Learn about the volitional form of Japanese verbs and negative form of Japanese verbs for making invitations and suggestions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: なおみです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here, Premium Lesson No. 27, Fun Stuff! Naomi-sensei? |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: この写真を見てください。(Kono shashin o mite kudasai.) What do you see? |
| Naomi: えーとね、看板が見えますね。(Ēto ne, kanban ga miemasu ne.) I see a lot of advertisement boards. |
| Peter: And what’s on them? |
| Naomi: カラオケ。ビリヤード。それから、ボーリング。(Karaoke. Biriyādo. Sorekara, bōringu.) |
| Peter: So, karaoke, of course, カラオケ (karaoke), billiards and bowling, all in the same building. |
| Naomi: すごいですね、このビルね。(Sugoi desu ne, kono biru ne.) Such a tiny building. |
| Peter: Yeah. あり得るかな。(Arieru ka na.) Like is it possible? |
| Naomi: I think each floor has different things to do. |
| Peter: I think you’re right and I think when they say bowling or ボーリング (bōringu), it’s a very small alley, probably like two lanes. |
| Naomi: え？そんなちっちゃくないでしょう！(E? Sonna chitchaku nai deshō!) |
| Peter: だって、このビル見てください。(Datte, kono biru mite kudasai.) Like look at this building. |
| Naomi: I think they have it in the underground, I mean the basement floor. |
| Peter: え〜？(Ē?) |
| Naomi: そんなことない？だって。(Sonna koto nai? Datte.) Two lanes? Come on! |
| Peter: I’ve seen a bowling alley like that, just two lanes. |
| Naomi: 嘘だー！(Uso dā!) |
| Peter: 本当だー！(Hontō dā!) |
| Naomi: 見たことない。(Mita koto nai.) |
| Peter: Okay. That’s our conversation. Now, let’s find out about today’s conversation. Now, today’s conversation takes place between… |
| Naomi: 男の人と女の人。(Otoko no hito to onna no hito.) |
| Peter: So, a guy and a girl and the Japanese is casual. |
| Naomi: I think they are friends. |
| Peter: And they’re talking about what to do. So, let’s have a listen. |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 今日何しようか。。。カラオケ行かない？ (Kyō nani shiyō ka... karaoke ikanai?) |
| B: また？先週も行ったじゃん。 (Mata? Senshū mo itta jan.) |
| A: じゃあ、何したいんだよ。 (Jā, nani shitai n da yo.) |
| B: じゃあ、久しぶりにボーリング行こうよ。 (Jā, hisashiburi ni bōringu ikō yo.) |
| A: おお、良いね！けどその前に疲れたからお茶しようよ。 (Ō, ii ne! Kedo sono mae ni tsukareta kara o-cha shiyō yo.) |
| B: 賛成！そうしよ。 (Sansei! Sō shiyo.) |
| 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.) |
| A: 今日何しようか。。。カラオケ行かない？ (Kyō nani shiyō ka... karaoke ikanai?) |
| B: また？先週も行ったじゃん。 (Mata? Senshū mo itta jan.) |
| A: じゃあ、何したいんだよ。 (Jā, nani shitai n da yo.) |
| B: じゃあ、久しぶりにボーリング行こうよ。 (Jā, hisashiburi ni bōringu ikō yo.) |
| A: おお、良いね！けどその前に疲れたからお茶しようよ。 (Ō, ii ne! Kedo sono mae ni tsukareta kara o-cha shiyō yo.) |
| B: 賛成！そうしよ。 (Sansei! Sō shiyo.) |
| 今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| A: 今日何しようか。。。カラオケ行かない？ (Kyō nani shiyō ka... karaoke ikanai?) |
| What are we gonna do today…you wanna go to karaoke? |
| B: また？先週も行ったじゃん。 (Mata? Senshū mo itta jan.) |
| Again? We did it last week, remember? |
| A: じゃあ、何したいんだよ。 (Jā, nani shitai n da yo.) |
| Then, what do you wanna do? |
| B: じゃあ、久しぶりにボーリング行こうよ。 (Jā, hisashiburi ni bōringu ikō yo.) |
| Well, let’s go bowling. |
| A: おお、良いね！けどその前に疲れたからお茶しようよ。 (Ō, ii ne! Kedo sono mae ni tsukareta kara o-cha shiyō yo.) |
| Sounds good! But why don’t we get something to drink before it because I’m tired. |
| B: 賛成！そうしよ。 (Sansei! Sō shiyo.) |
| All right! Let’s do it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: ボーリングか…。(Bōringu ka…) So they went bowling. |
| Naomi: あ、本当？(A, hontō?) |
| Peter: 違う？(Chigau?) |
| Naomi: あ、そうですね。(A, sō desu ne.) |
| Peter: Yeah. |
| Naomi: Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Peter: ちょっと待って。(Chotto matte.) |
| Naomi: あ、そうそうそう。(A, sō sō sō.) でもあの (demo ano), the guy said その前に疲れたからお茶しようよ (sono mae ni tsukareta kara o-cha shiyō yo), so probably, they have tea first, then… なんか、行かないかもしれないじゃん？お茶して、あ〜やっぱりボーリングめんどくさいからやめようよ、とか。(Nanka, ikanai kamo shirenai jan? O-cha shite, ā yappari bōringu mendokusai kara yameyō yo, toka.) |
| Peter: So, you think they’re gonna go to have tea and then just not wind up going at all? |
| Naomi: そうね。(Sō ne.) |
| Peter: That’s more of a なおみ先生の好みですね (Naomi-sensei no konomi desu ne), like more of your preference. It’s something you like to do, right? |
| Naomi: そう。私ね、お茶するともう、ボーリングとか行かないです、絶対。(Sō. Watashi ne, o-cha suru to mō, bōringu toka ikanai desu, zettai.) |
| Peter: So, if you have tea, you don’t go bowling. |
| Naomi: I’d rather have beer after it. |
| Peter: Tea then beer? |
| Naomi: そう、だって。(Sō, datte.) Probably, I’ll have tea until like 5:00 and then after 5:00, I’ll want to have some beer とかかな (toka ka na). 分かんないけど、何言ってるんだろ、私。(Wakannai kedo, nani itte ru n daro, watashi.) |
| Peter: いや、よく分かんないですけど。(Iya, yoku wakannai desu kedo.) |
| Naomi: よく分かんない。(Yoku wakannai.) |
| Peter: とりあえず、あの…。(Toriaezu, ano…) |
| Naomi: ここ使わないでね。(Koko tsukawanaide ne.) |
| Peter: 任せてください。(Makasete kudasai.) Leave it to me, Naomi-sensei. Okay. So, I think bowling in Japan, I haven’t been literally, Naomi-sensei, in about 8 years. |
| Naomi: あ、そう。(A, sō.) |
| Peter: ８年ぶりかな。(Hachi-nen buri ka na.) |
| Naomi: え、アメリカにもボーリング場はあるんですか。(E, Amerika ni mo bōringujō wa aru n desu ka.) |
| Peter: Yeah. いっぱいあります。(Ippai arimasu.) There’s a lot in the US. Bowling is very popular, leagues and lots of people go bowling in the States. あ、８年ぶりかも。４年ぶりかな。しばらく行ってないですね。(A, hachi-nen buri kamo. Yo-nen buri ka na. Shibaraku itte nai desu ne.) I haven’t been in a while, but yeah, I remember the computer is very hard to operate. |
| Naomi: そうかな。私も行ってないです。(Sō ka na. Watashi mo itte nai desu.) I haven’t been bowling for ages, so I don’t remember. |
| Peter: でも、なおみ先生見ると、なんかあんまり上手じゃないような気がします。(Demo, Naomi-sensei miru to, nanka anmari jōzu ja nai yō na ki ga shimasu.) |
| Naomi: うん、あの、私すごい下手です。(Un, ano, watashi sugoi heta desu.) |
| Peter: So, when I look at you, I’m like, you don’t look like a good bowler and you agree with that, huh? |
| Naomi: Mmm. |
| Peter: Do you use one hand or two hands? |
| Naomi: えー、なんで？ワンハンドでしょ、普通。(Ē, nande? Wan hando desho, futsū.) |
| Peter: I don’t know. I figured two hands, between the legs. |
| Naomi: そんなことしないよ！でも、あの、爪が割れちゃうんですよね。(Sonna koto shinai yo! Demo, ano, tsume ga warechau n desu yo ne.) Whenever I go bowling, my nails break, so I don’t like going bowling. |
| Peter: Okay, so you wanna go bowling? |
| Naomi: 行かない。(Ikanai.) |
| Peter: Okay, let’s take a look at the vocab for today’s lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter: Naomi-sensei, first word? |
| Naomi: 今日 (kyō) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: today |
| Naomi: 今日 (kyō) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 今日 (kyō) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: カラオケ (karaoke) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: karaoke |
| Peter: And of course, the proper pronunciation, カラオケ (karaoke). |
| Naomi: カラオケ (karaoke) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: カラオケ (karaoke) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: また (mata) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: again |
| Naomi: また (mata) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: また (mata) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 先週 (senshū) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: last week |
| Naomi: 先週 (senshū) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 先週 (senshū) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: じゃあ (jā) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: well then |
| Naomi: じゃあ (jā) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: じゃあ (jā) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 久しぶり (hisashiburi) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: after a long time |
| Naomi: 久しぶり (hisashiburi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 久しぶり (hisashiburi) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 疲れる (tsukareru) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: to get tired |
| Naomi: 疲れる (tsukareru) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 疲れる (tsukareru) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: お茶 (o-cha) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: tea |
| Naomi: お茶 (o-cha) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: お茶 (o-cha) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 賛成 (sansei) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: agreement |
| Naomi: 賛成 (sansei) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 賛成 (sansei) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: Okay, let’s take a closer look at some of the vocab and phrases used in today’s conversation. Naomi-sensei, what do we have first? |
| Naomi: 疲れる (tsukareru) |
| Peter: “to get tired” |
| Naomi: It has やまいだれ (yamaidare) on the top of the kanji. |
| Peter: So, the kanji contains a radical which means “sickness.” |
| Naomi: Inside the kanji, there is a kanji for “leather” or “skin.” |
| Peter: So, the outside radical means “sickness” and inside means “skin” or “leather,” so “sick leather / sick skin.” |
| Naomi: If your skin looks sick, for example, pimples, spot, etc, it could be a sign that you’re tired. |
| Peter: I think it’s something else, Naomi-sensei. |
| Naomi: なんで？どういうこと？(Nande? Dō iu koto?) |
| Peter: いや、あの、病院行ったほうがいいと思います。(Iya, ano, byōin itta hō ga ii to omoimasu.) Like I think you should go to the doctor. |
| Naomi: でも、ほら。(Demo, hora.) Some people get pimples when they are stressed out. |
| Peter: Yeah. |
| Naomi: だから、なんか…。(Dakara, nanka…) |
| Peter: あ〜。(Ā.) |
| Naomi: It makes sense. と思わない？(To omowanai?) |
| Peter: I think one of the things we have to explain is the word 疲れる (tsukareru) that it just doesn’t mean “tired,” but it can mean “stressed out.” It can mean “enough.” |
| Naomi: あー、そうね。(Ā, sō ne.) |
| Peter: Like I’ve had enough of, you know, this, so it has a few meanings to it. |
| Naomi: そうそうそう。ピーターとのレコーディングは、本当に疲れる。(Sō sō sō. Pītā to no rekōdingu wa, hontō ni tsukareru.) |
| Peter: So like, when I go to, when I go recording with Peter, it takes a lot out of me. |
| Naomi: というね、サンプルセンテンスができますね。(To iu ne, sanpuru sentensu ga dekimasu ne.) |
| Peter: So, it has- it has a few levels to it. It could just mean plain-out knackered or tired. It can mean you had enough of someone or you’re kind of sick of something. So, it doesn’t have these levels and that’s why, I think, Naomi’s mnemonic makes sense. But if you’re looking at just from the tired aspect, I think that’s “sick.” |
| Naomi: あ、本当？(A, hontō?) |
| Peter: 病院行ったほうがいい。(Byōin itta hō ga ii.) If you have pimples and rashes. So, I don’t think it’s just playing tired. Okay, next we have? |
| Naomi: 賛成 (sansei) |
| Peter: “agreement” |
| Naomi: Disagreement is「反対」ですね (“hantai” desu ne). And when you add する (suru) after it, it becomes a verb. 例えば「賛成する」。(Tatoeba “sansei suru”.) |
| Peter: “to agree” |
| Naomi:「反対する」(“hantai suru”) |
| Peter: “To be against.” Now, when you want to agree with something or you want to be against something, use the particle に (ni) and this precedes the verb. So we have a dispute, Naomi and I, and we asked the listeners their opinion. If you agree with Peter, you can say? |
| Naomi: ピーターに賛成する。(Pītā ni sansei suru.) |
| Peter: “I agree with Peter.” And if you’re against Naomi? |
| Naomi: なおみに反対する。(Naomi ni hantai suru.) |
| Peter: So everybody wins. And finally, Naomi-sensei, I wanna take a look at カラオケ (karaoke) because as you know in the States, we pronounce it karaoke. |
| Naomi: あー。「ケ」が「キ」になるのかな？ (Ā. “Ke” ga “ki” ni naru no ka na?) K-E pronounced like /ki/ in English? |
| Peter: Karaoke. I guess the A and O are probably modified by the E in some context or maybe the first person to hear the word pronounced by a Japanese person couldn’t really pick it up and were just like, ah, okay, karaoke. Yeah, I, I don’t know where the pronunciation comes from, but the proper pronunciation is, Naomi-sensei? |
| Naomi: カラオケ (karaoke) |
| Peter: And there’s a meaning to this. What does this phrase mean? |
| Naomi: “Empty orchestra” without a singer. |
| Peter: Yeah. So, there is a meaning...there is a meaning behind this word. The kanji is “empty” and I guess オケ (oke) is short for… |
| Naomi: オーケストラ (ōkesutora), but we never put kanji for カラオケ (karaoke). |
| Peter: But like there is that context behind it. That’s where the カラ (kara) comes from. And- so finally. なおみ先生。カラオケへ行く時に、何を歌いますか。(Naomi-sensei. Karaoke e iku toki ni, nani o utaimasu ka.) What do you sing when you go to カラオケ (karaoke)? |
| Naomi: I haven’t been to カラオケ (karaoke) for ages either. |
| Peter: No bowling, no カラオケ (karaoke), ah…. |
| Naomi: ビリヤードは行きます、たまーに。(Biriyādo wa ikimasu, tamā ni.) |
| Peter: え、本当ですか。(E, hontō desu ka.) |
| Naomi: ビリヤードは…。(Biriyādo wa…) If someone tells me where to hit the ball, I can do that. |
| Peter: 分かりました。(Wakarimashita.) じゃあ、そうすると暇な時 (jā, sō suru to hima na toki), when you’re free, 何をしますか (nani o shimasu ka). |
| Naomi: 暇な時があんまりないですけど…。(Hima na toki ga anmari nai desu kedo…) |
| Peter: やっぱり、仕事が好きですね。(Yappari, shigoto ga suki desu ne.) You like work. あ、でもお茶やってますね。(A, demo o-cha yatte masu ne.) Like… |
| Naomi: Tea ceremony とかね (toka ne). |
| Peter: That’s why you consider tea work because your idea or an image of tea is a little different than somebody just drinking tea in a restaurant. |
| Naomi: そうかな。え、ピーターは暇な時ありますか。(Sō ka na. E, Pītā wa hima na toki arimasu ka.) |
| Peter: あ〜、最近めったにないですね。(Ā, saikin metta ni nai desu ne.) I’m rarely free. |
| Naomi: そうね。(Sō ne.) |
| Peter: でも、趣味は映画を見ることです。(Demo, shumi wa eiga o miru koto desu.) I like to go to the movie theater and watch movies. あの、一日三本を見れますよ。(Ano, ichi-nichi san-bon o miremasu yo.) I can watch up to three at the theater in one day. Okay. Onto today’s grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: Naomi-sensei, what’s today’s grammar point? |
| Naomi: 今日は (kyō wa), how to invite someone to do something. |
| Peter: Now, in Japanese, there are many ways to do this. Today, we focus on the volitional form. And actually, we focus on the plain volitional form, so basically, a conversation among friends. And we introduce three ways of inviting somebody using the plain volitional. Why don’t we give the examples we used today and then give a side-by-side comparison. How does that sound? |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: Okay. In today’s conversation, we had? |
| Naomi: ボーリング行こうよ。 (Bōringu ikō yo.) |
| Peter: “Why don’t we go bowling?” or “Shall we go bowling?” Then we had? |
| Naomi: 何しようか。 (Nani shiyō ka.) |
| Peter: “What are we going to do?” |
| Naomi: カラオケ行かない？ (Karaoke ikanai?) |
| Peter: “How about going to karaoke?” Okay. So, again, here, we have two verbs, but we wanna give you an example with one verb. We could do a side-by-side clear comparison. So, Naomi-sensei, why don’t we take the verb する (suru) “to do” and we’ll basically give a side-by-side comparison of say, talking about, inviting someone to go play tennis. First we have to do is the verb する (suru) is the dictionary form of the verb “to do.” First we have to do is form a plain volitional, which is? |
| Naomi: しよう (shiyō) |
| Peter: Let’s do (something, something). Now, if we wanted to say, “let’s play tennis,” that would be? |
| Naomi: テニスしよう。(Tenisu shiyō.) |
| Peter: Okay, casual among friends. The polite version of this would be? |
| Naomi: テニスしましょう。テニスをしましょう。(Tenisu shimashō. Tenisu o shimashō.) |
| Peter: “Let’s play tennis.” Now, this in itself is actually inviting someone to do something. |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Peter: You know, テニスしましょう (tenisu shimashō), the volitional form implies that the other person will do the thing with you, so this doesn’t sound right as a way to invite somebody, but in today’s conversation, we had the plain volitional plus よ (yo). So, how would that sentence come out if we wanted to use it with playing tennis? |
| Naomi: テニスしようよ。(Tenisu shiyō yo.) |
| Peter: Same exact sentence except for this time, we have よ (yo). Now, よ (yo) makes that invitation stronger. And we say invitation, but you’re actually kind of saying, come on, let’s go play tennis. |
| Naomi: テニスしようよ〜。(Tenisu shiyō yō.) |
| Peter: しようよ〜。(Shiyō yō.) It sounds like Naomi-sensei is a bit of pleading in her voice, but kind of like a strong suggestion, rather than inviting. |
| Naomi: そうかな。トーンにもよりますけどね。(Sō ka na. Tōn ni mo yorimasu kedo ne.) |
| Peter: Then we have, same exact pattern, but this time, the sentence ends with か (ka), so we have… |
| Naomi: テニスしようか。(Tenisu shiyō ka.) |
| Peter: “Shall we play tennis?” This is more like a question. |
| Naomi: ‘Cause か (ka) is a question marker. |
| Peter: Sentence-ending particle that indicates question. So, here we have テニスしようか (tenisu shiyō ka), like “Shall we play tennis?” So this is kind of like- this is a good invitation. |
| Naomi: そうですね。テニスしようか。(Sō desu ne. Tenisu shiyō ka.) |
| Peter: Clear invitation. And yeah, it also can be used, again, the volitional is commonly used when speaking about oneself. So, the way Naomi said it, it was kind of like, “Mm, shall we play tennis?” |
| Naomi: そうね。(Sō ne.) Or a suggestion like, “How about playing tennis?” |
| Peter: Yeah. So, it can be invitation, suggestion, or actually talking to oneself. Then we have one final form, which is not the volitional, but rather the plain non-past negative. |
| Naomi: テニスしない？(Tenisu shinai?) |
| Peter: Notice the rising intonation. And here, you probably- if you studied Japanese, you probably come into contact with this and you’re more familiar with it in the polite form, which is? |
| Naomi: テニスしませんか。(Tenisu shimasen ka.) |
| Peter: And when I first started saying Japanese, it was always お茶飲みませんか (o-cha nomimasen ka). |
| Naomi: To girls? |
| Peter: Yes. And of course, when you’re speaking with friends or probably if you’re trying to pick up a girl, you would say お茶飲まない？(o-cha nomanai?), like a rising intonation. |
| Naomi: うん。一緒にお茶飲まない？(Un. Issho ni o-cha nomanai?) |
| Peter: Yeah. So, this is something you’re probably familiar with, but you may not have seen in the polite, in the non-past plain, which it is. |
| Naomi: これ、イントネーションが難しいですよね。(Kore, intonēshon ga muzukashii desu yo ne.) If you’d say it in a falling intonation, that’s gonna be a negative. テニスしない (tenisu shinai) is like “I’m not gonna play tennis.” So… テニスしない？テニスしない。(Tenisu shinai? Tenisu shinai.) |
| Peter: なおみ先生、テニスしない？(Naomi-sensei, tenisu shinai?) |
| Naomi: テニスしない。(Tenisu shinai.) |
Outro |
| Peter: Okay. So, inside of today’s PDF, we have a very detailed explanation and this is definitely one you wanna check out. And as you’re a premium member, just a few clicks away, stop by, grab the PDF, detailed explanation about different ways to invite someone and especially if you have friends and you’re using casual Japanese. This is really nice. |
| Naomi: 友達を誘う時には、便利ですよね。(Tomodachi o sasō toki ni wa, benri desu yo ne.) |
| Peter: Okay, that’s gonna do it for today. |
| Naomi: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.) |
| A: 今日何しようか。。。カラオケ行かない？ (Kyō nani shiyō ka... karaoke ikanai?) |
| B: また？先週も行ったじゃん。 (Mata? Senshū mo itta jan.) |
| A: じゃあ、何したいんだよ。 (Jā, nani shitai n da yo.) |
| B: じゃあ、久しぶりにボーリング行こうよ。 (Jā, hisashiburi ni bōringu ikō yo.) |
| A: おお、良いね！けどその前に疲れたからお茶しようよ。 (Ō, ii ne! Kedo sono mae ni tsukareta kara o-cha shiyō yo.) |
| B: 賛成！そうしよ。 (Sansei! Sō shiyo.) |
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