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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! How does your Japanese compare? If you want it to stack up, you need to know how to make comparisons and talk about what is “the best” or “the most.” Think about the popular saying, “Love is the most important thing of all.” Without being able to make comparisons in English, you wouldn’t be able to say this. Once you learn how to say that something is “the most” in Japanese, you’ll use it all the time!

This beginner Japanese lesson introduces you to superlative sentences that compare quantity or quality. You’ll also master Ichiban (first, number one) to talk about what is “the best” or “the most….” As a bonus, pick up all sorts of popular vocabulary words and phrases you can use to ask about peoples’ physical conditions. This is one JapanesePod101.com lesson you’ll be glad you read!

learn Japanese, visiting hospital

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


This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Beginner Season 4 . 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.

21 Responses to “Beginner Lesson S4 #22 - “The Best” Japanese is Here!”

JapanesePod101.com says:

Mina-san, what’s the most important thing in your life? Jinsei de ichiban daiji na mono wa nandesuka?

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tb says:

はい、tbもPDFを読んで、ポットキャストを聞きます。

人生で一番大事な物は…食べ物…友達…幸福です。???  ああ… とても難しい問題ですよ。     あっ! ’Beginner Lesson Series’の中で何が一番おかしいですか。(does that sound mean?)

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Barb says:

これは、どですか: みなレッソンの中でこのレッソンが一番むすかし分かるですのに、一番おもしろいと思います。ところで、私は日本の食べ物の中でカレーライスも一番好きです。えっと…今晩で食べるつもりです!
コッメントお願いします!

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プチクレア says:

I remember, what feels like ages ago, Yoshiさん answering this question with 家族です. I don’t think I can do better than that :mrgreen:

おじいさんはやっぱり素晴らしいですよ!でも何が行ったのかあまり分かりません。おじいさんと春夜さんと幸雄さんの関係はいったい何でしょうね?おじいさんと幸雄さんが喧嘩してミュウちゃんのお母さんが傷されてそれから春夜さんは幸雄さんを追い掛けたかもしれません…そうだったらどうしておじいさんと幸雄さんが喧嘩しましたか?
それも謎ですよ!

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Brian says:

こんにちは、

日本の食べ物の中でたこ焼きを一番好きですよ。とてもおいしいです。食べたい、でもロンドンにいます。

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Rhys says:

Yep, I almost almost read along using the PDF or the line-by-line.

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Rhys says:

I almost always**

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Taurus says:

Only yesterday I found myself thinking about the Sonna no kankei ne guy - having been over to Japan last Christmas and seen him *everywhere* I was wondering if he was still super famous, or if everyone’s forgotten about him now. I guess I’ll find out for sure in a couple of weeks when I’m visiting again…

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ルカ says:

今晩は、みなさん!
I was reading the pdf file and found the adjective 得意 in one of the exercises, what’s the difference with 上手? I learned that also 上手 is used to express what one’s good at.
Thanks a lot!
ありがとうございます!

ルカ

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ルカ says:

すみません。。。
一番大事な物は?幸せです。わしですね :lol:

ルカ

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Hiroko says:

tb san> シーズン4がとってもおもしろいと思います!食べ物と友達・・・・大切ですね  :kokoro:

Barb san>ピーターはカレーが大好きです!日本で一番おいしいカレーを知っています  :mrgreen:

プチクレア さん>

Brian さん>ロンドンでもたこやきを作るんですか?  :grin:

Rhys san> Aren’t they great :wink: Keep up the good work :dogeza:

Taurus san> lol This comment was by far the funniest one this morning :lol: because, I forgot that he was known for that phrase :lol: he still appears in the TV shows, but def. not as popular anymore. Next time you are here, check out “Hige Danshaku” :wink:

ルカ san>得意 can only be used if the subject is a living thing (human, animal), so you can say
「この絵は上手に描けていますね」
but you can’t say
「この絵は得意に描けていますね」
:wink:

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Chiller says:

私の人せいのなかでみゆうとはるやの話です。

Will true love win out in the end? Stay tuned for the next episode!

I had withdrawal symptoms when we lost the internet for a while during recent renovations.

 

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ルカ says:

ありがとうござさいます、裕子さん。
すみませんが、a quick question on your answer though, is 描けています 描く in the passive form?
I understand 描いています as a continuous action, and if I’m right 描ける should be 描く in the potential form, so I don’t know what 描けています is. (I hope the question makes sense … :roll: )

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Hiroko says:

ルカさん>yes, literally it is this painting is well-drawn.But since the painting can’t paint it has to be in the passive voice.
If a person is a subject, it will be
絵を描くのが上手ですね You are good at drawing. (the painting actually is well drawn and this is by looking at the actual painting)
絵を描くのが得意ですね You are good at drawing. (it sounds strange because usually when you use 得意ですね that person not only is good at painting but probably likes to paint too, and 得意です usually isnt used by others.)

Also, you can ask someone
絵を描くのが得意ですか? are you good at painting? (this person also enjoys/likes to paint)
but
絵を描くのが上手ですか?are you good at painting?
sounds weird….

basically with 得意 it has to do with the subjects’ feelings/likes/dislikes/etc.
but with 上手 it’s plainly about the fact whether the painting/cooking/singing/etc. is good.

:dogeza:

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ルカ says:

Hiroko-san> ありがとうございます! :dogeza:

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Tess says:

Peter asked if anyone reads the pdf notes whilst listening to the lesson. I try not to for the first time I hear the dialogue, because I find it a bit of a challenge to see how much of it I can pick up “cold”. However, it is extremely helpful to be reading the dialogue whilst listening to it being spoken once I’ve heard the whole lesson.

Two things: have you checked out the answer to “hospital room” in the vocabulary question section? Exactly what kind of hospital is this!!!!!

You’ve spoken about the Voice Recorder being a useful tool. I find it’s too much effort to use, scrolling up and down the page to access it, etc. However, what I do find extremely useful is the Word by Word Audio and playing the word over and over again and saying the word along with the speaker till our voices can’t be distinguished.

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shamanana says:

I find this difference between languages interesting… confusing too :mrgreen:

一番奥 is translated as the last (room)

Confusing of course because of the 一番 meaning “the first” but then that 奥 places it at the end of the corridor ( I assume?). And it becomes the first from that side…end.
What I was wondering about is what would be the opposite of 奥? And lets say the room is at the beginning of the corridor, like the first room you see after you exit the elevator?

Thank you for the great material! :mrgreen:

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Naomi says:

shamanana -san
Actually, that’s a really really good question!!
一番 means “best, first, number one or most”. Which translation it takes is really depends on a context but here’s the general rule.
When 一番 is used by itself, it is vely likely to mean “Number one” or “first place”. However when 一番 is used with other adjective, noun or adverb, it means “most” (superlative sentence.) .

So 一番奥 mean “most inner part”.
The opposite word of 奥 is 手前(てまえ)”this(speaker’s) side”
一番奥 ⇔ 一番手前

Thanks again for posting a great question. I hope my explanation make sense to you. :wink:

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shamanana says:

:mrgreen: Perfect explanation!

Just after I posted that question I started thinking and now with your answer even more (not that I normally don’t THINK :mrgreen: ),…. if there is a 一番奥 and 一番手前 …is there such a thing as the “last” (in this case “room”)? I know the expression 最後の “something-something”… but can it be used here or are rooms in a building a different case? Or would it be a “bad luck” thing to be in the “last” room? :wink: Partly joking partly serious… Japanese is full of surprises after all.

Thank you again for explaining it so nicely to me!

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Naomi says:

shamanana-san
I think it’s OK to say 最後の部屋 however it’s more natural to say 一番奥の部屋.
If you’re talking about the parts in the building we tend to use 奥 meaning “the last” in stead of 最後. I don’t have the clear answer why we do so, but I guess 最後 has a lot of meanings so it would be clearer to say 奥 :wink:

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Archernar says:

正直、人生で一番大事な物は神様で愛です。
お金はあまり大切じゃないが、愛は一番大切だ。
To me anyway :cool:

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