Learn about comparing things
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jessi: Japanese Particles Yori, No hou, Ga, Wa, To, and De Make Comparisons a No-brainer! |
| Naomi: こんにちは。なおみです。(Kon’nichiwa. Naomi desu.) |
| Jessi: Jessi here. In the previous lesson, you learned the particles used to indicate the means of doing something or the material used to make something. Can we hear an example of that? |
| Naomi: はい。電車で学校に行きます。(Hai. Densha de gakkō ni ikimasu.) |
| Jessi: I go to school by train. Okay, so this time, what particles will we be covering? |
| Naomi: In this lesson you'll learn particles used for making comparisons. |
| Jessi: And this lesson’s conversation is between a T.V announcer and a contestant, right? |
| Naomi: そうです。テレビのクイズ番組ですね。(Sō desu. Terebi no kuizu bangumi desu ne.) |
| Jessi: So this is the scene for a quiz show on TV. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Jessi: OK, so let’s listen in on the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| （テレビ・クイズ）(Terebi・Kuizu) |
| アナウンサー:世界で 一番長い川は アマゾン川です。○か、×か？(Sekai de ichi-ban nagai kawa wa Amazon-gawa desu. Maru ka, batsu ka?) |
| チャレンジャー:× ナイル川！(Batsu. Nairu-gawa!) |
| （ピンポーン）(pinpōn) |
| アナウンサー:一番速い動物は チーター。(Ichi-ban hayai dōbutsu wa chītā.) |
| : では、鳥の中で、何が 一番速いですか。(Dewa, tori no naka de, nani ga ichi-ban hayai desu ka.) |
| チャレンジャー:はやぶさが 一番速いです。(Hayabusa ga ichi-ban hayai desu.) |
| （ピンポーン）(pinpōn) |
| アナウンサー:カナダと中国と、どちらが 大きいですか。(Kanada to Chūgoku to, dochira ga ōkii desu ka.) |
| チャレンジャー:えっと・・・えっと・・・・中国のほうが 大きいです。(Etto… etto… Chūgoku no hō ga ōkii desu.) |
| （ブブー）(bubū) |
| アナウンサー:残念！中国より カナダの方が 大きいです。(Zannen! Chūgoku yori Kanada no hō ga ōkii desu.) |
| 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.) |
| （テレビ・クイズ）(Terebi・Kuizu) |
| アナウンサー:世界で 一番長い川は アマゾン川です。○か、×か？(Sekai de ichi-ban nagai kawa wa Amazon-gawa desu. Maru ka, batsu ka?) |
| チャレンジャー:× ナイル川！(Batsu. Nairu-gawa!) |
| （ピンポーン）(pinpōn) |
| アナウンサー:一番速い動物は チーター。(Ichi-ban hayai dōbutsu wa chītā.) |
| : では、鳥の中で、何が 一番速いですか。(Dewa, tori no naka de, nani ga ichi-ban hayai desu ka.) |
| チャレンジャー:はやぶさが 一番速いです。(Hayabusa ga ichi-ban hayai desu.) |
| （ピンポーン）(pinpōn) |
| アナウンサー:カナダと中国と、どちらが 大きいですか。(Kanada to Chūgoku to, dochira ga ōkii desu ka.) |
| チャレンジャー:えっと・・・えっと・・・・中国のほうが 大きいです。(Etto… etto… Chūgoku no hō ga ōkii desu.) |
| （ブブー）(bubū) |
| アナウンサー:残念！中国より カナダの方が 大きいです。(Zannen! Chūgoku yori Kanada no hō ga ōkii desu.) |
| 今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| （テレビ・クイズ）(Terebi・Kuizu) |
| Jessi(Quiz show on TV) |
| アナウンサー:世界で 一番長い川は アマゾン川です。○か、×か？(Sekai de ichi-ban nagai kawa wa Amazon-gawa desu. Maru ka, batsu ka?) |
| Jessi: The longest river in the world is the Amazon River. True or false? |
| チャレンジャー:× ナイル川！(Batsu. Nairu-gawa!) |
| Jessi: False, it's the Nile River! |
| （ピンポーン）(pinpōn) |
| Jessi(ding ding ding) |
| アナウンサー:一番速い動物は チーター。(Ichi-ban hayai dōbutsu wa chītā.) |
| Jessi: The fastest animal is the cheetah. |
| : では、鳥の中で、何が 一番速いですか。(Dewa, tori no naka de, nani ga ichi-ban hayai desu ka.) |
| Jessi: Now, which is the fastest bird? |
| チャレンジャー:はやぶさが 一番速いです。(Hayabusa ga ichi-ban hayai desu.) |
| Jessi: Falcons are the fastest. |
| （ピンポーン）(pinpōn) |
| Jessi(ding ding ding) |
| アナウンサー:カナダと中国と、どちらが 大きいですか。(Kanada to Chūgoku to, dochira ga ōkii desu ka.) |
| Jessi: Which is bigger, Canada or China? |
| チャレンジャー:えっと・・・えっと・・・・中国のほうが 大きいです。(Etto… etto… Chūgoku no hō ga ōkii desu.) |
| Jessi: Umm...let's see...China is bigger. |
| （ブブー）(bubū) |
| Jessi(bubu) |
| アナウンサー:残念！中国より カナダの方が 大きいです。(Zannen! Chūgoku yori Kanada no hō ga ōkii desu.) |
| Jessi: Oh, too bad! Canada is bigger than China. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Naomi: ジェシーさんはクイズ番組をよく観ますか。(Jeshī-san wa kuizu bangumi o yoku mimasu ka.) Do you often watch quiz shows? |
| Jessi: よく観ます！(Yoku mimasu!) I watch them a lot, they’re really interesting! And I learn a lot from them, too. 日本にはたくさんクイズ番組がありますね。(Nihon ni wa takusan kuizu bangumi ga arimasu ne.) There are tons of quiz shows on Japanese TV. |
| Naomi: ああ、確かにね。(Ā, tashika ni ne.) Maybe you’re right. 日本にいっぱいありますね。アメリカはどうですか。(Nihon ni ippai arimasu ne. Amerika wa dō desu ka.) |
| Jessi: うん、そうですね。アメリカにもあります。(Un, sō desu ne. Amerika ni mo arimasu.) We also have quiz shows in the States, for example, Jeopardy is a really well-known one. Have you heard of it? |
| Naomi: Je-po-ri-ty? |
| Jessi: Jeopardy. (笑) |
| Naomi: Ah, Jeopardy. |
| Jessi: Right, Jeopardy is a really well-known one in the States. |
| Naomi: ああ、スペルをやっていくやつ？(Ā, superu o yatte iku yatsu?) |
| Jessi: Ah, no it’s not… |
| Naomi: 違うんだ。(Chigau n da.)（笑）へー。YouTubeで探してみます。(Hē. Yūchūbu de sagashite mimasu.) I’ll look it up on YouTube. |
| Jessi: Mm, good idea! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jessi: In this lesson, you'll learn particles that are useful when comparing things. |
| Naomi: Let’s start with 2 particles より (yori) “than” and の方 (no hō) “the one on this side or direction”. |
| Jessi: When we compare two items in Japanese, we use the particles より (yori), "than", and の方 (no hō), "the one on this side/direction". |
| So allow us to explain the usage of の方 (no hō) first. |
| の方 (no hō) is placed after the item that is superior. By that, we mean the item that is more (blank). |
| So let’s say you’re comparing January and August. In Japan which is colder? |
| Naomi: January, of course, which is 一月 (ichi-gatsu). So the answer would be 一月の方が寒いです。(Ichi-gatsu no hō ga samui desu.) |
| Jessi: “January is colder.” So notice that has の方 (no hō) after it. And now how about which is hotter? |
| Naomi: August is hotter. August is 八月 (hachi-gatsu), so we say 八月の方が暑いです。(Hachi-gatsu no hō ga atsui desu.) |
| Jessi: “August is hotter.” |
| And the particle より (yori) is placed after the item which is the lesser of the two. So, if you want to make it a complete sentence and say “August is hotter than January”, you have to add 一月より (ichi-gatsu yori), “than January”, to the sentence. |
| Naomi: Right. So the sentence would be 一月より八月の方が暑いです。(Ichi-gatsu yori hachi-gatsu no hō ga atsui desu.) |
| Jessi: “August is hotter than January.” |
| Naomi: As long as the word is followed by the right particles, you can switch the word order. That means you could also say 八月の方が、一月より暑いです。(Hachi-gatsu no hō ga, ichi-gatsu yori atsui desu.) |
| Jessi: Right, so there the order has been switched, but the meaning is still the same. August is hotter than January. |
| Naomi: So in the comparison sentence, did you notice that particle が (ga) was placed after の方 (no hō)? |
| Jessi: Right. When choosing something out of a list of two or more items, the choice that the speaker makes is marked by the particle が (ga). |
| Naomi: Right. 一月より八月の方[が]暑いです。(Ichi-gatsu yori hachi-gatsu no hō ‘ga’ atsui desu.) “August is hotter than January.” Or, you can also drop の方 (no hō) and say 一月より八月が暑いです。(Ichi-gatsu yori hachi-gatsu ga atsui desu.) But be careful - the particle が (ga) cannot be omitted. |
| Jessi: So that was all about how to make a comparative sentence. How about a comparative question? How do you ask about the choices? |
| Naomi: We mark the choices with particle と (to). と (to) comes after every item in the list of choices. |
| Jessi: Can we hear some examples? |
| Naomi: Sure. 一月と 二月と どちらの方が 寒いですか。(Ichi-gatsu to ni-gatsu to dochira no hō ga samui desu ka.) “Which is colder, January or February?” |
| Jessi: So notice that the two choices 一月 (ichi-gatsu) “January” and 二月 (ni-gatsu) “February” are followed by と (to). |
| 一月と二月と (ichi-gatsu to ni-gatsu to). と (to) corresponds to "or" in English, but unlike “or” in English, you have to attach と (to) to every choice. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Right. So “January or February” is 一月と二月と (ichi-gatsu to ni-gatsu to), and “bus or train” would be バスと電車と (basu to densha to). |
| Jessi: So how would you say, “Which is faster, a bus or train?” |
| Naomi: バスと電車と、どちらがはやいですか。(Basu to densha to, dochira ga hayai desu ka.) Or どちらの方がはやいですか。(Dochira no hō ga hayai desu ka.) Like we said for the answers, the の方 (no hō) can be left out. |
| Jessi: OK, now let’s move on to superlative sentences. Superlative sentences don’t use より(yori) or の方 (no hō), but they do use the particle が (ga). |
| Naomi: First off, what’s a superlative sentence? |
| Jessi: Mm, that’s actually a really good question! Before, we just learned how to compare items, like “A is bigger/smaller/closer than B.” Now we’re going to learn how to say that something is the biggest/smallest/closest in a group. That’s what the superlative is saying something is the most blank when compared other items the highest degree. So Naomi-sensei, what’s the hottest month of the year? |
| Naomi 八月かな？八月が一番暑いです。(Hachi-gatsu ka na? Hachi-gatsu ga ichi-ban atsui desu.) |
| Jessi: “August is the hottest.” So notice that the choice 八月 (hachi-gatsu) is followed by the particle が (ga). |
| Naomi: 八月が一番暑いです。(Hachi-gatsu ga ichi-ban atsui desu.) |
| Jessi: OK, and how about when we ask a question about the superlative? |
| Naomi: As we learned in Lesson 9 and 10, when a question word is in the subject, the particle が (ga) comes after it. So “which is the best?” would be どれが一番いいですか (dore ga ichi-ban ii desu ka). |
| Jessi: どれ (dore) means “which”, and 一番いい (ichi-ban ii) means “the best”. どれが一番いいですか。(Dore ga ichi-ban ii desu ka.) means “Which is the best?” |
| Naomi: If you want to know the hottest month, 何月が一番暑いですか。(Nan-gatsu ga ichi-ban atsui desu ka.) If you want to know the coldest month…that would be? |
| Jessi: Well, the word for “cold” is 寒い (samui), so it would be 何月が一番寒いですか。(Nan-gatsu ga ichi-ban samui desu ka.) “Which month is the coldest”. Oh… but the phrase “of the year” is missing from this sentence. How do you say “of the year?” |
| Naomi: That would be 一年で (ichi-nen de). 一年 (ichi-nen) means one year. で (de) in this case means “in” or “throughout”. |
| Jessi: In a superlative sentence, で (de) marks the category that the choices belong to. This corresponds to "in" or "throughout" in English. |
| So, another example, how do you say “throughout the world”? |
| Naomi: World is 世界 (sekai) so…世界で (sekai de). |
| Jessi: How about “in Japan”? |
| Naomi: Japan is of course 日本 (Nihon), so 日本で (Nihon de). As I mentioned before, 一年で (ichi-nen de) is “in a year”, so… |
| 一年で何月が一番寒いですか。(Ichi-nen de nan-gatsu ga ichi-ban samui desu ka.) “What month is the coldest of the year?” |
| 一年で何月が一番暑いですか。(Ichi-nen de nan-gatsu ga ichi-ban atsui desu ka.) “What month is the hottest of the year?” |
| Jessi: In this lesson, you learned the particles used for making comparisons. |
| Now it’s time to recap this lesson with a quiz. |
| Naomi-sensei is going to ask you a question in Japanese. Your job is to choose the best response from the choices provided. Are you ready? |
| Naomi: ナイル川とアマゾン川と、どちらが長いですか。(Nairu-gawa to Amazon-gawa to, dochira ga nagai desu ka.) |
| Naomi: 1. ナイル川の方が長いです。(Nairu-gawa no hō ga nagai desu.) |
| 2. ナイル川は長いです。(Nairu-gawa wa nagai desu.) |
| 3. ナイル川より長いです。(Nairu-gawa yori nagai desu.) |
| Jessi: Can we hear the question again? |
| Naomi: Sure. ナイル川とアマゾン川と、どちらが長いですか。(Nairu-gawa to Amazon-gawa to, dochira ga nagai desu ka.) “Which is longer, the Nile river or the Amazon river?” |
| Jessi: And the answer is? |
| Naomi: Choice 1. ナイル川の方が長いです。(Nairu-gawa no hō ga nagai desu.) ”The Nile river is longer.” |
| Jessi: Let’s look at the other choices. Choice 2, ナイル川は長いです (Nairu-gawa wa nagai desu) is a general statement. In a comparison sentence, the choice the speaker makes is marked by の方が (no hō ga). |
| How about choice 3? |
| Naomi: ナイル川より長いです (Nairu-gawa yori nagai desu), Huh? |
| Jessi: “Longer than the Nile river”? |
| Naomi: The subject is missing so this sentence doesn’t sound right at all. |
| Jessi: Right. We don’t know what the subject is so it doesn’t make much sense. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) OK. Well, that’s all for this lesson. |
| Naomi: それじゃあまたね。(Sorejā mata ne.) |
| Jessi: See you next time. |
| DIALOGUE |
| （テレビ・クイズ）(Terebi・Kuizu) |
| アナウンサー:世界で 一番長い川は アマゾン川です。○か、×か？(Sekai de ichi-ban nagai kawa wa Amazon-gawa desu. Maru ka, batsu ka?) |
| チャレンジャー:× ナイル川！(Batsu. Nairu-gawa!) |
| （ピンポーン）(pinpōn) |
| アナウンサー:一番速い動物は チーター。(Ichi-ban hayai dōbutsu wa chītā.) |
| : では、鳥の中で、何が 一番速いですか。(Dewa, tori no naka de, nani ga ichi-ban hayai desu ka.) |
| チャレンジャー:はやぶさが 一番速いです。(Hayabusa ga ichi-ban hayai desu.) |
| （ピンポーン）(pinpōn) |
| アナウンサー:カナダと中国と、どちらが 大きいですか。(Kanada to Chūgoku to, dochira ga ōkii desu ka.) |
| チャレンジャー:えっと・・・えっと・・・・中国のほうが 大きいです。(Etto… etto… Chūgoku no hō ga ōkii desu.) |
| （ブブー）(bubū) |
| アナウンサー:残念！中国より カナダの方が 大きいです。(Zannen! Chūgoku yori Kanada no hō ga ōkii desu.) |
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