Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Jessi: The object of your desire and more Japanese particle が (ga).
Naomi: こんにちは、ナオミです。(Kon’nichiwa, Naomi desu.)
Jessi: Jessi here.
Naomi: ようこそ。(Yōkoso.)
Jessi: What did we study in the previous lesson?
Naomi: The particles は (wa) and が (ga) in when used in questions.
Jessi: For example?
Naomi: これは何ですか。(Kore wa nan desu ka.) “What is this?”
どのバスが空港に行きますか。(Dono basu ga kūkō ni ikimasu ka.) “Which bus goes to the airport?”
Jessi: So what are we covering in this lesson?
Naomi: The usage of the particle が (ga).
Jessi: Keiko Sato and Akira Tanaka are colleagues and they’re having a barbecue in the park with their families. Keiko’s husband has just arrived, and now he is introducing himself to Mr. Tanaka. Who is in the conversation?
Naomi: 田中明さんと佐藤さんの旦那さん、それから佐藤ジュン君。(Tanaka Akira-san to Satō-san no danna-san, sorekara Satō Jun-kun.)
Jessi: So we have Akira Tanaka, Keiko Sato’s husband and Jun Sato.
Naomi: 佐藤ジュンくんは佐藤さんの息子です。(Satō Jun-kun wa Satō-san no musuko desu.)
Jessi: So Jun is Keiko’s son. OK. Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
佐藤順: あ、来た来た。パパー!こっちこっち!(A, kita kita. Papā! Kotchi kotchi!)
佐藤(夫): すみません。遅れました。はじめまして。佐藤です。(Sumimasen. Okuremashita. Hajimemashite. Satō desu.)
田中明: はじめまして、田中です。さあ、どうぞ。(Hajimemashite, Tanaka desu. Sā, dōzo.)
: 何を飲みますか。(Nani o nomimasu ka.)
佐藤(夫): えっと・・・冷たいものが飲みたいです。(Etto… tsumetai mono ga nomitai desu.)
: ビール、ありますか。(Bīru, arimasu ka.)
佐藤順:パパー。僕、おしっこがしたい。(Papā. Boku, oshikko ga shitai.)
佐藤(夫): ええ?ママは?(Ee? Mama wa?)
佐藤順: パパがいい。(Papa ga ii.)
佐藤(夫):そうか。わかった。(Sō ka. Wakatta.)
田中明:あ、すぐそこにトイレがあります。(A, sugu soko ni toire ga arimasu.)
: たぶん、お金が必要です。(Tabun, o-kane ga hitsuyō desu.)
もう一度お願いします。今度はゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do onegai shimasu. Kondo wa yukkuri onegai shimasu.)
佐藤順: あ、来た来た。パパー!こっちこっち!(A, kita kita. Papā! Kotchi kotchi!)
佐藤(夫): すみません。遅れました。はじめまして。佐藤です。(Sumimasen. Okuremashita. Hajimemashite. Satō desu.)
田中明: はじめまして、田中です。さあ、どうぞ。(Hajimemashite, Tanaka desu. Sā, dōzo.)
: 何を飲みますか。(Nani o nomimasu ka.)
佐藤(夫): えっと・・・冷たいものが飲みたいです。(Etto… tsumetai mono ga nomitai desu.)
: ビール、ありますか。(Bīru, arimasu ka.)
佐藤順:パパー。僕、おしっこがしたい。(Papā. Boku, oshikko ga shitai.)
佐藤(夫): ええ?ママは?(Ee? Mama wa?)
佐藤順: パパがいい。(Papa ga ii.)
佐藤(夫):そうか。わかった。(Sō ka. Wakatta.)
田中明:あ、すぐそこにトイレがあります。(A, sugu soko ni toire ga arimasu.)
: たぶん、お金が必要です。(Tabun, o-kane ga hitsuyō desu.)
今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.)
佐藤順: あ、来た来た。パパー!こっちこっち!(A, kita kita. Papā! Kotchi kotchi!)
Jessi: Here he comes! Daaad! Over here!
佐藤(夫): すみません。遅れました。はじめまして。佐藤です。(Sumimasen. Okuremashita. Hajimemashite. Satō desu.)
Jessi: I'm sorry I'm late. Nice to meet you! I'm Sato.
田中明: はじめまして、田中です。さあ、どうぞ。(Hajimemashite, Tanaka desu. Sā, dōzo.)
Jessi: Nice to meet you, I'm Tanaka. Please have a seat.
: 何を飲みますか。(Nani o nomimasu ka.)
Jessi: What would you like to drink?
佐藤(夫): えっと・・・冷たいものが飲みたいです。(Etto… tsumetai mono ga nomitai desu.)
Jessi: Hmm, I'd like to drink something cold.
: ビール、ありますか。(Bīru, arimasu ka.)
Jessi: Do you have any beer?
佐藤順:パパー。僕、おしっこがしたい。(Papā. Boku, oshikko ga shitai.)
Jessi: Dad, I have to go to the restroom.
佐藤(夫): ええ?ママは?(Ee? Mama wa?)
Jessi: Eh? What about Mom?
佐藤順: パパがいい。(Papa ga ii.)
Jessi: I want you to come with me!
佐藤(夫):そうか。わかった。(Sō ka. Wakatta.)
Jessi: Oh, all right.
田中明:あ、すぐそこにトイレがあります。(A, sugu soko ni toire ga arimasu.)
Jessi: Oh, there's a restroom over there.
: たぶん、お金が必要です。(Tabun, o-kane ga hitsuyō desu.)
Jessi: It probably requires money.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Jessi: Now, here’s a warning! If you are eating while listening please stop the audio! We don’t want you to lose your appetite.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.)(笑)
Jessi: Well, maybe it’s not that bad! (笑)
Naomi: In the dialogue there was the word おしっこ (oshikko).
Jessi: Right, which means “pee.” Do you use this word in daily conversation?
Naomi: Good question….Not that often, but I’d probably use it when talking to a little kid.
It’s not a bad word or anything, actually. It’s just very direct so people usually try to avoid using it.
Jessi: Mm, I see. This is a noun, and to make it a verb you have to add する (suru) or をする (o suru).
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Exactly. So that would be おしっこをする (oshikko o suru) or おしっこする (oshikko suru).

Lesson focus

Naomi In this lesson, you'll learn more about the particle が (ga).
Jessi: Right. Before, we learned how to use が (ga) in some other lessons. What we will do is review those usages and introduce some new ones as well.
Naomi: OK. So let’s get started.
Jessi: We’re going to start with a review.
In lesson 2, we learned that が (ga) marks the object for verbs of ability.
Naomi: Right. For example, わたしは中国語が話せる。(Watashi wa Chūgoku-go ga hanaseru.)
Jessi: “I can speak Chinese.” 私 (watashi) is the topic or subject of this sentence so it’s marked by the particle は (wa).
話せる (hanaseru) is the potential form of the verb 話す (hanasu), “to speak.” So 話せる (hanaseru) means “to be able to speak” or “can speak”.
What the speaker can speak is “Chinese” which is 中国語 (Chūgoku-go). So that makes 中国語 (Chūgoku-go) the object.
Naomi: 話せる (hanaseru) is a verb of ability, so 中国語 (Chūgoku-go) “Chinese” is marked by particle が (ga).
Jessi: Right. That’s what we learned in Lesson 2. Here’s a new rule to remember. The object for adjectives of ability such as 上手 (jōzu) "good at" or 下手 (heta) "bad at" should be also marked by が (ga).
Naomi: For example ジェシーさんは歌が上手だ。(Jeshī-san wa uta ga jōzu da.)
Jessi: “Jessi is good at singing”, or “Jessi is a good singer.” Notice that the object, which is the thing that the speaker is good at, is marked by が (ga).
歌が (uta ga) “singing”, 上手 (jōzu) “good at.” Can we hear another example?
Naomi: Sure. わたしは歌が下手だ。(Watashi wa uta ga heta da.)
Jessi: “I’m bad at singing’ or ‘I'm a bad singer.”
So 歌 (uta) is again marked by が (ga).
So you’ve just learned that the particle が (ga) marks the object of a verb or an adjective of ability. が (ga) is also used to mark objects of certain other verbs and adjectives right?
Naomi: そうですね (sō desu ne), right. が (ga) could mark the object of desire.
Jessi: The object of an adjective of desire such as ほしい (hoshii) "want" or [the stem of a verb]+たい (tai) which means "want to [verb]" is marked by the particle が (ga).
Naomi: For example, わたしは時間がほしい。(Watashi wa jikan ga hoshii.)
Jessi: “I want time.” The object that the speaker wants is marked by が (ga).
Naomi: In this case 時間 (jikan) “time” is what the speaker wants, so 時間がほしい (jikan ga hoshii).
Jessi: How about a sample sentence that uses [the stem of a verb]+たい(tai)?
Naomi: OK. 飲みたい (nomitai) is “want to drink” so…if you want to drink tea, that would be, わたしはお茶が飲みたい。(Watashi wa o-cha ga nomitai.)
Jessi: “I want to drink tea.” お茶が飲みたい。(O-cha ga nomitai.) Please notice that the object お茶 (o-cha) is marked by が (ga).
Naomi: Such and such が 欲しい (ga hoshii) and such and such が したい (ga shitai) are the key patterns to remember.
Jessi: Ok. On to the next rule.
Naomi: が (ga) marks the object of necessity.
Jessi: The object of an adjective or verb of necessity such as 要る (iru) "to need" or 必要 (hitsuyō) "necessary" is also marked by the particle が (ga). Can we hear some examples?
Naomi: わたしは時間が要る。(Watashi wa jikan ga iru.) “I need time.”
Jessi: The object that the person needs is 時間 (jikan) “time” and it’s marked by が (ga). 時間が要る。(Jikan ga iru.)
Naomi: In the dialogue, Mr. Tanaka said お金が必要です。(O-kane ga hitsuyō desu.)
Jessi: “You need money.” 必要 (hitsuyō) is an adjective meaning necessary and the item that is necessary money is marked by が (ga). So to recap, が (ga) marks the object of desire and necessity.
Naomi: Right. It also marks the object of emotion.
Jessi: Right. The object of an adjective of emotion such as 好き (suki) "likable" or 嫌い (kirai) "dislikable" or 心配 (shinpai) "worried" is also marked by the particle が (ga).
Naomi: For example, わたしは犬が好きだ。(Watashi wa inu ga suki da.)
Jessi: “I like dogs.” 犬が好き。(Inu ga suki.) The thing that the speaker likes is marked by が (ga). So how would you say “I hate dogs”?
Naomi: Hate is 嫌い (kirai). What you hate is 犬 (inu), dogs, which should be followed by が (ga), so…わたしは犬が嫌いだ。 (Watashi wa inu ga kirai da.)
Jessi: So remember, when you’re talking about your preference using the adjectives 好き (suki) and 嫌い (kirai), the object you like or hate is marked by が (ga).
So in my case, ピクルスが嫌いです。(Pikurusu ga kirai desu.) “I don’t like pickles” but, チョコレートが好きです。(Chokorēto ga suki desu.) “I like chocolate.”
Naomi: (笑) 私もチョコレートが好きです。(Watashi mo chokorēto ga suki desu.)
Jessi: おいしいですね。(Oishii desu ne.)
Naomi: おいしいですよね。(Oishii desu yo ne.)
Jessi: There’s one more thing I’d like to point out quickly.
Naomi: 何ですか。(Nan desu ka.) What is it?
Jessi: It’s that the particle が (ga) is used in questions of choice, also.
In Lesson 9, you learned that が (ga) comes after the question word in a question. When asking a question of choice, が (ga) follows the question word. For example, どちらがいいですか。(Dochira ga ii desu ka.) “Which one is better?” どちら (dochira) is the question word meaning “which”.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) And the choices that follow are marked with the particle と (to). For example, チョコレートとアイスクリームと どちらが良いですか。(Chokorēto to aisu kurīmu to dochira ga ii desu ka.)
Jessi: “Which do you like better, chocolate or ice-cream?” And when you answer that question, the answer is also marked by が (ga).
So if you’d like to say “I prefer chocolate”, that would be…
Naomi: チョコレートがいいです。(Chokorēto ga ii desu.) 
Jessi: And to say “I prefer ice-cream”, that would be…
Naomi: アイスクリームがいいです。(Aisu kurīmu ga ii desu.)
Jessi: In this lesson you learned many ways to use the particle が (ga).
Let’s recap this lesson with a quiz.
Naomi-sensei is going to ask you a question in Japanese. Your job is to choose the best answer from the choices. Are you ready?
Naomi: お茶とコーヒーと、どちらが好きですか。(O-cha to kōhī to, dochira ga suki desu ka.)
1. お茶とコーヒーが好きです。(O-cha to kōhī ga suki desu.)
2. お茶がありますか。(O-cha ga arimasu ka.)
3. コーヒーが好きです。(Kōhī ga suki desu.)
Jessi: OK. Can we hear the question again?
Naomi: お茶とコーヒーと、どちらが好きですか。(O-cha to kōhī to, dochira ga suki desu ka.)
Jessi: Which do you prefer, tea or coffee?
お茶 と コーヒーと (o-cha to kōhī to) is the choice part. It means “tea and coffee”, or in the case of this question, “tea or coffee”. どちらが好きですか。(Dochira ga suki desu ka.) “Which do you prefer?”
And the answer is?
Naomi: 3. コーヒーが好きです。(Kōhī ga suki desu.) ”I like coffee better.”
Jessi: Right. Now let’s look at the other choices. Choice 1, お茶とコーヒーが好きです。(O-cha to kōhī ga suki desu.) This means “I like tea and coffee”. Is this the wrong answer?
Naomi: It doesn’t sound natural. If you say…お茶もコーヒーも好きです。(O-cha mo kōhī mo suki desu.) “I like both tea and coffee.” then it sounds natural, but お茶とコーヒーが好きです。(O-cha to kōhī ga suki desu.) “I like tea and coffee.” is not appropriate as an answer to this question.
Jessi: Mm, I see. How about Choice 2?
Naomi: お茶がありますか。(O-cha ga arimasu ka.)
So this means “Do you have tea?” and is not answering the question.
Naomi: そうですね (sō desu ne), right. OK. Well, that’s all for this lesson. Here’s a question for our listeners. 皆さんは何が欲しいですか。(Mina-san wa nani ga hoshii desu ka.)
Jessi: So everyone, please tell us, what do you want? Is there anything that you want? Please put your answer in the comment section. We’ll be waiting for your answers.
Naomi: それじゃまた。(Soreja mata.)
Jessi: See you next time.
DIALOGUE
佐藤順: あ、来た来た。パパー!こっちこっち!(A, kita kita. Papā! Kotchi kotchi!)
佐藤(夫): すみません。遅れました。はじめまして。佐藤です。(Sumimasen. Okuremashita. Hajimemashite. Satō desu.)
田中明: はじめまして、田中です。さあ、どうぞ。(Hajimemashite, Tanaka desu. Sā, dōzo.)
: 何を飲みますか。(Nani o nomimasu ka.)
佐藤(夫): えっと・・・冷たいものが飲みたいです。(Etto… tsumetai mono ga nomitai desu.)
: ビール、ありますか。(Bīru, arimasu ka.)
佐藤順:パパー。僕、おしっこがしたい。(Papā. Boku, oshikko ga shitai.)
佐藤(夫): ええ?ママは?(Ee? Mama wa?)
佐藤順: パパがいい。(Papa ga ii.)
佐藤(夫):そうか。わかった。(Sō ka. Wakatta.)
田中明:あ、すぐそこにトイレがあります。(A, sugu soko ni toire ga arimasu.)
: たぶん、お金が必要です。(Tabun, o-kane ga hitsuyō desu.)

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