Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Jessi: Take Your Japanese Questions to New Heights with Particles Ka and No!
Naomi: こんにちは。直美です。(Kon’nichiwa. Naomi desu.)
Jessi: Jessi here.
Naomi: In the previous lesson, you learned the particle の (no). In this lesson we’ll look at the particles か (ka) and の (no) when used in questions.
Jessi: The conversation is between two colleagues, right?
Naomi: そうです。あきらさんとけいこさんです。(Sō desu. Akira-san to Keiko-san desu.)
Jessii: The conversation is between Akira and Keiko.
Naomi: 二人は同僚です。(Futari wa dōryō desu.)
Jessi: When does this conversation take place?
Naomi: 職場です。(Shokuba desu.)
Jessi: At work. Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
田中明: けい子さんは、お子さんがいますか。(Keiko-san wa, o-ko-san ga imasu ka.)
佐藤けい子: はい。4才の男の子がいます。(Hai. Yon-sai no otoko no ko ga imasu.)
田中明:本当ですか?うちの子も4才。(Hontō desu ka? Uchi no ko mo yon-sai.)
: あ、今週の日曜日、時間がありますか。(A, konshū no nichi-yōbi, jikan ga arimasu ka.)
: バーベキューをしませんか。(Bābekyū o shimasen ka.)
佐藤けい子: はい!是非。(Hai! Zehi.)
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.)
田中明: けい子さんは、お子さんがいますか。(Keiko-san wa, o-ko-san ga imasu ka.)
佐藤けい子: はい。4才の男の子がいます。(Hai. Yon-sai no otoko no ko ga imasu.)
田中明:本当ですか?うちの子も4才。(Hontō desu ka? Uchi no ko mo yon-sai.)
: あ、今週の日曜日、時間がありますか。(A, konshū no nichi-yōbi, jikan ga arimasu ka.)
: バーベキューをしませんか。(Bābekyū o shimasen ka.)
佐藤けい子: はい!是非。(Hai! Zehi.)
今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.)
田中明: けい子さんは、お子さんがいますか。(Keiko-san wa, o-ko-san ga imasu ka.)
Jessi: Do you have any kids, Keiko?
佐藤けい子: はい。4才の男の子がいます。(Hai. Yon-sai no otoko no ko ga imasu.)
Jessi: Yes, I have a four-year-old son.
田中明:本当ですか?うちの子も4才。(Hontō desu ka? Uchi no ko mo yon-sai.)
Jessi: Oh, really? My child is also four!
: あ、今週の日曜日、時間がありますか。(A, konshū no nichi-yōbi, jikan ga arimasu ka.)
Jessi: Oh, do you have any time on Sunday this week?
: バーベキューをしませんか。(Bābekyū o shimasen ka.)
Jessi: Would you like to have a barbecue?
佐藤けい子: はい!是非。(Hai! Zehi.)
Jessi: Yes! Definitely.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Naomi: ジェシーさんはバーベキューしますか。(Jeshī-san wa bābekyū shimasu ka.)
Jessi: そうですね。たまにします。(Sō desu ne. Tama ni shimasu.) I occasionally have a barbeque with my friends or something like that.
Naomi: にくをやきますか。(Niku o yakimasu ka.)
Jessi: はい。 (Hai.) Usually something like hamburgers, or hotdogs. (laughs)
Naomi: いいですね。(Ii desu ne.)
Jessi: はい。(Hai.)
Naomi: 私はときどきさかなをやきます。(Watashi wa tokidoki sakana o yakimasu.)
Jessi: Oh, at a barbeque?
Naomi: そうそうそう。(Sō sō sō.)
Jessi: So you make fish.
Naomi: はい。おいしいです。(Hai. Oishii desu.)

Lesson focus

Jessi: In this lesson, you'll learn two sentence ending particles used in questions. You'll also learn another usage of the particle が [ ga ], which you were introduced to in Lesson 2.
Naomi-sensei, which particle are we going to start with?
Naomi: How about the question marking particle か (ka)?
Jessi: OK, sounds good. The particle ka attaches to the end of a sentence and turns that sentence into a question. Unlike question sentences in English, when a statement becomes a question in Japanese, the word order stays the same. The best way to illiterate this is with an example. How do you say “Ken is Japanese“?
Naomi: ケンは日本人です。(Ken wa Nihon-jin desu.)
Jessi: So to ask “Is Ken Japanese?”, all you have to do is add か (ka) at the end of the sentence.
Naomi: Right. ケンは日本人ですか。(Ken wa Nihon-jin desu ka.) You have to use the rising intonation at か (ka) though.
Jessi: Right. In English you have to change the word order. “Ken is Japanese” to “Is Ken Japanese?” But in Japanese, you don’t have to do that - just add か (ka) to the sentence. Let’s do one more example. How do you say “Ken can speak Japanese”?
Naomi: ケンは日本語ができます。(Ken wa Nihon-go ga dekimasu.)
Jessi And to ask “Can Ken speak Japanese?”
Naomi: ケンは日本語ができますか。(Ken wa Nihon-go ga dekimasu ka.)
Jessi: Now those sentences that we just gave were all formal sentences. How about informal sentences?
Naomi: It’s the same - you just add か (ka) at the end of the sentence.
For example, クミは英語がわかる。(Kumi wa Eigo ga wakaru.) “Kumi understands English.” becomes クミは英語がわかるか。(Kumi wa Eigo ga wakaru ka.) “Does Kumi understand English?”
But you have to be careful for na-adjective and noun sentences.
Jessi: Right. For na-adjectives and nouns sentences, you use the copula だ (da) at the end of the sentence, right?
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Jessi: Such as …
Naomi: 電車は便利だ。(Densha wa benri da.) “Trains are convenient.”
Jessi: But when you turn the sentence into a question, you have to drop the copula だ (da) and add か (ka).
Naomi: So…電車は便利だ。(Densha wa benri da.) becomes 電車は便利か。(Densha wa benri ka.)
Jessi: Can we have an example of a noun sentence?
Naomi: それは、本当だ。(Sore wa, hontō da.) “It is true.” becomes それは、本当か。(Sore wa, hontō ka.) ”Is it true?”
Jessi: Because this sentence ending particle か (ka) changes an affirmative sentence to a question, it’s often called the question marking particle.
Naomi: When this question marker か (ka) is attached to a negative sentence, it forms a negative question. Ah… do we have to explain what a negative question is?
Jessi: Yes, I think we should. A negative question is often used to make a suggestion or an invitation, like “Do you want to see a movie tomorrow?” or “Do you want to take a break?”
Naomi: Right. 映画をみます (eiga o mimasu) is “to see a movie” 映画をみません (eiga o mimasen) is “not see a movie”, and if you add か (ka) to it, that would be 映画をみませんか (eiga o mimasen ka).
Jessi: Literally this would mean ‘Won’t you see a movie?’ but in Japanese it acts as an invitation ‘ Do you want to see a movie?’
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Jessi: And ‘Why don’t we go and see a movie?’
Naomi: うんうんうん。(Un un un.)
Jessi: OK. What’s the other sentence-ending particle that’s used in questions?
Naomi: の (no).
Jessi: And you may remember this particle. Previously you learned the usage of this particle where it appears between two nouns, and in this lesson, you'll learn how to use の (no) when it appears at the end of a sentence.
Naomi: The sentence ending particle の (no) indicates a colloquial question.
Jessi: When の (no) is attached to the end of an informal sentence, the sentence turns into a question. The intonation rises at の (no). For example
Naomi: クミは英語ができる。(Kumi wa Eigo ga dekiru.) “Kumi understands English.” becomes クミは英語ができるの?(Kumi wa Eigo ga dekiru no?) “Does Kumi understand English?”
Jessi: But… Naomi-sensei, we just learned that you can attach the particle か (ka) to the end of an informal sentence to make it a question, for example クミは英語ができるか。(Kumi wa Eigo ga dekiru ka.)
Naomi: Good point! Even though it’s a grammatically correct sentence, I’d say the informal sentence plus か (ka) sounds a bit rough, if you use it for a regular question. To me, の (no) sounds much softer and nicer.
Jessi: Hmm, I see. So you recommend that we use クミは英語ができるの? (Kumi wa Eigo ga dekiru no?) rather than クミは英語ができるか。(Kumi wa Eigo ga dekiru ka.)
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) It really depends on how you want to sound but basically…そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Yes.
Jessi: And for na-adjective and noun sentences, you also have to be careful of something, right?
Naomi: はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.) Right. You have to change the copula だ (da) to なの (na no)?For example, 電車は便利だ。(Densha wa benri da.) “Trains are convenient.” becomes 電車は便利なの? (Densha wa benri na no?) “Are trains convenient?”
それは本当だ。(Sore wa hontō da.) “It’s true.” それは本当なの?(Sore wa hontō na no?) “Is it true?”
Jessi: So the sentence ending particles か (ka) and の (no) turn the sentence into a question. Basically, you add か (ka) to formal and informal sentences. You add の (no) to informal sentences. OK the last particle we’ll be looking at in this lesson is
Naomi: が (ga).
Jessi: As you learned in Lesson 2, the particle が (ga) marks the object for verbs of ability. In this lesson, you'll learn the usage of ga that indicates existence.
Naomi: OK. First of all, let us introduce two verbs that express existence.
ある (aru) and いる (iru).
Jessi: They both mean “to be” or “to have”, but ある (aru) is used for inanimate objects whereas いる (iru) is used for animate objects.
Naomi: The people or items that exist are marked by the particle が (ga)
For example, わたしは時間がある。(Watashi wa jikan ga aru.) “I have time.”
わたしは子供がいる。(Watashi wa kodomo ga iru.) “I have a child.”
Jessi: Now here I translated ある (aru) and いる (iru) as “to have”, but they can be translated as “there is” or “there are”, right?
Naomi: そうですね (Sō desu ne), right. トイレがありますか。(Toire ga arimasu ka.) “Is there a restroom?” 警察がいます。(Keisatsu ga imasu.) “There is a policeman.”
Jessi: So to recap, the particle が (ga) marks the object for verbs of ability and it indicates existence.
Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) Right. I think it would be a good idea to remember that が (ga) is used with いる (iru) and ある (aru).
Jessi: Right, I agree. OK then let’s take a look at a sentence from the dialogue.
Naomi: けい子さんは、お子さんがいますか。(Keiko-san wa, o-ko-san ga imasu ka.) “Do you have any kids, Keiko?”
Jessi: If you want to say this sentence casually but nicely, how would you say it?
Naomi: けい子さんは、おこさんがいるの?(Keiko-san wa, o-ko-san ga iru no?)
Jessi: います (imasu) became いる (iru) which is the dictionary form of います (imasu), and then の (no) was added instead of か(ka).
Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) Right.
Jessi: In this lesson you learned the two sentence ending particles か (ka) and の (no). They’re both used in questions. Now let’s recap this lesson with a quiz.
時間があります。(Jikan ga arimasu.) means “I have time.” So, how would you say “Do you have time?” in formal Japanese?
Naomi: ・・・・
Jessi: The answer is?
Naomi: 時間がありますか。(Jikan ga arimasu ka.)
Jessi: ‘Do you have time?’ Now since あります (arimasu) is the –ます(masu) form, this sentence is quite polite isn’t it? How do you ask the same question more casually and friendly?
Naomi: The hint is the dictionary form of あります (arimasu) is ある (aru).
Jessi: OK. And the answer is?
Naomi: 時間があるの?(Jikan ga aru no?)
Jessi: Of course you could also say 時間があるか?(Jikan ga aru ka?) but 時間があるの?(Jikan ga aru no?) sounds softer, right?
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Jessi: OK, well that’s all for this lesson. See you next time.
Naomi: じゃまた。(Ja mata.)
DIALOGUE
田中明: けい子さんは、お子さんがいますか。(Keiko-san wa, o-ko-san ga imasu ka.)
佐藤けい子: はい。4才の男の子がいます。(Hai. Yon-sai no otoko no ko ga imasu.)
田中明:本当ですか?うちの子も4才。(Hontō desu ka? Uchi no ko mo yon-sai.)
: あ、今週の日曜日、時間がありますか。(A, konshū no nichi-yōbi, jikan ga arimasu ka.)
: バーベキューをしませんか。(Bābekyū o shimasen ka.)
佐藤けい子: はい!是非。(Hai! Zehi.)

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