会話 Dialogue 2

 

単語 Vocabulary

Romanized Japanese	Hiragana	Other Japanese scripts	English
otaku	おたく	お宅	home (polite)
＋shusshin	しゅっしん	出身	hometown, birthplace, where from
yokohama	よこはま	横浜	Yokohama
tsuugaku	つうがく	通学	commute to school (noun)
＋tsuukin	つうきん	通勤	commute to work (noun)
densha	でんしゃ	電車	train
＋chikatetsu	ちかてつ	地下鉄	subway
＋basu	バス		bus
＋kuruma	くるま	車	car
＋jitensha	じてんしゃ	自転車	bicycle
＋takushii	タクシー	taxi
＋toho	とほ	徒歩	walk (noun)
＋hikouki	ひこうき	飛行機	airplane
＋shinkansen	しんかんせん	新幹線	bullet train
＋fune	ふね	船	boat
uchi	うち	内、家	home, house
kara	から		particle: from
made	まで		particle: as far as, up to
de	で		particle: by means of
densha	でんしゃで	電車で	by train
~jikan	〜じかん	時間	~hours
ichi-jikan	いちじかん	一時間	one hour
gurai	ぐらい		about, approximately
＋yaku	やく	約	about, approximately
＋yaku ichi-jikan	やくいちじかん	約一時間	about an hour
＋hodo	ほど		about, as much as
kakarimasu	かかります		it takes (time, money, etc.)
＋nagai	ながい	長い	long
＋mijikai	みじかい	短い	short

Cities

Hiragana	Kanji	English
とうきょう	東京	Tokyo
よこはま	横浜	Yokohama
なごや	名古屋	Nagoya
おおさか	大阪	Osaka
きょうと	京都	Kyoto
ひろしま	広島	Hiroshima
ふくおか	長崎	Nagasaki
さっぽろ	札幌	Sapporo

Islands

Hiragana	Kanji	English
きゅうしゅう	九州	Kyushu
きゅうしゅう	四国	Shikoku
ほっかいどう	北海道	Hokkaido
ほんしゅう	本州	Honshu
おきなわ	沖縄	Okinawa

Map of Japan

“Japan-map.gif” by www.cia.gov is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Grammar Notes

6-2-1 Counting Hours

You saw the classifier ~ji for telling time in Lesson 2, as in ichi-ji ‘one o’clock’ and ichi-ji han ‘1:30’. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to COUNT time, i.e., how to describe length of time. The first classifier of this type is –jikan for counting hours,. It attaches to the Chinese numerals. Ichi-jikan means one hour and ichi-jikan han means one and a half hours. The question word for ‘how many hours’ is nan-jikan, while the

question word for ‘what time’ is nan-ji. Also note that jikan alone means time in general.

じかん

時間がありません。Jikan ga arimasen.There is no time.

じかん

時間がかかります。Jikan ga kakarimasu.It takes time.

じかん

ちょっと、お時間、いいですか。Chotto, ojikan ii desu ka.

Do you have some time (Can I talk to you?)?

やく

6-2-2 Approximation: ~ぐらい、〜ほど、約〜

~gurai, ~hodo and yaku all mean ‘about’ and indicate an approximate quantity.

~gurai and ~hodo follow the quantity expression while yaku~ precedes it:

:

いちじかん

一時間ぐらいあります。Ichi-jikan gurai arimasu. We have about an hour.

いちじかん

一時間ほどあります。Ichi-jikan hodo arimasu. We have about an hour.

やくいちじかん

約一時間あります。Yaku ichi-jikan arimasu. We have about an hour.

いちまんえん

一万円ぐらいかかります。Ichi-man-en gurai kakarimasu.

It costs about ten thousand yen

やくいちまんえん

約一万円かかります。Yaku ichi-man-en kakarimasu.

It costs about ten thousand yen.

You may even hear yaku ichi-jikan gurai or yaku ichi-jikan hodo. It may seem redundant to have approximation expressed twice in the same phrase, but this is common.

Dore grai and dono gurai both ask ‘how long/how much’ and ikura gurai asks how much (money).

かいしゃ

会社まで、どのぐらいかかりますか. Kaisha made dono gurai kakarimasu ka.

How long does it take to get to work?

このアパート、いくらぐらいでしょうか. Kono apaato, ikura gurai deshou ka.

How much do you suppose this apartment (rent) is?

Approximation, or making things vague, is preferred over being exact and considered more polite in many situations in Japan. This may be because the approximation allows wiggle room. So, when given an approximate number, you are expected to figure out what number is actually meant in each context. Unless it’s critical, Japanese people usually do not request clarification.

6-2-3 Particle de “by means of”

A noun followed by particle de indicates the means by which something is done.

Note that there are a number of ways in which this might be translated into English. The

particles はand も can be added to this particle.

めあ

おはしで召し上がりますか。Ohashi de meshiagarimasu ka.

Are you going to eat with chopsticks?

い

タクシーで行きましょう。Takusii de ikimashou.

Let’s go by a taxi.

に ほ ん ご はな

日本語では話しませんでした。Nihongo de wa hanashimasen deshita.

I didn’t talk in Japanese.

でんしゃ いちじかん

電車でも一時間かかります。Densha de mo ichi-jikan kakarimasu.

It takes one hour by train, too.

6-2-4 the starting point ~kara、the ending point ~made

The particle kara indicates the point from which something starts and the particle

まで indicates the limit at which something ends.

さんじ かいぎ

三時から、会議です。San-ji kara, kaigi desu.

From 3:00, I have a meeting.

せんせい き

先生からメールが来ました。Sensei kara meeru ga kimashita.

An email came from the teacher.

きょうと

京都まで、いくらですか。Kyouto made ikura desu ka.

How much is it to go to Kyoto?

えき ねが

駅まで、お願いします。Eki made onegai-shimasu.

To the station, please. (in a taxi).

あさ ばん しごと

朝から晩まで、仕事です。Asa kara ban made shigoto desu.

I work from morning till night.

Compare the examples below with time expressions:

さんじ

三時にします。San-ji ni shimasu.I’ll do it at three.

さんじ

三時からします。San-ji kara shimasu. I’ll do it from three.

さんじ

三時までします。San-ji made shimasu. I’ll do it until three.

Compare the examples below with location expressions:

とうきょう い

東 京に行きます。Toukyou ni ikimasu.

I’ll go to Tokyo (I may go to other places as well).

とうきょうかいぎい

東 京で会議に行きます。 Toukyou de kaigi ni ikimasu.

I’ll go to a meeting in Tokyo.

とうきょう い

東 京から行きます。Toukyou kara ikimasu.

I’ll go from Tokyo.

とうきょう い

東 京まで行きます。Toukyoumade ikimasu.

I’ll go up to Tokyo (but not farther).

The noun plus these particles makes a noun phrase so they can be directly followed by desu and take no to modify another noun.

かいぎさんじよ じ

会議は三時から四時までです。Kaigi wa san-ji kara yoji-made desu.

The meeting is from three to four.

りゅうがくせい

アメリカからの留学生

Amerika kara no ryuugakusei

an exchange student from America

ぎんこうさんじ

銀行は三時までじゃないですか。Ginkou wa san-ji made ja naidesu ka.

Isn’t the bank open until three?