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 […]
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”? 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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying your weekend. At this beautiful sunny Saturday, we are very pleased to announce that “the spring is coming”! Wait a minute! The weather outside is terribly hot, hot enough to fry eggs! What are you talking about? Actually, today is “Lichun” (立春, りっしゅん, rissyun) in […]
Hi there, welcome to our one point lesson. We would like to introduce you to some words in Japanese that have the same reading but different meaning. For example: 紙 (かみ) kami “paper” 髪 (かみ) kami “hair” These two Kanji are different, but are spelled and pronounced the same. You have to figure out […]