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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Business Japanese for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 16 - Apologizing for an Absence. Eric here.
Natsuko: こんにちは。 奈津子です。
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to apologize to your boss for any inconvenience you might cause by taking a day off suddenly. The conversation takes place in an office.
Natsuko: It's between Linda and her boss, Mr. Takahashi.
Eric: The speakers are in a boss-subordinate relationship, so the subordinate will be speaking formal Japanese, and the boss will not. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Linda:きのうは、ごめいわくをおかけして、申しわけありませんでした。
Takahashi: いやいや。もう、大丈夫か。
Linda: はい、おかげ様で。
Eric: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Linda:きのうは、ごめいわくをおかけして、申しわけありませんでした。
Takahashi: いやいや。もう、大丈夫か。
Linda: はい、おかげ様で。
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Linda: I’m sorry for the inconvenience I caused yesterday.
Takahashi: No no, don’t worry. Are you feeling better?
Linda: Yes, I am. Thank you for your concern.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: It seems like Linda got better.
Natsuko: That’s good.
Eric: So in the dialogue, Linda is apologizing for her sudden absence.
Natsuko: Right.
Eric: Is it common to do that at Japanese offices?
Natsuko: I think so. The first day you’re back from your sick leave, your co-workers or boss might ask you if you’re feeling better by saying もう大丈夫ですか?
Eric: Then we are supposed to make an apology?
Natsuko: It’s not something you must do, but it’s something many people do especially if they’re a newcomer at a company.
Eric: So if we do that it helps to make a good impression?
Natsuko: Generally, yes.
Eric: Good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Natsuko: きのう [natural native speed]
Eric: yesterday
Natsuko: きのう[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: きのう [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: めいわく [natural native speed]
Eric: inconvenience
Natsuko: めいわく[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: めいわく [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: かける [natural native speed]
Eric: to impose
Natsuko: かける[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: かける [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: いやいや [natural native speed]
Eric: no no
Natsuko: いやいや[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: いやいや [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Natsuko: もう [natural native speed]
Eric: already (Adv.)
Natsuko: もう[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: もう [natural native speed]
Eric: Last we have..
Natsuko: おかげ様 [natural native speed]
Eric: help from other people
Natsuko: おかげ様[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Natsuko: おかげ様 [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is..
Natsuko: いやいや。
Eric: meaning "No no." 
Natsuko:いや means “no” and it’s repeated twice. いやいや “no no.”
Eric:You can use this to mean "don't worry" when someone apologizes to you. There’s another version too, right?
Natsuko: Right. You also might hear いえいえ. いえいえ sounds more polite and is often used by women.
Eric: Which one do you use, Natsuko?
Natsuko: いえいえ in formal conversation and いやいや when talking with friends.
Eric: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Natsuko: めいわくをかける
Eric: meaning "to cause inconvenience or trouble to someone." Let’s break this down.
Natsuko:めいわく
Eric: meaning "inconvenience" or "trouble"
Natsuko:を
Eric: a particle
Natsuko:かける
Eric: “to impose.” So…
Natsuko: めいわくをかける
Eric: literally means “to impose trouble” and it means "to cause inconvenience or trouble to someone."
Natsuko: I recommend that you memorize it as a set phrase. めいわくをかける.
Eric: That would be a good idea. This is often used together with an apology. Can we hear an example?
Natsuko:めいわくをかけてすみません。
Eric: "I'm sorry for inconveniencing you." Please note the use of the te-form here.
Natsuko: Right. めいわくをかけて すみません [Natsuko, please say it a little more slowly and clearly.]
Eric: This is a polite sentence, but if you’d like to say it even more formally, here’s how.
Natsuko:ごめいわくをおかけして、申し訳ありません
Eric: There’s some complicated grammar behind it, but let’s keep it simple for now. Firstly, we have an honorific prefix plus our word meaning “inconvenience” or “trouble.”
Natsuko:ごめいわく. Then it’s followed by the particle を, then おかけして. おかけして is the te-form of the verb おかけする, which is a humble way of saying かける. Lastly, we have 申しわけありません which is a formal way of saying “I’m sorry.”
Eric: Let’s recap. If someone says…
Natsuko:めいわくをかけてすみません。
Eric: What are you supposed to say to mean “don’t worry?”
Natsuko:.... you should say いやいや or いえいえ。
Eric: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn to how to apologize to your boss for any inconvenience caused by taking a day off suddenly.
Natsuko:Here’s the expression. きのうは、ごめいわくをおかけして、申しわけありませんでした。
Eric:“I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused yesterday.” Let’s break this down.
Natsuko:きのう
Eric: means “yesterday.”
Natsuko:は
Eric: is the topic marking particle. It corresponds to “as for” in English. So all together we have “as for yesterday.” Then we have...
Natsuko:ごめいわくをおかけして
Eric: meaning “to cause any inconvenience to you and…”
Natsuko:もうしわけありませんでした. It’s the past form of もうしわけありません
Eric: meaning “I’m sorry.” Can we hear whole sentence?
Natsuko:きのうは、ごめいわくをおかけして、申しわけありませんでした。 [Please read it a little slowly.]
Eric:Literally, “as for yesterday, I caused you inconvenience and, I was sorry.” In more natural English, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience I caused yesterday.” Please note that the last part of the sentence is in the past tense.
Natsuko: Right. It’s もうしわけありませんでした instead of 申しわけありません. When you apologize for your past actions, use the past tense. すみませんでした or 申しわけありませんでした。
Eric: Let’s introduce the sentence pattern that is often used for apologies.
Natsuko: It’s a past tense expression plus は、 the te-form of a verb plus 申しわけありませんでした。
Eric: We’ll show you with an example. Let’s say "I'm sorry for taking a day off last week." First, you specify the time with a particle, wa. So “last week” is...
Natsuko: 先週は
Eric:Next, state what you’re apologizing for in its te-form. Here it’s “to take a day off.”
Natsuko: お休みして
Eric: Finally, add the apology.
Natsuko:申しわけありませんでした。
Eric:Altogether...
Natsuko:先週は、お休みして、申しわけありませんでした。
Eric:"I'm sorry for taking a day off last week." Okay listeners, please repeat after Natsuko.
Natsuko:先週は、お休みして、申しわけありませんでした。
Eric: ….. Did you say it correctly? Now it’s time to recap.
Listeners, say you came in late to work the other day. Please apologize to your boss in Japanese.
Natsuko: Here are some hints. “To be late” is ちこくする. “The other day” is せんじつ
Eric: Remember, you have to specify the time first….
...Listeners, were you able to say that? Natsuko, can we hear the correct answer?
Natsuko: Sure. 先日は、ちこくして、申しわけありませんでした。
Eric: "I'm sorry for being late the other day." Did you get the right answer?
Natsuko: If you didn’t, make sure to read the lesson notes.

Outro

Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Natsuko: またねー

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