Learn how to use the sentence pattern "I can"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, I'm Eric. |
| Risa: And I'm Risa. |
| Eric: And welcome to Must-Know Japanese Sentence Structures, Season 1, Lesson 11. Using the Auxiliary Verb "Can." |
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for expressing your ability to do something. |
| PATTERN |
| Eric: For example, |
| Eric: "I can speak Japanese." |
| Risa: 私は、日本語ができます。 (Watashi wa, Nihon-go ga dekimasu.) |
| Risa: [slow] 私は、日本語ができます。 (Watashi wa, Nihon-go ga dekimasu.) |
| Eric: The pattern for expressing your ability to do something has 4 elements. First, "I" + topic marking particle. |
| Risa: 私は (Watashi wa). |
| Eric: Second, Japanese language. |
| Risa: 日本語 (Nihon-go). |
| Eric: Third, the subject marking particle indicating the object of verbs of ability. |
| Risa: が (ga). |
| Eric: And last, the verb meaning "be able to". |
| Risa: できます (dekimasu). |
| Eric: Altogether, we have.. "I can speak Japanese." |
| Risa: 私は、日本語ができます。 (Watashi wa, Nihon-go ga dekimasu.) [slow] 私は、日本語ができます。 (Watashi wa, Nihon-go ga dekimasu.) [normal] 私は、日本語ができます。 (Watashi wa, Nihon-go ga dekimasu.) |
| Eric: To say “[person] can do [something].” in Japanese, the topic |
| Risa: 私は (watashi wa) |
| Eric: comes first. Then [something] |
| Risa: 日本語 (nihon-go) |
| Eric: with a subject marking particle |
| Risa: が (ga) |
| Eric: and ends with the verb |
| Risa: できます (dekimasu). |
| Risa: 私は、日本語ができます。 (Watashi wa, Nihon-go ga dekimasu.) |
| Eric: So remember that to make the pattern for expressing your ability to do something, say ([person] wa), [something], the subject marking particle and end with the verb. |
| Eric: Here is another example meaning, "I can play the piano." First, "I" + topic marking particle. |
| Risa: 私は (Watashi wa). |
| Eric: Second, piano. |
| Risa: ピアノ (piano). |
| Eric: Third, the subject marking particle, indicating the object of verbs of ability. |
| Risa: が (ga). |
| Eric: And last, a verb meaning "to be able to". |
| Risa: できます (dekimasu). |
| Eric: Altogether we have.. |
| Risa: 私は、ピアノができます。 (Watashi wa, piano ga dekimasu.) [slow] 私は、ピアノができます。 (Watashi wa, piano ga dekimasu.) [normal] 私は、ピアノができます。 (Watashi wa, piano ga dekimasu.) |
| Eric: "I can play the piano." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 私は、ピアノができます。 (Watashi wa, piano ga dekimasu.) |
| Eric: How do you say - "Manabu can cook"? To give you a hint, "cook/cuisine" is.. |
| Risa: 料理 (ryōri). [slow] 料理 (ryōri). [normal] 料理 (ryōri). |
| Eric: "Manabu can cook." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 学さんは、料理ができます。 (Manabu-san wa, ryōri ga dekimasu.) [slow] 学さんは、料理ができます。 (Manabu-san wa, ryōri ga dekimasu.) [normal] 学さんは、料理ができます。 (Manabu-san wa, ryōri ga dekimasu.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 学さんは、料理ができます。 (Manabu-san wa, ryōri ga dekimasu.) |
| REVIEW |
| Eric: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I will give you the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud in Japanese. Here we go. |
| Eric: "I can speak Japanese." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 私は、日本語ができます。 (Watashi wa, Nihon-go ga dekimasu.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 私は、日本語ができます。 (Watashi wa, Nihon-go ga dekimasu.) |
| Eric: "I can play the piano." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 私は、ピアノができます。 (Watashi wa, piano ga dekimasu.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 私は、ピアノができます。 (Watashi wa, piano ga dekimasu.) |
| Eric: "Manabu can cook." |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 学さんは、料理ができます。 (Manabu-san wa, ryōri ga dekimasu.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 学さんは、料理ができます。 (Manabu-san wa, ryōri ga dekimasu.) |
Outro |
|---|
| Eric: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for expressing your ability to do something, as in.. |
| Risa: 私は、日本語ができます。 (Watashi wa, Nihon-go ga dekimasu.) |
| Eric: meaning "I can speak Japanese." |
| Eric: You can find more vocab or phrases that go with this sentence pattern in the lesson notes. So please be sure to check them out on JapanesePod101.com. Thanks everyone, see you next time! |
| Risa: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.) |
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