Lesson 3.3

Dialogue 3 Headphones

Michael checks the apartment further.

Michael: Sugoku kirei na apaato desu nee.It’s a really beautiful apartment, isn’t it!

すごくきれいなアパートですねえ。

Honda: De mo chotto tooku nai desu ka.But isn’t it a little far?

   とお

でも、ちょっと遠くないですか。

Michael: Sou desu ne. Amari benri ja nai desu nee. You are right. It’s not very convenient, is it.べんり

そうですね。あまり便利じゃないですね。

Honda: Zannen desu nee.Too bad, huh!

ざんねん

残念ですねえ。

Vocabulary Headphones

sugoi すごい凄い amazing, great

sugoku すごく凄く really, amazingly

kirei きれい(な)pretty, clean

de mo でも but

tooi とおい遠い far

benri べんり(な)便利 convenient

zannen ざんねん(な)残念 too bad, regrettable

kitanai きたない dirty

chikai ちかい近い close, near

fuben ふべん(な)不便 inconvenient

dame だめ(な)bad, unacceptable

yuumei ゆうめい(な)有名 famous

Grammar Notes

3-3-1 Na-Nouns

When one noun describes another, there are two possible patterns. You’ve seen one of these already with the particle no: watashi no keitai ‘my cell phone,’ nihongo no sensei ‘the Japanese teacher.’

A smaller set of nouns hooks up to nouns with the particle na: kirei na nihongo ‘beautiful Japanese,’ benri na keitai ‘convenient cell phone.’ These will be called “na nouns.” All na nouns are intangible, but not all intangibles are na nouns. All na nouns will be followed by (na) in the glossary to distinguish them from regular nouns.

Note that the pronoun no can replace the main noun in this combination.

kirei na apaatoa clean apartment kirei na noa clean one

amerika no yuumei na kaishaa famous company in America

amerika no yuumei na noa famouse one in America

3-3-2 Adjective ~Ku Forms as Adverbs

The –ku form of adjectives are also used as adverbs.

Yoku wakarimasu. I understand it well.

Sugoku kirei desu. It’s really beautiful.

Yasuku kaimashita. I bought it cheaply.

Ookiku kakimasu. I’ll write it big.

Atarashiku tsukurimasu. I’ll remake it.

 

Drills and Exercises

A.

Cue: Kirei desu ka. Is it clean? Headphones

Response: Ee, sugoku kirei na apaato desu yo. Yes, it’s a really clean apartment!

Cue: Takai desu ka.Is it expensive?

Response: Ee, sugoku takai apaato desu yo. Yes, it’s a really expensive apartment!

B.

Cue:Kirei desu ka.Is it clean? Headphones

Response: Iya, kirei ja nai desu yo No, it’s not clean!

Cue:Tooi desu ka. Is it far?

Response: Iya, tooku nai desu yo. No, it’s not far!

C. Say it in Japanese.

You’ve been asked for your opinion about an apartment.

  1. Isn’t it a little far?
  2. Isn’t it a little inconvenient? Isn’t there anything closer?
  3. It’s really beautiful, isn’t it. However, I wonder where it is located.
  4. It’s no good. It’s big, but it’s really old. Too bad.
  5. It’s that famous apartment, isn’t it. It’s the most expensive one, you know.

D. Act these roles in Japanese with a partner.

  1. Your friend got a perfect score on a test. Exclaim your amazement.
  2. A co-worker mentions that she will not make it to the company event. Express your disappointment.
  3. You’ve been asked to give a speech in Japanese. Humbly turn down the opportunity and ask if there isn’t anyone better.
  4. A co-worker has shown you a picture of his mother. Comment how beautiful she is.
  5. Compare products in the market by manufacturer, price, size, usefulness, etc.

 

 

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Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 1 Copyright © 2015 by Emiko Konomi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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