Conversation – Hou ga, Yori
Conversation and Level 2
I will cover the conversation part of what we have learned in previous lesson.
Conversation 1
Tony : It was a good weather yesterday – Kinou wa ii tenki deshita ne
Yoda : Yeah. But, today is warmer than yesterday – Ee. Demo, kyou no hou ga kinou yori atatakai desu ne
Tony : That’s right – Sou desu ne
Meaning : Kinou (Yesterday), Tenki (Weather), Demo (But), Kyou (Today), Atatakai (Warm)
Conversation 2
Tony : Is Japan’s summer sultry? – Nihon no natsu wa mushi atsui desu ne?
Mieko : Yeah, I was in Japan last year, it was so hot – Ee, watashi wa kyonen no natsu mo nihon ni imashita ga, totemo atsukatta desu yo.
Tony : America’s summer is better than Japan’s summer – Amerika no natsu no hou ga nihon no natsu yori ii desu ne
Meaning : Natsu (Summer), Mushi Atsui (Sultry), Atsui (Hot), Kyonen (Last Year)
Conversation 3
John : For me, I like spring the most in a year – Watashi wa, 1 (ichi) nen no naka de, haru ga ichiban suki desu
Mieko : I like spring too but I like summer more – Watashi ha haru mo suki desu ga, natsu no hou ga suki desu
Meaning : Nen (Year), Naka (In / Inside), Haru (Spring), Ichiban (First / Most), Mo (Too)
Conversation 4
Miyata : Between our friends, who is the tallest? – O tomodachi no naka de, dare ga ichiban se ga takai desu ka?
Tony : Mieko is the tallest – Mieko ga ichiban takai desu
Miyata : How about John – Jon wa?
Tony : John is tall too but he is not taller than Mieko – Jon mo takai desu ga, Meiko hodo takaku arimasen
Meaning : Tomodachi (Friends), Dare (Who), Se (Height), Takai (Tall / Expensive)
Conversation 5
Tony : Is your car and mine the same? – Anata no kuruma to watashi no wa onaji desu ka?
Mieko : Yes, it’s the same but the color is different – Hai, onaji desu ga, iro ga chigaimasu.
Meaning : Onaji (Same), Iro (Color), Chigau / Chigaimasu (Different)
Hope the above conversation could give you a clear picture of how to use the hou ga, yo ri, etc.
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January 22nd, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Hi tony, what I learn from school is
ichiban ue no tana desu
at most top of the shelf
can I say,
Ichiban ue no tana ni arimasu?
I think the latter sound so much better but wonder why minna no nihon go though us the former way.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Hi Kewell,
It should be “Tana no ichiban ue” instead of “ichiban ue no tana desu”
If you want to ask “Is the pencil at most top of the shelf” then in Japanese, it will be “Enpitsu wa tana no ichiban ue ni arimasu ka”
Hope this help. Thanks
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Hi, I understand that yours make sense when it translate to mandarin but this is what I learned in school. Damn, why does different teacher thought different things? It only make the student feel complicated. Mine was from Hokkaido, how about yours?
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:33 pm
For example, my brother sensei who was from Osaka thought him that “if you address your elder brother you should address him Ani.” While mine told me that I should address the elder brother Oniisan. Weird eh..
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Hi Kewell,
I think you translate is wrongly for “ichiban ue no tana desu”. This means “the shelf at the most top OR the highest shelf” NOT “at most top of the shelf”
This will normally use when someone is asking “where do you put the pencil” and the reply is “the shelf at the most top”
“Oniisan” is polite form where “Ani” is normal form. Both are the same.
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Yeah, so ichiban ue no tana desu is right? Is it possible to use ni arimasu rather than desu? I thought ni arimasu sound more appropriate
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Hi kewell,
yes, you may use “ni arimasu” if the question is asked based on my example above.
October 31st, 2009 at 11:09 am
Thanks for this informative page
April 7th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
And I right to say that ‘hou ga’ stands for ‘more’? More cold than. More hot than.
April 8th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Well, it is a ‘comparative word”. In English – tall = taller, short = shorter.
Example:
Kobayashi san no hō ga takai desu (Kobayashi is taller) – In this case, I don’t use “more” or “than”.
Kare no ie no hō ga watashi no ie yori hiroi desu (His house is wider than my house) – In this example, I use the combination of “hō ga” & “yori” and “than” will be used in the translation.
In other word, “yori” means “than”
May 29th, 2010 at 6:59 am
I’m trying to translate a sentence that uses hou ga. This is the first time I’ve come across it, so I’m having a bit of trouble. The sentence is “Josei ga ita hou ga aite ga yudansuru no yo”. I can’t quite tell how “hou ga” translates in this sentence.
September 20th, 2011 at 11:31 am
むしあつい(mushiatsui) = humid
“Hon ga arimasu” means either “someone has a book” or “there is a book”.
“Hon ni arimasu” should mean “(it) is in the book”.
hou designates the thing which is more in whatever category is being compared,
yori designates the thing which is less in that adjectival category.
yori does not literally translate to anything in english, especially not “than”