Dialogue

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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 25. Politely Asking Someone to Do Something, Part 2.
Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use another sentence pattern to politely ask someone to do something.
PATTERN
Eric: For example, "Will you discount it for me?"
Risa: 安くしてもらえますか。 (Yasuku shite moraemasu ka.)
Risa: [slow] 安くしてもらえますか。 (Yasuku shite moraemasu ka.)
Eric: This pattern for politely asking someone to do something has 3 elements. First, the te-form of a verb phrase meaning "to discount."
Risa: 安くして (Yasuku shite-).
Eric: Second, the formal potential form of a verb meaning “to receive.”
Risa: もらえます (moraemasu).
Eric: And last, the question marker.
Risa: か (ka).
Eric: Altogether, we have, "Will you discount it for me?"
Risa: 安くしてもらえますか。 (Yasuku shite moraemasu ka.) [slow] 安くしてもらえますか。 (Yasuku shite moraemasu ka.) [normal] 安くしてもらえますか。 (Yasuku shite moraemasu ka.)
Eric: To ask someone to do something for you in Japanese, use the te-form of a verb or verb phrase describing what you want done,
Risa: 安くして (yasuku shite),
Eric: then add "can have/can receive,"
Risa: もらえます (moraemasu)
Eric: and at the end, the question marker.
Risa: か (ka)
Eric: All together...
Risa: 安くしてもらえますか。 (Yasuku shite moraemasu ka.)
Eric: So remember, to politely ask someone to do something for you, first say the te-form of a verb or verb phrase, and then add
Risa: もらえますか(moraemasu ka).
Eric: This pattern implies "can you [do something] for me?" It sounds more polite and passive than the pattern we studied in the previous lessons, which was verb in te-form, plus kudasai.
Eric: Here is another example meaning, "Can you help me?" First, the te-form of a verb meaning "to help."
Risa: 手伝って (Tetsudatte-).
Eric: Second, the formal potential form of a verb meaning "to receive."
Risa: もらえます (moraemasu).
Eric: And last, the question marker.
Risa: か (ka).
Eric: Altogether we have...
Risa: 手伝ってもらえますか。 (Tetsudatte moraemasu ka.) [slow] 手伝ってもらえますか。 (Tetsudatte moraemasu ka.) [normal] 手伝ってもらえますか。 (Tetsudatte moraemasu ka.)
Eric: "Can you help me?"
[pause]
Risa: 手伝ってもらえますか。 (Tetsudatte moraemasu ka.)
Eric: How do you say, "Can you show me the way?" To give you a hint, "to show" is...
Risa: 教える (oshieru). [slow] 教える (oshieru). [normal] 教える (oshieru).
Eric: "Can you show me the way?"
[pause]
Risa: 道を教えてもらえますか。 (Michi o oshiete moraemasu ka.) [slow] 道を教えてもらえますか。 (Michi o oshiete moraemasu ka.) [normal] 道を教えてもらえますか。 (Michi o oshiete moraemasu ka.)
[pause]
Risa: 道を教えてもらえますか。 (Michi o oshiete moraemasu ka.)
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: "Will you discount it for me?"
[pause]
Risa: 安くしてもらえますか。 (Yasuku shite moraemasu ka.)
[pause]
Risa: 安くしてもらえますか。 (Yasuku shite moraemasu ka.)
Eric: "Can you help me?"
[pause]
Risa: 手伝ってもらえますか。 (Tetsudatte moraemasu ka.)
[pause]
Risa: 手伝ってもらえますか。 (Tetsudatte moraemasu ka.)
Eric: "Can you show me the way?"
[pause]
Risa: 道を教えてもらえますか。 (Michi o oshiete moraemasu ka.)
[pause]
Risa: 道を教えてもらえますか。 (Michi o oshiete moraemasu ka.)

Outro

Eric: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned another pattern for politely asking someone to do something, as in...
Risa: 安くしてもらえますか。 (Yasuku shite moraemasu ka.)
Eric: meaning "Will you discount it for me?"
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 in another series!
Risa: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.).

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