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I will cover conversation in various scenario and some new words that are use during normal conversation.

Conversation 1
Tony : Is that your glove - Sore, kimi no tebukuro　「それ、きみのてぶくろ」
Tanaka : Yeah, that’s right - Ee, sou yo　「ええ、そうよ」
Tony : That’s great / cool - Suteki da ne　「すてきだね」
Tanaka : Thanks - Arigatou　「ありがとう」
Meaning : Tebukuro (Glove), Ee (Yes / Yeah), Sou (Really), Suteki (Lovely / Great), Arigatou (Thanks), [Polite] Arigatou Gozaimasu (Thank You)

Conversation 2
Tanaka : This sweater, how much - Kono se-ta-, ikura datta　「このセーター、いくらだった」
Tony : 4,000 yen - 4,000 en datta yo　「よんせんえんだったよ」
Tanaka : Haa, very cheap. Where you bought it - Hee, yasukatta ne. Doko de　「へえ、やすかったよ。どこで」
Tony : The department store infront of the train station. Now, bargain season - Eki mae no depa-to de. Ima, ba-gen chuu da yo　「えきまえのデパートで。いま、バーゲンちゅうだよ」
Meaning : Se-ta- (Sweater), Ikura (How Much), Hee (When someone feels suprise), Doko (Where), Ima (Now), Ba-gen (Bargain), Chuu (In the midst of something)

Conversation 3
Jenny : How’s this shoe - Kono kutsu, dou　「このくつ、どう」
Ida : Oh, it’s great - Ara, ii wa ne　「あら、いいわね」
Jenny : Yeah, but it’s bit expensive - Ee, demo chotto takai no yo　「ええ、でもちょっとたかいのよ」
Meaning : Kutsu (Shoe), Dou (How), Ara (Oh - word used to express a variety of emotions - delight, relief, surprise or contempt), Ii (Good / Great), Ee (Yeah - affirmative reply), Chotto (A bit / A Little)

Conversation 4
Jenny : Is this temple famous - Kono otera, yuumei na no　「このおてら、ゆうめいなの」
Tanaka : Nope, not that famous - Uun, amari yuumei janai yo　「ううん、あまりゆうめいじゃないよ」
Jenny : It’s very quiet here - Zuibun shizuka ne　「ずいぶんしずかね」
Tanaka : Yeah - Sou da ne　「そうだね」
Meaning : Otera (Temple), Yuumei (Famous), Shizuka (Quiet)

Some meaning of the words were covered previously, so I won’t be repeating it. I also include Hiragana / Katakana for easy reference (for those who has master hiragana / katakana). If you have not, visit Pronunciation session for more info.

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Few days ago, I have posted how to communicate in a normal-form (inpolite / friends-talk). Today I will add a bit more on this subject.

Usually, male and female use different way such as “boku”, “kimi” and “ore” is used by male where “watashi” and “anata” is used by female.

Conversation 1
Q : Is the exam difficult?
Q : (Polite) - Shiken wa muzukashikatta desu ka?
Q : (Normal - Male & Female) - Shiken, muzukashikatta?

A : No, it isn’t that difficult
A : (Polite) - Iie, muzukashiku arimasen deshita.
A : (Normal - Male) - Uun, muzukashikunakatta yo
A : (Normal - Female) - Uun, muzukashikunakatta wa yo

Meaning : Shiken (Exam), Muzukashii (Difficult)

Ladies will in most cases add a “wa” at the end.

Conversation 2
Polite
Q : How was (your trip to) Kyoto? - Kyouto wa dou deshita ka?
A : (I) enjoyed it very much - Tottemo omoshirokatta desu.
Q : Wasn’t there cold? - Samuku arimasen deshita ka?
A : Yes, it was cold - Hai, samukatta desu.

Q : Kyouto, Dou datta?
A : Tottemo omoshirokatta yo
Q : Samukunakatta?
A : Un, samukatta yo.

Meaning :Kyouto (Kyoto - State name), Dou (How), Omoshiroi (Fun / Enjoy), Samui (Cold)

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Most Japanese Language Center teaches their student on the “polite form” such as “masu”, “desu”, etc. But even though they can master the “polite form”, they may not be able to understand what the Japanese is communicating because they are using an “inpolite form” or “friends-talk”.

Japanese uses different way of conversation depending on who they are talking to. If they are talking to a person who they respect such as bosses, senior, new friends, etc, they would use the “polite form” like “wakarimasu“, “shimasu“, “kakimasu“. If they are talking with close friends, family members, subordinates or someone who should respect them, then the words they use will be totally different like “wakaru”, “suru” and “kaku”. See, the “masu” is gone now !!!

Example
English : Is this your pen?
Polite : Kore wa anata no enpitsu desu ka?
Normal : Kore, kimi no enpitsu?

English : Yes, this is mine
Polite : Hai, kore wa watashi no desu.
Normal : Un, boku no da yo

English : No, This isn’t mine
Polite : Iie, kore wa watashi no dewa arimasen.
Normal : Uun, boku no janai

The above examples shown almost each words are different between “polite form” and “normal form”. The meaning of them are :

Polite Form => Normal Form
Watashi => Boku (For Male only & Moderate Polite), Watashi (For Female) and Ore (For Male only & normal form)

Anata => Kimi (For Male only & Moderate Polite), Anata (For Female) Omai (For Male only & normal form)

Hai => Un
Iie => Uun
dewa arimasen => janai
desu => da
arimasen => nai
deshita => datta

Form others word such as verbs where we use convert from normal to “masu” such as tsutsumimasu, wakarimasu, kakimasu and so on that I have covered previously. For non-polite way, we don’t need to convert it to “masu form” and we use tsutsumu, wakaru, kaku and so on.

Remember, for female, dont ever use “boku” and “ore” as they are use by male only.

Conversation
Q : This belongs to who? - Kore wa dare no?
A : It’s not mine. Maybe it’s belongs to Tony - Boku no janai yo. Tabun, Toni no da yo.
Q : Oh, is it - Aa, sou.

Some sentences shown above have a “yo” at the end and this is only some sort of expression like what I have teached earlier for “ne”. “Boku no da” and “Boku no da yo” are the same meaning but most of the time the Japanese will add a “yo” behind to show deeper expression on the sentence.

Hope it is not too confuse. Go back to all previous lessons and try to convert them to “Inpolite” or “Normal Form” yourself. This way, you will be able to master this very quickly.

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I will show you how to conversate properly by combining what we have learned so far.

Q : Does Tony speaks Chinese very well? - Toni-san wa chuugoku go ga jouzu desu ka?
A : No, not that good. However, he speaks France very well. - Iie, amari jouzu dewa arimasen. Keredomo, furansu go ga jouzu desu.

Q : Do you travel often? - Yoku ryokou o shimasu ka?
A : No, not that often - Iie, amari shimasen

Q : Is your room wide? - Anata no heya wa hiroi desu ka?
A : No, not that wide. And it is expensive - Iie, amari hiroku arimasen. Soshite, takai desu

Q : The wind was extremely strong this morning - Kesa wa zuibun kaze ga tsuyokatta desu ne
A : Yeah. It was cold - Sou desu ne. Samukatta desu ne.

Meaning : Chuugoku (China), Chuugoku Go (Chinese language), Go (language), Ryokou (Tour / Travel), Hiroi (Wide), Zuibun (Extremely / Very), Tsuyoi (Strong)

The “ne” is something like “huh”, “ah”, etc that doesn’t have any meaning. “ne” is placed at the end of any sentences. Example : Ii desu ne (That’s good), Wakarimasen ne (Don’t understand / Not sure)

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Soshite - And
Sorekara - Then
Keredomo - But / However
Soretomo - Or (connectiong two alternatives)

Examples
I went to amusement park yesterday. And rode roller coaster.
Kinou, Yuuenchi ni ikimashita. Soshite, jettoco-suta- ni norimashita.

I will visit library today. Then back home.
Kyou wa toshokan ni yorimasu. Sorekara, uchi ni kaerimasu.

I’ve waited for Tony at the Train Station. However, Tony didn’t turn up.
Eki de Tony-san o machimashita. Keredomo, Tony-san wa kimasen deshita.

You want coffee? Or Tea?
Ko-hi- ni shimasu ka? Soretomo, koucha ni shimasu ka?

Meaning : Yuuenchi (Amusement Park), Kinou (Yesterday), Toshokan (Library), Yorimasu (Visit / Drop By), Kyou (Today), Machimasu (Wait), Koucha (Tea)

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Totemo / Zuibun - Very / Extremely
Yoku - Often
Amari - Seldom
Zenzen - Totally / Not at all

Examples
That car is very expensive - Sono kuruma wa totemo takai desu.
I write letter very often - Tegami o yoku kakimasu
I seldom drink coffee - Ko-Hi- wa amari nomimasen
I don’t smoke cigarette at all - zenzen suimasen

You may notice that there is an “o” in the second example. In hiragana, the “o” is を instead of お. Don’s mix them up. When you are typing the “o”, you should type as “wo” instead of “o” but pronunciation wise, it should be pronounced as “o” or some people say “wo”.

“o” is a particle and used for indicating the case role of the phrase in relation to another word (used especially as a direct object marker). Example : I drink water will be translated as “Watashi wa mizu o nomimasu”. You are doing something to something. In this case, you are drinking the water. Another example : Denwa o kakemasu (Make a telephone call), Mado o shimemasu (Close the window)…..

Try it yourself with different phrases. It’s a good practice though.

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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.

As you can see above, there are 3 types of usage for different group of adjectives. The top part which uses “katta” is simple. All you need to do is to remove the “i” at the back and replace with “katta”. However there are some words with an “i” at the back but you cannot replace it with “katta”. These are special words. Sound confusing, right? Yes, it indeed very confusing where many Japanese Learner got them mixed up.

Those words (adjectives) without an “i” at the end will definately use “deshita”. You don’t need to remove any alphabet (in Japanese - the hiragana character) whereby you just need to add a “deshita” at the back. To identify which adjective that end with “i” requires “katta” or “deshita”, simply look at the second japanese character.

For example : teinei (in hiragana, it identifies as te i ne i) - If the fourth character is just before the “i”, then use “deshita”. In this case, the “ne” is the fourth character just before the “i”. Just like “kirei (ki re i)” - “re” is the fourth character.

For more information on the Japanese Character, have a look at Pronunciation section

You must remember, the “i” that I mentioned above is Japanese Character not English Alphabet. Dont mix up with this otherwise you will end up saying “Suki” as “Sukkatta” which will make the Japanese scratching their heads.

Suki or Benri doesn’t end with “i” but instead there are end with “ki” and “ri” respectively.

OK, the last one which is “Ii” (Good). This is a very special word that will change totally to different word. For past tense, you have to use “yokatta”.

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The meaning of “Na” is to represent something with with an adjective.

Example
Quiet Garden - Shizuka na kouen desu
Beautiful Flower - Kirei na hana desu
Famous Person - Yuumei na hito desu
Kind Police - Shinsetsu na omawarisan desu
Convenient Shop - Benri na omise desu

Meaning : Shizuka (Quiet), Kouen (Garden), Kirei (Beautiful), Hana (Flower), Yuumei (Famous), Hito (Person), Shinsetsu (Kind), Omawarisan (Police), Benri (Convenient), Omise / Mise (Shop)

Understanding of Words

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“Shika” is use to indicate that there is only a specific numbers. Example :
Q : Are there 8 apples? - Ringo ga yattsu arimasu ka?
A : No, there is only 1 apple - Iie, Ringo wa hitotsu shika arimasen

Q : Are there 20 textbooks? - Nihongo no kyoukasho ga nijuu satsu arimasu ka?
A : No, There is only 5 books - Iie, go satsu shika arimasen

“Mo” means “too” but there is other meaning depending how you form a sentence. Example :
Q : Are there 10 mandarin oranges? - Mikan ga jukko arimasu ka?
A : No, there isn’t any mandarin orange OR No, not even 1 orange is there- Iie, Mikan wa ikko mo arimasen.

John and I go to school too - Watashi mo John mo gakkou e ikimasu

Meaning : Ringo (Apple), Kyoukasho (Textbook), Mikan (Mandarin Orange)

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In Japanese, it uses different pronunciation to represent “piece” for different type of things.

For Human - How many person (Nan nin)
Hitori (1 person), Futari (2 persons), Sannin, Yonnin, Gonin, Rokunin and so on

For Animal - How many (Nan Biki)
Ippiki (1 animal), Nihiki (2 animals), Sanbiki, Yonhiki, Gohiki, Roppiki, Nanahiki, Happiki, Kyuuhiki

For papers, clothes, etc in piece form - How many pieces (Nan Mai)
Ichimai (1 piece), Nimai, Sanmai, Yonmai and so on

For books - How many books (Nan Satsu)
Issatsu (1 book), Nisatsu, Sansatsu, ……. Hassatsu, Kyuusatsu

For sticks (ie. cigarettes, tree, pencil, etc) - How many sticks (Nan Bon)
Ippon (1 stick), Nihon, Sanbon, Yonhon, Gohon, Roppon, Nanahon, Happon, Kyuuhon, Juppon

For cups, spoons & glass - Hom many cups / glasses / spoons (Nan Bai)
Ippai, Nihai, Sanbai, Yonhai, Gohai, Roppai, Nanahai, Happai, Kyuuhai, Juppai

For floor / level - How many floors / Which floor / level (Nan Gai)
Ikkai, Nikai, Sangai, Yonkai, Gokai, Rokkai, Nanakai, Hakkai / Hachikai, Kyuukai, Jukkai

For time - What time (Nan Ji)
Ichiji, Niji, Sanji, Yoji, Goji, Rokuji, Nanaji, Hachiji, Kuji, Juuji

For minutes - How many minutes (Nan Pun)
Ippun, Nihun, Sanpun, Yonpun, Gohun, Roppun, Nanahun, Kyuuhun, Juppun

For rounded things, pieces form - How many pieces (Ikutsu or Nan Ko)
Hitotsu, Futatsu, Mittsu, Yottsu, Itsutsu, Muttsu, Nanatsu, Yattsu, Kokonotsu, Too
OR
Ikko, Niko, Sanko, Yonko, Goko, Rokko, Nanako, Hakko, Kyuuko, Jukko

Hope it is not too confusing

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