This feature requires an Active Premium subscription. Sign in or register for a 7-Day Free Trial today. Click link for more info.
This feature requires an Active Basic subscription. Sign in or register for a 7-Day Free Trial today. Click link for more info.
 
By Type:

Ascending Descending
By Month:

Ascending Descending
By Keyword:

Ascending Descending

Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com. Using popular expressions makes you a true Japanese pro! Read this lesson to discover one that you will use all the time. Think about how often you say, “I have no choice but to….” It is an expression that is used all the time in all sorts of situations. You might say, “My car broke down, so I had no choice but to walk” or “It rained all day, so we had no choice but to cancel the picnic.” There are countless other situations that call for this expression.

This upper intermediate Japanese lesson shows you how to use this dynamic expression. You’ll master shika nai (have no choice but to…) and the situations in which it is proper to use. You’ll also find numerous examples to ensure that you feel comfortable using this important Japanese expression. This is one JapanesePod101.com lesson you can’t miss!

learn Japanese, blue print

Grammar: | Function: | Topic: | Politeness Level:


This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Upper Intermediate Season 2 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

17 Responses to “Upper Intermediate Lesson S2 #19 - Japanese Superstitions 2: One Japanese Expression You Must Use!”

JapanesePod101.com says:

Mina-san, what do you think Kohei and Tomoko are going to do?

avatar
仁居流 says:

Please help me understand part of the translation. I read 、この大きな吹き抜けのある玄関as saying: “the large stairwell in the foyer…” The translation says: “the high ceiling in the foyer…” Please clarify my misunderstanding. :dogeza:

avatar
プチクレア says:

仁居流さん、
the Eijiro dictionary gives 吹き抜けの天井 as “vaulted ceiling”, and 吹き抜ける as “to blow through”… so I guess it could mean both “stairwell” and “high ceiling”.

光平さんと智子さんについて….風水のことは詳しくないですけど、種類は二つがあると思います。この二つは北南西東の種類と生活の部分に関係ある天資の種類で(正しい言い方が分かりませんが。。。)、光平さんのお母さんはどちらの種類を信じるによって新しい家の設計図そんなに悪くないかもしれません。大きな窓の外に大事ことがあるの屋根があったら、気がこれまで流して大事なプロジェクトは強くなるかもしれませんね….
あるいは何となくお母さんの家へ気を流させることができるかもしれません….:???:

I really don’t know much about Feng Shui, but I kind of remember a family member telling me about these two different “schools” of Feng Shui. Couldn’t there be a catch in there ???

avatar
仁居流 says:

One more question please. The sentence: さすが、一流の設計士さんは違いますよね” seems to be saying that the first rate architect is different. How does it mean “Just what we expected from a top tier architect”?

avatar
プチクレア says:

I think here the subject of the sentence isn’t 一流の設計士 but rather the (unexpressed) drawing of plans. は doesn’t stand for subject but for theme of the sentence, and I guess you should translate as “as expected, (having plans drawn by) a first-class architect is a whole different thing (from having plans drawn by a regular architect)”. は puts the stress on the architect being first-class.

avatar
neil.m4 says:

Can you explain to me the difference btwn: するなら and したら?

宜しくお願い申し上げます。

二ール

:dogeza:

avatar
neil.m4 says:

さすが、一流の設計士さんは違いますよね states the idea that a good designer is not the same as any old designer さすが、普通と違いますよね!

avatar
neil.m4 says:

分かった!!光平さんは仮病を良く使っているままでも鬱病のふりをして、そうするとあの女性の方達をファミリセラピーへ連れて行った方がいいかも知りません。

What is Japanese for a “hen pecked husband”? (光平君はどういっても鬱病になるとおりではありませんか?)

Neil   :wink:

avatar
Fierce Cat says:

The tag data for the :
- main lesson track
- the dialog track
has the text for Lesson 2 from Beginner Season 4 ??

Oh, who’s this?
Tendou Miu: Mom, this is Ozora Haruya. He’s my boyfriend.
Tendou Kiri: Nice to meet you. I’m Miu’s mom.
Oozora Haruya: Oh, nice to meet you too. My name is Ozora Haruya.
Tendou Kiri: Well, come on in.
Oozora Haruya: Oh, this is just something small I got you. Please have it.
Tendou Kiri: Oh, you shouldn’t have.

——————–

avatar
Hiroko says:

Fierce Cat san> I just fixed the iTune tags…thank you for pointing that out :dogeza:

neil.m4 san> 恐妻家 (きょうさいか)or 尻に敷かれた夫(しりにしかれたおっと)ですね。
as shown in the first kanji; 恐(scary)妻(wife)家(household).
but Kouhei seems more like a マザコン (japanese english; in English it’s “mama’s boy”), :roll:

avatar
neil.m4 says:

お尻に敷かれた夫は本物四面楚歌だなぁ? :sad:

avatar
JKid says:

Neil re: your grammar question please see if this topic helps you. http://www.japanesepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3588

avatar
Fierce Cat says:

—-Fierce Cat san>
I just fixed the iTune tags…thank you for pointing that out :dogeza: —–

I just downloaded the main lesson track and dialog track again.
The tag data is still showing the text the text for Lesson 2 from Beginner Season 4

I use Windows Media Player to view the tags - does that make a difference?
I thought that there was only one set of tag data per mp3 …

avatar
Bob1 says:

Regarding 「吹き抜け」 “stairwell” is definitely inadequate as a translation, even if Jim Breen’s website returns that result. After searching the internet for the concept itself, it appears that we don’t have a single word term for it. The multi-word term used by an article in the New York Times was “two-story foyer”, or to make it even clearer to us architecturally challenged types, “two-story entrance foyer”. 風水知りませんが、暖房の費用は確かに高くなります、ね。 So if the mother were to talk about heat (熱) instead of spiritual energy (気), she’d have quite a valid point:

「熱がどんどん逃げちゃうでしょ。」

avatar
Mina says:

GREAT lesson again, Thank you JPOD team!

a)benkyou suru shika nai = I have no choice but to study.

b)benkyou shinakereba naranai = I have to study.
___________________________________________________

a)souji suru shika nai = I have no choice but to clean.

b)souji shinakereba naranai = I have to clean.
____________________________________________________

a)watashi wa kare ni renraku suru shika nai = I have no choice but to call him back.

b)watashi wa kare ni renraku shinakereba naranai = I have to call him back.
_____________________________________________________

a) konya wa ryori suru shika nai = I have no choice but to cook tonight.

b) konya wa ryori shinakereba naranai = I have to cook tonight.

Just practicing using some examples of my own so that I can better understand the different nuances between “shika nai = no choice but to ” and “nakereba naranai = I have to..”
* please correct any mistakes, arigatou!

avatar
Naomi says:

Mina-san
すばらしい例文ですね!! :razz:  間違えは一つもありませんでした。 :wink:

avatar
Rhymia says:

Wordlist…

Fantastic blog post, saw on…

Leave a Reply

:mrgreen: :neutral: :twisted: :shock: :smile: :???: :cool: :evil: :grin: :oops: :razz: :roll: :wink: :cry: :eek: :lol: :mad: :sad: