Learn about talking about what you're good at and what you're not so good at
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jessi: What do football, baseball and Japanese particle は (wa) having in common. |
| Naomi: ナオミです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Jessi: Jessi here. So, in the previous lesson, we covered the particle が (ga), right, Naomi-sensei? |
| Naomi: はい！(Hai!) Right. が (ga) marks the object of certain verbs and adjectives. |
| Jessi: Can we hear some examples of it? |
| Naomi: はい。チョコレートが好きです。(Hai. Chokorēto ga suki desu.) “I like chocolate.” |
| コーヒーが飲みたい。(Kōhī ga nomitai.) “I want to drink coffee.” |
| Jessi: Can you tell us what particles we’ll be covering in this lesson? |
| Naomi: In this lesson you'll learn how to use the particle は (wa). |
| Jessi: So first, let’s recap a little bit of the story. In the last lesson, Mr. Sato and Mr. Tanaka met for the first time at a barbecue party. |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。で、今日の会話は佐藤さんと田中さんの会話です。(Un, sō desu ne. De, kyō no kaiwa wa Satō-san to Tanaka-san no kaiwa desu.) |
| Jessi: The conversation is between Mr. Sato and Mr. Tanaka. |
| Naomi: スポーツについて話しています。(Supōtsu ni tsuite hanashite imasu.) |
| Jessi: They’re talking about sports. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 佐藤（夫）:へー。田中さんはフットサルをするんですか。(Hē. Tanaka-san wa futtosaru o suru n desu ka.) |
| 田中明:ええ。練習は大変ですが、試合は楽しいです。(Ee. Renshū wa taihen desu ga, shiai wa tanoshii desu.) |
| : 今度、練習に来ませんか。(Kondo, renshū ni kimasen ka.) |
| 佐藤（夫）:うーん。野球は得意ですが、サッカーはちょっと・・・。(Ūn. Yakyū wa tokui desu ga, sakkā wa chotto…) |
| 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.) |
| 佐藤（夫）:へー。田中さんはフットサルをするんですか。(Hē. Tanaka-san wa futtosaru o suru n desu ka.) |
| 田中明:ええ。練習は大変ですが、試合は楽しいです。(Ee. Renshū wa taihen desu ga, shiai wa tanoshii desu.) |
| : 今度、練習に来ませんか。(Kondo, renshū ni kimasen ka.) |
| 佐藤（夫）:うーん。野球は得意ですが、サッカーはちょっと・・・。(Ūn. Yakyū wa tokui desu ga, sakkā wa chotto…) |
| 今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 佐藤（夫）:へー。田中さんはフットサルをするんですか。(Hē. Tanaka-san wa futtosaru o suru n desu ka.) |
| Jessi: Wow, so do you play soccer, Mr. Tanaka? |
| 田中明:ええ。練習は大変ですが、試合は楽しいです。(Ee. Renshū wa taihen desu ga, shiai wa tanoshii desu.) |
| Jessi: Yes, I do. Practice is tough, but the games are a lot of fun. |
| : 今度、練習に来ませんか。(Kondo, renshū ni kimasen ka.) |
| Jessi: Would you like to come to our next practice session? |
| 佐藤（夫）:うーん。野球は得意ですが、サッカーはちょっと・・・。(Ūn. Yakyū wa tokui desu ga, sakkā wa chotto…) |
| Jessi: Well, I'm good at baseball, but not at soccer... |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Naomi: ジェシーさんはフットサルってわかります？(Jeshī-san wa futtosaru tte wakarimasu?) Do you know what フットサル (futtosaru) is? |
| Jessi: From what I know, it’s basically soccer but with a smaller number of players… Is that right? |
| Naomi: うん、そうですね。小さいサッカーって感じ。(Un, sō desu ne. Chiisai sakkā tte kanji.) |
| Jessi: なるほど。(Naruhodo.) I think 5 players, is that right? |
| Naomi: そうです。五人ですね。フットサルはアメリカで人気ですか。(Sō desu. Go-nin desu ne. Futtosaru wa Amerika de ninki desu ka.) Is futsal popular in the States? |
| Jessi: You know, I don’t think it’s that popular, actually. There are some people that might play it, but before I came to Japan I didn’t really know about futsal. |
| Naomi: そうですか。日本でフットサルは人気ですよね。(Sō desu ka. Nihon de futtosaru wa ninki desu yo ne.) |
| Jessi: Oh, really? So futsal is quite popular in Japan. |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jessi: In this lesson, you'll learn more about the particle は (wa). |
| Naomi: As you learned in lesson 1, the particle は (wa) is used to mark the topic of a sentence. |
| Jessi: Because of this, は (wa) is often called the topic marking particle, and it can be translated as "as for X" or "speaking of X" in English. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Basically, は (wa) tells you what the rest of the sentence is about. For example, |
| わたしはスペイン人です。(Watashi wa Supein-jin desu.) |
| Jessi: Literally, “as for me, Spanish am.” In natural English, it means “I’m Spanish.” |
| You also learned in Lesson 9 that the particle は (wa) never marks WH question words such as 何 (nani) "what" and 誰 (dare) "who". |
| So the question “Who is going to the party?” would NOT be 誰「は」パーティーに行きますか。(Dare ‘wa’ pātī ni ikimasu ka.) but instead… |
| Naomi: 誰「が」パーティーに行きますか。(Dare ‘ga’ pātī ni ikimasu ka.) |
| Jessi: That’s what you should know so far. If you’re not familiar with all of these different usages, we strongly recommend that you go back and review Lessons 1 and 9. |
| Naomi: そうですね。復習してください。(Sō desu ne. Fukushū shite kudasai.) |
| Naomi: In this lesson, you’ll learn the contrastive usage of は (wa). |
| Jessi: Right. And by this, we mean that the particle は (wa) is used to show contrast between two items or ideas. When used in this way, the two items being contrasted are both marked by は (wa). This will make more sense when you hear some examples. So can we hear an example? |
| Naomi: Sure. 魚は食べます。でも、肉は食べません。(Sakana wa tabemasu. Demo, niku wa tabemasen.) |
| Jessi: This means, “I eat fish, but I don't eat meat.” So if we want to contrast the object of a sentence, we replace the particle を (o) or が (ga) with は (wa). In English, this same kind of contrast is usually shown through intonation. |
| OK. Let’s examine our example sentence closely. First, let’s start with the original sentences. Naomi-sensei, how do you say “I eat fish”? |
| Naomi: わたしは魚を食べます。(Watashi wa sakana o tabemasu.) The object, which in this case is what I eat, is 魚 (sakana). So 魚 (sakana) is marked by the particle を (o). 魚を食べます。(Sakana o tabemasu.) “I eat fish.” |
| Jessi: Okay, and how do we say “I don’t eat meat”? |
| Naomi: Meat is 肉 (niku). The negative form of 食べます (tabemasu) is 食べません (tabemasen). So…肉を食べません。(Niku o tabemasen.) If I add the topic, it will be 私は肉を食べません。(Watashi wa niku o tabemasen.) “I don’t eat meat.” |
| Jessi: So now to contrast these two sentences, we replace the particle を (o) with は (wa). So that gives us… |
| Naomi: わたしは魚は食べます。でも、肉は食べません。(Watashi wa sakana wa tabemasu. Demo, niku wa tabemasen.) |
| でも (demo) means “but”. |
| Jessi: So by using は (wa) in this sentence, we are putting a lot of contrast between the two items. “I eat fish but I don’t eat meat.” Along with the particle を (o), the particle が (ga) can also be replaced with は (wa) to show contrast. |
| Naomi: Right. For example, 時間があります。(Jikan ga arimasu.) is “I have time.” お金がありません。(O-kane ga arimasen.) is “I don’t have money.” If you want to say “I have time but I don’t have money”, that would be 時間はあります。でも、お金はありません。(Jikan wa arimasu. Demo, o-kane wa arimasen.) |
| Jessi: So notice how the particle が (ga) became は (wa) as in「時間はあります」(‘jikan wa arimasu’) |
| Now Naomi-sensei, you don’t always need two は (wa) ｓ in a sentence to show contrast, right? |
| Naomi: Good point. You can show contrast by just using one は (wa). |
| For example 犬は好きです。(Inu wa suki desu.) “l like dogs.” |
| Jessi: Usually we learn that with 好き (suki), we use が (ga)… so how is 犬は好きです (inu wa suki desu) different from 犬が好きです (inu ga suki desu)？ |
| Naomi: Mmm, good question! 犬が好きです (inu ga suki desu) or わたしは犬が好きです (watashi wa inu ga suki desu) is just a very general statement. |
| Jessi: Okay… so this sentence is simply stating that the speaker likes dogs. |
| Naomi: そうですね (sō desu ne), right, whereas 犬は好きです (inu wa suki desu) or わたしは犬は好きです (watashi wa inu wa suki desu) means that the speaker likes dogs, but implies that there is also something that the speaker doesn't like in contrast. |
| Jessi: Okay, that makes sense. So to give an example of that… 犬は好きです。でも、猫は嫌いです。(Inu wa suki desu. Demo, neko wa kirai desu.) “I like dogs but… I don’t like cats “ or something like that. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) It doesn’t have to be cats, but… |
| Jessi: Yeah, that’s what implied, at least. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) It’s just that the rest of the sentence is inferred. |
| Jessi: Naomi-sensei, I noticed something. |
| Naomi: 何でしょう。(Nan deshō.) |
| Jessi: You know, there are times when it’s not clear whether the particle は (wa) is being used to mark the topic or to create contrast. They’re used in both situations. |
| Naomi: あ---------そうですね。(Ā sō desu ne.) |
| Jessi: So are there any special rules for telling the difference? |
| Naomi: Well…It really depends on the context, but….generally speaking, we stress the は (wa) particle if it’s being used to show contrast. |
| Like わたしは虫が好きです。(Watashi wa mushi ga suki desu), a general statement, versus「わたしは」虫が好きです。(‘Watashi wa’ mushi ga suki desu.) ”(I don't know about you, but) I like insects.” Can you hear the difference? |
| Jessi: Yeah, I can, actually. The second one was stressed a lot more. So the first sentence is a general statement わたしは虫が好きです。(Watashi wa mushi ga suki desu.) |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) |
| Jessi: The は (wa) in わたしは (watashi wa) is just used to mark the topic because it wasn’t stressed it all. |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) |
| Jessi: But in the second sentence…「わたしは」虫が好きです (‘watashi wa’ mushi ga suki desu), the わたしは (watashi wa) part is stressed. Is that right? |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) |
| Jessi: So you can tell that this shows a contrast. |
| Naomi: Right. We just learned that the particles を (o) and が (ga) are replaced with は (wa) to show contrast, but は (wa) is used in combination with other particles too. Like マドリッドへは行きます。でもバルセロナへは行きません。(Madoriddo e wa ikimasu. Demo Baruserona e wa ikimasen.) |
| Jessi: “I'm going to Madrid, but I'm not going to Barcelona.” The original sentences are マドリッドへいきます。(Madoriddo e ikimasu.) and バルセロナへ行きません。(Baruserona e ikimasen.) |
| But to show contrast, は (wa) was inserted after the へ (e) particle. |
| Naomi: Right. For the particle へ (e) or に (ni) you can attach は (wa) after them to show contrast. Actually …for へ (e) or に (ni), it’s okay to replace them entirely with は (wa). So, you can also say マドリッドは行きます。でもバルセロナは行きません。(Madoriddo wa ikimasu. Demo Baruserona wa ikimasen.) |
| Jessi: Right. You’ll find a detailed write up explaining this rule in the lesson notes, so make sure to take a moment to read those. |
| Jessi: Naomi-sensei, actually there’s one more particle I’d like to mention. |
| Naomi: 何でしょう。(Nan deshō.) What is it? |
| Jessi: The particle が (ga) when it is used to mean "but", or “however.” |
| Naomi: ああ、そうですね。(Ā, sō desu ne.) |
| Jessi: This is pretty common, I think. |
| Naomi: うん。(Un.) In the dialogue, Mr. Sato said 野球は得意ですが、サッカーはちょっと・・・。(Yakyū wa tokui desu ga, sakkā wa chotto…) |
| “I’m good at baseball, but not at soccer…” |
| が (ga) works as “but” in this case. |
| When が (ga) appears between 2 clauses or at the end of the sentence, it usually means “but”. |
| Jessi: Can we hear an example of that? |
| Naomi: Sure. すみませんが、手伝ってください。(Sumimasen ga, tetsudatte kudasai.) “Excuse me, (but) could you give me a hand?” |
| Jessi: All right, in this lesson you learned more ways to use the particle は (wa) and が (ga) meaning “but.” |
| So now, let’s recap this lesson with a quiz. |
| Naomi-sensei is going to read a sentence. Your job is to choose the best English translation. Are you ready? Here’s the sentence. |
| Naomi: アイスクリームは好きですが、ケーキは嫌いです。(Aisu kurīmu wa suki desu ga, kēki wa kirai desu.) |
| Jessi: The choices are 1. I like ice cream, but I don’t like cake. |
| 2. I hate ice cream but I like cake. |
| 3. I hate both ice cream and cake. |
| Naomi: The answer is? |
| Jessi: １. I like ice cream, but I don’t like cake. |
| So Naomi-sensei, can we hear the sentence again? |
| Naomi: アイスクリームは好きですが、ケーキは嫌いです。(Aisu kurīmu wa suki desu ga, kēki wa kirai desu.) |
| Jessi: So the first part is アイスクリームは好きです (aisu kurīmu wa suki desu) “I like ice cream”, and we have the particle が (ga) meaning “but”. The second part is ケーキは嫌いです (kēki wa kirai desu) “I hate cake.” So, all together... |
| Naomi: アイスクリームは好きですが、ケーキは嫌いです。(Aisu kurīmu wa suki desu ga, kēki wa kirai desu.) |
| Jessi: “I like ice cream but I don’t like cake.” How about choice 2? How do you say “I hate ice cream but I like cake?” |
| Naomi: アイスクリームは嫌いですが、ケーキは好きです。(Aisu kurīmu wa kirai desu ga, kēki wa suki desu.) |
| Jessi: How about choice 3? “I hate both ice cream and cake”? |
| Naomi: アイスクリームもケーキも嫌いです。(Aisu kurīmu mo kēki mo kirai desu.) |
| Do you remember this? “Both A and B” is A も (mo) B も (mo). |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) OK, so that’s all for this lesson. それじゃあまた。(Sorejā mata.) |
| Jessi: See you next time. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 佐藤（夫）:へー。田中さんはフットサルをするんですか。(Hē. Tanaka-san wa futtosaru o suru n desu ka.) |
| 田中明:ええ。練習は大変ですが、試合は楽しいです。(Ee. Renshū wa taihen desu ga, shiai wa tanoshii desu.) |
| : 今度、練習に来ませんか。(Kondo, renshū ni kimasen ka.) |
| 佐藤（夫）:うーん。野球は得意ですが、サッカーはちょっと・・・。(Ūn. Yakyū wa tokui desu ga, sakkā wa chotto…) |
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