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! To come across the right way, you need to know when and how to use formal and informal Japanese. Whether you’re talking to a new acquaintance, a friend, an elder, etc., the person you’re talking to in Japanese makes all the difference, and simple phrases can sound very different.

In this beginner Japanese lesson, you’ll find a comprehensive review of formal and informal adjective conjugations. See firsthand just how different a sentence as simple as, “It’s not expensive” is based on whether you’re using formal or informal Japanese. The easy charts and plentiful example sentences ensure that you’ll be completely comfortable with the nuances of both formal and informal Japanese.

Japanese rickshaw, sightseeing in Japan


Save 25% on Basic or Premium Subscriptions til 5/31!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 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.

30 Responses to “Beginner Lesson S4 #29 - Formal and Informal Japanese: Do you Know the Difference?”

JapanesePod101.com says:

Konnichi wa Mina-san, Have you ever ridden in a rickshaw? We’d love to hear about your experience.

avatar
Zach says:

nah
:dogeza:
i :kokoro: :nihon:

avatar
Thomas says:

Yes, in Takayama we took a rickshaw. Takayama is a beautiful old town and the guide´s tips were very interesting and useful. Many asian (maybe japanese or other) people which saw us wanted to take a photo of us, sometimes they hurried up to get ahead of us to make a picture - this was very funny :) I´ll do it again :)

In another town, we saw two really very big man who wanted to take a rikshaw and the (very slim) driver said “No problem”. He pulled then this very heavy rikshaw with the two big man quickly and slightly uphill without loosing his smile - this was very impressive!

avatar
ggenglish says:

wahoo! now i understand what buddy means in the intro section when he says:
japanesepod-o … おいしそう。

ironically it was used for this lesson too. i say that because it seems random. maybe there is a system.

:twisted:

avatar
Hungyi Yang says:

人力車を乗ったことがありません、でも小さい頃リヤカーをよく使いました。
お父さん always called that “リヤカー”.
リヤカーって、 という意味かいつも心中の質問であります。
今、カタカナを見てわかるようになりました。
やはり,日本語が台湾語の中に入っていますね!
ありがとうございました。

avatar
Spidey says:

はい、乗たことがあります。  浅草で乗りました。  その日はとても暑かったけど、人力車は乗るしんながらとてもすずしかた。

本とに進めします。

Yes, I rode a 人力車 in Akasaka. It was hot day, but the wind felt cool while riding.

I really recommend it.

avatar
tori_ningen_fan says:

Video vocab has a mistake. Narrator says おばあさん but the video shows おばさん! Watch out!

avatar
Mayumi says:

tori_ningen_fan-san,
Thank you for pointing it out! We’ll fix it soon. :dogeza:

Spidey-san,
That’s right!! When I rode a 人力車 in Ooita last summer, the wind was so cool and nice! :kokoro:

avatar
Hiroko says:

Hungyi Yang san>リアカーは、和製英語(JapaneseEnglish)ですね。”rear car” は英語では違うものを指しますね。

avatar
Naomi says:

こんにちは、みなさん。

Additionally, 人力車/rickshaw is an environment-friendly vehicle. :kokoro:

みなさんは、どこに住んでいますか。
Mina-san wa doko ni sunde imasu ka?
そこは、どんな ところですか。
Soko wa donna tokoro desu ka?
Please describe the place you live using this lesson’s grammar point!! :dogeza:

avatar
ggenglish says:

は~い。 せんせい。

ここ は さむくて くらい です。 :???:
koko wa samukute kurai desu. :???:

:twisted:

avatar
Hungyi Yang says:

Hiroko さん:
ありがとうございます。 勉強になりました。

avatar
Tess Dasey says:

One of the best experiences we had when we visited Japan was riding in a rickshaw. We were guests of my son’s ex-girlfriend’s parents (if you can follow that!), in Fukumitsu in Toyama Prefecture, and we were just finishing up having a traditional tea ceremony with them (the 87 year old Grandma is 2nd in charge of one of the major Tea Ceremony organisations in Japan and she still teaches students) when a rickshaw pulled up at the front door! They had dressed me in a beautiful kimino. What a wonderful way to see this beautiful rural township, through the old historical streets. The guy who pulled the rickshaw was the current Mayor of the city. Apparently it is traditional for the Mayor to do this job! We stopped at a famous artist’s original old house and work studio, as well as many small shops along the way. We were treated as honoured guests by the shopkeepers and received delicious samples of the wares at each shop! However, I have to say that I felt very guilty having a person pull me around. Luckily the Mayor was a very fit looking, young Mayor! When we finished he let us have a go at pulling the rickshaw. My husband said it wasn’t too difficult at all. I still look back upon that memory and treasure it.

avatar
K says:

人力車に乗ったことがないけど楽しそうで乗りたいです。乗りたいけど金をはらっても人力車の人に(何というかな?)大変じゃないですか。 :hachimaki:

ところで”人力車”ということばのoriginはおもしろいです。同じ意味で英語でも”rickshaw”というからもともと日本語からきたことばかな?だがインドでも”rickshaw”もいうじゃない?

Does anyone know the origin of the word “rickshaw”? Because I thought it was also commonly used in India where Hindi is mostly spoken, right?

avatar
トーマス says:

さあ、よく分からないけど、ウィキペディアで人力車について記事がある。

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickshaw

このウィキペディアの記事によると人力車は最初に日本で登場したでしょう。

でも誰が発明したか、まだつまびらかでないでしょう。

avatar
Mayumi says:

トーマスさん
>でも誰が発明したか、まだつまびらかでないでしょう。
「つまびらか(= clear in detail)」なんて、むずかしいことばを知っているんですね!すごい! :roll:
I’m impressed that you know such a difficult word as “つまびらか” !!

avatar
Aria says:

Konbanwa, minasan!

Just a small word usage question. The older man uses お兄さん to address the younger man. Under which circumstances can someone use お兄さん to address another man? Can oneesan be used similarily outside its usual context?

avatar
wael says:

in Newbie series there not lesson called Welcome to Style You Lesson or Style You and Beyond
please help

avatar
Jessi says:

wael-san,
Welcome to Style You refers to the entire Newbie Series Season 2, and Style You and Beyond refers to the entire Newbie Series Season 3.
I hope this helps ;)

avatar
亀井 says:

ヤッター。JLPT N5試験の結果をやって来ました。いい点を取った、JLPT N4試験の準備が始まりました。よし、頑張ります。
今から、iPadのシステム語は日本語です。
いいえ、人力車で乗りませんでした。

avatar
Motoko says:

亀井さん
おめでとうございます!!良かったですね :grin:
私も携帯電話の設定を英語にして勉強しました。がんばってください :cool:
私も人力車に乗ったことがありません。でもいつか乗りたいです。

avatar
亀井 says:

素子さん、
ジャパニズポッド101、おかげさまで。
OK, to be sure: you have, on your cellular phone, caused the setting to be English. Re-phrased, you have changed the language setting on your cell phone to English.  
本当にですか。頑張ってください。
おお。設定と言うですか。はい、そうです、この言葉はiPadを今みました。勉強になりました。

avatar
wael says:

is there any expression to say “yes or no “instead of “un or uun ” at jaapanese Informal speech?

avatar
Motoko says:

亀井さん
You’re right. That was one of my way of learning English. It was quite interesting because some phrases are translated differently.
iPadやiPhoneは言語の設定がたくさんあって、べんりですよね。

wael-san,
Sou desu ne. Iya, or in’ya would be alternatives for “no.”
I sometime say un’nya as “No.” but it would be a dialect.
Other answers would depend on the context.
e.g.
A: Kinou kaimono shita no?
  ”Did you go to shopping yesterday?”
B:Un’nya, kekkyoku ie ni ita yo.
  ”Na, finally I was at home.”

C:O-hiru ni nin’niku ramen tabenai?
  ”Don’t we eat garlic ramen noodle for lunch?”
D:Yada! Kyou deeto da mon.
“No way! I have a date this afternoon.”
I hope this helps. :wink:

avatar
亀井 says:

素子さん、
はい、そうです。私はiPadの設定を日本語にして勉強しました。iPhoneの設定を英語にしています。iPadの設定が分からない時、iPhoneの設定を読みます。だんだん勉強に成りました。

Yes, this is true. I have set the iPad to Japanese language settings for study purposes. I have set the iPhone to English settings. Whenever I get stuck on something with the iPad, I can consult the iPhone and get straightened out. This gradually aids learning.

avatar
Motoko says:

亀井さん
iPadの設定がわからない時、iPhoneの設定を読んで、くらべるんですね。
身近なもので日本語を使うのは勉強になりますよね。 :wink:

avatar
Jeff says:

There’s just one really tiny mistake in the PDF: on page

avatar
Jeff says:

Oops! That was supposed to be: on page 7, anzen desu should be anzen da.

avatar
JapanesePod101.com says:

Jeff-san,
you’re right :oops:
Kana version and romaji version doesn’t match…
We’ll fix it soon. Thank you very much for letting us know about it!!

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

avatar
JapanesePod101.com says:

Jeff-san kon’nichiwa.
I’ve fixed the point you mentioned.
Thank you for your patience!

Motoko
Team JapanesePod101.com

avatar

Please Sign In to leave a comment.

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

Posting in Japanese? Leave a translation. It's good practice and helps others.