Learn how to ask and talk about where something is
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| INTRODUCTION | |
| Matt: Hi everyone, and welcome back to JapanesePod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, Season 2, Lesson 5 - Finding Your Way Around a Japanese Home. Matt Here. | |
| Natsuko: こんにちは。 I'm Natsuko. | |
| Matt: In this lesson, you’ll learn to understand the layout of a house. The conversation takes place at a host family's house. | |
| Natsuko: It’s between David and his host mother. | |
| Matt: The speakers are a student and his host mother, and the student will be using formal Japanese with his host mother. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. | |
Lesson conversation |
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|---|---|
| ホストマザー:さぁ、ここが、デービッドのへやですよ。 | |
| デービッド:広いですね。ありがとうございます！ | |
| ホストマザー:ケンタとタイチのへやはとなりですよ。 | |
| デービッド:おにいさんはどっちですか。 | |
| ホストマザー:ケンタですよ。それから、ここがリビングです。トイレはあそこですよ。 | |
| デービッド:おふろはどこですか。 | |
| ホストマザー:おふろとせんめんじょは、2かいです。それから、トイレは2かいにもありますよ。 | |
| デービッド:わかりました。ありがとうございます。 | |
| Matt: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. | |
| ホストマザー:さぁ、ここが、デービッドのへやですよ。 | |
| デービッド:広いですね。ありがとうございます！ | |
| ホストマザー:ケンタとタイチのへやはとなりですよ。 | |
| デービッド:おにいさんはどっちですか。 | |
| ホストマザー:ケンタですよ。それから、ここがリビングです。トイレはあそこですよ。 | |
| デービッド:おふろはどこですか。 | |
| ホストマザー:おふろとせんめんじょは、2かいです。それから、トイレは2かいにもありますよ。 | |
| デービッド:わかりました。ありがとうございます。 | |
| Matt: Listen to the conversation with the English translation | |
| ホストマザー:さぁ、ここが、デービッドのへやですよ。 | |
| Host mother: This is your room, David. | |
| デービッド:広いですね。ありがとうございます！ | |
| David: It's a big room. Thank you! | |
| ホストマザー:ケンタとタイチのへやはとなりですよ。 | |
| Host mother: Kenta and Taichi's room is next door. | |
| デービッド:おにいさんはどっちですか。 | |
| David: Which one is the big brother? | |
| ホストマザー:ケンタですよ。それから、ここがリビングです。トイレはあそこですよ。 | |
| Host mother: Kenta is. Then, here is a living room, and a toilet is over there. | |
| デービッド:おふろはどこですか。 | |
| David: Where is the bathroom? | |
| ホストマザー:おふろとせんめんじょは、2かいです。それから、トイレは2かいにもありますよ。 | |
| Host mother: The bathroom and washroom is on the second floor. Another toilet is upstairs too. | |
| デービッド:わかりました。ありがとうございます。 | |
| David: Got it. Thank you. | |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER | |
| Natsuko: Matt, did you know that Japanese houses usually have a bathroom and toilet separately? | |
| Matt: I did! And.. there is also a separate washroom, right? Why is that? | |
| Natsuko: It’s because the normal way that Japanese people take a bath is to clean their body outside the bathtub in the shower, and afterwards soak in the tub to relax. | |
| Matt: I see. That’s why you need to use a different word to talk about the bathroom and toilet. | |
| Natsuko: That’s right. When you say yokushitsu in Japanese, it means “bathroom”. It’s only used when referring to bathing, not the toilet. | |
| Matt: But listeners, please note that this is not true of all Japanese houses. Many one-room apartments in Japan don't have a separate bathroom and toilet. | |
| Natsuko: So, when you’re looking for an apartment, it's important for some people to find a place that has a separate bathroom and toilet. | |
| Matt: That’s a good tip. Okay, now onto the vocab. | |
| VOCAB LIST | |
| Matt: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. | |
| Natsuko: さあ [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: come on | |
| Natsuko: さあ [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: さあ [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: Next we have.. | |
| Natsuko: へや [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: room, chamber | |
| Natsuko: へや[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: へや [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: Next we have.. | |
| Natsuko: 広い [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: wide, broad | |
| Natsuko: 広い [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: 広い [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: Next we have.. | |
| Natsuko: となり [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: next to, neighbor, neighboring | |
| Natsuko: となり [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: となり [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: Next we have.. | |
| Natsuko: それから [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: and, and then | |
| Natsuko: それから [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: それから [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: Next we have.. | |
| Natsuko: リビング [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: living room | |
| Natsuko: リビング [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: リビング [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: Next we have.. | |
| Natsuko: せんめんじょ [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: bathroom | |
| Natsuko: せんめんじょ [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: せんめんじょ [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: Next we have.. | |
| Natsuko: ある [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: to be, to exist | |
| Natsuko: ある [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: ある [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: Next we have.. | |
| Natsuko: かい [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: the counter for floors | |
| Natsuko: かい [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: かい [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: Next we have.. | |
| Natsuko: どっち [natural native speed] | |
| Matt: which one | |
| Natsuko: どっち [slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
| Natsuko: どっち [natural native speed] | |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES | |
| Matt: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. | |
| Natsuko: わかりました | |
| Matt: meaning "Okay", "I understand", "I see." | |
| Natsuko: This phrase is the past tense of わかります (wakarimasu), which is a verb meaning "to understand.” | |
| Matt: You can use it when you understand something you’ve heard from another person. Natsuko, can you give us an example using this word? | |
| Natsuko: Sure. For example, when you’re looking for an elevator inside a building and someone says エレベーターはあそこです。 | |
| Matt: meaning.. “The elevator is over there.” | |
| Natsuko: You can answer by saying わかりました。 | |
| Matt: ..which means "Okay” or literally “I understood.” | |
| Matt: Okay, what's the next word? | |
| Natsuko: 2かいにも ありますよ。 | |
| Matt: meaning "It's on the 2nd floor too." | |
| Natsuko: We wanted to introduce this expression because you’ll hear this pattern a lot. Here, the point is the particle も, which is placed before ありますよ Without the particle, you can say 2かいにありますよ (ni-kai ni arimasu yo) which means “It’s on the 2nd floor.” | |
| Matt: But if you want to add the meaning “too”, you need the particle, right? | |
| Natsuko: That’s right. To mean "something is on the second floor too," you add mo after the phrase "on the second floor" which is 2かいに (ni-kai ni), and say 2かいにも (ni-kai ni mo.) 2かいにも ありますよ。 | |
| Matt: "It's on the 2nd floor too." Okay, what's the next word? | |
| Natsuko: どっち | |
| Matt: meaning "which one" | |
| Natsuko: You can use どっち when you want to say “which one,” “which person,” or “which direction.” | |
| Matt: But listeners, note that you should not use this word in a formal conversation. Natsuko, can you give us an example using this word? | |
| Natsuko: If someone says.. チョコレートケーキと チーズケーキが あります。 | |
| Matt: which means “We have a chocolate cake and a cheesecake.” | |
| Natsuko: And then.. どっちが おいしいですか。 | |
| Matt: It would mean “Which is better?" Okay, now onto the grammar. | |
Lesson focus |
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| Matt: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask and describe where something is located. | |
| Natsuko: First, let’s take a look at how to ask the location of something. | |
| Matt: To ask the location of something, you can say the name of the object first, then say.. | |
| Natsuko: ...はどこですか。 | |
| Matt: meaning “Where is [something]? Using this pattern, how can you say “Where’s a toilet?” | |
| Natsuko: トイレ is the word meaning “toilet” so you can say.. トイレは どこですか。 | |
| Matt: Great. | |
| Natsuko: Here, in the pattern ...はどこですか。we have the topic marking particle は, the word どこ meaning “where”, and ですか, which is the copula and question marking particle. | |
| Matt: If you want to know the location of something, you can use this pattern, but with a different noun that you’re looking for. | |
| Natsuko: That’s right. If you’re looking for a key, you can use the noun かぎ (kagi) meaning “key” with the pattern. | |
| Matt: So “Where’s the key?” in Japanese will be.. | |
| Natsuko: かぎは どこですか。(slow) かぎは どこですか。 | |
| Matt: Okay. Now let’s hear how to say where something is. | |
| Natsuko: The pattern is very easy to follow. First, you need to say the name of the thing. For example, トイレ , if you want to give the location of a toilet. | |
| Matt: Then we need a topic marking particle, right? | |
| Natsuko: That’s right. You can say は as in トイレは。 | |
| Matt: Then, you can say the location. For example, if the toilet is there, you can use the word.. | |
| Natsuko: そこ (slow) そこ | |
| Matt: Okay. Then, the copula です can be added. Natsuko, all together, how can you say “The toilet is there” in Japanese? | |
| Natsuko: トイレは そこです。トイレ means “toilet”, は is the “topic marking particle”, そこ means “ there”, です。is a copula meaning something like “there is.” | |
| Matt: Okay. What if it’s here? What can we say? | |
| Natusko: ここ is the Japanese word meaning “here” so you can say トイレはここです。 | |
| Matt: What if it’s over there? | |
| Natsuko: You can use the word あそこ。It means “over there.” トイレはあそこです。 | |
| Matt: And sometimes, you’ll hear this word too. | |
| Natsuko: 2かい | |
| Matt: It means “second floor.” If the toilet is on the 2nd floor, you’ll hear.. | |
| Natsuko: トイレは2かいです。 | |
| Matt: “The toilet is on the 2nd floor.” Literally “Toilet is 2nd floor.” | |
| Natsuko: Keep in mind that かい is the counter for floors. | |
| Matt: Make sure to check the PDF lesson notes to learn more examples using these patterns. Now let’s practice. To ask where the living room is, you say, | |
| (Pause) | |
| Natsuko: リビングはどこですか。 | |
| Matt: Meaning “Where is the living room?” | |
| Matt: Next. If the living room is on the 2nd floor, what do you say? | |
| (Pause) | |
| Natsuko: リビングは、2かいです。 | |
| Matt: Meaning “A living room in on the 2nd floor.” | |
| Matt: You are showing your house to a friend. To explain that a toilet is here and a bathroom is over there, you say.” | |
| (Pause) | |
| Natsuko: トイレは ここです。それから、おふろは あそこです。 | |
| Matt: Which means “A toilet is here. And a bathroom is over there.” | |
Outro |
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| Matt: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! | |
| Natsuko: またね。 |
7 Comments
HideHi Listeners! Let's practice here: [Thing] はどこですか。
Hi Carlos,
Thank you for the question! You can say either of them when asking the location of restrooms. ?
Miki H
Team JapanesePod101.com
what's the difference between トイレはどこですか。and トイレはどこにありますか。？
Quyen san,
こんにちは。:smile:
東京駅はそこです。
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
すみません 東京駅 は どこ です か。
Excuse me where is Tokyo Station?
Andyさん、
こんにちは。
ええと…自動販売機はあそこです。:smile:
Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com
自動販売機はどこですか？
Where is the vending machine?