Learn how to use the sentence pattern "May I...?/Can I...?"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, I'm John. |
| Risa: And I'm Risa. |
| John: And welcome to Must-Know Japanese Sentence Structures, Season 1, Lesson 27. Requesting Permission. |
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for requesting permission. |
| PATTERN |
| John: For example, |
| John: "Can I ask a question?" |
| Risa: 質問してもいいですか。 (Shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| Risa: [slow] 質問してもいいですか。 (Shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| John: The pattern for requesting permission has three elements. First, a verb phrase meaning "to ask a question" in the -te form . |
| Risa: 質問して (Shitsumon shite-). |
| John: Second, a particle meaning "even" . |
| Risa: も (mo). |
| John: Third, a phrase meaning "is it good?". |
| Risa: いいですか (ii desu ka). |
| Risa: 質問してもいいですか。 (Shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| [slow] 質問してもいいですか。 (Shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.) [normal] 質問してもいいですか。 (Shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| John: The sentence pattern to ask permission in Japanese is the -te form of a verb or verb phrase plus the particle meaning "even" |
| Risa: も (mo) |
| John: and finally the phrase meaning "is it good? |
| Risa: いいですか (ii desu ka). |
| John: So, "Can I ask a question?" would be |
| Risa: 質問してもいいですか。 (Shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| John: So, to ask "Can I [do something]?" remember to say the -te form of the verb or verb phrase plus the particle |
| Risa: も (mo) |
| John: at the end, just add |
| Risa: いいですか (ii desu ka). |
| John: Here is another example meaning, "Can I try it?" First, a verb phrase meaning "to try on" in the -te form. |
| Risa: 試着して (Shichaku shite-). |
| John: Second, a particle meaning "even". |
| Risa: も (mo). |
| John: Third, the phrase meaning "is it good?". |
| Risa: いいですか (ii desu ka). |
| John: Altogether we have... |
| Risa: 試着してもいいですか。 (Shichaku shite mo ii desu ka.) [slow] 試着してもいいですか。 (Shichaku shite mo ii desu ka.) [normal] 試着してもいいですか。 (Shichaku shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| John: "Can I try it?" |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 試着してもいいですか。 (Shichaku shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| John: How do you say, "Can I turn on the TV?" To give you a hint, "to turn on" is... |
| Risa: つける (tsukeru ). [slow] つける (tsukeru ). [normal] つける (tsukeru). |
| John: "Can I turn on the TV?" |
| [pause] |
| Risa: テレビをつけてもいいですか。 (Terebi o tsukete mo ii desu ka.) [slow] テレビをつけてもいいですか。 (Terebi o tsukete mo ii desu ka.) [normal] テレビをつけてもいいですか。 (Terebi o tsukete mo ii desu ka.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: テレビをつけてもいいですか。 (Terebi o tsukete mo ii desu ka.) |
| REVIEW |
| John: 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. |
| John: "Can I ask a question?" |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 質問してもいいですか。 (Shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 質問してもいいですか。 (Shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| John: "Can I try it?" |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 試着してもいいですか。 (Shichaku shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: 試着してもいいですか。 (Shichaku shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| John: "Can I turn on the TV?" |
| [pause] |
| Risa: テレビをつけてもいいですか。 (Terebi o tsukete mo ii desu ka.) |
| [pause] |
| Risa: テレビをつけてもいいですか。 (Terebi o tsukete mo ii desu ka.) |
Outro |
|---|
| John: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for requesting permission, as in... |
| Risa: 質問してもいいですか。 (Shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka.) |
| John: meaning "Can I ask a question?" |
| John: You can find more vocab or phrases that will 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: またね！(Mata ne!). |
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