasen). |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: So that’s why we are introducing it in this order. Now there is also to complicate things a little more じゃありません (ja arimasen), but here everything we gave you is in polite form and just variations of what you would come into contact or may come into contact with. |
Outro |
| Peter: Now for more, stop by and check out the PDF because inside there, there is a very detailed write up and we will explain the different forms of conjugating the negative form of na-adjectives. All right, that’s going to do for today. |
| Naomi: じゃあ、また。(Jā, mata.) |
| DIALOGUE |
| キム ミ ヨン (Kimu Mi Yon) : すみません、東さん。忙しいですか。マックのコンピューターは難しいです。(Sumimasen, Higashi-san. Isogashii desu ka. Makku no konpyūtā wa muzukashii desu.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : ああ、これは・・・。はい、どうぞ。(Ā, kore wa.... Hai, dōzo.) |
| キム ミ ヨン (Kimu Mi Yon) : うわー。ありがとうございます。東さんはすごいですね。(Uwā. Arigatō gozaimasu. Higashi-san wa sugoi desu ne.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : いえいえ。全然すごくないです。マックは簡単ですよ。(Ie ie. Zenzen sugokunai desu. Makku wa kantan desu yo.) |
| 南 夏見 (Minami Natsumi) : マック？そう。マックは便利ですね。それからとても安いです。(Makku? Sō. Makku wa benri desu ne. Sorekara totemo yasui desu.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : 安い？マックは安いですか。(Yasui? Makku wa yasui desu ka.) |
| 南 夏見 (Minami Natsumi) : はい。とても安いです。ハンバーガー、100円です！でもあまりヘルシーじゃないです。(Hai. Totemo yasui desu. Hanbāgā, hyaku-en desu! Demo amari |
| herushī ja nai desu.) |
| 東 春人 (Higashi Haruhito) : ん？(N?) |
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