Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to learn Japanese grammar absolute beginner. In this video series, you learn basic Japanese grammar patterns and phrases through easy to follow audio and visual cues. Here is what we will cover in this lesson.
Ready? Let’s get started.
Naomi: 私は肉を食べます。 (Watashi wa niku o tabemasu.)
Jessi: In this lesson, you will learn how to use verbs in a sentence.
Naomi: Yes, this is the first time using action verbs.
Jessi: We are just going to practice with one verb in Japanese in this lesson. The verb,
Naomi: 食べます (tabemasu) To eat.
Jessi: 食べます (tabemasu) All verbs end in ます(masu) in polite speech.
Naomi: Yes. And also no matter who you are talking about, the verb form doesn’t change.
Jessi: Good point. By that, we mean this, in a lot of other languages, verbs change their form depending on who the subject is, even in English. We would say I eat but he eats. It’s a minor change but it is there.
Naomi: But in Japanese, it doesn’t matter who the subject is. I, you, he, she, we, they the verb stays 食べます (tabemasu)
Jessi: Hm, nice, isn’t it? So Naomi, what is our pattern for making a sentence with a verb?
Naomi: It’s this, person, は (wa), object, を (o), verb.
Jessi: And that’s three parts. Person plus は (wa), object plus を (o), and then the verb.
Naomi: That’s right.
Jessi: Can we hear an example?
Naomi: Sure. 私は肉を食べます。 (Watashi wa niku o tabemasu.)
Jessi: I eat meat.
Let’s break it down.
Naomi: 私は (watashi wa)
Jessi: 私 (watashi) I plus は (wa)
Naomi: 肉を (niku o)
Jessi: 肉 (niku) meat plus を (o)
Naomi: 食べます (tabemasu)
Jessi: The verb meaning eat.
So the sentence order in Japanese is I meat eat. The verb comes at the end. Can we hear the sentence one more time?
Naomi: 私は肉を食べます。 (Watashi wa niku o tabemasu.)
Jessi: I eat meat.
Naomi: Okay how about テイラーはすしを食べます。 (Teirā wa sushi o tabemasu.)
Jessi: Tyler eats sushi.
Let’s break it down.
Naomi: テイラーは (Teirā wa)
Jessi: Tyler plus は (wa)
Naomi: すしを (sushi o)
Jessi: Sushi plus を (o)
Naomi: 食べます (tabemasu)
Jessi: Eats
Tyler eats sushi. So see how the verb doesn’t change. It just stays the same no matter who we are talking about 食べます (tabemasu). How about I eat pizza? The person in this case is I, 私 (watashi), pizza is ピザ (piza), and eat is 食べます (tabemasu).
Naomi: 私はピザを食べます。 (Watashi wa piza o tabemasu.)
Naomi: 私は肉を食べます。 (Watashi wa niku o tabemasu.)
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