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Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! You’re trying to be polite at the reception for your Japanese company, but you cannot bring yourself to eat what’s on your plate until you find out what it is. It bears a strong resemblance to the mystery meat you used to eat back when you were attended grade school in Japan. The person next to you is eating the pile of goo, so you whisper a question in Japanese, trying to find out what it is, but the person mishears you and begins talking to you about work in Japanese.
In this lesson, you will learn how to ask what something is in Japanese. The conversation takes place between three distant family members at one of their homes; therefore, they speak formal Japanese. We’ll also teach you vocabulary that will allow you to praise someone 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, May 23rd, 2011 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Absolute Beginner Season 1 . 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.
73 Responses to “Absolute Beginner #11 - What is This Delicious Japanese Dish?”
at 6:30 pm
After this lesson, you’ll be able to ask what something is with NO problems!
at 10:46 pm
Hai, sou desu!
at 5:41 am
いただきます。うん。おいしいです。りょさん、これはなんですか。
ようかんです。
:)
at 8:44 am
I probably missed the lesson but what did the announcer say after: mou ichi do
at 12:21 pm
Sarah-san
Thank you for letting us know.
Instructions used for beginner lessons are inserted by accident.
Since it has a way advanced grammar in the instruction, we have replaced them with English instructions.
For your information, the announcement said mou ichido (once again) kaiwa o (conversation) kiitekudasai (please listen) = “Let’s listen to the conversation again.”
at 3:14 pm
Aさん:それは何ですか。
Bさん:それはゆかたです。
at 8:46 am
Konnichiwa,JapanesePod101.Watashi wa Ana-san desu.Anata wa awesome and I’m glad I found this site.I have one qustion,what is the diference between nan and nani and how I know which one to use when?Arigato gozaimasu.
at 2:03 am
Aさん: あのう、すみません!
Bさん: はい?
Aさん: これはなんですか。
Bさん: これはイギリスのクッキーです。
Aさん: うああ、すごくおいしいです!
Bさん: ありがとうございます。
at 6:13 am
あのうすみません
はい
これはなんですか
本です
それはなんですか
私の車です
ありがとうございます
at 2:06 pm
Ana-san,
Kon’nichiwa.Good Point.
There are the basic rules;
1)When the question word indicates the number or amount of the following word, it is called ‘nan’
e.g. Nan-ji desu ka.
“What time is it?”
2)When the question word indicates the content or detailed information, it is called ‘nani.’
e.g. Nani-iro ga suki desu ka.
“What color do you like?”
But there are also lots of exceptions.
Please study the readings step by step when you see them.
I hope this helps.
トーマスさん、かるびんさん
こんにちは。
とてもいいですね
at 5:03 am
ちらしずしは何ですか。What is chirashizushi? :???:
at 12:04 pm
ZhenNingさん
good question.
ちらしずし is a kind of sushi.
ちらし means “to sprinkle” and ずし is the connected form of sushi.
We put rice on the bowl first, then sprinkle the ingredients on it, like slices of raw fish, shredded fried eggs, and seaweed.
It looks gorgeous so that some family have it for special occasion.
I hope this helps.
at 10:55 am
the link wont play this lesson
at 5:06 pm
Hi muzamuki-san,
I would like to suggest clearing the cookies and cache of your browser, and then trying to play the audio file again. If, after this, you are still having issues, please let us know more details about the problem (are you receiving an error message?)
Thank you!
at 11:58 am
Thank you so much for the audio! At first, i thought it would be a lot more difficult to understand, but listening to the audio helped me very much. The lesson notes also helped me a lot. Domo arigato gozaimasu! Kansha shimasu.
at 12:50 pm
Hi Tess,
I’m glad that you are enjoying your lessons. If you need any help, we are always here to answer any questions you might have.
Stefania/JapanesePod101.com
at 10:42 am
I do have one question- what would you say if you wanted to describe what you are talking about, or asking a question about? Like if i wanted to ask: “is this spicy food?”, once i figure out how to say “spicy”, where would i insert this in a sentence? I was wondering if there was a lesson that covers this.
at 11:34 am
Tessさん
“Spicy” is 辛い (karai). If you wanted to ask “Is this food spicy?”, you would say: これは辛いですか? (kore wa karai desu ka?) or この料理は辛いですか? (kono ryouri wa karai desu ka?)
Please check out the following lessons for how to use adjectives in questions:
Beginner Lesson #4 - Me Too! And Asking Questions
Newbie Lesson S2 #14 - Nihongo Dōjō - A Japanese Double Mac Attack
at 10:16 am
Thank you! I thought it might be something like kono ryouri wa karai desu ka, but i just wanted to verify.
at 4:02 pm
Tess-san,
Now you can actually use it then!
at 12:19 am
Hi,
I just love your audio clips? Could you tell me what is the difference between “Sore wa nan desu ka?” and “Are wa nan desu ka?”
at 6:29 pm
James-san
“sore wa nan desu ka” is when you want to know “what it is” AND this “what” can be near to the person whom you’re talking to. Another possibility is that “what” is something the other speaker/hearer has already mentioned and you don’t know what it is.
“Are wa nan desu ka” is when you ask “what is that” with target object far from you AND hearer. This “far” could be distant “far” or time “far” (long time ago).
For now, you can remember that “sore” is near to the hearer and “are” is far from both you and hearer.
Hope it helps!
at 2:33 am
みんさんこんいちわ!
ジェフリイです。
ko-so-a ことば。
ーこれ、-それ、-あれ
-this,-that,-that(over there; far from the speaker)
at 6:36 am
Great job, guys! I love speaking Japanese. Although, I have one question. How do you print the Kanji Close-up sheet?
at 5:30 pm
> ジェフリイさん
はい、そのとおりです!
> Lanie-san

Thank you for your comment!
This series does not include the Kanji Closeup PDFs, since we don’t cover kanji. But you can find them in the other series
I also recommend checking out this page: http://www.japanesepod101.com/japanese-kanji/
at 8:20 am
皆さん、こんばんは! Good evening everyone!
I was wondering about a sentence in the lesson notes: それは、日本茶ですか。 / sore wa, nihon-cha desu ka?
Would using ‘no’ sound strange? 日本の茶 / nihon no cha? Hmm, I haven’t reached the lessons about adjectives yet
Also I would like to say, I really enjoy the lessons a lot. I’m a bit slow, but will truely continue, loving Japanese so much! ^_^
at 5:28 pm
Rose-san,
we’re happy to know that you’re enjoying our lessons!!
Wow, you haven’t reached the lessons about adjectives and yet you are really good!
Yes; you can say 日本の茶 / nihon no cha.
The difference between 「日本茶」and「日本の(お)茶」is that, while 日本茶 means simply “Japanese tea”, 日本の(お)茶 means “tea from Japan” or “tea of Japan”.
「の」 is used to link two words just like “of” in Englsih.
Hope this helps!
at 11:24 am
Ohayou gozaimasu!
May i know what is the difference between “nihon-cha” and “nihon no cha”?
Arigatou gozaimasu.
at 3:48 pm
Caprice-san,

Rose-san asked us the same question earlier
Please refer to my answer posted right above your question
Hope that answers your question too!
Nihon-cha usually refers to green tea.
Natsuko/JapanesePod101.com
at 4:24 pm
こんいちわ!
すみません for not noticing it. It was helpful though i have a follow ip question for that.
If nihon cha = japanese tea, nihon no cha = tea of japanese; then can i say, nihon okashi for japanese sweets and not nihon no okashi? (if i remember corretly that was thought in the previous lessons)
ありがとうございます!
at 6:48 pm
Caprice-san,
“Nihon cha” is a kind of special exception. You should say “nihon no okashi” - or alternatively, the word that’s most commonly used is “wagashi” (和菓子), which means the same thing.
at 7:13 pm
Thank you Kat-san!
at 4:08 pm
Caprice-san,
)
You’re welcome (says Kat
Natsuko/JapanesePod101.com
at 7:00 am
Hello. I was wondering- what if i know what something is, but want to narrow it down. For instance, I see someone walking by with their dog, which i know is “inu”. I know that they have a dog, but i’m not sure what kind of dog they have. I want to ask them “What kind of dog is this?” or something along the lines of that. How exactly would i ask this? Thank you1
at 6:16 pm
Tess-san,
If you want to ask “what kind of dog is this?”, it’d be “kore wa nani ken desu ka”. This kind of question might vary depending on “what” you’re asking about.
If there’s any other kinds that you want to know, please feel free to ask here!
Natsuko(奈津子)/JapanesePod101.com
at 8:10 am
ok so sometimes when i answer the questions it’s saying it’s wrong even though it is right… and then when i click on the answer please… its the same thing i typed but the way it is set on here is typed different…
for example when the kana would say “Are” my answer would be “that (one over there)”… and it marks it wrong and then i check the answer and it is typed “that(one over there)”… so the only difference is i put a space… doesn’t make since… lol
at 4:16 pm
chanelle-san,
You’re right. I’m really sorry about that. We will look into it. Thank you!
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 1:55 am
Arigatōgozaimasu. Kore wa sugoi!
These lessons are just incredible!
at 1:04 pm
William-san,
Douitashimashite!
We’re so glad you’re enjoying them and finding them useful!
Kat/Team JapanesePod101.com
at 11:50 am
Hi chanelle,
This issue has been fixed, thanks for your patience!
Jessi
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 7:01 pm
lol the first time i heard the dialog i was afraid cuz’ i thought it will be difficult cuz’ the way that kauri said sugoi was a little bit different !!! like oooooh waaaah sugoi! but thanks to jessi_san and naomi_san they made it easy to understand am so happy i visited this site
at 7:42 pm
rania-san,
Glad to know that!!
Thank you very much for feedback!
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 7:38 am
Mina-san, konbanwa!
I have 2 questions about a what Natsuko-sensei gave as translation for “what kind of dog is this?”:
“kore wa nani ken desu ka”
1. Could i use “inu” here instead of “ken”? Are they synonyms?
2. Is “Kore inu/ken wa nan desu ka” also correct?
at 4:25 pm
Tekkuro-san konbanwa!
Good point!
A1. Unfortunately ‘inu’ cannot be used in this sentence. Both of inu and ken means “dog” but ‘nani ken’ means “what kind of dog” as a phrase. This is from the way we call the types of dogs, for example, Akita-ken, Shiba-ken. Although you would have heard Akita-inu and Shiba-inu, -inu isn’t applied to the phrase “what kind of…”.
A2. So the best phrase is “Kore wa nani-ken desu ka?”
I hope this helps!
Motoko / Team JapanesePod101.com
at 7:15 am
Wakarimashita! Motoko-sensei arigatô gozaimashita!
at 2:46 pm
Tekkuro-san kon’nichiwa
Iie, dou itashimashite!
Please feel free to ask any other questions.
Motoko / Team JapanesePod101.com
at 1:13 am
Kon’nichiwa! I was wondering, now that I know you cannot use “inu” as a substitute for “ken” in a sentence such as: “kore wa nani ken desu ka?”. Although, if I wanted to ask a question exactly like this, only using the word “cat” instead, what would it be?
at 10:12 pm
いただきます!
(Haven’t tried Japanese ones, though…)
すしはおいしいです。
あれはなに魚ですか?
またね、皆さん。
タカト
at 10:57 pm
I really like these lessons. Thank you so much for your hard work
at 2:39 pm
> Tess-san,
that would be “kore wa nani neko desu ka?” We don’t have another way to say “neko”, so no fuss there
> Rinkuki Takato さん、

すしはおいしいですね!!
おすしやさんで、魚の種類を聞く時は、「あれは、なんの魚ですか」という聞き方もできますよ
魚は、よく「なんの魚」という言い方をしますね。これは、犬や猫と違って、魚は料理して
食べますから、どんな料理をしているかを言う時に「焼き魚」や「煮魚」という言い方をするためです。
「○○魚」という言い方が、料理によく使われるので、魚の種類を聞く時に、違う言い方をする人が
多いのかもしれません
> Terry-san,
thank you very much for a kind comment!!
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 9:02 pm
奈津子さん、
あの。。。すみません、but aside from the sushi one, I don’t understand… I haven’t learned Kanji or vocabulary by much. Okay, maybe close to none.
では、ありがとうございます。
タカト
at 5:30 pm
タカトさん、
I forgot English translation!
あぁぁ、すみません!
You can also say “are wa nan no sakana desu ka” when you ask what kind of
fish it is at sushi restaurants.
We often use “nan no sakana” when we speak about fish. This is because,
unlike dogs and cats, we eat fish cooked in various different ways
like “grilled fish” or “boiled fish”.
Since we use “XX zakana/sakana” to mention cooked fish, many of us might
be using different expression when we want to know the kind of fish
おそくなってすみません
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 1:29 pm
You guys are the best!
at 5:31 pm
Andrew-san,
wow, thank you very much!!
well, actually, YOU are the best, being such a nice listener of ours!
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 9:45 pm
奈津子さん、
いええ、だいじょうぶ。
本当にありがとうございます。
またね。
タカト
at 2:58 pm
タカトさん、
どういたしまして
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 3:34 am
Kombowa JapanesePod, I am so glad that I have found this website. Within a week of finding it I can fluently introduce myself. Ariagato Gozimas!
at 9:32 pm
Bluemoonhero-san,
Please do not hesitate to ask any questions, okay?
and we’re so glad you found us!!!
Fancy continueing your study with us? Sure, right!?
We’re looking forward to seeing your passionated comments and/or questions
here!
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 2:04 pm
“Igirusu no kukkī wa oishii.” - for this one, is it ok not to insert “desu” at the end of the sentence? thanks…
at 8:00 pm
Eloisa-san,
Sure!
If you leave “desu” out, it becomes informal, but it’s still correct.
In casual conversation, you can use your sentence without “desu”
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 11:53 pm
Konnichiwa
I’ve started learning Japanese about a week ago (thanks to Hiroko-san
) so my question may be a bit funny.
Japanese is the third foreign language I’d like to master.I learned English and German almost on my own with very little help.I usually start learning with words and translation.Japanese is different.I would like to memorize as many words as I can but it seems to me that without learning the proper way of writing it’s not a good idea…I mean,Romaji is not enough in real life.I’ve just begun to study the Hiraganas…I’d like to use the Japanese Words Core list.I’m a bit confused because the words written in Japanese contain not just Kana but also Kanji symbols (am I right?).How should I learn words? What do you recommend? Should I learn to write them without knowing the meaning of the Kanjis? I’m so much Waku Waku suru
Thank You for your help.
at 10:12 pm
Attila-san,
wow, third foreign languages now?
That’s very exciting and also brilliant!!
Well, I completely understand your confusion; Japanese is a very unique
language, so studying Japanese without much help might be difficult.
But no worries! We’re here to help you!
As to writings, if you can learn kana and kanji (with as much time as
you need, of course), that’d be the best. But memorising all of them
without knowing the meanings might be more than just “challenging”…
So, it might be better if you focus on kana first, and then start kanji
little by little. For now, when you see kanji, you can either ignore it, or
just keep it in your mind. When you learn kanji, you’ll find it quite
interesting
We have lesson dialogs’ scripts on the Lesson Notes, offered in kana version,
roma-ji version and English translation. Learning words from scripts might
be helpful too! Since you’ll understand the meanings with background/context,
together with how to write!
Hope we can help and assist you with any kind of questions, so please feel free
to ask us! And, keep “waku waku suru”
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 11:26 pm
Thank You Natsuko-san.
I’ve watched some videos about Kanji on Youtube. Hiroko’s Kanji Corner videos of course
I like the way she explains the meaning and the origin of the Kanji symbols.I think that learning Kanji helps to understand the Japanese way of thinking and the Japanese culture as well.Really interesting.Like an ancient tale.
Thank You.
Attila
at 12:49 am
Attila-san,

thank you very much for the feedback! That’s lovely; you liked our
video on Youtube too!
Hope you’ll continue enjoying with us
And, of course, you’re always welcome for questions!
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 9:33 am
What is the difference between “Non desu ka?” as you give us in the .pdf notes, and “kore wa non desu ka?” as you say in the audio lesson? Is the “kore wa” not necessary sometimes?
arigato goziemas
at 11:01 pm
Brent-san,
“nan desu ka” means “what’s this/that?” and “kore wa” means “this (is)”.
You can drop “kore wa”. And also, you can use “nan desu ka” to ask what
someone wants to say. Like when someone calls your name, you can answer “what?”
right? That’s “nan desu ka” in Japanese and it’s not too blunt
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 1:28 am
Arigato !!!
at 6:59 pm
konnichowa ! hai , what is difference b/t oishii and omai ? onegaishimasu
at 9:51 pm
> lewis oliver san,
dou itashimashite!
> ijazshagufta-san,
“oishii” is the standard way to say something is “delicious”.
“umai” is very colloquial version of “oishii”.
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 2:34 pm
hai arigato gozaimasu .
at 5:28 pm
ijazshagufta-san,
dou itashimashite
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
at 5:41 am
what is the difference of sore and are??thanks!!
at 2:20 pm
Myca-san,
“sore” means something is near to the person you speak to (not near to you),
or something is a bit far from both of you and the person you’re talking to.
“are” means something is far away from both of you; “that thing over there”.
Hope this helps!
Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com