Learn about asking for prices
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| Today’s phrase is something for all you shoppers out there. The phrase is how much. In Japanese how much is Ikura desuka? I-ku-ra-de-su-ka? Ikura desuka? Altogether, it’s Ikura desuka? Shopping at the market, at an eatery or wherever you like to shop, this is an extremely high frequency phrase. The most rudimentary way of using this phrase is pointing at something while saying it but let’s try and build this up a bit. Shall we? |
| Let’s start with the expression how much is this which in Japanese is Kore wa ikura desuka? Ko-re-wa-i-ku-ra-de-su-ka. Altogether it’s Kore wa ikura desuka? When asking for something a bit further away from you, the expression in Japanese is Sore wa ikura desuka? Let’s take a look at that word. That is Sore broken down by syllable, it’s So-re, sore. Altogether in a sentence, it’s Sore wa ikura desuka? You got that, all right. Now you may have noticed the va in there. That’s a topic marking particle but that’s kind of beyond the scope of survival Japanese. |
| So make sure you go to our website and check out the PDF. Now it’s time for Sachiko secret. The quick and dirty way of saying how much is ikura, i-ku-ra, ikura but be careful folks. There is grave danger in using this word alone. If you get the intonation wrong, you could be asking for salmon eggs. How does that work? The word for salmon eggs is ikura. Do you notice the difference right there? Ikura but to say how much is Ikura, ikura. Notice the rising intonation Ikura because it’s a question, you will notice the rising intonation Ikura. So salmon egg is ikura, how much is ikura. Make sure you don’t get that wrong. You don’t want to end up with salmon eggs when you are trying to buy Chanel. |
| Okay so to close our today’s lesson, let’s practice what you’ve just learned. I will give you the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud in Japanese. You got that. I will give you a few seconds before I give you the answer. So good luck Ganbatte kudasai. Number one, how much? I can’t hear you. Don’t be shy. Come on, give it a shot. How much? Ikura desuka? I-ku-ra-de-su-ka? Ikura desuka? Next, how much is this? Kore wa ikura desuka? Ko-re-wa-i-ku-ra-de-su-ka? Last but not least, how much is that? Sore wa ikura desuka? So-re-wa-i-ku-ra-de-su-ka? All right, that’s going to do it for today. See you later which in Japanese is Matane. |
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