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(54K)Welcome back to Reiko-chan's Japanese for Anime Lovers week four.
I hope you are getting familiar with Japanese sounds, pitches, and pronunciation
by now. This week, we will learn more common expressions you hear in Anime,
then from next week, 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 be used to mean "as
may be expected" of a legendary Magic Knight, Hikaru is very
powerful, "Great" Master "as"
Clef "is," he is very skillful in
his magic, and so on.
Now, 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 make
them 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 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 magic to prevent her magic. Alcyone was very impressed by the
magic 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 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 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 had been thinking something and later what you had thought
turned out to be right after all.
Yappari.
I knew it.
She sounds sad, here, doesn't she? She realized that being a
Magic Knight is very tough, which she was afraid to be so. You can say
"yappari" when what you were afraid
of is proven to be true.
Ja, yappari, mahou?
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., depending on the context. Since
verbs are usually put at the end of sentence, and when ending particles
are used they are put at the very end, even 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 kouun 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)
"Kouun" = 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 sure you heard this expression quite 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. And, 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,
maybe?
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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..." and so on.
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 tell what she
feared, Fu asked her what was it, 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" part is omitted because Umi and friends
are talking about Escudo (therefore understood about topic). Umi was surprised
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 is 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 have fun today, too. Remember, you can ask me any
questions about Japanese through E-mail. (no flame, please)
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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 doushite. 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 like Hikaru.
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Naze da!?
Why?!
It 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 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 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 "Doushite." As I explained in Lesson 1's FAQ, it is pronounced as "dooshite." (o + u = long "o" sound)
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Doushite?
How come?
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Doushite 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 "doushite,"
because those words 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! Doushite?
(Answer: Stop, Hikari! Why?)
Omake (advanced)
Dou-shite
is a conjugated form of (scary, isn't it?) dou-suru
(= what do you do?). And the plain past tense of dou-suru
is dou-shita.
(this phrase consists of two words: dou (how) and suru (to do))
This dou-shita can mean "what happened
to you?" or "What the matter with you?" as in followings.
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Doushita no, Ryuushii?
What's the matter with you, Luci?
Here, Ascot is asking Luci, one of his monsters, when it 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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Doushita 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 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 formal, therefore 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, if you want me to do ^_^. 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!"
and so on. (but not "ze" "yo" "wa" "ka")
Next one is Tonikaku. It means "anyway" "anyhow" "at any rate" and so on depending on the context.
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Tonikaku,,,
Anyway,,,
Tonikaku is usually used alone,
I mean, without ending particles or a be-verb. (though you can say "tonikaku
desu ne,,,")
Here is another example.
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Tonikaku, saa hayaku
i-ra-ssha-i
Anyway, come here now.
"Saa" (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.
Next one is tokorode. 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? Daijobu? What? My lessons are too easy? Oh! Sasuga! Since we have learned enough common expressions and you are now familiar with Japanese sound, let's learn some grammars from next week. Sounds horrible? Demo, daijobu! I will try as much as possible to make things easy for you.
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Ganbatte kudasai ne!
