Conversation – Verbs
Conversation and Level 1
Today, I will show you how to converse using Verbs
Conversation 1
Q : Is the window closed? – Mado o shimemashita ka?
A : Yes, the window and curtain are closed – Hai, Mado mo ka-ten mo shimemashita (the curtain is an aditional info to the question, that’s why “mo” is used) OR
A : Yes, it’s closed – Hai, shimemashita
Conversation 2
Q : Have you rented a house? – Uchi o karimashita ka?
A : No, I did not rent a house but rented an Apartment – Iie, uchi wa karimasen deshita, apa-to o karimashita
Q : I see. Where is the Apartment located? – Sou desu ka. Sono apa-to wa doko ni arimasu ka?
A : It’s near the train station. – Eki no soba ni arimasu.
Conversation 3
Waiter : Welcome – Irasshaimase
Tony : What do you want to drink – Nani o nomimasu ka?
Jenny : Coffee for me. How about you? – Watashi wa ko-hi- desu. Anata wa?
Tony : Me too and order me a cake please – Watashi mo. Sorekara ke-ki mo onegai shimasu
Meaning : Mado (Window), Shimemashita (Closed), Ka-ten (Curtain), Uchi (House), Karimashita (Rented), Apa-to (Apartment), Doko (Where), Iwasshaimase (Welcome), Nomimasu (Drink), Ko-hi (Coffee), Ke-ki (Cake), Onegai Shimasu (Please)
You may have notice that some verbs use “mashita” instead of “masu”. “mashita” is use for Past Tense where “masu” is Present Tense. For example :
Present Tense Nomimasu Karimasu Tabemasu Mimasu Kakimasu |
Past Tense Nomimashita Karimashita Tabemashita Mimashita Kakimashita |
See, It’s easy. Japanese Present/Past Tense is much easier than English.
January 6th, 2006 at 9:16 pm
[…] As I have show you how to convert Verbs into past tense in my previous post. Today, I will show you how to convert Adjectives into Past Tense. […]
November 9th, 2006 at 12:02 am
In the above example of Conversation 2, is it possible to use “Sou desu ne” instead of “Sou desu ka”? I thought I heard that on TV. XD
November 9th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
> Watson
No, “Sō desu ne” is used to represent “Ya, it’s true”. For example : This apartment is expensive (Kono apa-to wa takai desu) and you may use “Sō desu ne” to answer him/her because you are agreeing to what he/she has mentioned.
Where “Sō desu ka” means “Is it?” like the above lesson.
Hope this help.
December 13th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
Could you help me understand something??? In this sentence (Hai, Mado mo ka-ten mo shimemashita), why are there two “mo”s? What do they represent? Thanks for everything! Your web site has helped me beyond anything I’ve ever found!
December 14th, 2006 at 6:21 pm
Hi AJ, Sorry, I have made a mistake for not putting in the curtain in my explanation above (I will changed it and thanks for pointing it out)
The meaning of “Hai, Mado mo ka-ten mo shimemashita” should be “Yes, the window and the curtain are closed”
In direct translation, it is “The window also (mo) closed and curtain also (mo) closed”.
December 15th, 2006 at 3:38 am
Cool! Thanks for that! I just gotta remember…”mo” represents “also”.
December 15th, 2006 at 10:24 am
my pleasure, AJ
June 14th, 2007 at 1:10 am
Doesn’t “Mado o shimemashita ka?” mean, “Did you close the window?” as opposed to, “Is the window closed?” If not, how would you say, “Did you close the window?”
June 14th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Hi Rai,
For me, Did you close the window? and Is the window closed? are the same. Both also use the same.
June 14th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Thank you for your reply, Tony. I was curious because in English they don’t necessarily mean the same thing. For example, when you ask “Is the window closed” the person would answer, “Yes” even if someone other than the person you’re asking had closed the window. Whereas if the question was “Did you close the window” the answer would be “No” if someone else had closed the window. I was just wondering if there was such a distinction in Japanese as well.
June 14th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Hi Rai,
In Japanese both use the same. The closest to your question would be to add “Anata wa” in front. ie.
Anata wa mado o shimemashita ka? means Did you close the window? However I can still use the sentence without placing “Anata wa” in front since I am talking to that person directly.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
hmm.. i beleive that it would be mado wa(ha) shimemashita? as the window is the subject rather than the the person who closed it..
wa would be translated as ‘was’.
“Was the window close?”
and
[anata wa] mado o shimemashita ka? for did you close the window, anata wa can be dropped from the sentence without changing the meaning as long as the subject (topic i.e person not window) is known.
“Did you close the window?”
moichidou.. (one more time)
mado wa shimemashita ka? – Was the window closed?
[anata wa] mado o shimemashita ka? – Did YOU close the window?
December 4th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
also in conversation 3..
Tony : What do you want to drink – Nani o nomimasu ka?
Tony has actually said – “What will you drink?” not “what do you want to drink?”
“What do you WANT to drink?” is “nani o nomitai desu ka?” – that is we use tai form of the verb.
This is only a slight difference but is important so we can develope an indepth understanding of japanese. =D
December 30th, 2009 at 12:18 am
i want to know…
train in japanese is densha right?
but what train station?
December 30th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Train Station = Eki
April 16th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Tony-San
My first question is when making question with ka and no. In what forms can I add ka and in what froms can I add no to and the end of a verb? I know if it is put into the polite masu (present/past) form then you will add ka
example
Ima taberu ka
Anata wa pan o tabetai ka
Anata ga/wa Doko de tabeta ka
Anata wa Tabete iru ka or Anata wa Tabeteru ka
or
Ima taberu no
Anata wa pan o tabetai no
Anata ga/wa Doko de tabeta no
Anata wa Tabete iru no or Anata wa Tabeteru no
Also would it be wa or ga when asking in a past tense and can I drop the “I” in iru for the purpose of “ing” verbs
April 16th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Tony-san
let me also add what I am trying to say in english so everyone can learn if they don’t know
Tony-San
My first question is when making question with ka and no. In what forms can I add ka and in what froms can I add no to and the end of a verb? I know if it is put into the polite masu (present/past) form then you will add ka
example
Ima taberu ka
Eat now?
Anata wa pan o tabetai ka
Do you want to eat some bread?
Anata ga/wa Doko de tabeta ka
Where at did you eat?
Anata wa nani o tabete iru ka or Anata wa nani o tabeteru ka
What are you eating?
or
Ima taberu no
Eat now?
Anata wa pan o tabetai no
Do you want to eat some bread?
Anata ga/wa Doko de tabeta no
Where at did you eat?
Anata wa nani o tabete iru no or Anata wa nani o tabeteru no
What are you eating?
Also would it be wa or ga when asking in a past tense and can I drop the “I” in iru for the purpose of “ing” verbs
April 16th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Tony-san
Hello again, I was studying some more on the ga and wa particles and I saw that “Ga” is usually preferred when using the -tai ending
example
Pan ga tabetai
I want to eat bread
So in my post above is “o’ ok for object indicator or should I use ga
Anata wa pan o tabetai no/ka
April 18th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Tony-san
It just occured to me in conversation 2
Q : I see. Where is the Apartment located? – Sou desu ka. Sono apa-to wa doko ni arimasu ka
Where they use Sou desu ka. Is it the same thing as using Sou ka as I hear alot which I know can translate to “I see”
April 18th, 2010 at 9:52 am
Hi burritoboy, yes, they are the same. With the “desu”, it is a polite form.
April 18th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Tony-san
When you have time can you clarify on the question particles ka and no post for me for me
April 18th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Sorry, I missed that part.
Anata wa pan o tabetai ka
Anata wa pan o tabetai no
Both means the same. Well it is difficult to explain but in English it is something like
with “ka” = You want to eat or not?
with “no” = You want to eat?
“no” is normally used in informal conversation
April 18th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Tony-san
Thanks for all your time and help. Is post number 17 also correct then with both ways
April 21st, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Tony-san
I don’t know if your been busy but can you check post number 17 and let me know if I can add ka or no at the end of those verbs I know some of them will only be used in the casual setting. I would like to say again thanks for doing what you do for everyone on this site it is much appreciated
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:13 pm
It’s being explained in comment 22. Both can be used.
April 22nd, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Tony-san
Thanks again
May 25th, 2011 at 9:11 am
Tony,
was wandering on conversation 2: … “but rented an apartment”, was “ga” omitted/implied for a reason here?? please advise
thanks!
May 25th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Hi Robbie, putting “ga” is correct but without it is also correct depending on the how you converse it. In day to day japanese conversation, many of them will omit “wa” or “ga”
May 25th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Thanks Tony.
March 9th, 2012 at 11:30 pm
Yo!! ^^ hey tony, in some of your sentences, there’s “karimashita, arimasu, and karimasen deshita” what do those words literally mean? Doumo arigatou((^:
March 10th, 2012 at 7:20 am
Hi Heather,
Karimashita comes from Kariru which means “rent’
Karimashita – rent in past tense
Karimasu – rent in present tense
Karimasen – don’t rent in present tense
karimasen deshita – don’t rent in past tense
arimasu comes from aru which means “have”, “got”
Hope this help
March 12th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
Ohhhh okay then xD thank you very much… Hontou ni arigatou gozaimasu(: that really helped >•<
September 22nd, 2013 at 9:57 pm
Hello!
I think that there is a mistake in conversation 2.
“Uchi wo karimashitaka?” can have a meaning of renting a “home/place for living” in general. Answering “iie”, when you actually rented an apartment is probably a mistake.