Category Archives: Expressions

Advanced usage of “~ので”.

Last week we have learned the difference between “~から” and “~ので”. This week I will show you advanced usage of these phrases especially “~ので”. First of all, let’s review the lesson of last week. 1. 聞こえないから、マイクを使っていただけませんか? 2. 聞こえないので、マイクを使っていただけませんか? Both of them means “Could you use the microphone because I can’t hear you?”. We should use […]

Watch out! Be careful when you use “~から”(because) – Comparison of “~から” and “~ので”.

From the textbooks of Japanese such as みんなの日本語, you will see the meaning of “~から” and “~ので” (because, because of, due to, etc.) are indicated as same with each other. However, there is subtle difference between them if you don’t pay close attention on them. Let’s look at the following example.   A: どうしたんですか? ずっと待ってたんだけど。(What […]

How to use “〜ておく”?

How to use “〜ておく”?   You can use it to express “do something in advance”. Who + が + verb + ておく   ドライブに行く前に、ガソリンを入れておく。 I will fill gasoline in the car before we go to drive. 友達が来るので、花を飾っておきます。 I’ll decorate the flowers before my friends come because my friends are gonna be here.   “Leave it […]

Stop! It’s a wrong way to toast (乾杯).

Toasting (乾杯) is a normal etiquette when people have formal dinner. However, what should those who do not drink alcohol do? Please try to guess which one of the following is the best way to refuse decently. 水が入っているグラスで乾杯 (Let me toast with a cup of water.) カラのグラスで乾杯 (Let me toast with an empty glass) 飲まないけれど、グラスにお酒を入れて乾杯 (Though I […]

The authentic way to express “ability” – get rid of “ら”.

Hello, everyone. It’s one point lesson time! Today, I’m going to show you a quite interesting phenomenon of Japanese. It’s the words without “ら”.   If you have learned a little Japanese, you should have been taught the word transformation of expressing “be able to do something”. It’s basically turning …ます into …られる. For example, […]

Why isn’t it “こんにちわ”?

In the beginning of learning Japanese, “こんにちは” is usually the first phrase that most people learn. However, why isn’t it “こんにちわ” for the pronunciation of “kon ni chi wa”? Why is it written as “は (ha)”? これは本です。 ko re wa, hon de su. In this situation, we use “は” not “わ” because “は” is a particle […]

Don’t use “私は、〇〇(e.g. Jack)です” to introduce yourself.

For those who have learned a little Japanese, have you ever introduced yourself by saying “私は〇〇です。 “? I believe that almost every Japanese learner has once used this phrase to give a self-introduction. In fact, it’s a bit weird for Japanese people to hear that. But why do most Japanese learner talk like that? Here […]

Speak up your love in Japanese!

                  Valentine’s Day is getting closer. It must be thrilled and restless for those who are planning to declare your affection to “that boy/girl”. If you think that you’re going to be unconfident to convey your feelings directly, how about saying your words in Japanese? Today I […]

【One Point Lesson】Many different ways of saying “Thank you”

Hi there, welcome to our new Awesome Japanese website. We hope you like it! We would like to introduce you to some different ways of saying “Thank you” in Japanese. I expect that all of you have heard of “Arigato” which means “Thank you”, but there are some varieties. Let’s break them down a bit. Basic Expressions ありがとう。(Arigato) […]