Learn how to create the negative form of na adjectives and nouns
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: こんにちは！なおみです！(Kon’nichiwa! Naomi desu!) |
| Kat: Hi everyone, Kat here. That Japanese model isn’t just pretty - she’s hot! |
| Naomi: じゃあ (jā), Kat-san, please tell us what we're going to learn in this lesson. |
| Kat: In this lesson you will learn how to create the negative form of na-adjectives and nouns. |
| Naomi: Where does this conversation take place and who is it between? |
| Kat: This conversation again takes place at school and it’s between Madoka, Kent and Madoka's 先輩 (senpai) or senior in school, Emi. |
| Naomi: What's the formality level of the conversation? |
| Kat: Emi is older than Madoka and Kent, so they speak formally when addressing her. In turn, Emi speaks informally to them. So please pay attention to the differences here. OK. So now let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):まどか！(Madoka!) |
| まどか (Madoka):ああ、えみ先輩。こんにちは。(Ā, Emi-senpai. Kon’nichiwa.) |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):彼氏？(Kareshi?) |
| まどか (Madoka):彼氏じゃないです。いとこです。(Kareshi ja nai desu. Itoko desu.) |
| まどか (Madoka):ケント、こちら、青田エミ先輩。(Kento, kochira, Aota Emi-senpai.) |
| ケント (Kento):はじめまして。ケントです。(Hajimemashite. Kento desu.) |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):どーも。うわ～。ケント君、ハンサム～。(Dōmo. Uwā. Kento-kun, hansamū.) |
| ケント (Kento):ハンサムじゃない。ふつう、ふつう。(Hansamu ja nai. Futsū, futsū.) |
| まどか (Madoka):ケント！敬語！(Kento! Keigo!) |
| ケント (Kento):ああ、ハンサムじゃないです。ふつうです。(Ā, hansamu ja nai desu. Futsū 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.) |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):まどか！(Madoka!) |
| まどか (Madoka):ああ、えみ先輩。こんにちは。(Ā, Emi-senpai. Kon’nichiwa.) |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):彼氏？(Kareshi?) |
| まどか (Madoka):彼氏じゃないです。いとこです。(Kareshi ja nai desu. Itoko desu.) |
| まどか (Madoka):ケント、こちら、青田エミ先輩。(Kento, kochira, Aota Emi-senpai.) |
| ケント (Kento):はじめまして。ケントです。(Hajimemashite. Kento desu.) |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):どーも。うわ～。ケント君、ハンサム～。(Dōmo. Uwā. Kento-kun, hansamū.) |
| ケント (Kento):ハンサムじゃない。ふつう、ふつう。(Hansamu ja nai. Futsū, futsū.) |
| まどか (Madoka):ケント！敬語！(Kento! Keigo!) |
| ケント (Kento):ああ、ハンサムじゃないです。ふつうです。(Ā, hansamu ja nai desu. Futsū desu.) |
| 今度は英語が入ります。(Kondo wa Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):まどか！(Madoka!) |
| Kat: Madoka! |
| まどか (Madoka):ああ、えみ先輩。こんにちは。(Ā, Emi-senpai. Kon’nichiwa.) |
| Kat: Oh, Emi-senpai. Hello. |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):彼氏？(Kareshi?) |
| Kat: Is this your boyfriend? |
| まどか (Madoka):彼氏じゃないです。いとこです。(Kareshi ja nai desu. Itoko desu.) |
| Kat: This isn't my boyfriend. He's my cousin. |
| まどか (Madoka):ケント、こちら、青田エミ先輩。(Kento, kochira, Aota Emi-senpai.) |
| Kat: Kent, this is my senpai, Emi Aota. |
| ケント (Kento):はじめまして。ケントです。(Hajimemashite. Kento desu.) |
| Kat: It's nice to meet you. I'm Kent. |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):どーも。うわ～。ケント君、ハンサム～。(Dōmo. Uwā. Kento-kun, hansamū.) |
| Kat: Same here! Wow, Kent, you're so HANDSOME! |
| ケント:ハンサムじゃない。ふつう、ふつう。(Hansamu ja nai. Futsū, futsū.) |
| Kat: Nah, not handsome, just average. |
| まどか (Madoka):ケント！敬語！(Kento! Keigo!) |
| Kat: Kent! Speak politely! |
| ケント (Kento):ああ、ハンサムじゃないです。ふつうです。(Ā, hansamu ja nai desu. Futsū desu.) |
| Kat: Ah, I'm not handsome. I'm just average. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Naomi: We had a new character in this dialogue! 新しいキャラクター、ですね。(Atarashii kyarakutā, desu ne.) |
| Kat: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Yes, Emi goes to the same school as Madoka and Kent but is in a higher grade. She is their 先輩 (senpai). |
| Naomi: Right, they called her えみ先輩 (Emi-senpai). 先輩 (senpai) is hard to translate into English, isn't it? |
| Kat: Yes it really is! I've come across this so many times doing translation, We'll go into this word a lot more in the vocab section though. |
| Naomi: Anyways, Emi said that Kent was ハンサム (hansamu), by saying... うわ～。ケントくん、ハンサム！(Uwā. Kento-kun, hansamu!) |
| Kat: ハンサム (hansamu), this is taken straight from the word “handsome” of course in English, right?! So it’s a loan word. |
| Naomi: Right! そうです。(Sō desu.) It's called a loan word - a word taken from another language. |
| Kat: Japanese has so many loan words, right? |
| Naomi: Right |
| Kat: In English, we'd usually use “handsome” to refer to men only - is it the same in Japanese? |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) It's the same in Japanese. I think the younger generation tend to use かっこいい (kakkoii) rather than ハンサム (hansamu) though. |
| Kat: That's really true, I rarely, I barely hear or use ハンサム (hansamu) but かっこいい (kakkoii) is all over the place! Listen, かっこ (kakko) is appearance and いい (ii) is good, so good appearance. And sometimes you hear girls called かっこいい (kakkoii) don't you, like 土屋アンナ (Tsuchiya Anna)? She's like cool, as opposed to cute, you know what I mean. |
| Naomi: あ〜、そうね...。(Ā, sō ne...) Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's かっこいい (kakkoii), cool. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Kat: OK, so now, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Naomi: 先輩 (senpai) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: senior, superior |
| Naomi: 先輩 (senpai) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 先輩 (senpai) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, and next. |
| Naomi: 彼氏 (kareshi) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: boyfriend |
| Naomi: 彼氏 (kareshi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 彼氏 (kareshi) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, next. |
| Naomi: いとこ (itoko) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: cousin |
| Naomi: いとこ (itoko) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: いとこ (itoko) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, and next. |
| Naomi: ハンサム (hansamu) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: handsome |
| Naomi: ハンサム (hansamu) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: ハンサム (hansamu) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, next. |
| Naomi: ふつう (futsū) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: general, ordinary, usual |
| Naomi: ふつう (futsū) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: ふつう (futsū) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: OK, and next. |
| Naomi: 敬語 (keigo) [natural native speed] |
| Kat: honorific language, terms of respect |
| Naomi: 敬語 (keigo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Naomi: 敬語 (keigo) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Kat: Now let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Naomi: The first word we'll look at is... 先輩 (senpai) |
| Kat: Someone senior, or superior. |
| Naomi: As we mentioned before, there isn't really an equivalent word in English, is there? |
| Kat: Not really. But basically, it refers to someone who is your senior at school, in a company, or in an organization. You're expected to show respect to them. This kind of junior-senior relationship is extremely important in Japanese society. |
| Naomi: Right, along with the 先輩 (senpai), or senior, there is also 後輩 (kōhai), or junior. |
| Kat: Yes, so just as Emi is Madoka and Kent's 先輩 (senpai), Madoka and Kent are Emi's 後輩 (kōhai). |
| Naomi: Exactly, also, as we saw in the dialogue, this word can be attached directly to someone's name. |
| Kat: あ、先輩 (A, senpai.) Yes, good point! In the dialogue, Madoka said… えみ先輩。こんにちは。(Emi-senpai. Kon’nichiwa.) So here, 先輩 (senpai) was used instead of さん (san). |
| Naomi: うん、そうね。(Un, sō ne.) |
| Kat: But you don't attach 後輩 (kōhai) to someone's name, do you? |
| Naomi: Ah, I've never thought about it but yeah you're right. |
| Kat: So Emi wouldn’t say まどか後輩 (Madoka-kōhai), sounds really strange. |
| Naomi: Something we should mention is that when talking to your 先輩 (senpai), you should always use polite language. |
| Kat: Something Kent forgot to do... again... |
| Naomi: あー、 そうそうそう。(Ā, sō sō sō.) Right. Madoka was speaking formally to Emi-senpai, but Kent spoke informally at first. To remind him to use polite language, she said... ケント！敬語！(Kento! Keigo!) |
| Kat: 敬語 (keigo) is our next vocabulary word. |
| Naomi: Right, 敬語 (keigo) refers to polite language in general. |
| Kat: There's actually something I want to point out about this word. In Japanese textbooks, 敬語 (keigo) usually refers only to the ultra-polite language, like the honorific and humble verb forms. But, in Japanese, this word actually refers to normal, polite level Japanese as well, doesn’t it? Like です (desu) and ます (masu), anything that isn't plain form is 敬語 (keigo). |
| Naomi: That's right. If someone is speaking politely and using です (desu) and ます (masu), we can say that they're using 敬語 (keigo). |
| Kat: Right. So just note that in Japanese, 敬語 (keigo) refers not only to super polite speech, but also to everyday polite speech as well. And now the last word we'll go over is... |
| Naomi: 彼氏 (kareshi) |
| Kat: boyfriend. |
| Naomi: We actually first saw this word in Lesson 2. 彼氏 (kareshi) is boyfriend, and 彼女 (kanojo) is girlfriend. |
| Kat: If you look at the kanji, you'll notice that the first kanji of each word is the same! |
| Naomi: Yes, that's right! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Kat: In this lesson, you'll learn how to create the negative form of na-adjectives and nouns. Now, in the last lesson, if you remember, you learned how to create the negative form of i-adjectives. Let's show a quick example. How do we say “new” in Japanese? |
| Naomi: あたらしい (atarashii) |
| Kat: And then we take away the い (i), and add くない (kunai). |
| Naomi: あたらしくない (atarashikunai), so this means “not new”. |
| Kat: That's how we conjugate i-adjectives. Now, we'll move onto na-adjectives. Let's go over the two na-adjectives we saw in the dialogue. |
| Naomi: ハンサム (hansamu) |
| Kat: handsome |
| Naomi: and ふつう (futsū) |
| Kat: ordinary, normal |
| Naomi: Let's look at ハンサム (hansamu) first. To make this negative, all you have to do is add the phrase じゃない (ja nai) to the end of it, ハンサムじゃない (hansamu ja nai). |
| Kat: “Not handsome”. That was Kent's reply to Emi-senpai. And how about ふつう (futsū)? |
| Naomi: ふつう (futsū) plus じゃない (ja nai), so that would be... ふつうじゃない (futsū ja nai). |
| Kat: “Not normal”, “not ordinary”, maybe? |
| Naomi: はい。(Hai.) |
| Kat: Let's introduce some other na-adjectives. These are the ones that are in the lesson notes, so you can follow along if you like. |
| Naomi: 元気 (genki) is fine, as in “I'm fine!” So 元気じゃない (genki ja nai) would be… |
| Kat: not fine, not feeling very good |
| Naomi: かんたん (kantan) means “simple”, so かんたんじゃない (kantan ja nai) would be... |
| Kat: not simple, not easy |
| Naomi: Have you got the hang of that? |
| Kat: Now, let's move onto nouns. |
| Naomi: This is going to be really easy, because.. you do the same thing for nouns. |
| Kat: Yes, that's right, to make them negative, you just add じゃない (ja nai) after them. In the dialogue, Emi-senpai asked Madoka if Kent was her boyfriend. Madoka then replied... |
| Naomi: 彼氏じゃないです。(Kareshi ja nai desu.) |
| Kat: This phrase is a bit formal. For our purposes we'll use the informal version of this sentence. |
| Naomi: 彼氏じゃない。(Kareshi ja nai.) 彼氏 (kareshi), boyfriend plus じゃない (ja nai). 彼氏じゃない。(Kareshi ja nai.) ”He's not my boyfriend.” |
| Kat: Let's go over a few more examples. |
| Naomi: In the last lesson, we learned the word 体育館 (taiikukan), gymnasium. |
| Kat: Let's pretend that I see a big building on the school campus. I could ask... あれ、体育館？(Are, taiikukan?) Is that a gym? |
| Naomi: ううん、体育館じゃない。(Ūn, taiikukan ja nai.) No, it's not a gym. |
| Kat: Not too bad, right? It's quite easy. Let's try a few practice questions now. We'll give you a short phrase in English, and then you please try to say it in informal Japanese. Are you ready? Here's the first phrase. ”Not well.” |
| Naomi: Remember that well or fine is 元気 (genki). |
| [pause] |
| Kat: And the answer is? |
| Naomi: 元気じゃない (genki ja nai), “not well” |
| Kat: Great, let's try another one. How would you say, “not Japanese,” as in not a Japanese person? |
| Naomi: Remember that Japanese person is 日本人 (Nihon-jin). |
| [pause] |
| Kat: And the answer is? |
| Naomi: 日本人じゃない (Nihon-jin ja nai) “not Japanese.” |
| Kat: So, how did you do, everybody? So imagine that Naomi and I are classmates. |
| When I see Naomi in the morning, I would say... おはよう、なおみ。元気？(Ohayō, Naomi. Genki?) ”Good morning Naomi, how are you?” |
| Naomi: If I'm not well… I'd say 元気じゃない (genki ja nai). Of course, if I'm well, I'd say 元気 (genki). |
Outro |
| Kat: OK, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening and we’ll see you in the next lesson. |
| Naomi: じゃあ、また！(Jā, mata!) |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):まどか！(Madoka!) |
| まどか (Madoka):ああ、えみ先輩。こんにちは。(Ā, Emi-senpai. Kon’nichiwa.) |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):彼氏？(Kareshi?) |
| まどか (Madoka):彼氏じゃないです。いとこです。(Kareshi ja nai desu. Itoko desu.) |
| まどか (Madoka):ケント、こちら、青田エミ先輩。(Kento, kochira, Aota Emi-senpai.) |
| ケント (Kento):はじめまして。ケントです。(Hajimemashite. Kento desu.) |
| 青田えみ (Aota Emi):どーも。うわ～。ケント君、ハンサム～。(Dōmo. Uwā. Kento-kun, hansamū.) |
| ケント (Kento):ハンサムじゃない。ふつう、ふつう。(Hansamu ja nai. Futsū, futsū.) |
| まどか (Madoka):ケント！敬語！(Kento! Keigo!) |
| ケント (Kento):ああ、ハンサムじゃないです。ふつうです。(Ā, hansamu ja nai desu. Futsū desu.) |
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