alco13-1.wav
(54K)Welcome back to Reiko-chan's Japanese for Anime Lovers. I hope you
are becoming familiar with Japanese sounds, pitches, and pronunciations.
This week, we will learn more common expressions heard in Anime. From this
week forward, I will start introducing some grammatical rules very slowly.
Today's expression, "sasuga" is
one of the words I have difficulties in translation because its meaning
changes depending on the context. "Sasuga
(ni)" is an adverb that may mean "as may
be expected".
Anyway, let's listen to what Alcyone says to Ascot and repeat after her.
Sasuga, Asukotto!
As may be expected, (your monster is great)
Ascot!
As you know, Ascot is a summoner, who summons monsters and force
them to attack his enemies. Here, Alcyone saw the monster Ascot summoned
and was very impressed. This expression adds the nuance that "I knew
that you are great and you just demonstrated the greatness to me now"
rather than just saying "you are great."
One more from Alcyone.
Sasuga wa wagashi.
As may be expected of my teacher, (your magic
is wonderful)
This is almost the same as the one above, except that this one has
a particle "wa" after it. Whether
you add "wa" or not, the meaning
doesn't change. I included both expressions in this lesson because you
will hear both expressions quite often in Anime. In this scene, Clef used
one of his spells to prevent her from using her magic. Alcyone was very
impressed by this spell and said this. She knew that her teacher Clef is
the best teacher of magic in Cefiro. So, she meant, "Great teacher
of mine as you are," your magic is wonderful.
"Wagashi," which is not important
here, consists of two words; "waga" means "my" and
"shi" is "teacher." Both are kinda old expressions.
Next, let's listen to Ferio.
Sasuga!
Great!
You can just say "sasuga"
without specifying person who is great, like this (when understood in the
context). Here, Ferio found out Hikaru, Fu, and Umi found a Mashin, then
said this, meaning "You fully justify your fame as Magic Knights."
However, I'm not sure Ferio knew the greatness of Magic Knights or not.
That means, you can say "sasuga"
whenever you witness a great deed, even of a person who is not so great
as Magic Knights, Clef, or Ascot. For example, you can say, "Sasuga
wa watashi no tomodachi!" (You
are worthy of your friend, as to do such a great thing.) Here, just being
your friend sounds like it is something great. This sentence has a nuance
that all people called as my friends are great. Therefore, you are great
too, and as a proof you did a wonderful thing like this. I am proud of
you.
Next expression is "yappari or yahari." This is an adverb that means "after all." Its meaning also changes depending on the context. Listen to Fu-chan and practice saying yappari, please?
Yappari!
As I suspected.
Here Fu found out that the fountain she suspected to be a monster
was really a monster after all. "Yappari"
is used when you think something will happen and later, you find out that
it actually did occur.
Yappari.
I knew it.
She sounds sad, here, doesn't she? She realized that being a Magic
Knight is very tough, which she feared to be correct. You can say "yappari"
when what you were afraid of is proven to be true.
Ja, yappari, maho~?
Then, after all, (it was) magic?
You can put what you suspected after "yappari"
like Hikaru does. Here, Hikaru and Fu were caught in a cold world. She
thought that this was not a usual world and suspected that it was created
by some kind of magic. When Fu found out that it was really unusual, Hikaru
asked Fu this question.
Yahari, hen desu wa.
As I suspected, (something) is wrong.
"Yahari" is a formal way
of saying "yappari." As you may remember, "desu" is
a Japanese be-verb, and "wa" is an ending particle that makes
your speech feminine. "Hen(na)"
is a na-adjective that means strange, suspicious, odd, funny, etc. Since
verbs are usually put at the end of sentence and when ending particles
are used they are put after a verb, "it is strange" in English
will be translated as "strange is" therefore, "Hen
desu wa." If you want to say this in an informal way, say "yappari
hen" "yappari hen da"
or "yappari hen yo" and so on. Now,
repeat after her and practice, please.
Omake (advanced)
Yappa, uchi wa ko~un na
musume ya na!
I am a lucky girl after all
Caldina speaks "Osaka" dialect. I don't know why Osaka
dialect is used very often in Anime, but it surely sounds very
"hen." (funny) I put this
here just because I want you to listen to this for fun. Don't try to speak
like her, please.
"Yappa" = even more colloquial way
of saying "yappari"
"Uchi" = "watashi" (Osaka
dialect)
"wa" = a particle, topic marker
(standard Japanese)
"Ko~un" = lucky (pronounced as "kooun")
(standard Japanese)
"musume" = young girl. (standard
Japanese)
"ya" and "na"
= emphasis. "Ya" is a particle used in Osaka dialect.
Well, this is all for today. You had fun? Gooooood!
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Hona!
(Bye or see you), then. (Osaka dialect)
Lesson 14
Today's topic: Masaka!
Impossible!
I am positive you have heard this expression a lot in Anime. This expression is really truly used very frequently in Anime as well as in daily conversation. This is an adverb, that means "Impossible!" "You don't tell me (say so)!" "What do you know?" "You're telling me!" "Well, I never!" "Well, I declare" "The idea!" "Indeed!" and so on, (again) depending on the context. I believe this phrase is very useful for you, too.
Masaka!
You don't tell me! or Oh, you are kidding!
Umi and her friends were on their way to the legendary fountain,
Eteruna. Of course, the guide was Mokona. Umi said this when Mokona (somehow
by saying "pu pu pu puuuu") told her to go through a place filled
with monsters. Here, she meant "You don't tell me! It's impossible!"
Now, listen to her carefully and repeat after her, please?
Sonna, masaka,,,
No way,,, I had least expected this to happen.
This is a phrase she said when she found that Magic Knights are
14 years girls. She expected Magic Knights to be strong grown up men.
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Masaka, Mokona,,,
You are telling me,,, Mokona,,,
She just couldn't believe what Mokona was trying to tell her, here.
Let's remember one more expression, Moshikashite. This word means "perhaps" "maybe" "possibly" "by any chance" "it is to be feared that..."
First, listen to Hikaru and practice saying it, please.
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Moshikashite,,,
Perhaps, (what Clef told me was true.)
Seeing a deserted village, she was afraid that what Clef told her
(Cefiro was being destroyed) was true. Since she didn't speak what she
feared, Fu asked her what was troubling her, saying...
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Moshikashite?
Perhaps? (What?)
When you use this expression, it is a good idea to add a sentence to explain what you are thinking.
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Ja, moshikashite, kore ga (Escudo)?
Then, this is (Escudo) by any chance?
Here, "Escudo" is omitted because Umi and friends understand
what the subject is. Umi was surprised and at the same time very much in
doubt. This "It's hard to believe, but it may be the Escudo according
to what I heard" feeling is expressed by "Ja
moshikashite" here.
Kore is "this" in English, and "ga"
is a particle that is put after a subject of the sentence. Ja, repeat after
her, please?
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Moshikashite, daini no Mashin
ga.
Maybe, the second Mashin is (over there)?
Watching Mokona's strange behavior, Hikaru thought Mokona was trying
to tell her that the second Mashin was over there. As you may know, Mashin
is the huge robot you see at the beginning of each episode. It can be translated
as Magical God (ma = magic, shin = god). She was not sure about this (because
Mokona only says "pu pu pu pu") and this feeling was expressed
by "moshikashite" here.
"dai ni" means second. By putting
"dai" before a number, you can make
it first, second third and so on. For example,
First = dai ichi
Second = dai ni
Third = dai san
Fourth = dai yon
Well, hope you had fun today, too. Remember, you can ask me any questions
about Japanese through E-mail.
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This is a new mark of mine. (I am a big fun of Kenshin
in "Ruroo ni Kenshin.")
Mata ashita de gozaru!
See you again tomorrow.
Lesson 15
Today's topic: Naze?
Why?
Today, we will study two words that correspond to English "why?" They are naze and do~shite. They both mean "Why?" "For what reason?" or "How come?" "Doushite" can also mean "how" "in what way" or "on the contrary" in some cases, but when it is used to mean "why," its meaning is the same as naze.
Now, let's begin today's lesson. First, listen to Umi-chan and repeat after her, please.
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Naze?
Why?
You can also say it like Hikaru.
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Naze da!?
Why?!
This is a very strong expression. It sounds like "Why? I demand
explanation for this!"
Or you can repeat naze like Emeraud does.
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Naze, naze,,,
Why, why? (I really don't understand.)
And of course, you can make a sentence using naze.
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Naze kita?
Why (did you) come?
As usual, pronoun is omitted here. "Kita"
is a plain past tense of a verb "kuru"
(to come). Don't worry about this verb yet, because this is one of few
irregular verbs in Japanese and very hard to understand its conjugation
pattern. (easy to pronounce though ^_^) This is a very informal way of
saying "why did you come?" If this sentence was spoken by Fu
without omission, it would be,,,
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Anata wa naze ki mashita
ka?
All right, next, please practice "Do~shite." Note: For people familiar with hiragana, as I explained in Lesson 1's FAQ, it is pronounced as "dooshite." (o + u = long "o" sound)
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Do~shite?
How come?
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Do~shite da?
How come?
As you know, Hikaru talks like a boy. Therefore, this expression
may not be used by female. "Da"
at the end is the plain (informal) form of verb "desu."
As you might have guessed, you don't need to put question maker "ka"
at the end of sentences that use "naze" and "do~shite,"
because those are interrogatives.
Now try this. I think you can understand the meaning without my help. Hikaru said this when Hikari (her dog) attacked her.
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Yamete, Hikari! Do~shite?
(Answer: Stop, Hikari! Why?)
Omake (advanced)
Do~-shite
is a conjugated form of (scary, isn't it?) do~-suru
(= what do you do?). And the plain past tense of do~-suru
is dou-shita.
(this phrase consists of two words: do~ (how) and suru (to do))
This do~-shita can mean "what happened
to you?" or "What the matter with you?" as in followings.
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Do~shita no, Ryuushii?
What's the matter with you, Luci?
Here, Ascot is asking Luci, one of his monsters, what is wrong when
Luci started act strange. "No" is not a question maker here.
This particle just makes your speech softer and sympathetic in this case.
Now, once more,,,
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Do~shita no, Fu~-chan?
Did you catch all the words? You did? Sugoi! Since, we will learn a lot tomorrow, I will not teach you any more today. I hope you are enjoying my lessons.
Lesson 16
Today's topic: Demo
But
Today, we will learn some new vocabulary such as but, of course,
by the way and so on.
First, demo is a conjunction, that means "but"
"yet" "still" "though" "however"
and so on. It is easy to pronounce. Listen to Alcyone and Hikaru, and practice,
please.
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Demo,,,
But,,,
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Demo!
But! (I have a good reason for that)
Next one is almost the same as "demo." It is just a more formal expression and can be used in written style.
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Shikashi, osokatta na.
But, it was too late.
"Osokatta" is a past tense
of an i-adjective "osoi (late)"
and a particle "na" is used for
emphasis purpose. Note: Japanese adjectives do conjugate! I will explain
this next week. Here, Zagato told Clef "in spite of (all your effort),
it is too late (to save Princess Emeraude, now)"
Next one, dakedo also means, "but," "however," and "for all that," etc. Dakedo is very colloquial.
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Dakedo,
But,,,
Next one is naruhodo. It means "I see," "it is true," "indeed," "that makes sense," and so on depending on the context.
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Naruhodo!
I see!
Of course you can add particles after naruhodo to emphasize what
you say, such as "naruhodo ne!" "naruhodo na!," but
not "ze" "yo" "wa" and "ka."
Next one is Tonikaku which means "anyway" "anyhow" and "at any rate."
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Tonikaku,,,
Anyway,,,
Tonikaku is usually without ending
particles or a be-verb. An exception is that you can say "tonikaku
desu ne..."
Here is another example.
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Tonikaku, sa~ hayaku
i-ra-ssha-i
Anyway, come here now.
"Sa~" (a + a -> long "a"
sound) means "come now" or "come" here. She is urging
Hikaru and her friends to come. "Irasshai"
is a very polite way of asking someone to come. (respect form, yack!)
Note: "Ra-ssha" part is pronounced
like "rush" in English (though "r" sound is different),
but try to stop voicing between "ra" and "sh." (see
FQA lesson 2 for more information.)
As you know, "hayaku" is an adverb
that means quickly.
Tokorode is the next word I want you to learn. It means "by the way" "well" "now then" etc. It is very useful when you want to change the subject during conversation.
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Tokorode,,,
By the way,,,
OK, this is the last one. Mochiron means "of course" "naturally" "undoubtedly" "without question" and so on.
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Mochiron!
Of course!
Mochiron, you can add particles after
this, like mochiron yo! If you want to be
polite, say like me.
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Mochiron desu yo.
How did you do this week? Daijo~bu? What? My lessons are too easy? Oh! Sasuga! Since we have learned enough common expressions and you are now familiar with pronouncing Japanese sounds, let's learn some grammar rules next week. Sounds horrible? Demo, daijo~bu! I will try as much as possible to make things easy for you.
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Ganbatte kudasai ne!
