Lesson 7.2
会話 Dialogue 2 ![image](https://pdx.pressbooks.pub/app/uploads/sites/49/2020/06/image1-26.png)
Ms. Tanaka, the project leader, talks to her team members using the informal style while the members maintain the formal style.
たんじょうび
Tanaka:誕生日はいつ?Tanjoubi wa itsu?
When is your birthday?
しがつついたち
Emily:四月一日です。Shigatsu tsuitachi desu.
It’s April 1st.
なんねん う
Tanaka:何年生まれ?Nan-nen umare?
What year were you born?
ねん
Emily:1996年です。Sen-kyuu–hyaku-kyuujuu-roku-nen desu.
1996.
へいせい ねん
Tanaka:ということは、平成8年ね。To iu koto wa Heisei hachi-nen ne.
That means Heisei 8, right?
• • • •
なんさい
Tanaka:何歳?Nan-sai?
How old are you?
は た ち
Michael: 二十歳です。Hatachi desu.
I’m twenty years old.
わか
Tanaka:へえ。若いわねえ。Hee, wakai wa nee.
Wow! So young.
単語 Vocabulary
Hiragana |
Other Japanese scripts |
English |
|
Tanjoubi |
たんじょうび |
誕生日 |
birthday |
+Tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu |
たんじょうびおめでとうございます |
誕生日おめでとうございます |
Happy birthday. |
〜nen |
〜ねん |
年 |
year(s) |
nan-nen |
なんねん |
何年 |
what year? |
nan-nen umare |
なんねんうまれ |
何年生まれ |
what year were you born? |
+umaremasu |
うまれます |
生まれます |
be born |
to iu koto wa |
ということは |
|
in another words |
heisei |
へいせい |
平成 |
Heisei Era |
hachi-nen |
はちねん |
八年 |
year 8 |
~sai |
〜さい |
〜歳、〜才 |
classifier for human age |
nan-sai |
なんさい |
何歳、何才 |
how old |
hatachi |
はたち |
二十歳 |
twenty years old |
wakai |
わかい |
若い |
young |
+toshi |
とし |
年 |
year(s), age |
+nenrei |
ねんれい |
年齢 |
age (formal) |
+toshi ue |
としうえ |
年上 |
older |
+toshi shita |
としした |
年下 |
younger |
文法 Grammar Notes
7-2-1 Naming and Counting Months and Years
がつ
The naming classifier for months is 〜gatsu 月、and when naming dates, the month
かげつ
proceeds the day. The counting classifier is 〜kagetsu ヶ月. It is conventionally written
with the small katakana ヶ. Note the sound change /ka/ /kka/ with 1, 6, 8, and 10
Naming Months
Romanized Japanese |
Hiragana |
Kanji |
English |
Ichigatsu |
いちがつ |
一月 |
January |
Nigatsu |
にがつ |
二月 |
February |
Sangatsu |
さんがつ |
三月 |
March |
Shigatsu |
しがつ |
四月 |
April |
Gogatsu |
ごがつ |
五月 |
May |
Rokugatsu |
ろくがつ |
六月 |
June |
Shichigatsu |
しちがつ |
七月 |
July |
Hachigatsu |
はちがつ |
八月 |
August |
Kugatsu |
くがつ |
九月 |
September |
Juugatsu |
じゅうがつ |
十月 |
October |
Juuichigatsu |
じゅういちがつ |
十一月 |
November |
Juunigatsu |
じゅうにがつ |
十二月 |
December |
Nangatsu |
なんがつ |
何月 |
what month? |
Counting Months
Romanized Japanese |
Hiragana |
Kanji |
English |
ik-kagetsu |
いっかげつ |
一ヶ月 |
one month |
ni-kagetsu |
にかげつ |
二ヶ月 |
two months |
san-kagetsu |
さんかげつ |
三ヶ月 |
three months |
yon-kagetsu |
よんかげつ |
四ヶ月 |
four months |
go-kagetsu |
ごかげつ |
五ヶ月 |
five months |
rok-kagetsu |
ろっかげつ |
六ヶ月 |
six months |
nana-kagetsu |
ななかげつ |
七ヶ月 |
seven months |
hachi-kagetsu |
はちかげつ/はっかげつ |
八ヶ月 |
eight months |
kyuu-kagetsu |
きゅうかげつ |
九ヶ月 |
nine months |
juk-kagetsu |
じゅっかげつ |
十 ヶ 月 |
ten months |
juuik-kagetsu |
じゅういっかげつ |
十一ヶ月 |
eleven months |
juuni-kagetsu |
じゅうにかげつ |
十二ヶ月 |
twelve months |
nan-kagetsu |
なんかげつ |
何ヶ月 |
how many months? |
ねんねんかん
The classifier for naming and counting years is 〜nen 年, but 〜nenkan 年間is
なんねん
often used for counting to avoid confusion. The question word is nan-nen 何年 ‘what
なんねんかん
year/how many years’ or nan-nenkan 何年間 ‘how many years?’ So, 15 nen can mean
either 15 years or the year 2015/Heisei 15 depending on the context. The existence or non-existence of the particle ni and/or the kind of approximation expression that is used with it, goro or gurai, tells you if it’s the naming expression or counting expression.
Compare the following:
ごねん い
五年に行きました.Go-nen ni ikimashita. I went there in the year 5.
五年、行きました。Go-nen ikimashita. I went there for five years.
五年ごろ行きました.Go-nen-goro ikimashita. I went there around the year 5.
五年ぐらい行きました. Go-nen–gurai ikimashita. I went there for about 5 years.
7-2-2 Counting age: ~sai for people and animals, ~nen for others
~sai 才 is used to express the age of people and animals while 〜 nen 年 is used to express the age of inanimate things. Note the sound change of /sai/ /ssai/ with the numbers 1, 8, and 10. People’s age are also expressed by the classifier ~tsu, and hatachi is the special form of this series for a twenty year old. To ask how old someone is you can use one of the following. The last one is polite.
何歳ですか。Nan-sai desu ka.
(年は)いくつですか(Toshi wa) ikutsu desu ka.
(お年は)おいくつですか。 (Otoshi wa) oikutsu desu ka. (Polite) Babies that are less than one year old are counted by days, weeks and months.
It’s often pointed out that Japanese society is very much age conscious. Age determines many things including interpersonal relationships. Even just one year of difference in age usually results in seniority status and affects how people talk to each other. Therefore it is not uncommon to ask someone’s age when meeting him/her for the first time. When you ask any personal questions, it’s safer to first say shitsurei desu kedo ‘It’s rude of me to ask this, but…’
7-2-3 Japanese Calendar
There are two systems of naming years in Japan. In addition to the western
せいれきげんごう われき
calendar (西暦), Japan uses its own calendar (元号、和暦). The latter is often used in official documents. The Japanese year designations are based on the year of the reign of the emperors. When one emperor dies and a new emperor ascends to the throne, a new
がんねん
period or era starts. The first year of a period is called gan-nen 元年. The years are
named and counted with the Chinese numbers plus 〜nen. The most recent periods include:
Era (Romanized Japanese) |
Era (Japanese) |
Years of Era |
Meiji |
めいじ 明治 |
1868-1912 |
Taisho |
たいしょう 大正 |
1912-1926 |
Showa |
へいせい 昭和 |
1926-1989 |
Heisei |
へいせい 平成 |
1989-present |
It may be handy to remember your birthday according to the Japanese calendar.
National Holidays
Date |
English name |
Official name (Japanese script) |
Official name (Romanized Japanese) |
January 1 |
New Year’s Day |
元日 |
Ganjitsu |
2nd Monday of January |
Coming of Age Day |
成人の日 |
Seijin no hi |
February 11 |
National Foundation Day |
建国記念の日 |
Kenkoku kinen no hi |
March 20 or March 21 |
Vernal Equinox Day |
春分の日 |
Shunbun no hi |
April 29 |
Shōwa Day |
昭和の日 |
Shōwa no hi |
May 3 |
Constitution Memorial Day |
憲法記念日 |
Kenpō kinenbi |
May 4 |
Greenery Day |
みどりの日 |
Midori no hi |
May 5 |
Children’s Day |
子供の日 |
Kodomo no hi |
3rd Monday of July |
Marine Day |
海の日 |
Umi no hi |
3rd Monday of September |
Respect for the Aged Day |
敬老の日 |
Keirō no hi |
September 23 or September 24 |
Autumnal Equinox Day |
秋分の日 |
Shūbun no hi |
2nd Monday of October |
Health-Sports Day |
体育の日 |
Taiiku no hi |
November 3 |
Culture Day |
文化の日 |
Bunka no hi |
November 23 |
Labour Thanksgiving Day |
勤労感謝の日 |
Kinrō kansha no hi |
December 23 |
The Emperor’s Birthday |
天皇誕生日 |
Tennō tanjōbi |
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_calendar
7-2-4 Informal Style: Noun Sentence and Adjective Sentence
All Japanese sentences take either the formal style or informal style. ~masu,
~desu, and their variants (negative forms and past forms) all designate that the sentence is in the formal style. The formal style is typically used when talking to someone who is not very close to the speaker and some formality is expected. We covered this style first in this textbook because it is socially less risky to use.
In this lesson, we introduce the informal style, which is typically used when speaking to those close to you such as friends, family, children and yourself, in casual settings. We start with the noun sentences and adjective sentences here, and the verb sentences in the next lesson. Please note the following:
- For Adjective sentences, you just drop ~desu/~deshita to make the informal style.
- For Noun sentences, you can replace ~desu with ~da and ~deshita with ~datta.
- However, the ~da in the sentence final position is often dropped.
- The question particle ka is usually dropped and replaced by a rising intonation while other sentence particles such as yo, ne, nee, ka nee, etc. remain.
- It can be challenging for learners to figure out the right speech style for a given situation. Styles are chosen to indicate the right distance between speakers. However, distance can change even within a course of conversation, between the same pair of speakers. Each shift carries some linguistic and social meaning.
Drills and Exercises ![image](https://pdx.pressbooks.pub/app/uploads/sites/49/2020/06/image1-28.png)
A.
Cue: 誕生日は六月?Is your birthday in June?
Response: はい、六月六日です。 Yes, It’s June 6th.
Cue: 誕生日は一月?Is your birthday in January?
Response: はい、一月一日です。 Yes, it’s January 1st.
B.
Cue: 一時から三時までです。It’s from one o’clock to three.
Response: じゃ、二時間ぐらいですね。Then, it’s about two hours, right?
Cue: 九月から十二月までです。It’s from September to December.
Response: じゃ、三ヶ月ぐらいですね。Then, it’s about three months, right?
C.
Say it in Japanese.
A friend has asked how old the following are.
- Do you mean Ms. Honda? She is 21 years old.
- Do you mean my car? It’s about 5 years old.
- Do you mean this house? It’s about 150 years old.
- Do you mean Senpai? She is three years older.
- Do you mean Lucky, the dog? She is one and a half years old.
You’ve been asked when some event took place.
- August 15, Showa 20 (1945) 2. July 4, 1776
- September 11, 2001
- About a month ago
- About three years ago
D.
Act in Japanese
- Find out the birthday of a) a classmate, b) your teacher.
- Ask a) a friend, b) a business associate how old she is.
- A friend is going to study in France. Find out how long she will stay there.
- Find out who are the oldest and the youngest persons in your class. How many years older/younger are they than you?