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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! There are a few topics that come up in conversations all the time. For example, I’ll bet you say things like, “I used to play sports, but I don’t anymore.” What about, “I can’t eat another bite”? When speaking Japanese, sentences constructed like these will become an integral part of your language.

This beginner Japanese lesson is full of critical information. First, it shows you how to conjugate the potential form of verbs, use the Japanese word toki to talk about when events take place. This cool Japanese lesson also presents a helpful review of the often-used particle de. Packed with new information and easy-to-remember reviews, this is one Japanese lesson you can’t do without!

learn Japanese, talking about potentiality in Japanese

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


This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 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.

26 Responses to “Beginner Lesson S4 #45 - What’s Your Japanese Potential?”

JapanesePod101.com says:

みなさん、こんにちは! Tell us about something you can’t do using what you’ve learned!

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giovanni says:

Just a comment on some of the claims you make about learning Japanese and other languages for that matter. This is not strictly about this lesson…

It seems to me that you have been tempted by the dark side of Marketing… When you say: The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Japanese… This for me is spoiling an otherwise very positive experience with Jpod.

I have a question for you. Are you breaking the law? If not in Japan or the US. What about other countries? In Europe the use of superlatives is allowed in the UK, Italy, and, Belgium, but not in France and Germany. In the Netherlands it has to be backed up by factual evidence. China also has some rules about that. How can you prove that yours is the most fun way to learn Japanese?

What about the web? Apparently many companies are starting to introduce some regulations. For example, the “Google Advertising Policies” states that superlatives have to be avoided. It also says that:

“If your ad contains the comparative or subjective phrases ‘best’ or ‘#1,’ verification by a third party must be clearly displayed on your website. Third-party verification must come from someone or some group unrelated to your site; customer testimonials do not constitute third-party verification.”

In short, Google will not allow you to write, “The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Japanese”…

In principle, nobody should be comfortable with advertisers unilaterally declaring themselves better than everyone or everything else, like you do. Maybe, you just need to take it down a notch and allow the possibility that there might be other ways to learn Japanese that are as good or better than Japanesepod.
Somehow it just sounds intollerant. At the very least you show that you are insensitive to other cultures. Certainly does not sound very Japanese…

If breaking the law is not of concern then consider more reasons to avoid using superlatives…

1) superlatives can come across as cheap and cheesy
2) can provoke suspicion in the customers’ mind that you might not have not considered other ways
3) customers will be disappointed if the quality does not live up to the promises
….

“The art of advertisement, after the American manner, has introduced into all our life such a lavish use of superlatives, that no standard of value whatever is intact.” Wyndham Lewis

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toyoyo says:

そうですね。。
この映画はもう一度も見られません。本当にさいあくでした。

How was that? :)

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プチクレア says:

もうお酒が飲めない。酔っぱらいになっちゃったからさ〜:???:

Ok, actually I don’t use this one that often… at least I try not to !!! :cool:

So Shimoyama and Haruya were born in the same district… and one has a “long lost” brother ?… hmmm… lots of possibilities there !…

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Deborah says:

私のけいたいが止められない。=^_^=

Hmmm I’ve heard people say their pet has passed away. But it’s always a very loved pet, and it’s usually said by… like cat ladies and such. My grandma and aunt have talked about their pets passing away.
Is it the same in Japanese or is it never heard?

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Naomi says:

toyoyo-san
Which movie are you talking about? :lol:
プチクレア-san
お酒が好きですか?O-sake ga suki desu ka? :razz:
Deborah -san
So you love talking on your mobile or using your mobile that much? :wink:

Regarding to the usage of a verb なくなる”to pass away”, I don’t think it’s common to use “Nakunaru” for describing animal’s death in Japan. Only case I could think of…is probably talking about the death of a pet one’s superior owns. It’s still a rare case and it sounds funny to me. I don’t recommend that usage. :wink:

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カンチャナ says:

私は買い物を止めらない。毎月買い物をします。買い物は女性の一番好きなことですね。いろいろな服やくつなどを買います。時々買いすぎます。

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カンチャナ says:

先生、質問があります。
1.辛い物を止めらない
2 辛い物が止めらない
3.辛い物は止めらない

どちらは正しいですか。教えてください

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Naomi says:

カンチャナ-san
ああ! 私も買い物がやめられません。I :twisted:
Watashi mo kaimono ga yameraremasen.

辛いものをやめられない、辛いものがやめられない 辛いものはやめられない
全部正しいですよ。 :wink:
But if you want to follow the basic beginner level rule, it should be 辛いもの「が」やめられない.[Karaimono “ga” yamerarenai.]

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メー says:

こんにちはなおみ先生、

私は旅行がやめられないです。毎月友達とどこかぜひ旅行したいです。先月タイの南にある島に行きました。来週の土日は海岸へ行きます。7月にHongkongで旅行する予定です。 :grin:

How should I say “can’t stop doing something” in Japanese?
for example,I can stop missing you :kokoro: ., I can’t stop laughing..

よろしくお願いします。 :dogeza:

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Keith says:

あの写真が韓国料理みたいな~ おいしそうね~  :mrgreen:
ぼくはねることをやめられない!
Is that right? :smile:

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shannon says:

I don’t know why, but the sound effects are decibals greater than the dialogue. It really hurts my ears to listen on headphones at work. Sorry!

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Deborah says:

Naomi-
The truth is, I don’t talk on my phone very much. But I always get lost, so I couldn’t live without Google Maps on my phone. And I wander away from my friends when we go shopping, so it’s really really bad if I forget my phone. And I also always read Wikipedia or listen to music when I’m bored and waiting around. So if I leave my phone, I’m at a complete loss → (;´Д`)

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プチクレア says:

Naomi先生

実はお酒があまり好きじゃないです。でも友達と遊んでいる時に少し飲みます。

But the sentence sounded funny… I should probably think twice ( at the very least) before posting… :roll:

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Naomi says:

メー-san
>>How should I say “can’t stop doing something” in Japanese?
for example,I can stop missing you :kokoro: ., I can’t stop laughing..
→Well, the direct translation would be something like … ーするのをとめる(or やめる)ことができない。
However it may not sound very natural. I think for “can’t stop doing”, we use a different phrase, such as “~ ga tomaranai” or ” adjective +te shikatanai or te tamaranai.”
:grin:

Keith-san
Hey, Kim Keith! Thanks for posting!!! :cool:

shannon -san
>>>I don’t know why, but the sound effects are decibals greater than the dialogue. It really hurts my ears to listen on headphones at work.
→I’m listening to the dialogue track again…It sounds OK to me though. Well… at least dialogue sound is much louder than the sound effect… I’m not familiar with the audio system so I’ll report to the Audio team. See what they can do for you.

Deborah-san
わかりました。I see. :smile:
By the way I liked this face! →(;´Д`)   :lol:

プチクレア-san
Great sentence!!
If you insert は after 時に, it sounds even more natural.
友達と遊んでいる(or 遊ぶ)ときに「は」少し飲みます。 :wink:

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メー says:

直美先生、 :dogeza:

ありがとうございました。

for example、
can’t stop laughing =
「笑うのがとまらない。」 or 「笑ってとまらない。」

正しいですか?

難しい。。 :roll:

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Naomi says:

Probably…
笑うのをとめることができない
笑うのをやめられない
would be the direct translation.
But more natural phrase would be
笑いがとまらない [ Noun + ga tomaranai]
→I think grammar belongs to Lower Intermediate. :wink:

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David Carlton says:

In the second line, why is it 食べれません? I would have expected it to be 食べられません.

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David Carlton says:

Whoops, never mind, I see the answer in the lesson notes!

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Liz21 says:

こんにちは!
Just a couple of notes about the Learning Center:

In the Audio Vocabulary for this lesson, it should be “kuni”, not “koni”. Also, I was surprised to see Chile written as “ちり” instead of “ちれ”。Or “チリ” instead of チレ。 :shock:

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Jessi says:

Liz21さん>
Thanks for catching that! It should indeed be “kuni”. As for チリ, that is the actual name/pronunciation of Chile in Japanese :wink:

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gibosi says:

A small mistake in the Lesson Notes I believe. In the dialog, ぺらぺら話せる。 But in the discussion under the particle で、べらべら話せる。 ぺらぺら (perapera) implies fluency, but べらべら (berabera) implies mindless chatter.

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Jessi says:

gibosiさん> Thanks for catching that! It probably should have been ぺらぺら since that’s what was used in the dialog, but apparently べらべら can also be used in the same way as ぺらぺら when talking about foreign languages. But to avoid further confusion, I’ll fix it!

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yukiko says:

Minna-san kon’nichi wa :smile:

Watashi wa, amai mono to Nihongo no benkyou o shimasu ga yameraremasen :kokoro:

mata ne

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Mayumi says:

yukiko-san,

Very nice sample sentence! It’s amazing that you can’t stop learning Japanese! “amai mono to Nihongo no benkyou ga yameraremasen” would be perfect! :wink:

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Wai Huan says:

私も日本語の勉強が止められません! :grin:

では、また!

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