Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Jessi: Learn Japanese Time Particles Kara, Made, and Ni in a Particle of Time!
Naomi: こんにちは。みなさん。直美です。(Kon’nichiwa. Mina-san. Naomi desu.)
Jessi: Jessi here. なおみ先生。(Naomi-sensei.)
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Jessi: 前回、何を勉強しましたか。(Zenkai, nani o benkyō shimashita ka.) What did we learn in the previous lesson?
Naomi: We learned particles that indicate direction such as へ, に, から, まで (e, ni, kara, made).
Jessi: And In this lesson, what will we be covering?
Naomi: 今日は(kyō wa) particles that indicate time, such as から, まで (kara, made) and に (ni).
Jessi: The conversation is between two people, right?
Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) Right, 歯医者の受付と佐藤あきらさんです。(Haisha no uketsuke to Satō Akira-san desu.)
Jessi: The conversation is between the receptionist at a dentist’s office and Akira Sato.
Naomi: 電話の会話ですね。(Denwa no kaiwa desu ne.)
Jessi: The talking on the phone.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Jessi: So let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
受付: はい、お電話ありがとうございます。中山歯科です。(Hai, o-denwa arigatō gozaimasu. Nakayama-shika desu.)
佐藤あきら: すみません。診察は、何時から何時までですか。(Sumimasen. Shinsatsu wa, nan-ji kara nan-ji made desu ka.)
受付: 九時から六時までです。(Ku-ji kara roku-ji made desu.)
佐藤あきら: 今から、いいですか。(Ima kara, ii desu ka.)
受付: あ、はい。何時に着きますか。(A, hai. Nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka.)
佐藤あきら: すぐです。五分後に着きます。(Sugu desu. Go-fun go ni tsukimasu.)
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.)
受付: はい、お電話ありがとうございます。中山歯科です。(Hai, o-denwa arigatō gozaimasu. Nakayama-shika desu.)
佐藤あきら: すみません。診察は、何時から何時までですか。(Sumimasen. Shinsatsu wa, nan-ji kara nan-ji made desu ka.)
受付: 九時から六時までです。(Ku-ji kara roku-ji made desu.)
佐藤あきら: 今から、いいですか。(Ima kara, ii desu ka.)
受付: あ、はい。何時に着きますか。(A, hai. Nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka.)
佐藤あきら: すぐです。五分後に着きます。(Sugu desu. Go-fun go ni tsukimasu.)
今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.)
受付: はい、お電話ありがとうございます。中山歯科です。(Hai, o-denwa arigatō gozaimasu. Nakayama-shika desu.)
Jessi: Thank you for calling Nakayama Dental Clinic.
佐藤あきら: すみません。診察は、何時から何時までですか。(Sumimasen. Shinsatsu wa, nan-ji kara nan-ji made desu ka.)
Jessi: Excuse me, what are the hours for dental exams?
受付: 九時から六時までです。(Ku-ji kara roku-ji made desu.)
Jessi: From nine o'clock to six o'clock.
佐藤あきら: 今から、いいですか。(Ima kara, ii desu ka.)
Jessi: Can I come now?
受付: あ、はい。何時に着きますか。(A, hai. Nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka.)
Jessi: Sure. What time will you arrive?
佐藤あきら: すぐです。五分後に着きます。(Sugu desu. Go-fun go ni tsukimasu.)
Jessi: Right away. I'll be there in five minutes.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Jessi: OK. So let’s get this straight – 歯医者 (haisha) is dentist and 歯科 (shika) is dental clinic?
Naomi: Right. Dental clinics are sometimes called 歯科医院 (shika iin). But 歯科 (shika) is OK, too.
Jessi: And there’s one more tough word we saw, which is 診察 (shinsatsu), which in this case is a dental examination.
Naomi: It could also mean ‘medical examination’ at a hospital.
Jessi: Oh, OK, just in general?
Naomi: はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.) In the conversation, Akira said 診察は何時から何時までですか。(Shinsatsu wa nan-ji kara nan-ji made desu ka.) but he could have said 診察時間はいつですか。(Shinsatsu jikan wa itsu desu ka.) That would be much easier.
Jessi: But in this case you wanted to use から (kara) and まで (made) because those are actually this lesson’s target particles, right?
Naomi: (laughing) そうです、そうです。(Sō desu, sō desu.) Exactly.

Lesson focus

Jessi: In this lesson, you'll learn particles that indicate time. They correspond to "in", "on", "at", "from", and "until" in English. Let’s start with から (kara) and まで (made).
Naomi: We covered から (kara) and まで (made) in the previous lesson right?
Jessi: That’s right. As you learned before, から (kara) marks the starting point.. so when it’s used to talk about time, から (kara) indicates the time something starts. It's equivalent to "from" or “starting from” in English. Can we hear a sample sentence?
Naomi: はい。今日から、ダイエットをします。(Hai. Kyō kara, daietto o shimasu.)
Jessi: Literally, ‘I'll be on a diet from today’. In English, we might say ‘starting today’. And the particle まで (made) marks the time an action ends. It's equivalent to "until" in English.
Naomi: Here is the sample sentence. 結婚式の日まで、ダイエットをします。(Kekkonshiki no hi made, daietto o shimasu.)
Jessi: ‘I'm on a diet until the day of my wedding.’ (laughing) Might be kind of tough. As you learned in the previous lesson, the particles から (kara) and まで (made) are often used together. This phrase marks the starting time and the ending time of an action. It's equivalent to  "from A to B" in English. Let’s look at an example where we use them together.
Naomi: 今日から、結婚式の日までダイエットをします。(Kyō kara, kekkonshiki no hi made daietto o shimasu.)
Jessi ‘Starting today, I'm going on a diet lasting until the day of my wedding.’ I wonder how long that will be!
Naomi: (laughing) ねー!(Nē!)
Jessi: Naomi-sensei, can you read the sentences from the dialogue?
Naomi: Sure. 診察は、何時から何時までですか。(Shinsatsu wa, nan-ji kara nan-ji made desu ka.)
Jessi: Literally, ‘From what time to what time are the dental exams?’
In more natural English, that would be “What are the hours for the dental exams?”
Naomi: In the dialogue, the receptionist said 九時から六時までです。(Ku-ji kara roku-ji made desu.)
Jessi: ‘They’re from 9 to 6.’
Jessi: OK. On to the next particle. What is it, Naomi-sensei?
Naomi: に (ni).
Jessi: The particle に (ni) indicates a point of time when something takes place. So we can say it’s the same as "in", "on", and "at" in English. But, unlike in English, where you use all those different prepositions, に (ni) covers them all.
Naomi: Right. In English, what word you use depends on the expression that follows, right?
For example, you say “AT seven o’clock”, “ON Monday” “IN June” and so on.
Jessi: That’s right.
Naomi: In Japanese, に (ni) covers all of these time expressions.
Jessi: Yeah, so I would say it’s a little more convenient in Japanese, wouldn’t you say?
Naomi: (laughing) そう思います。(Sō omoimasu.)
Jessi: Naomi-sensei, how do you say ‘at seven o’ clock’?
Naomi: ‘Seven o’clock’ is 七時 (shichi-ji), so 七時に (shichi-ji ni).
Jessi: How would you say ‘On Monday?’
Naomi: ‘Monday’ is 月曜日 (getsu-yōbi), so 月曜日に (getsu-yōbi ni).
Jessi: And how would you say ‘In June?’
Naomi: ‘June’ is 六月 (roku-gatsu), so 六月に (roku-gatsu ni).
Jessi: Did you notice that all of them were followed by the particleに (ni)?
Naomi: Japanese is easier than English in this way.
Jessi: I agree! But, there are some time expressions that に (ni) cannot come after, right?
Naomi: That’s true.
Words such as あさ (asa) "morning", 今日 (kyō) "today", 今週 (konshū) "this week", 来年 (rainen) "next year" can not be marked by particle に (ni).
Jessi: That’s right. So generally speaking, に (ni) cannot be attached to relative time expressions, only really specific time expressions.
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) So you can not say 来年に日本に行きます。(Rainen ni Nihon ni ikimasu.) Instead you have to say 来年、日本に行きます。(Rainen, Nihon ni ikimasu.)
Jessi: Which means ‘I’m going to Japan next year’. And that’s because 来年 (rainen) isn’t specific enough, right?
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) That’s right. Time, the 7 days of the week, and the months are specific enough, so you put に (ni) after them. 月曜日に日本にいきます。(Getsu-yōbi ni Nihon ni ikimasu.) “I’m going to Japan on Monday.” 六月に日本に行きます。(Roku-gatsu ni Nihon ni ikimasu.) “I’m going to Japan in June.”
Jessi: Can we hear a sentence from a dialogue?
Naomi: Sure. 何時に着きますか。(Nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka.)
Jessi: What time will you arrive?
Naomi: And his answer was…. 五分後に着きます。(Go-fun go ni tsukimasu.)
Jessi: Literally, “5 minutes later I’ll arrive”. In natural English, this is “I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Advanced usage of に (ni).
Jessi: The next usage is a bit more advanced, but に (ni) is also used when talking about the frequency of an action.
Naomi: Hmm. In this case に (ni) follows the duration of time. For example, 一ヶ月に一度 (ikkagetsu ni ichi-do)
Jessi: Once a month.
Naomi: 一ヶ月 (ikkagetsu) means one month. 一度 (ichi-do) is once.
Jessi: So how would you say once a week?
Naomi: One week is 一週間 (isshūkan). So…一週間に一度 (isshūkan ni ichi-do).
Jessi: How about once a year? A year is 一年 (ichi-nen)
Naomi: 一年に一度。(Ichi-nen ni ichi-do.) So ジェシーさん、よく、アメリカに帰りますか。(Jeshī-san, yoku, Amerika ni kaerimasu ka.) Do you often go back to the States?
Jessi: Not that often. 一年に一度帰ります。(Ichi-nen ni ichi-do kaerimasu.) I go back to the States about once a year. So Naomi-sensei, how often do you go out to eat?
Naomi: Not often, but maybe 一週間に二度 (isshūkan ni ni-do). About twice a week.
Jessi: In this lesson you learned the particles used when talking about time.
Let’s recap this lesson with a quiz.
Which of the following particles marks the time when an action ends?
Naomi: 1.まで (made) 2. から (kara) 3. に (ni)
Jessi: And the answer is?
Naomi: 1まで (made) until
Jessi: Choice 2, から (kara), marks the starting point. から (kara) and まで (made) are often used together. They correspond to “from A to B” in English. Choice 3, に (ni) , indicates a point of time when something takes place. And one more quiz question. Which of the following time expressions cannot be followed by the particle に (ni)?
Naomi 1.月曜日 (getsu-yōbi) 2.今日 (kyō) 3. 8時 (hachi-ji)
Jessi: And the answer is?
Naomi: 2 今日 (kyō) “today” can not be followed by particle に (ni).
Jessi: And that’s because 今日 (kyō) is not as specific as 月曜日 (getsu-yōbi) Monday or 八時 (hachi-ji) 8 o’clock.
Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) OK, so that’s all for this lesson.
Naomi: それじゃまた!(Soreja mata!)
Jessi: See you next time.
DIALOGUE
受付: はい、お電話ありがとうございます。中山歯科です。(Hai, o-denwa arigatō gozaimasu. Nakayama-shika desu.)
佐藤あきら: すみません。診察は、何時から何時までですか。(Sumimasen. Shinsatsu wa, nan-ji kara nan-ji made desu ka.)
受付: 九時から六時までです。(Ku-ji kara roku-ji made desu.)
佐藤あきら: 今から、いいですか。(Ima kara, ii desu ka.)
受付: あ、はい。何時に着きますか。(A, hai. Nan-ji ni tsukimasu ka.)
佐藤あきら: すぐです。五分後に着きます。(Sugu desu. Go-fun go ni tsukimasu.)

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