Dialogue

Vocabulary

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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 15. Using the Present Continuous. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern to describe what someone is doing.
PATTERN
Eric: For example, "I'm watching TV."
Risa: 私は、テレビを見ています。 (Watashi wa, terebi o mite imasu.)
Risa: [slow] 私は、テレビを見ています。 (Watashi wa, terebi o mite imasu.)
Eric: The pattern for describing what someone is doing has 3 elements. First is the pronoun "I" with a topic marking particle.
Risa: 私は (Watashi wa).
Eric: Second, the verb phrase "to watch TV" with the te-form of the verb. Let’s break this phrase down, first we have
Risa: テレビ (terebi)
Eric: meaning "television," followed by an object marking particle,
Risa: を (o)
Eric: and then the te-form of a verb meaning "to watch,"
Risa: 見て (mite).
Risa: テレビを見て (terebi o mite).
Eric: The third part of this pattern is the verb meaning "to exist" or "to be" for people and animals.
Risa: います (imasu).
Eric: When it's attached to the te-form of a verb, it represents a present progressive action or state. In this case, it describes an on-going action. Altogether, we have, "I'm watching TV."
Risa: 私は、テレビを見ています。 (Watashi wa, terebi o mite imasu.) [slow] 私は、テレビを見ています。 (Watashi wa, terebi o mite imasu.) [normal] 私は、テレビを見ています。 (Watashi wa, terebi o mite imasu.)
Eric: To let others know what someone is doing, first say the subject plus a topic marking particle. If the subject is oneself, you can say
Risa: 私は (watashi wa),
Eric:Then the te-form of a verb or verb phrase,
Risa: テレビをみて (terebi o mite)
Eric: And finally, add -imasu to the end.
Risa: 私は、テレビを見ています。 (Watashi wa, terebi o mite imasu.)
Eric: Let’s recap. To describe what someone is doing, say ([person] wa), PLUS the te-form of a verb or a verb phrase, PLUS (imasu) at the end.
Eric: Let’s work through another example. "I'm studying Japanese." First, "I" + topic marking particle.
Risa: 私は (Watashi wa).
Eric: Second, the verb phrase meaning "to study Japanese," with the te-form of the verb. Let’s break this phrase down, first we have
Risa: 日本語 (Nihongo)
Eric: meaning "Japanese language," followed by an object marking particle,
Risa: を (o)
Eric: and te-form of a verb meaning "to study,"
Risa: 勉強して(benkyō shite).
Risa: 日本語を勉強して (Nihongo o benkyō shite).
Eric: Third, the verb meaning "to exist."
Risa: います (imasu).
Eric: Altogether we have...
Risa: 私は、日本語を勉強しています。 (Watashi wa, Nihongo o benkyō shite imasu.)
[slow] 私は、日本語を勉強しています。 (Watashi wa, Nihongo o benkyō shite imasu.)
[normal] 私は、日本語を勉強しています。 (Watashi wa, Nihongo o benkyō shite imasu.)
Eric: "I'm studying Japanese."
[pause]
Risa: 私は、日本語を勉強しています。 (Watashi wa, Nihongo o benkyō shite imasu.)
Eric: How do you say - "Rika is cleaning?" I’ll give you a hint. "To clean" is...
Risa: そうじする (sōji suru). [slow] そうじする (sōji suru). [normal] そうじする (sōji suru).
Eric: "Rika is cleaning" is...
[pause]
Risa: りかさんは、そうじしています。 (Rika-san wa, sōji shite imasu.) [slow] りかさんは、そうじしています。 (Rika-san wa, sōji shite imasu.) [normal] りかさんは、そうじしています。 (Rika-san wa, sōji shite imasu.)
[pause]
Risa: りかさんは、そうじしています。 (Rika-san wa, sōji shite imasu.)
REVIEW
Eric: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I’ll give you the English equivalent of the phrase, and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud in Japanese. Here we go.
Eric: "I'm watching TV."
[pause]
Risa: 私は、テレビを見ています。 (Watashi wa, terebi o mite imasu.)
[pause]
Risa: 私は、テレビを見ています。 (Watashi wa, terebi o mite imasu.)
Eric: "I'm studying Japanese."
[pause]
Risa: 私は、日本語を勉強しています。 (Watashi wa, Nihongo o benkyō shite imasu.)
[pause]
Risa: 私は、日本語を勉強しています。 (Watashi wa, Nihongo o benkyō shite imasu.)
Eric: "Rika is cleaning."
[pause]
Risa: りかさんは、そうじしています。 (Rika-san wa, sōji shite imasu.)
[pause]
Risa: りかさんは、そうじしています。 (Rika-san wa, sōji shite imasu.)

Outro

Eric: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You have learned a pattern for describing what someone is doing, as in...
Risa: 私は、テレビを見ています。 (Watashi wa, terebi o mite imasu.)
Eric: meaning "I'm watching TV."
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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