Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Jessi: Find everything you are looking for with Japanese particles を (o) and に (ni).
Naomi: ナオミです。(Naomi desu.)
Jessi: Jessi here. So, in the previous lesson, you learned the particles that are used when comparing things.
Naomi: Right. Such as バスと電車とどちらがはやいですか。(Basu to densha to dochira ga hayai desu ka.)
Jessi: “Which is faster, a bus or a train?”
Naomi: 一年で何月が一番暑いですか。(Ichi-nen de nan-gatsu ga ichi-ban atsui desu ka.)
Jessi: “Which is the hottest month of the year?” Can you tell us what particles we’ll be covering in this lesson?
Naomi: In this lesson you'll learn particles used when asking and giving directions.
Jessi: This conversation is between a station clerk and an old lady, right?
Naomi: そうです。おばあさんと駅員さんが話しています。(Sō desu. O-bā-san to ekiin-san ga hanashite imasu.)
Naomi: Where does this conversation take place? 駅ですね。(Eki desu ne.) Let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
(駅)(Eki)
老人(女):すみません。忘れ物センターはどこですか?(Sumimasen. Wasuremono sentā wa doko desu ka?)
駅員:あの角を曲がってください。右にあります。(Ano kado o magatte kudasai. Migi ni arimasu.)
(忘れ物センター)(Wasuremono sentā)
老人(女): あの、昨日の夜10時頃、上野で電車に乗って、赤坂で電車を降りました。(Ano, kinō no yoru jū-ji goro, Ueno de densha ni notte, Akasaka de densha o orimashita.)
: ピンクのかさを忘れました。(Pinku no kasa o wasuremashita.)
駅員:これですか?(Kore desu ka?)
老人(女): あ、そうです。(A, sō desu.)
もう一度お願いします。今度はゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do onegai shimasu. Kondo wa yukkuri onegai shimasu.)
(駅)(Eki)
老人(女):すみません。忘れ物センターはどこですか?(Sumimasen. Wasuremono sentā wa doko desu ka?)
駅員:あの角を曲がってください。右にあります。(Ano kado o magatte kudasai. Migi ni arimasu.)
(忘れ物センター)(Wasuremono sentā)
老人(女): あの、昨日の夜10時頃、上野で電車に乗って、赤坂で電車を降りました。(Ano, kinō no yoru jū-ji goro, Ueno de densha ni notte, Akasaka de densha o orimashita.)
: ピンクのかさを忘れました。(Pinku no kasa o wasuremashita.)
駅員:これですか?(Kore desu ka?)
老人(女): あ、そうです。(A, sō desu.)
今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.)
(駅)(Eki)
老人(女):すみません。忘れ物センターはどこですか?(Sumimasen. Wasuremono sentā wa doko desu ka?)
Jessi: Excuse me. Where is the lost-and-found?
駅員:あの角を曲がってください。右にあります。(Ano kado o magatte kudasai. Migi ni arimasu.)
Jessi: Please turn at that corner. It's on the right.
(忘れ物センター)(Wasuremono sentā)
Jessi(At the lost-and-found)
老人(女): あの、昨日の夜10時頃、上野で電車に乗って、赤坂で電車を降りました。(Ano, kinō no yoru jū-ji goro, Ueno de densha ni notte, Akasaka de densha o orimashita.)
Jessi: Excuse me. Yesterday at around ten o'clock at night, I got on the train at Ueno and got off at Akasaka.
: ピンクのかさを忘れました。(Pinku no kasa o wasuremashita.)
Jessi: I left behind a pink umbrella.
駅員:これですか?(Kore desu ka?)
Jessi: Is this it?
老人(女): あ、そうです。(A, sō desu.)
Jessi: Oh, yes it is.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Jessi: What’s the name of the place, again?
Naomi: Which place?
Jessi: The lost-and-found.
Naomi: あー、忘れ物センター。(Ā, wasuremono sentā.)
Jessi: 忘れ物 (wasuremono) a lost item, and センター (sentā), a center?
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Right. There are a bunch of different ways to say lost-and-found in Japanese. But the easiest one is 忘れ物センター (wasuremono sentā). Have you ever visited there?
Jessi: Not in Japan actually… but I’ve heard that even if you lose something, say, on the train… you have a good chance of getting it back!
Naomi: そう!戻ってくるんですよ。(Sō! Modotte kuru n desu yo.)
Jessi: That’s great! I guess people are very honest.
Naomi: そうね。(Sō ne.)

Lesson focus

Jessi: In this lesson, you'll learn particles that are useful when asking or giving directions.
Naomi: The particles we’ll be covering here are を (o) and に (ni).
Jessi: Let’s start with を (o).
Jessi: First of all, let’s quickly review what you have learned about the particle を (o) so far.
Naomi: In Lesson 2, you learned that を is used to mark the object of a sentence.
In the dialogue, the old lady said ピンクのかさを忘れました。(Pinku no kasa o wasuremashita.)
Jessi: "I left behind a pink umbrella."
Naomi: The object, which is the umbrella she left behind, was marked by を (o). 傘を忘れました。(Kasa o wasuremashita.)
Jessi: And then in Lesson 7, you learned that を (o) marks where some kind of movement takes place.
Naomi: この道をまっすぐ行ってください。(Kono michi o massugu itte kudasai.)
Jessi: "Please go straight on this street." The street where the movement takes place is marked by を (o).
Naomi: Right. この道を (kono michi o) in the dialogue, the station clerk said あの角を曲がってください。(Ano kado o magatte kudasai.)
Jessi: “Please turn at that corner.” 曲がる (magaru) “to turn”, is the movement. Where it takes place, あの角 (ano kado) “that corner”, is marked by を (o).
Naomi: あの角「を」曲がってください。(Ano kado ‘o’ magatte kudasai.)
Jessi: Ok. So those are the two uses of を (o), which you should know by now.
If you’re not confident with this yet, please go back and review Lessons 2 and 7.
What’s the new use of particle を (o) we’re introducing in this lesson?
Naomi: Marking the place that someone leaves or departs from. For example, 毎朝、7時にうちを出ます。(Maiasa, shichi-ji ni uchi o demasu.)
Jessi: “I leave home at seven every morning.” Let’s break down this sentence.
毎朝 (maiasa) “every morning”, 七時に (shichi-ji ni) “at seven”. So…毎朝七時に (maiasa shichi-ji ni) means “at seven every morning.”
うち (uchi) “home”, を (o) particle marking the place that someone departs from. 出ます (demasu) “to leave”, “to depart.”
So うちを出ます (uchi o demasu) literally means “depart from home”. In natural English we’d say “leave home.”
So all together, 毎朝七時にうちを出ます。(Maiasa shichi-ji ni uchi o demasu.) “I leave home at seven every morning.”
Naomi: うち (uchi) is the place you depart from, so it’s marked by を (o).
So again, を (o) is used to mark the place you leave or depart from.
Jessi: Can we hear one more example?
Naomi: Sure. 大学を卒業しました。(Daigaku o sotsugyō shimashita.) “I graduated from college.”
Jessi: Let’s break this one down too. 大学 (daigaku) “college”, を (o) particle marking the place one leaves, 卒業しました (sotsugyō shimashita) “graduated.”
Naomi-sensei, can we also say 大学から卒業しました (daigaku kara sotsugyō shimashita) for “graduated from college”?
Naomi: People would understand you. But 大学を卒業しました (daigaku o sotsugyō shimashita) sounds more natural.
Jessi: Got it. OK. On to the next particle, に (ni). First of all, let’s review what we have learned about に (ni) so far.
Naomi: In Lesson 5, you learned that に (ni) marks the place someone or something moves toward. For example, この電車は空港に行きますか。(Kono densha wa kūkō ni ikimasu ka.) 
Jessi: “Does this train go to the airport?”
When being used in this way, に (ni) can also be replaced with へ (e). So you can also say…この電車は空港へいきますか。(Kono densha wa kūkō e ikimasu ka.) to mean “Does this train go to the airport?”
OK. And here’s a new rule.
When the particle に (ni) indicates movement from a larger place to a smaller place, the particle に (ni) can not be replaced by へ (e).
Naomi: Like 部屋に入る (heya ni hairu) “to enter a room” or タクシーに乗る (takushī ni noru) “to get in a taxi.”
Naomi: Finally, let’s check the particles that go with the verbs 降りる (oriru) “to get off” and 乗る (noru) “to get on.”
Jessi: When talking about a vehicle or means of transportation, the particle を (o) is almost always used with the verb 降りる (oriru), meaning "to get off", and the particle に (ni) is almost always used with the verb 乗る (noru), meaning "to get on". First, can we hear a sample sentence using 降りる (oriru)?
Naomi: 赤坂で電車を降りました。(Akasaka de densha o orimashita.)
Jessi: “I got off the train at Akasaka.”
Naomi: So the structure is [means of transportation] plus を降りる (o oriru). For example, タクシーを降りる (takushī o oriru) “to get out of the taxi”, 飛行機を降りる (hikōki o oriru) “o get off the airplane.”
Jessi: How about a sample sentence for 乗る (noru)?
Naomi: OK. 北海道で馬に乗りました。(Hokkaidō de uma ni norimashita.)
Jessi: “I rode a horse in Hokkaido.”
Naomi: The sentence structure here is [means of transportation] plus に乗る (ni noru). For example, タクシーに乗る (takushī ni noru) “to get in a taxi” or “to ride in a taxi”, 飛行機に乗る (hikōki ni noru) “to get on an airplane”.
Jessi: All right, in this lesson you learned particles used when asking and giving directions, along with particles used when talking about transportation.
And now it’s time for us to recap this lesson with a quiz.
I’m going to read an English sentence. Your job is to choose the best Japanese translation from the choices given. Are you ready? Here’s the sentence.
“I got off the train at Akasaka.”
Naomi: 1. 赤坂で電車に乗りました。(Akasaka de densha ni norimashita.)
2. 赤坂で電車を降りました。(Akasaka de densha o orimashita.)
Jessi: And the answer is?
Naomi: 2. 赤坂で電車を降りました。(Akasaka de densha o orimashita.) “I got off the train at Akasaka.”
Jessi: How about choice 1?
Naomi: 赤坂で電車に乗りました。(Akasaka de densha ni norimashita.) This means “I got on the train at Akasaka.”
Jessi: So remember that the particle を (o) is almost always used with the verb 降りる (oriru) "to get off", and the particle に (ni) is almost always used with the verb 乗る (noru) "to get on".
And now let’s do one more sentence.
”Please turn at that corner.”
Naomi: 1. あの角を曲がってください。(Ano kado o magatte kudasai.)
2. あの角に曲がってください。(Ano kado ni magatte kudasai.)
Jessi: And the answer is?
Naomi: 1. あの角を曲がってください。 (Ano kado o magatte kudasai.) “Please turn at that corner.”
Jessi: So remember, where some kind of movement takes place is marked by を (o).
And choice 2 doesn’t sound quite right, does it?
Naomi: No, because に (ni) marks the direction or destination of movement. So it doesn’t fit in this sentence. OK, that’s all for this lesson.
Naomi: それじゃあまた。(Sorejā mata.)
Jessi: See you next time.
DIALOGUE
(駅)(Eki)
老人(女):すみません。忘れ物センターはどこですか?(Sumimasen. Wasuremono sentā wa doko desu ka?)
駅員:あの角を曲がってください。右にあります。(Ano kado o magatte kudasai. Migi ni arimasu.)
(忘れ物センター)(Wasuremono sentā)
老人(女): あの、昨日の夜10時頃、上野で電車に乗って、赤坂で電車を降りました。(Ano, kinō no yoru jū-ji goro, Ueno de densha ni notte, Akasaka de densha o orimashita.)
: ピンクのかさを忘れました。(Pinku no kasa o wasuremashita.)
駅員:これですか?(Kore desu ka?)
老人(女): あ、そうです。(A, sō desu.)

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