Dialogue

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, I'm Eric.
Risa: And I'm Risa.
Eric: And welcome to Must-Know Japanese Sentence Structures, Season 1, Lesson 1 – Making a Simple Sentence By Linking Two Nouns.
Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for Making a Simple Sentence By Linking Two Nouns.
PATTERN
Eric: For example,
Eric: "I am Suzuki."
Risa: 私は鈴木です。 (Watashi wa Suzuki desu.)
Risa: [slow] 私は鈴木です。 (Watashi wa Suzuki desu.)
Eric: The pattern for Making a Simple Sentence By Linking Two Nouns has 4 elements. First, a pronoun meaning "I".
Risa: 私 (Watashi).
Eric: Second, a topic marking particle, literally meaning "as for."
Risa: は (wa).
Eric: Third, a common Japanese family name.
Risa: 鈴木 (Suzuki).
Eric: And last, a linking verb meaning "to be", in this case, "am".
Risa: です (desu).
Eric: Altogether, we have.. "I am Suzuki."
Risa: 私は鈴木です。 (Watashi wa Suzuki desu.) [slow] 私は鈴木です。 (Watashi wa Suzuki desu.) [normal] 私は鈴木です。 (Watashi wa Suzuki desu.)
Eric: To say "Noun A is Noun B" in Japanese, you can use
Risa: は(wa)
Eric: to link Noun A, in this case,
Risa: 私 (watashi)
Eric: and Noun B,
Risa: 鈴木(Suzuki), 私は鈴木(Watashi wa Suzuki),
Eric: and then add at the end the linking verb...
Risa: です(desu)
Risa: 私は鈴木です。 (Watashi wa Suzuki desu.)
Eric: So remember the pattern for linking two nouns, is simply Noun A, the topic marking particle,
Risa: は(wa),
Eric: ...and Noun B and then at the end add the linking verb,
Risa: です(desu)
Eric: Here is another example meaning, "I am a doctor." First, a pronoun meaning "I".
Risa: 私 (Watashi).
Eric: Second, a topic marking particle, literally meaning "as for".
Risa: は (wa).
Eric: Third, a doctor.
Risa: 医者 (isha).
Eric: And last, a linking verb meaning "to be", in this case, "am".
Risa: です (desu).
Eric: Altogether we have..
Risa: 私は医者です。 (Watashi wa isha desu.) [slow] 私は医者です。 (Watashi wa isha desu.) [normal] 私は医者です。 (Watashi wa isha desu.)
Eric: "I am a doctor."
[pause]
Risa: 私は医者です。 (Watashi wa isha desu.)
Eric: How do you say - "This is a souvenir." To give you a hint, "souvenir" is..
Risa: おみやげ (o-miyage). [slow] おみやげ (o-miyage). [normal] おみやげ (o-miyage).
Eric: “This is a souvenir.”
[pause]
Risa: これはおみやげです。 (Kore wa o-miyage desu.) [slow] これはおみやげです。 (Kore wa o-miyage desu.) [normal] これはおみやげです。 (Kore wa o-miyage desu.)
[pause]
Risa: これはおみやげです。 (Kore wa o-miyage desu.)
REVIEW
Eric: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I will give you the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud in Japanese. Here we go.
Eric: "I am Suzuki."
[pause]
Risa: 私は鈴木です。 (Watashi wa Suzuki desu.)
[pause]
Risa: 私は鈴木です。 (Watashi wa Suzuki desu.)
Eric: "I am a doctor."
[pause]
Risa: 私は医者です。 (Watashi wa isha desu.)
[pause]
Risa: 私は医者です。 (Watashi wa isha desu.)
Eric: "This is a souvenir."
[pause]
Risa: これはおみやげです。 (Kore wa o-miyage desu.)
[pause]
Risa: これはおみやげです。 (Kore wa o-miyage desu.)

Outro

Eric: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for Making a Simple Sentence By Linking Two Nouns, as in..
Risa: 私は鈴木です。 (Watashi wa Suzuki desu.)
Eric: meaning "I am Suzuki."
Eric: You can find more vocab or phrases that go with this sentence pattern in the lesson notes. So please be sure to check them out on JapanesePod101.com. Thanks everyone, see you next time!
Risa: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.).

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