Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! As you wait in line at the florist, you listen to the conversation in Japanese between the clerk and the customer in front of you in line. The customer says in Japanese, “I need to take some flowers to the hospital.” You think to yourself in Japanese, “Great! I can learn something from what this customer picks out.” The clerk says in Japanese, “Do you know which flowers you want?” The customer responds in Japanese, “Well, the person is very, very sick, so I want to spend a little more money and get something nice.” The clerk asks in Japanese, “What is your relationship to the person in the hospital?” You wonder out loud in Japanese, “What difference does that make?” The customer in front of you turns around, glares at you, and says in Japanese, “Different flowers have different meanings…for example, white flowers mean friendship. Don’t you know anything?”
Learning Japanese with JapanesePod101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Japanese! This Japanese Beginner lesson will show you how to form some basic Japanese expressions you can use while shopping. We’ll also review how to use modifying clauses in Japanese. Visit us at JapanesePod101.com where you will find many more fantastic Japanese lessons and learning resources! Leave us a message while you are there!

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Beginner Season 5 . 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 S5 #4 - I Could Use Some Help Shopping in Japan!”
Monday at 6:30 pm
みなさん, In this lesson we’re reviewing two really important grammar points - んです and modifying clauses! It’s a lot of information, so please ask us your questions here!
Monday at 11:31 pm
My 8th grade son has a Japanese friend and has been listening to Japanesepod101 so that he can speak with him. It has been very useful.
Tuesday at 3:05 am
Thank you for these lessons; I enjoy them very much!
Tuesday at 4:12 am
You guys are awesome!
Tuesday at 5:06 am
I love how you put the whole conversation at the end again, so I can see how much I’ve learned!
Tuesday at 5:40 am
And congratulations to 晴夜さん !
Tuesday at 7:04 am
Lol, Peter- your wife gets touchy if you say 奥さん、ですね?
Tuesday at 9:25 am
みなさん,
Thank you for all your comments! We’re really glad to seeing that you are enjoying this series
Tuesday at 1:17 pm
コメントありがとうございます。
Tuesday at 2:48 pm
GREAT LESSON!
This answers many questions I’ve had. I also like Peter’s point at the end, but I don’t really understand that yet, I guess you need to be around people speaking it a lot to see that for yourself….
It’s also very interesting how Japanese is actually “talked” where everything is inferred all the time.
I still have a big question but this is a good time to ask. Since no one ever says what they really mean, how do people communicate?
Are there ever times when you’d say
Naomi: I would like a day off but….
Peter: So would I
Naomi: Next Friday is my birthday, so….
Peter: Oh, congratulations.
Naomi: I wish I could leave early on Friday….
Peter: へ・・・・
Do people ever ask multiple questions to get a more direct answer? The way we do in America?
Officer: What’s that?
Captain: The thing ahead?
Officer: Yes, in front.
Captain: You mean by the hill?
Officer: Yes, under the tree.
Captain: It looks like a piñata.
Officer: No I meant the sniper under the other tree.
I forget what this is called “run around”, it was in another lesson a long time ago, can’t remember which either. So in a conversation is it standard to be as vague as possible and then each person plays 20 questions to find out what the other is trying to tell them?
Tuesday at 4:00 pm
-んですが or -んですけど. I rather like this and I suppose we outsiders find it frustrating at times, but I find a different sort of relationship ends up happening, one that I have found as a visitor rather inviting, more than frustrating, especially if I let go of my usual habits of communicating. I think if one is not accustomed to the rhythm of implication it can be difficult, but I find after a while in Japan that it’s quite comfortable. You listen and interact differently, perhaps more intimately. These lessons are a big help, and offer very good insights. おつかれさまでした!
Wednesday at 10:06 am
J です-san
People leave off the sentence when they don’t want to hurt someone’s feeling or sound pushy. So there are certain sentence patterns used for inferring something.
>>Since no one ever says what they really mean, how do people communicate?
●–んですけど or –んだけど is often used to ask someone to do something.
●You’ve also learned — は ちょっと to refuse something, have you?(In case you are not familiar with …wa chotto is introduced in Newbie lesson season 3 lesson 5.
However, you wisely pointed out, there are some times when people don’t get what the speaker really mean.
So your sample conversation between me and Peter could happen, if Peter was not a very sensitive person or he was teasing me.
About your second question, “はい”-yes, we do ask multiple questions to get a more direct answer. BTW, your sample conversation was so おもしろい funny!
You can be a great story writer.
Stanley M-san
ありがとうございます!
Wednesday at 8:15 pm
I just want to say thank you again for all of the practical lessons. I have been to Japan now 3 times for several weeks at a time. I haven’t had the opportunity to take any formal Japanese training. However, I have listened to many lessons here, including the Survival Phrases. By using these lessons, I have had many native Japanese speakers ask me where I have studied. They are usually surprised when I mention that I have learned from a Podcast. I tell everyone of my co-workers to check out your website. I even have nieces and nephews in there teens who now want to learn Japanese so that we can speak together. THANKS AGAIN
Thursday at 9:50 am
Ronさん,
Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much for your comment! I’m happy to hear that you had a lot of luck with the phrases you learned in the Survival Phrases series
Thursday at 3:14 pm
あああ・・・今は分かります、ありがとう
These phrases are still tricky, I’ll need to listen to this again, good thing it’s a podcast
Glad you liked the “script” haha, maybe one day I can write a story more than 7 lines long
Saturday at 2:45 pm
今までに、あまりコメントー(?)しなかった、でも今からコメントーをして頑張ります!Japanesepod101おかげで、日本で住んでいるはもっと易しいです。
この会話にありがとうございます!
日本の高校生チェルシから。
Monday at 9:47 am
Chelseaさん,
コメントありがとうございます!
これからもよろしくお願いします
Tuesday at 10:34 pm
Sensei
How to announce baby birth officially to the office boss and customers? And How to announce the same to the friends casually or in funny way? Is there any podcast lesson deals this issue?
Thanks
Sivasakthivel
Wednesday at 10:43 am
Sivasakthivel -san
If so, おめでとうございます。
もしかして・・・?Sivasakthivel-さんに、お子さんができました?
I think the most common way to announce the baby birth is 「子どもがうまれました。(Kodomo ga umare mashita. ) (Translation; A baby was born.)
I don’t know the casual or funny way to tell the baby birth though. How would you say in English?
Thursday at 12:24 pm
Sensei
Not yet.. Not yet. I will definitely update Jpod-san about the baby once it is born.
Anyway ありがとう ございます
I meant funny way means *We are hearing baby sound from xxx day”. or ” We have increased the family count”. or “Our angel has come”.. Like that..
Thursday at 1:54 pm
Sivasakthivel-san
The phrases I can think of right now are…
「家族がふえました」The number of my family members was increased.
「新しい家族ができました」 I had a new family member.
「コウノトリがやってきました」 Stork(Ciconia) has arrived.
Friday at 12:14 pm
こんにちはみなさん、
To answer Naomi’s question first, I commented two days ago. I think?
I use the “Fast Track to Fluency Checklist” so step 3. Practice requires me to comment on the lesson.
Well, I should try to use what was reviewed.
男に子はお母さんと話しています:
男の子:コンサートへ行きたいんですが...
お母さん:そうですか。部屋をそうじしましたか?
男の子:はい!でも、私が昨日食べたピザが部屋にまだありますよ。
How did I do with this one? My biggest problem was the last sentence (I think).
I didn’t know where to put まだ , at first I put it before 私 but then I felt that was
strange since I wanted to say “Still exists,” so I switched it to precede ある. Was I right?
じゃあ、またね〜
Monday at 9:34 am
Alex-san
ありがとうございます!
The place you put まだ is quite flexible.
So your sentence is perfect, but the sentence you were going to write was also perfect.
Wednesday at 8:43 pm
When am I meant to use 色い and when am I meant to use 色?
In other words, does it matter if I say 黄色い instead of 黄色?
Thursday at 5:47 pm
テレントさん
黄色 is a noun, meaning “a color of yellow” and 黄色い is an adjective “yellow.”
We originally use 黄色 and 黄色のsomething but we have adjectives of other basic colors, like 赤 and 赤い, so people made the adjectival word 黄色い.
You need to think about using them according to the rules of adjectives and nouns.
I hope this helps.
Thursday at 7:21 pm
Thanks Motoko, I can finally understand it now.
Sunday at 2:59 pm
Hey i’m a little confused with this sentance
Kono orenji iro no mo ninki ga arimasu yo.
SHouldn’t there be more than one no? As one is for the adjective ‘orenji iro’ and the other is the ‘one’?
Thanks
Saturday at 5:11 am
are these sentence right
kakateiru sono hito
koko ni kakateiru sono hito
koko de kakateiru hito
hito ga kakateiru asoko
Modifying Clauses at japanese language can work with transitive and intransitive verbs
Friday at 2:44 am
can i use “desu” when modifying clauses
like
suki desu hana wa chūrippu to bara desu.
jouzu desu gengo wa eigo to arabiago desu.
+++++
modifying clauses work when transitive verbs, and intransitive verbs
doa ga aku.
aku doa.
++++++
what is difference here & which are right
tsukuru hatsume wa ninkouchinou to iu.
sono hatsume o tsukurareu ninkouchinou to iu.
hatsume o tsukurareu ninkouchinou.
hatsume o tsukurareu on wa ninkouchino to iu.
Friday at 11:53 am
wael-san,
In relative/modifying clause, we use plain forms and -na form for na-adectives.
suki na hana
jozu/tokui na gengo would be fine.
++
You can use transitive/intransitive verbs.
ex) Watashi ga aketa doa “the door which I opened”
Jidoo de aku doa ga arimasu. “There is a door which automatically opens.
++
The appropriate one would be;
Tsukutta hatsumei-hin wa jinkoo chinoo to iimasu.
(Watashi ga)tsukutta sono hatsumei-hin wa jinkoo chinoo to iimasu.
I hope this helps.
Friday at 1:03 pm
what about “desu” in modifying clause
asoko shinyuu desu shito .
asoko tomodachi desu shito wa shinyuu desu.
asoko wa tomodachi desu shinyuu desu.
Monday at 12:09 pm
wael-san,
When we use a ~desu sentence as modifying clause, we change it into ~no
ex)Petto ga inu no hito ga suki desu.
“(Lit.) I like someone whose pet is a dog.”
But We usually use verb/adj ending sentences as modifying clause.
ex)Inu o katte iru hito ga suki desu.
“I like people who keeps dogs as a pet.)
Please check out the basic rules on this Lesson Notes and Beginner Season4 Lesson49, as well.
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