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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! Think about how often you talk or ask questions about ability. A few examples are, “Can I make a reservation for next week?” and “Can I come see you tomorrow?” Talking about whether or not things are possible is a critical part of making plans and keeping them.

This beginner Japanese lesson focuses on ability. Specifically, you’ll learn to talk and ask questions about whether things are possible. Master the phrase ~koto ga dekimasu to refer to possibilities or ability. In addition, you’ll learn the Japanese you need to convey that something is not possible. This in one invaluable Japanese lesson!

learn how to make reservations in Japanese



This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 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.

32 Responses to “Beginner Lesson S4 #42 - Your Japanese Possibilities”

JapanesePod101.com says:

みなさん、こんにちは!

Have you ever heard of a Magic Bar? Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

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bob says:

Another great lesson! Why is it that when you were talking about using a coupon you said “koto GA dekimasu ka” and when talking about making a reservation you said “koto WA dekimasu ka”? I know that explaining when to use WA versus GA can be difficult but I figured if anybody can shed some light on it, you can. I love this site and think you all do an amazing job. Thanks so much!

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Atolm_Dragon says:

Gah the katakana on the picture foiled me! I didn’t know that katakana could have that small ‘tsu’ that means you do a slight pause. *is only just learning katakana*

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Brandon says:

Hi everyone! I was memorizing verbs from a huge list and they have “取り消す” for to cancel.

Can someone explain what the difference is between キャンセル and 取り消す and give me sample sentences お願いします?  T___T

Thank you!

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Brandon says:

Hi Peter & Naomi! This comment is in regard to the last minute of your conversation in the lesson.

You mentioned the stewardess asking a customer “Can I get you something to drink?”; I’ve heard this many times in school where a student asks the teacher: “CAN I use the bathroom?” and the teacher might respond with “I don’t know, I hope you can, can you?” whereas the “correct” way to ask is “MAY I use the bathroom?”. I was wondering if Japanese has any funny rules like this where everyone uses a certain phrase (in English’s case, the can I do blahblahblah phrase) that we all know and understand and accept as “grammatically correct” but if you were to be speaking to a Grammar Cop it would be thrown right back in your face? lol…

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JKid says:

Brandon-san,
I think 取り消す carries more the meaning of “to revoke”.

For example, 免許を一時取り消す/めんきょをいっときとりけす/to suspend a licence.
or 公約を取り消す/こうやくをとりけす/withdraw from a commitment.

キャンセル on the other hand carries more the simple meaning of “to cancel”.

キャンセルの理由を伺ってもよろしいですか?/キャンセルのりゆうをうかがってもよろしいですか?/May I ask why you wish to cancel?

キャンセルの方法を考えてくれ/キャンセルのほうほうをかんがえてくれ/Figure out how to cancel it.

Also, note 取り消す is a verb while キャンセル is a noun.

I hope that is helpful. I am not a native Japanese speaker so I could be wrong but I hope I’ve provided you with accurate information. If not, I am sure someone will offer corrections.

Thanks for the comment :)

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Sarah says:

Bob,
They could have used は since it is a negative sentence. は is often used when the verb is negative in opposed to が or another particle.

Hope that helps!

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Kobukuro says:

@Brandon, very interesting! The same “can-may-joke” exists in Germany :mrgreen: ! Now I’m waiting for a reply too!

@J-Pod-Team: A Great lesson!

One question about the nominalizer:

What is the difference between こと and の ? Of course, in this lesson “koto ga dekiru” is a set-phrase, but I guess, that こと is used in other situations too?

友達と話をするのは 楽しい。
Tomodachi to hanashi o suru no wa tanoshii.

友達と話をすることは楽しい。
Tomodachi to hanashi o suru koto wa tanoshii.

Do these both senteces have different meanings or is the last one wrong?

Thanks in advance :dogeza: !

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graeme. says:

@naomi-san + peter-san, i loved this lesson. could, would, should are so important to daily conversation. I hope to discover the other ones as well.

@producer-san. hearing the same study tip spliced in to every lesson is getting a tad annoying. i’m sure you have other tips why not rotate them. 失礼します。:???:

@bob - i indirectly received a great tip for my whole は vs. が confusion from this post of mine: . See QuackingShoe’s last paragraph where he states “…wa throws attention forward while ga throws attention backward…”. This little tip has really helped me hope it helps you.

:twisted:

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graeme. says:

suggestion: i’m guessing we can’t put urls in comments. i know this is good idea to protect against spam bots but why not let the japanesepod101 url be allowed. i was trying to link to a forum topic but it wasn’t letting me.

:twisted:

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Yukiko says:

Pita-san, Naomi-Sensei, mina-san, kon’nichiwa :mrgreen:
Kono ressun wa daisuki! It reminded me of another lesson where you taught
…..koto ga dekiru with Onigiri Oji and Onigiri Ojo :lol: Those were some of my favorite lessons from the past :kokoro: I recomend others to go back and look them up, they are very clever and funny. I think there are 3 lessons: Onigiri Prince Parts I,II, and III.

Majikku ba wa hajimete shitteimasu. Demo tanoshisou desu ne. Ikitai desu :grin:

ja mata ne

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Enrico says:

This the 1000th lesson,shouldn’t there be some kind of celebration?

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bob says:

Sarah-san to Graeme-san, thank you for your replies.
Graeme-san, so in this instance the “GA” would be putting the emphasis on using a “COUPON” as opposed to something else and the “WA” would be putting the emphasis on the verb “dekiru” as in “MAY I” make a reservation? Do I have that right or am I totally messed up? Thanks.

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chin says:

Thanks for the lesson today. I do look at the PDF, especially for transcript and vocab list if I am listening at my computer.

I didnt realised 「~ごとができますか」could be used for seeking permission. I only knew was asking the ability or possibility on doing something.

For seeking permission, the one i knew was 「~てもいいですか」。

Which one is more commonly used and more natural when asking for permission?

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PeteS says:

I went to a Magic Bar in Kochi, it was really amazing! The bar was small but they guy did tricks on the bar right in front of us. Even though we were only inches away and taking part in the tricks not once did I get any kind of inkling how he was doing it.

This lesson brought back some nice memories for me, thanks all.

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JKid says:

PeteS-san,
I really want to go to that Bar! :)

Chin-san,
Just so you know, when using [~ごとができますか] for seeking permission the English translation is more like “Is it possible that..” when using [~てもいいですか] the English translation is “May I…” so there is just a little difference there in that respect. As far as which is more common I’ll leave that to a native speaker of Japanese :)

<span class=”category1″ /><span class=”category1″ /> Kobukuro-san,

The difference between の and こと is something I am still getting the hang of but in comparision to の,  こと tends to indicate something the speaker doesn’t feel close to.

For  example (taken straight from A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar) しょうせつをかくことはむずかしいです。 These means, “writing a novel is hard”. Here the use of こと indicates more that the speaker themselves are not personally writting the novel. If の was used it would sound as if “”writing a novel is hard (I know, because I’m writing one).”

の and こと are often interchangeable (though keep in mind the nuence the use of each conveys). However, sometimes this is not the case and only one may be used. I am however, hesitant to attempt to provide specific examples of this. I’d best leave that to a native speaker.:)

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Jay says:

Ninja restaurant sounds cool. I want to go.

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graeme. says:

@bob-san. yes that’s how i generally interpret it these days. however, i feel uncomfortable telling you if its right or wrong as i’m absorbing it all in myself. just passing on what someone passed to me. がんばります!

naomi-sensei. forgive my lack of respect on the previous post addressing you with -san. :dogeza:

(how come i mention the word spam bots and we get flooded. i feel like it’s my fault.  みんなさん ごめんなさい。)

:twisted:

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Jessi says:

Jkidさん, thanks for all of your help with the questions!! :dogeza:

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Kobukuro says:

Does someone has an answer to my question :cry: :oops: ?

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Mayumi says:

Kobukuro-san,

The both sentences have the same meaning! :wink:

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Kobukuro says:

Mayumi-sensei, thank you very much! Now I feel relieved :grin: !

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Naomi says:

Kobukuro-san
Sorry for our late reply. We’re now in the middle of the golden week in Japan. :dogeza:
J-kid-san
Thank you for posting the great answer!!!

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Kobukuro says:

Ahhh, Naomi-sensei… I’m so sorry… I totally forgot your Golden Week :oops: !

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Naomi says:

graeme.-san
Please, don’t apologize!!! San is polite too!

Kobukuro-san
Yesterday was Showa no hi(Day of Showa -holiday) in Japan. :grin: That’s why you’ve got this late reply. I just wanted you know that we didn’t try to ignore your comment. :wink:

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メー says:

なおみ先生、こんにちは

ゴールデンウィークはどこか行きますか? :grin:  連休にして下さい。 :nihon:

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Naomi says:

メー -san
ゴールデンウィークは友達と食事をしたり、買い物をしたり、髪を切ったりします。明日から、ゴールデンウィーク :kokoro: です。 :razz:

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メー says:

いいですね。

こちらはゴールデンウィークみたいな連休もあります。今日から5日までですよ。

Happyです。 :smile:

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besudesu says:

hey everyone!
I don’t leave comments very often, but I thought I would leave a comment to say I tried reading the lesson notes along with this lesson. I think it’s a good idea for reading, but I also like listening to the lesson just by itself to force my ears to pick out the words. Doing both with the same lesson is probably best for me :smile:
I agree with graeme. that hearing the same study tip is getting a little boring. Do you have any more study tips? :kokoro:

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Naomi says:

besudesu-san
Thank you for your feedback. I’ll pass your comment to the audio editing team!! :dogeza:

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tracie says:

I have to look at the lesson notes to learn. I am a visual learner and need to look at the notes in order to absorb the information. I may have to get an ipod touch so I stop wasting so much paper since I print out every lesson I listen to. Thank you.

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Jessi says:

Tracieさん>
Glad to hear you always use the lesson notes :grin: Thanks for the feedback!

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