Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction
John: Who Is It? In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask who someone is in Japanese.
Body
John: Here's the formal way to ask "Who is this?" in Japanese. Imagine that you’re pointing out a person in a photograph.
Risa: [Normal] これはだれですか。(Kore wa dare desu ka.)
John: First is a word meaning "this."
Risa: [Normal] これ [Slow] これ (kore)
John: Next is the topic particle.
Risa: [Normal] は [Slow] は(wa)
John: Next is a word meaning "who."
Risa: [Normal] だれ [Slow] だれ (dare)
John: Next is the word meaning "is."
Risa: [Normal] です [Slow] です(desu)
John: Last is the question particle.
Risa: [Normal] か [Slow] か(ka)
John: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning "Who is this?"
Risa: [Slow] これはだれですか。 [Normal] これはだれですか。
John: Now, imagine you’re at a party, speaking to your friend. Here's an informal way to ask "Who is that?"
Risa: [Normal] あの人は誰? (Ano hito wa dare?)
John: First is a word meaning "that person."
Risa: [Normal] あの人 [Slow] あの人 (Ano hito)
John: Next is the topic particle.
Risa: [Normal] は [Slow] は(wa)
John: Next is the word meaning "who"
Risa: [Normal] 誰 [Slow] 誰(dare)
John: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the informal question meaning "Who is that?"
Risa: [Slow] あの人は誰? [Normal] あの人は誰?
John: Here's a response meaning "it's me."
Risa: [Normal] 私です。(Watashi desu.)
John: First is a word meaning "I"
Risa: [Normal] 私 [Slow] 私(watashi)
John: Last is the word meaning "am."
Risa: [Normal] です [Slow] です(desu)
John: Listen again to the response, "it's me."
Risa: [Slow] 私です。 [Normal] 私です。
John: Here's a response meaning, "That is a friend of mine."
Risa: [Normal] 私の友達です。(Watashi no tomodachi desu.)
John: First is the word meaning "my."
Risa: [Normal] 私の [Slow] 私の (watashi no)
John: Next is the word meaning "friend."
Risa: [Normal] 友達 [Slow] 友達 (tomodachi)
John: Last is the word meaning "is."
Risa: [Normal] です [Slow] です(desu)
John: Listen again to the response - "That is a friend of mine."
Risa: [Slow] 私の友達です。 [Normal] 私の友達です。
Cultural Insight
John: Now, it's time for a quick cultural insight.
Risa: In colloquial Japanese, people often use the word uchi no instead of watashi no. Uchi no originally means "inside." So it's used to refer to a group or member of the group that you belong to, like uchi no kaisha, meaning “my company,” or uchi no chichi, meaning “my father.”

Outro

John: And that's all for this lesson. Don't forget to check out the lesson notes, and we'll see you in the next lesson!
Risa: またね!(mata ne!)

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