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SUBJECT: |
JAPANESE LANGUAGE |
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TOPIC: |
Counting Objects |
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SOURCE: |
Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (1994) Japanese
for Busy People I (Revised Edition) Lesson 5 |
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DATE: |
20 Jan 2003 |
Mr. Smith buys a camera at a camera shop.
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Sumisu: |
Sumimasen. Sono kamera wa ikura desu ka. |
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Kamera-ya: |
Dore desu ka. |
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Sumisu: |
Sono chiisai kamera desu. |
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Kamera-ya: |
Kore desu ka. 25,000-en desu. Dōzo. |
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Sumisu: |
Kore o kudasai. Korekara fuirumu o mittsu kudasai. |
Chiisai kamera wa 25,000-en desu.
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Smith: |
Excuse me. How much is that camera? |
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Salesman: |
Which one sir? |
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Smith: |
That small camera. |
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Salesman: |
This one? It’s ¥25,000. Here you are. |
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Smith: |
I’ll take this. And please let me have three (rolls of) film. |
The small camera is ¥25,000.
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sono kamera kamera-ya -ya dore chiisai sorekara fuirumu mittsu |
that camera camera store, camera seller store, seller which small (-i adjective) and film 3 |
1. KAMERA-YA means not only camera store, but also the store owner or store clerk. YA is added to many things to mean the store or the person selling something.
2. SOREKARA, “and, and also, and then, after that, in addition,” is a connective placed at the beginning of a new sentence to connect it to the previous one.
3. In Japanese there are two numerical systems, the HITOTSU, FUTATSU system and the abstract ICHI, NI, SAN system. Note that the former system is used as far as 10 only. Counting things can be done in two ways.
a. Using the HITOTSU, FUTATSU system independently. E.g. FUIRUMU O MITTSU KUDASAI. “Please give me three (rolls of) film.”
b. Using the ICHI, Ni, SAN system combined with a counter. E.g. HAGAKI O SAN-MAI KUDASAI. “Please give me three (sheets of) postcards.”
4. Note the word order: thing + O + numeral (or numeral and counter) + KUDASAI.
5. KONO, SONO and ANO are demonstratives used with nouns and have similar meanings from the viewpoint of the speaker as KORE, SORE and ARE.
IKUTSU means “how many”.
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hitotsu futatsu mittsu yottsu itsutsu muttsu nanatsu yattsu kokonotsu tō -mai -hon -kiro |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 counter for thin, flat objects counter for long, slender objects kilograms |
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kamera kamera-ya -ya fuirumu hana-ya sakana-ya hagaki denchi tēpu mikan kitte bīru |
camera camera store, camera salesman store, salesman film flower shop/florist fish shop/seller postcards battery tape tangerine postage stamp beer |
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kono sono ano dore dono doko itsuka |
This that (near you) that (over there) which (noun) which (adjective) where, belonging to, or coming from what place how many |
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akai aoi kuroi |
red blue black |
1. Kono kamera wa 25,000-en desu. “This camera is ¥25,000.”
2. Kono ringo wa hitotsu 200-en desu. One of these apples is ¥200.”
3. Kore wa Nihon no kamera desu. “This is a Japanese camera.”
4. Sono chiisai denchi o mittsu kudasai. “Please give me three of those small batteries.”
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Sumisu: |
Sumimasen. Rajio o misete kudasai. |
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Ten’in: |
Dono rajio desu ka. |
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Sumisu: |
Ano chiisai rajio desu. |
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Ten’in: |
Hai, dōzo. |
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Smith: |
Excuse me. Wouldyou show me that radio? |
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Clerk: |
Which radio? |
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Smith: |
That small radio (over there). |
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Clerk: |
Certainly sir. Here you are. |
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Sumisu: |
Ano kasa wa ikura desu ka. |
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Ten’in: |
Dore desu ka. |
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Sumisu: |
Ano aoi kasa desu. |
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Ten’in: |
Are wa 5,000-en desu. |
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Sumisu: |
Ano kuroi kasa mo 5,000-en desu ka. |
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Ten’in: |
Iie, are wa 7,000-en desu. |
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Sumisu: |
Ja, ano aoi kasa o kudasai. |
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Smith: |
How much is that umbrella (over there)? |
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Clerk: |
Which one? |
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Smith: |
That blue one. |
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Clerk: |
That’s ¥5,000. |
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Smith: |
Is that black umbrella ¥5,000 too? |
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Clerk: |
No, it’s ¥7,000. |
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Smith: |
Well then, I’ll take that blue one. |