L107 - Casual Vocabulary
Learn to speak like in manga! No, not really... I am adding this article about casual Japanese upon request. It will cover some of the words you recognize from Japanese movies, manga/anime and from overhearing friendly discussions among native Japanese.
Key Topics Covered
| Content |
: |
Casual vocabulary |
| Grammar |
: |
ね (ne) - asking for agreement or attention (particle).
よ (yo) - a strengthening sentence ending (particle).
だ (da) - plain form of です (desu) meaning "is" (particle)
でしょう (deshou) - I think, I guess, don't you agree.
だろう (darou) - plain form of deshou.
|
Introduction
The first time I came to Japan, I quite soon thought I'd be able to converse in Japanese in a jiffy. It was because I recognized some words over and over again, and almost thought they formed half, or at least 20%, of the words necessary to know.... how wrong I was.
Anyway, sometimes you are actually able to catch the context or spirit of a conversation just by knowing a few words, or at least it's encouraging to believe you are. Let's go through a few words, and then make sentences out of them.
Vocabulary
| いい |
|
ii |
|
good |
(i-adj) |
| よくない |
|
yokunai |
|
not good (the negative version of ii) |
(i-adj)
|
| わるい |
|
warui |
|
bad |
(i-adj) |
| かっこいい |
|
kakkoii |
|
handsome, cool, good looking |
(i-adj)
|
| だめ |
|
dame |
|
bad, quit (that), stop (it), no-no (said to kids) |
(na-adj)
|
| かわいい |
|
kawaii |
|
cute |
(i-adj) |
| はずかしい |
|
hazukashii |
|
shy, bashful, embarrasing (it's often used by young girls) |
(i-adj) |
| ね、ねー |
|
ne, nee |
|
(sentence ending. asking for agreement, or agreeing)
(as a sentence start used to call for attention)
|
(particle) |
| よ |
|
yo |
|
(sentence ending. making the sentence harder, strenghtening one's opinion) |
(particle) |
| さいてい |
|
saitei |
|
the worst |
(noun/na-adj) |
| だ |
|
da |
|
(plain form of the copula desu. Please note that it may sound strange to use da in some situations) |
(copula) |
| だろう |
|
darou |
|
(it) seems like ... / ..., I guess. A form of the copula desu.
|
(copula) |
| でしょう |
|
deshou |
|
Polite verson of darou. As sentence ending: (I) think, (I) guess,
Alone: don't you agree?, I thought you'd say that!
A form of the copula desu. |
(copula) |
| ひどい |
|
hidoi |
|
horrible |
|
| わ |
|
wa |
|
(sentence ending. Making the sentence feminine. Rarely used except in manga, anime, dubbed movies and by some old women) |
(particle)
|
| えっと・・・ |
|
etto.. |
|
(used 1. in some cases to call for attention or 2. in the start of a sentence to fill out when thinking, somewhat similar to the casual usage of like or you know in English) |
|
Example sentences
いい でしょう。
ii deshou
(It's) good isn't (it). The speaker wants the listener to agree.
いい だろう。
ii darou
(It's) good isn't (it). The speaker wants the listener to agree. (rough or masculine)
あの じこ、ひどい ね？
ano jiko, hidoi ne
That accident, terrible, (isn't it).
あの じこ、ひどい よ ね？
ano jiko, hidoi yo ne
"That accident, I think it's terrible, isn't it". The speaker strengthens it using yo
あした あめ に なる でしょう。
On a news forecast: ashita ame ni naru deshou
rain will come tomorrow (polite)
あっ！ かわいい 。
Girl suddenly seeing a cute dog: A! kawaii.
Cute!!
みて、 あの おとこ の ひと、 かっこいい よ ね？
Mite, ano otoko no hito, kakkoii yo ne?
Look at that guy, isn't he cool/good looking?
チョコレート たべて いい？ だめ、わたし の だ よ！
"chokoreeto tabete ii?" - "dame, watashi no da yo"
"Can I eat the chocholate?" - "No, it's mine!"
You should also note that だ (da) is the plain form of です (desu). The same thing goes for だろう (darou) that is the plain form of でしょう (deshou) - both being versions of です. So if you want to use any of the endings よ (yo) or ね (ne) in polite language, just replace da with desu.
Both using darou and da to end a sentence ending can in many situations sound unnatural, as if in a dubbed movie. In casual Japanese, da is normally omitted for instance after adjectives. And in polite language です (desu) is used instead.
Notes About よ (yo) and ね (ne)
(!) Observe that there is a rule for when using "da yo" or only "yo". Da is used after nouns and na-adjectives. After i-adjectives or verbs, you do not say "da". Same thing goes for "da ne" or only "ne".
Pattern 1
[verb / i-adj] よ
Pattern 2
[noun / na-adj] だ よ
An exception is if using feminine language, where usage of よ (yo) and ね (ne) without だ (da) is correct.
あれ は いぬ よ。
are wa inu yo (feminine form)
That's a dog!
きれい よ！
kirei yo (feminine form)
It's beautiful!
Extras
Some deeper topics for those who are still interested. 
The adjective
yokunai (not good) is the negative form of
ii (good), but it doesn't conform to the ordinary rules for negation. The reason is that it is derived from
yoi, the old form of
ii, which is rarely used anymore. The only occasion I know of, when
yoi is used instead of
ii, is in some cases when being very polite.
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correct me if i am wrong. thx~
(thank you for the lesson, it was very helpful!)
ps. ha ha konata izumi cosplay at the top of the page
It's better to post a question like this in the forum. You will get an answer more quickly there, and others can more easily benefit from the answer as well.
Here are two possibilities: "tetsudatte kurete arigatou" and "tetsudatte itadaite arigatou". tetsudatte comes from tetsudau, to help, to assist; kurete comes from kureru, give (to me/us), itadaite comes from itadaku, receive. So these mean "thanks for giving me help" and "thanks for the help I received".
(>-
Domo arigatou gozaimasu.
Thats right isn't it? xD
Note: When wa is a particle, it is spelled with は (ha) not わ (wa). Also, the second syllable of "ashita" is し, not ひ.
Thanks for letting us know!
hontou ni omoshiroi desu.
omoshiroi wa honto ni desu.. ;)