Learn how to ask where something is, from a formal Japanese conversation between Taylor and Masato, and then Masato and a passerby
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| Hi! In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask where something is and how to answer that question. You'll be able to use this to find what you're looking for in Japan. Ready? Then let's get started with the scene! |
| Masato is meeting Taylor at the department store but doesn't know where Taylor is waiting. Masato calls him on the phone and is asking for more details. Now, let's watch the scene. |
| はい、マクドナルドです。(Hai, Makudonarudo desu.) |
| マクドナルドはどこにありますか？(Makudonarudo wa doko ni arimasu ka?) |
| マクドナルドは二階にあります。(Makudonarudo wa nikai ni arimasu.) |
| 二階？(Nikai?) |
| わかりました。(Wakarimashita.) |
| すみません。(Sumimasen. ) |
| エスカレーターはどこにありますか？(Esukarētā wa doko ni arimasu ka?) |
| エスカレーター？(Esukarētā?) |
| あそこにあります 。(Asoko ni arimasu.) |
| Let’s watch the scene one more time. This time with English. |
| はい、マクドナルドです。 (Hai, Makudonarudo desu.) “That’s right, McDonald’s.” |
| マクドナルドはどこにありますか？ (Makudonarudo wa doko ni arimasu ka?) “Where is McDonald’s?” |
| マクドナルドは二階にあります。 (Makudonarudo wa nikai ni arimasu.) “McDonald’s is on the 2nd floor.” |
| 二階？ (Nikai?) “The second floor?” |
| わかりました。 (Wakarimashita.) “Got it.” |
| すみません。 (Sumimasen. ) “Excuse me,” |
| エスカレーターはどこにありますか？ (Esukarētā wa doko ni arimasu ka?) “where is an escalator?” |
| エスカレーター？(Esukarētā?) “An escalator?” |
| あそこにあります 。(Asoko ni arimasu.) “There’s one over there. |
| Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the phrases and vocabulary you heard in the scene. |
| どこ (doko) “where” |
| あそこ (asoko) “over there” |
| エスカレーター (Esukarētā) “escalator” |
| マクドナルド (Makudonarudo) “McDonald’s” |
| わかりました。(Wakarimashita.) This means “Ok” or “Got it.” So if someone tells you something, to show that you understand, you can say - わかりました。(Wakarimashita.) |
| 階(kai) this is a counter for floors. When counting objects in Japanese, you’ll add a counter word after the number. There are many different counters for different objects, but the counter for floors in a building is 階(kai). |
| So here are a few examples; the first floor is 一階(ikkai), 一階(ikkai). |
| It’s not ichikai, so please be careful here. |
| Next, 二階(nikai), 二階(nikai). |
| 2 plus the counter for floors. |
| Next, 三階(sangai), 三階(sangai). |
| Not sankai, it’s sangai. |
| Next, 四階(yonkai), 四階(yonkai). |
| 4 plus the counter. |
| Next, 5階(gokai), 5階(gokai). |
| 5 plus the counter. |
| So that's the basic pattern. 一階(ikkai), 二階(nikai), 三階(sangai), 四階(yonkai), 5階(gokai). |
| Now it’s time for the lesson point. Our teachers will explain everything you need to know to find what you're looking for in Japan. You'll also have a chance to practice yourself and test your knowledge with a quiz. Are you ready? Let's go! |
| Now, you'll learn how to ask for where something or someone is and how to answer that question in Japanese. |
| Imagine you are looking for an ATM and you want to ask someone if there's one in the station. |
| ATMは駅にありますか？ (ATM wa eki ni arimasu ka?) |
| You just add か(ka) to the end to make a question. Without か(ka), you have ATMは駅にあります (ATM wa eki ni arimasu) “There is an ATM in the station.” |
| If you add か(ka) at the end, you’re now asking, “Is there an ATM in the station?” |
| ATMは駅にありますか？ (ATM wa eki ni arimasu ka?) |
| But let's say you want to ask a more general question. Now, you're no longer worried about the station but simply want to ask where the ATM is. You would say, ATMはどこにありますか？ (ATM wa doko ni arimasu ka?) “Where is the ATM?”. |
| Let’s break this down. ATM “ATM”, は(wa) topic-marking particle, どこ(doko) “where”, に(ni) particle for location of existence, あります(arimasu) “to exist for inanimate objects, か(ka) question-marking particle. |
| Let's compare these two sentences: |
| ATMは駅にありますか？ (ATM wa eki ni arimasu ka?) |
| ATMはどこにありますか？ (ATM wa doko ni arimasu ka?) |
| So you just need to replace 駅(eki) with どこ(doko). |
| どこ(doko) is a question word meaning “where”. |
| ATMはどこにありますか？ (ATM wa doko ni arimasu ka?) |
| Now, onto how you'll respond to this question. If the ATM is someplace far away but you can point to it, answer with ATMはあそこにあります。 (ATM wa asoko ni arimasu.) |
| あそこ(asoko) means “over there” so you're saying “the ATM is over there.” |
| So you can keep adapting this pattern - A は [place] にあります。(A wa place ni arimasu.) to say where something is. And as usual, you can leave out the first part, A は(A wa), because the subject is obvious. |
| So the question and answer would be: |
| ATMはどこにありますか？ (ATM wa doko ni arimasu ka?) |
| あそこにあります。 (asoko ni arimasu.) |
| Let’s practice. You're on the first floor of a department store and using this diagram to figure out where to find the individual stores. First you want to go to the bookstore, ask where it. |
| 本屋はどこにあるますか？(Honya wa doko ni arimasu ka?) “Where is the book store?” |
| Now, what's the answer? |
| 二階にあります。 (Nikai ni arimasu.) “It's on the second floor.” |
| Let's try another one. |
| “Where is the restaurant?” |
| レストランはどこにあるますか？(Resutoran wa doko ni arimasu ka?) “Where is the restaurant?” |
| What's the answer? |
| 三階にあります。 (Sangai ni arimasu.) “It's on the 3rd floor.” |
| Okay, let's try one more. Where is the bank? |
| 銀行はどこにあるますか？(Ginkō wa doko ni arimasu ka?) “Where is the bank?” |
| What's the answer? |
| 一階にあります。 (Ikkai ni arimasu.) “It is on the 1st floor.” |
| 図書館はどこにありますか？(Toshokan wa doko ni arimasu ka?) |
| ありがとうございます。(Arigatōgozaimasu.) |
| 三階にあります。(Sangai ni arimasu.) |
| はい、そうです。(Hai, sou desu.) |
| 三階にあります。(Sangai ni arimasu.) |
| レストランは二階にありますか? (Resutoran wa nikai ni arimasu ka?) |
| はい、一階にあります。(Hai, ikkai ni arimasu.) |
| そうですか。ありがとう。(Sōdesu ka. Arigatō.) |
| いいえ、四階にあります。(Īe, yonkai ni arimasu.) |
| いいえ、四階にあります。(Īe, yonkai ni arimasu.) |
| That's it. You should now be able to find what you're looking for in Japan. If you have any questions, please post them in the comments. See you next time! |
| はい、マクドナルドです。(Hai, Makudonarudo desu.) |
| マクドナルドはどこにありますか？(Makudonarudo wa doko ni arimasu ka?) |
| マクドナルドは二階にあります。(Makudonarudo wa nikai ni arimasu.) |
| 二階？(Nikai?) |
| わかりました。(Wakarimashita.) |
| すみません。(Sumimasen. ) |
| エスカレーターはどこにありますか？(Esukarētā wa doko ni arimasu ka?) |
| エスカレーター？(Esukarētā?) |
| あそこにあります 。(Asoko ni arimasu.) |
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