SUBJECT:	JAPANESE LANGUAGE
TOPIC:	Delicious Cakes
SOURCE:	Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (1994) Japanese for Busy People I (Revised Edition) Lesson 13
DATE:	10 Mar 2003

LESSON DIALOGUE

Mr. Tanaka is offering Mr. Smith a cup of tea.

Tanaka:	O-cha o dōzo.
Sumisu:	Arigatō gozaimasu.
Tanaka:	O-kashi wa ikaga desu ga.
Sumisu:	Hai, itadakimasu. Kireina o-kashi desu ne. Nihon no o-kashi desu ka.
Tanaka:	Ee, sō desu. Dōzo meshiagatte kudasai.
Sumisu:	Totemo oishii desu.
Tanaka:	O-cha o mō ippai ikaga desu ka.
Sumisu:	Iie, mō kekkō desu.

Sumisu-san wa Tanaka-san no uchi de kireina Nihon no o-kashi o tabemashita. O-cha o ippai nomimashita.

Translation

Tanaka:	Do have some tea.
Smith:	Thank you.
Tanaka:	Will you have a cake?
Smith:	Yes, I’d love one. What pretty cakes! Are they Japanese?
Tanaka:	Yes they are. Please help yourself.
Smith:	They are delicious.
Tanaka:	Will you have another cup of tea?
Smith:	No (thank you). That was enough.

Mr. Smith ate (some) pretty Japanese cakes at Mr. Tanaka’s house. He drank a cup of tea.

Vocabulary

o-kashi ikaga desu ka ikaga itadakimasu kireina meshiagatte kudasai totemo oishii mō ippai iie, mo kekkō desu

cake how about….? how eat (polite word for tabemasu) pretty, clean (-na adj) please eat/have very good, tasty (-I adj) more (another) 1 cupful No (thank you). That was enough.

GRAMMAR

Sentence structure:

1. adjective + noun

2. noun WA adjective DESU

1. Modifying nouns: Adjectives + Noun
-i adjective	okii kōen	big park
-na adjective	yūmeina kōen	famous park

2. Adjective as Predicate: Adjective + Desu
	Present form		Past form
	affirmative	negative		affirmative	negative
-i adjective	ōkii desu	ōkikunai desu		ōkikatta desu	ōkikunakatta desu
-na adjective	yūmei desu	yūmei dewa arimasen		yūmei deshita	yūmei dewa arimasendeshita

Japanese adjectives can either modify nouns by immediately preceding them or act as predicates. In this they resemble English.

There are two kinds of adjectives: -i adjectives and –na adjectives. Unlike English adjectives, Japanese adjectives are inflected as shown above. Either –i or –na can take the place of noun 2 in the noun 2 + DESU construction.

Some –i adjectives
	As predicate: Present form		Modifying noun
Big	Ōkii desu	Ōkikunai desu	Ōkii
Expensive	Takai desu	Takakunai desu	Takai
Good	Ii desu	Yokunai desu *	Ii
New, fresh	Atarashii desu	Atarashikunai desu	Atarashii
Small	Chiisai desu	Chiisakunai desu	Chiisai
Cheap	Yasui desu	Yasukunai desu	Yasui
Bad	Waruidesu	Warukunai desu	Warui
Old	Furui desu **	Furukunai desu	Furui
Interesting	Omoshiroi desu	Omoshirokunai desu	Omoshiroi
Difficult	Muzukashii desu	Muzukashikunai desu	Muzukashii
Far	Tōi desu	Tōkunai desu	Tōi
Good, tasty	Oishii desu	Oishikunai desu	Oishii
Busy	Isogashii desu	Isogashikunai desu	Isogashii

* All inflected forms of II comes from the i-adjective YOI which also means “good”.

** Not used for people

Some –na adjectives
	As predicate: Present form		Modifying noun
Pretty, clean	Kirei desu	Kirei dewa arimasen	Kireina
Quiet	Shizuka desu	Shizuka dewa arimasen	Shizukana
Famous	Yūmei desu	Yūmei dewa arimasen	Yūmeina
Kind helpful	Shinsetsu desu	Shinsetsu dewa arimasen	Shinsetsuna
Free	Hima desu	Hima dewa arimasen	Himana
Lively	Nigiyaka desu	Nigiyaka dewa arimasen	Nigiyakana
Convenient	Benri desu	Benri dewa arimasen	Benrina
Well, healthy	Genki desu	Genki dewa arimasen	genkina

NOTES

1. Dōzo, “please (accept/do),” is used when making an offer to someone or when begging their kindness and consideration.

2. A politer way of saying DŌ DESU KA is IKAGA DESU KA, which literally means “How is it?” This phrase is often used when offering things like food and drinking, meaning “Would you like one?” or “How about some?” It can be used in a variety of situations, such as when enquiring about a person’s preferences or circumstances, when asking whether the person is free to do something or his state of health.

3. A polite equivalent of TABEMASU, “I eat” and MORAIMASU, “I receive” is ITADAKIMASU. Said when taking something that is offered, implying both acceptance and gratitude. Japanese mealtime conventions:

Before eating: Itadakimasu. “I gratefully partake.”

After eating: Gochisōsama. “Thank you for a lovely meal. (It was indeed a feast).

4. The polite way of refusing something offered is IIE, MŌ KEKKŌ DESU. KEKKŌ means “good, fine, splendid.” MŌ in this case means already. The expression KEKKŌ DESU implies “I am alright as I am,” or “What I’ve had was fine. It was enough.”

5. DONNA, “what kind of”. When one wants to know more about things, people or places, one uses DONNA + noun. Answers can be given in various ways.

Q. Donna okashi o tabemashita ka. “What kind of cakes did (you) eat?”

A1: Oishii okashi o tabemashita. “(I) had (some) delicious cakes.”

A2: Kireina okashi o tabemashita. “(I) ate (some) pretty cakes.”

A3: Nohon no okashi o tabemashita. “(I) ate Japanese cakes.”

A4: Kukkī o tabemashita. “(I) ate cookies.”

USEFUL VOCABULARY

iie, mō kekkō desu ikaga ikaga desu ka meshiagatte kudasai amari…-nai/-masen donna gurai hontō ni mō totemo itadakimasu atarashii benrina furui genkina himana isogashii kireina oishii shinsetsuna shizukana shokuji o shimasu takai yasashii yasui yūmeina gyū-niku hoteru ki kōen o-kashi shokuji tamago tenki tori-niku watashi-tachi -tachi yasai

no (thank you), that was enough how how about please eat/have not very what kind of about really, truly more (another) very eat (polite for tabemasu) new, fresh (-i adj) convenient (-na adj) old, not fresh (-i adj) well, healthy (-na adj) free (-na adj) busy (-i adj) pretty (-na adj) good, tasty (-i adj) kind, helpful (-na adj) quiet (-na adj) have a meal expensive (-i adj) easy (-i adj) cheap (-i adj) famous (-na adj) beef hotel tree park cake meal egg weather chicken we (plural suffix for people) vegetables

KEY SENTENCES

1. Kono ringo wa totemo oishii desu. “This apple is very good.”

2. Ano ringo wa amari oishikunai desu. “That apple doesn’t taste very good.”

3. (Watashi wa) Oishii ringo o tabemashita. “I ate some delicious apples.”

4. Kono heya wa shizuka desu. “This room is quiet.”

5. Ano heya wa shizuka dewa arimasen. “That room is not quiet.”

6. (Watashi wa) Shizukana heya de benkyō o shimasu. “I study in a quiet room.”

SHORT DIALOGUES

Japanese Dialogue 1

Tanaka:	Sumisu-san, o-genki desu ka.
Sumisu:	Ee, arigatō gozaimasu. Genki desu.

Translation

Tanaka:	How are you, Mr. Smith?
Smith:	Fine, thank you.

Japanese Dialogue 2

Tanaka:	Kyō wa ii tenki desu ne.
Sumisu:	Ee, hontō ni ii tenki desu ne.
Tanaka:	Kyō wa isogashii desu ka.
Sumisu:	Iie, amari isogashikunai desu.

Translation

Tanaka:	It’s a fine day today, isn’t it?
Smith:	Yes, it really is lovely weather.
Tanaka:	(Are you) busy today?
Smith:	No, (I’m) not so busy.

Japanese Dialogue 3

Tanaka:	Sumisu-san no uchi wa kaisha kara tōi desu .
Sumisu:	Iie, tōkunai desu. Chikai desu. Chikatesu de 20-pun gurai desu.
Tanaka:	Sō desu ka. Benri desu ne.

Translation

Tanaka:	Is your house far from your office?
Smith:	No, it isn’t. It’s near by. It’s about 20 minutes by subway.
Tanaka:	I see. How convenient.

Japanese Dialogue 4

Howaito:	Koko wa shizukana kōen desu ne.
Yamada:	Ee, ōkii ki ya kireina hana ga takusan arimasu ne. Howaito-san wa yoku kōen ni ikimasu ka.
Howaito:	Ee, nichi-yōbi no asa tokidoki uchi no chikaku no kōen ni ikimasu.

Translation

White:	This is a quiet park, isn’t it?
Yamada:	Yes. There are lots of big trees and beautiful flowers (etc.), aren’t there? Do you go to parks often?
White:	Yes. I sometimes go to the park near my house on Sunday morning.