Learn how to talk about the acts of giving and receiving in Japanese using the verbs ageru, kureru, and morau
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| INTRODUCTION | |
| Naomi: Naomiです。 | |
| Peter: Peter here. Is Giving Gifts Better than Receiving Them in Japan? In this lesson, you will learn how to say "to give" and "to receive" in Japanese. | |
| Naomi: Right. The verbs あげる and もらう | |
| Peter: This conversation takes place? | |
| Naomi: 歩さんの働いている会社 | |
| Peter: "The office Ayumu works at". Who is the conversation between? | |
| Naomi: 歩さんとわたるさん | |
| Peter: Since they're friends, they're using informal Japanese. | |
| Naomi: では、聞いてください。 | |
| Peter: Please listen to the conversation. | |
| DIALOGUE | |
| 近森 渡:歩、そのかばん、新しい？ | |
| 遠井 歩:これ？うん。去年の クリスマスに 彼に もらった。 | |
| 近森 渡:へー。彼氏に もらったんだー。趣味が 良いねー。 | |
| :で、歩は、彼氏に 何あげたの？ | |
| 遠井 歩:な・い・しょ。 | |
| 近森 渡:いいじゃん。教えてよ。 | |
| :あ・・・ところで、彼氏と 会って 話した？ | |
| 遠井 歩:うん。実は、誤解だったの。 | |
| :私たちが 見た人 は 新じゃなかった のよ。 | |
| :ま、長い話なんだけど。 | |
| 近森 渡:そう。よかったねー。 | |
| 遠井 歩:うん。来週、彼の 誕生日なの。 | |
| :何を あげよう…。 | |
| Naomi: もう一度、お願いします。今度は、ゆっくり、お願いします。 | |
| 近森 渡:歩、そのかばん、新しい？ | |
| 遠井 歩:これ？うん。去年の クリスマスに 彼に もらった。 | |
| 近森 渡:へー。彼氏に もらったんだー。趣味が 良いねー。 | |
| :で、歩は、彼氏に 何あげたの？ | |
| 遠井 歩:な・い・しょ。 | |
| 近森 渡:いいじゃん。教えてよ。 | |
| :あ・・・ところで、彼氏と 会って 話した？ | |
| 遠井 歩:うん。実は、誤解だったの。 | |
| :私たちが 見た人 は 新じゃなかった のよ。 | |
| :ま、長い話なんだけど。 | |
| 近森 渡:そう。よかったねー。 | |
| 遠井 歩:うん。来週、彼の 誕生日なの。 | |
| :何を あげよう…。 | |
| Naomi: 今度は、英語が入ります。 | |
| 近森 渡:歩、そのかばん、新しい？ | |
| Lady: Ayumu, is that bag new? | |
| 遠井 歩:これ？うん。去年の クリスマスに 彼に もらった。 | |
| Lady: This? Yeah. I got it from my boyfriend for Christmas last year. | |
| 近森 渡:へー。彼氏に もらったんだー。趣味が 良いねー。 | |
| Lady: Hmm, so you got it from your boyfriend. He has good taste! | |
| :で、歩は、彼氏に 何あげたの？ | |
| Lady: So, what'd you get for him? | |
| 遠井 歩:な・い・しょ。 | |
| Lady: It's a secret! | |
| 近森 渡:いいじゃん。教えてよ。 | |
| Lady: C'mon! Tell me! | |
| :あ・・・ところで、彼氏と 会って 話した？ | |
| Lady: Oh...by the way, did you meet up and talk with him? | |
| 遠井 歩:うん。実は、誤解だったの。 | |
| Lady: Yeah. It was actually all a misunderstanding. | |
| :私たちが 見た人 は 新じゃなかった のよ。 | |
| Lady: The person we saw wasn't Shin! | |
| :ま、長い話なんだけど。 | |
| Lady: Well, it's a long story... | |
| 近森 渡:そう。よかったねー。 | |
| Lady: Oh yeah? Well that's good! | |
| 遠井 歩:うん。来週、彼の 誕生日なの。 | |
| Lady: Yeah. Next week is his birthday. | |
| :何を あげよう…。 | |
| Lady: What should I get him...? | |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER | |
| Peter: So Naomi-sensei. | |
| Naomi: はい。 | |
| Peter: Ayumu finally found out it was all a 誤解 | |
| Naomi: そう。 | |
| Peter: "misunderstanding" - and that her boyfriend hadn't been cheating on her. | |
| Naomi: そう、よかったですね。あゆむはもう怒ってないですね。 | |
| Peter: Ayumu isn't angry anymore | |
| Naomi: よかったですね。 | |
| Peter: Which is good. Now, speaking of boyfriend, Ayumu called her boyfriend 彼 but Wataru referred to Ayumu's boyfriend as 彼氏. Was there a special reason behind it? | |
| Naomi: Not really. It's just that some people use the word 彼 to mean boyfriend and some use 彼氏. That's all. | |
| Peter: So it's not related to my boyfriend or someone else's boyfriend. | |
| Naomi: ああ、違います違います。Nope. But 彼 mean "he" or "boyfriend", whereas 彼氏 usually means only "boyfriend". Some people use 彼氏 to mean "he", but it's rare, I'd say. | |
| VOCAB LIST | |
| Peter: OK. Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. | |
| The first word is: | |
| Naomi: 趣味 [natural native speed] | |
| Peter: hobby, preference, taste | |
| Naomi: 趣味 [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Naomi: 趣味 [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Naomi: 内緒 [natural native speed] | |
| Peter: secret | |
| Naomi: 内緒 [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Naomi: 内緒 [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Naomi: ところで [natural native speed] | |
| Peter: by the way | |
| Naomi: ところで [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Naomi: ところで [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Naomi: 実は [natural native speed] | |
| Peter: the truth is, actually | |
| Naomi: 実は [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Naomi: 実は [natural native speed] | |
| Next: | |
| Naomi: 誤解 [natural native speed] | |
| Peter: misunderstand, misinterpret | |
| Naomi: 誤解 [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Naomi: 誤解 [natural native speed] | |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE | |
| Peter: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Naomi-sensei, the first word we’re looking at is? | |
| Naomi: 趣味 | |
| Peter: "hobby", "one's taste". So, shumi means "one's taste" as well as "hobby." | |
| Naomi: そうですね。If you say 趣味がいい, it means that someone has good taste | |
| Peter: Can we have a sample sentence? | |
| Naomi: Sure. 私の彼は趣味がいい。 | |
| Peter: My boyfriend has a good taste. | |
| Naomi: The opposite phrase is 趣味が悪い | |
| Peter: Literally, "someone's taste is bad" but it means "someone has bad taste" | |
| So...Naomi-sensei. Can we say「直美先生は趣味が悪い」"Naomi-sensei has bad taste?" | |
| Naomi: I knew you were going to say it. Yes, you can. 出来ます。 | |
| You can specify what kind of taste by using the particle の. For example, 服 is clothes so 服の趣味がいい is | |
| Peter: "To have good taste in clothes." | |
| Naomi: 服の趣味が悪い is | |
| Peter: "To have bad taste in clothes." Yeah... I have to admit that 僕は服の趣味が悪いです。"I have bad taste in clothes" | |
| Naomi: Oh, you knew that. よかったです。That’s good. | |
| Peter: Now, Naomi-sensei. This makes a lot of sense because one time, I heard someone said “あぁ、趣味がいい” and I thought they meant that having a good hobby. | |
| Naomi: Ahh… | |
| Peter: But they were actually talking about taste. | |
| Naomi: そうですね。 Or preference. | |
| Peter: OK. What's next? | |
| Naomi: ところで | |
| Peter: "by the way" This conjunction is used when the speaker wants to change the topic of the conversation. | |
| Naomi: Here's a sample sentence. | |
| ところで、今夜何食べる？ | |
| Peter: By the way, what are we eating tonight? So it allowed a topic change. | |
| Naomi: そう、そうですね。In the dialogue, we also have 実は | |
| Peter: Actually. | |
| Naomi: Some English speakers use the word "actually" pretty often, right? | |
| Peter: Yeah, I think so. People have some speaking habits. So this could be definitely one of them. | |
| Naomi: そうね。But here is my advice. Don't overuse 実は(actually) in Japanese because it's a really big word. When you say “実は”, it sounds like you're going to give some very important information. I personally think it's more similar to "The truth is" | |
| Peter: So I guess what you want to say is like not a big word but a very strong phrase. | |
| Naomi: そうですね。あ、そう。Strong phrase. 強い言葉です。 | |
Lesson focus |
|
|---|---|
| Peter: OK. Let’s take a grammar point for this lesson. The focus of this lesson is how to say "to give" and "to receive" in Japanese. | |
| Naomi: そうです。 Right. However in this audio portion, we'll only focus on the usage of the verb "ageru" | |
| Peter: meaning "to give" OK. Can we have a sample sentence? | |
| Naomi: わたしは 母に 花を あげる。 | |
| Peter: I'm going to give my mother flowers. Let's break this sentence down. | |
| Naomi: わたしは | |
| Peter: "I" and the topic marking particle "wa" | |
| Naomi: 母 | |
| Peter: "Mother" | |
| Naomi: に | |
| Peter: Particle that indicates direction. | |
| Naomi: So 母に means "to my mother" | |
| Peter: This is followed by | |
| Naomi: 花を | |
| Peter: 花 "Flower or Flowers" and the object marking particle | |
| Naomi: "を" and あげる | |
| Peter: "to give" So... | |
| Naomi: わたしは ははに はなを あげる | |
| Peter: Which literally means, "I / to my mother / flowers / give " Of course it means "I'll give flowers to my mother." or "I'll give my mother flowers." | |
| Naomi: Notice that the person who receives the item is marked by に. | |
| Peter: OK. How do you say "I'm going to give a bag to my father "? | |
| Naomi: To say that sentence in Japanese, the word order should be "I / to my father / a bag / to give" | |
| Peter: OK. So the subject plus particle, | |
| Naomi: わたしは | |
| Peter: "I ", Next say the person who receives the item with the particle に | |
| Naomi: 父 に | |
| Peter: "To my father". Next. The item you give plus the object marking particle? | |
| Naomi: バッグを | |
| Peter: "a bag". Finally, add the verb "to give" | |
| Naomi: あげる | |
| Peter: All together? | |
| Naomi: わたしは 父に バッグを あげる | |
| Peter: I'll give my father a bag or I'll give a bag to my father. OK, listen and repeat. "I'm going to give my father a bag." | |
| Naomi: わたしは 父に バッグを あげる | |
| Peter: [pause] Say "I'm going to give my father a bag"in Japanese. | |
| Naomi: [pause] わたしは 父に バッグを あげる If you use あげた instead of あげる, it becomes the past tense. You can talk about what you gave someone. ところで、ピーターさん母の日、父の日に何をあげましたか？ | |
| Peter: Ah, by the way, what did I give my parents on Mother's Day and Father's Day? | |
| Naomi: はい。 | |
| Peter: Well... 母に花をあげました。父にお礼をあげました。 | |
| Naomi: お礼？ | |
| Peter: Hm. Thank you. | |
| Naomi: You just said Thank you? | |
| Peter: Yeah.. | |
| Naomi: Oh | |
| Peter: So I gave my mother flowers, and my father, Thank you. | |
| Naomi: Ah. OK. So… あげませんでしたね。お父さんに。 | |
| Peter: まぁ、まぁ…うん、まぁね。（笑）You could look it that way. | |
| Naomi: Ah, OK. みなさんはプレゼントをあげましたか？ | |
| Peter: So listeners, have you given any presents to anyone lately? If so, please let us know in the comment section. Of course, in Japanese. Also, there's a detailed write up about the verbs あげる to give, もらう to receive, and くれる to give me, so don't forget to check the lesson notes. | |
| Naomi: じゃまた。 |
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92 Comments
Hideみなさん、
Have you given or received a gift lately? Tell us all about it in the comments below!! :kokoro:
Hi Lia,
Thank you for your question!
When your brother gave your sister earrings, you can say
兄は妹にイヤリングをあげた。
But you don't say
兄は妹にイヤリングをくれた。
It's the same if it's the case of your coworkers.
Please let us know if you have any further question😊
Sincerely,
Miho
Team JapanesePod101.com
What verb do you use if the giver and the gift receiver have similar relationships to you? For example, my brother gave my sister earrings for her birthday. They're both part of your-ingroup, so do you use ageru or kureru? What about two classmates or two coworkers exchanging gifts?
(I mean, I guess you could avoid the question by saying 妹は兄にイヤリングをもらった。But if you wanted to use a "give" verb instead of "receive", which verb would you use?)
デニスさん、こんにちは。
コメントありがとうございます。
You can say 実際は、本当は、実のところ as alternatives for 実は.
If it sounds strong depends on the context.
Thank you for studying with us!
Erica
Team JapanesePod101.com
こんにちは 皆さん!
When 実は tends to be used too much, is there an alternative that doesn't sound so strong?
ありがとうございます！
Hello Denis,
Thank you for posting.
That's what our Grammar Bank search is for 👍
https://www.japanesepod101.com/japanese-grammar/
You can search for the grammar you want to learn more about and you'll find related links.
Cheers,
Lena
Team JapanesePod101.com
Hey JapanesePod101.com.
Something that would really improve the learning experience on your website, and app, would be to add links to the lectures where a specific grammar point is explained.
Instead of just "Modifying clause ⇒ Beginner Series Season 4 Lesson 49"
It would be a link, which we can click on and get directly redirected to the lesson. :)
Thanks,
Denis
Thank you for all your comments.
Hi ポール,
Good! Just made little correction for you:
父の誕生日は月末ですけど、何をあげ “たらいいか” わかりません。やっぱり難しいことです。
Hi Anna,
すてきなプレゼントですね！
Enjoy studying Japanese with us!
Cheers,
Sono
Team JapanesePod101.com
わたしはいもうとにあたらしいこいぬをあげました。
父の誕生日は月末ですけど、何をあげようかわかりません。やっぱり難しいことです。
My father's birthday is at the end of the month but I don't know what to give him. He's always difficult to buy for.
(Maybe got a bit lazy with the second Japanese sentence but I think it conveys roughly the same idea...?)
お返事と訂正はありがとございます、奈津子せんせい。?