Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 17 Transcript

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 17 is another straightforward lesson. There were several "new" numbers introduced in this lesson, but I left them out of the transcript since it is simply repetition of the base 1 to 10 numbers in the simplified Japanese counting system.

For a breakdown of how to handle numbers in Japanese, see my vocabulary post on numbers.

A quick reminder for anyone new to the blog. I post abridged transcripts of the Pimsleur audio tapes. What this means is I do not post every single variation of new words or the older vocabulary or every little sentence as it's said. As such, there's only the first instance and maybe one or two variations, typically a negtative or question related version, of each new word or phrase.

As for format, I've been stepping up the inclusion of kanji in my posts and they are written in large fonts with the hiragana pronounciation following immediately after in a small font. Also, I don't use any romanji in my posts unless absolutely necessary to discuss the pronounciation of a word or kana so you must know how to read hiragana and katakana if you are to make any use of these transcripts.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the transcript. If there are any errors, don't hesitate to let me know in the comments. I'm not perfect, but try my best to avoid any obvious mistakes.

Intro Conversation

じゃあ今日(きょう)は何(なに)をしますか。

Then, what are you going to do today?

私(わたし)。今日(きょう)は買い物(かいもの)がしたいんですが。

Me? Today, I would like to [go] do the shopping.

でもお金(かね)をもっていますか。

But, how much money do you have?

ええ少し(すこし)もっています。

Yeah, I have some / a little [bit of money].

円(えん)をいくらもっていますか。

How many yen do you have?

千円(せんえん)か二千円(にせんえん)。

1000￥ or 2000￥.

ドルは。いくらもっていますか。

How about dollars? How many do you have?

三十(さんじゅう)ドルか四十(よんじゅう)ドルもっています。でもじゅうぶんじゃありません。少し(すこし)お金(かね)をください。

I have $30 or $40. But that's not enough. Can I have / Give me a little more, please.

はい二十(にじゅう)ドルです。

Okay, here's $20.

どもありがとう。

Thanks a lot.


Previous Vocabulary

ドル

dollars

たくさん

many / a lot

たべられます

I can eat

たべられません

I can't eat

かえます

I can buy

かえません

I can't buy

ぜんぜん

not at all

と

and

で

with

たくさんです。

that's a lot

おおすぎます。

it's too much

じゅうぶん

enough

んですが。

Polite form for requesting / asking something. Used at end of sentence.

どういたしまして。

you're welcome

New Vocabulary

どもありがとう

thanks a lot (See Notes)

買い物(かいもの)

shopping (See Notes)

買い物(かいもの)がしたいんですが。

I would like to [go] do the shopping

じゅうぶんお金(かね)をもっています。

I have enough money. (yen in this case, not dollars)

すぎます

excessive, past, over, too

高(たか)すじます。

too expensive (could also be too high, tall, long, etc in other sentences)


円(えん)では高(たか)すじます。

In yen, it's too expensive

早(はや)すぎます

too fast

早(はや)すぎますか。

Is it too fast?

ゆっくり

slower / slowly

ゆっくりおねがいします。

Slower / Slowly, could you please.

ゆっくり話します(はなします)

to speak slower / slowly (depending on context, this could be a request / command asking someone to speak slowly)

私(わたし)には

as for me

私(わたし)には早(はや)すぎます。

It's too fast for me.


Closing Conversation

いくらですか。

How much is it?

五十八円(ごじゅうはちえん)です。

It's 58￥.

五十八円(ごじゅうはちえん)じゃありません。

It's not 58￥.

六十八円(ろくじゅうはちえん)じゃありませんか。

Isn't it 65￥?

はい六十八円(ろくじゅうはちえん)です。すみません。

Yes, [that's right]. It's 65￥. Sorry / excuse me.

*you gave her 100￥ and she gave you change of 45￥. This is the change for the incorrect price and you correct her.

三十五円(さんじゅうごえん)じゃありませんか。

Isn't it 35￥?

はい。すみません。三十五円(さんじゅうごえん)です。

Yes, [that's right]. Sorry / excuse me. It is 35￥.

*you leave and go to a bar and order a bottle of beer. The bartender asks you the following:

アメリカではビールー一本(いっぽん)いくらですか。

In America, how much is it for one beer?

アメリカでは三(さん)ドルです。

In America, it's $3.


Notes

どもありがとう

We've seen ありがとう before, but not with ども preceeding it. This is just another way of saying thank you and is roughly, "thanks a lot", in English. Other variations of thank you include ありがとう, ども and どもありがとうございます, all of which have various levels of politeness.


買い物(かいもの)

The base form of 買い物 is simply 買う(かう), which means "to buy" or "to purchase". It is introduced here in a more frequently used conjugation, but I felt the need to point out the base word for those curious.

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What is the JLPT?

I've mentioned the JLPT a few times over the past couple weeks, but today I want to talk about it in detail. Like I've said, I'm planning to take the JLPT later this year. I'm shooting for the level 3 test this year and feel I've already got a pretty good grasp of most of the requirements for that level already and should be more than ready for it come test time.

While the actual test isn't required and won't make me better at Japanese, I think it makes a great motivator and mark of pride to be able to have some tangible sign of how well you are doing with the language.

For anyone else interested in the JLPT, I've composed a brief FAQ for you and plan to have more posts in the future related to this topic, including vocabulary and kanji lists. Hit the jump for the FAQ.

What is the JLPT?

The JLPT, formally known as the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, is an annual, standardized test designed to evaluate and certify the ability of non-Japanese speakers. There are four levels of proficiency for the JLPT, ranging from 1 to 4, with 4 being the easiest.


When is the JLPT?

The JLPT is held every year, typically on the first Sunday of December. However, the actual dates, locations and times are subject to change.


Where can I take the JLPT?

As stated, the actual locations are subject to change, but, in general, the actual sites stay the same from year to year with few exceptions. As the 2008 locations haven't been finalized as of right now, you can check out the 2007 locations by clicking here. You can contact the area near you and see if they have any information on this year's test if you want to make arrangements early.


How Much is it to Take the Test?

Typically, it costs $60 to take the taste, but that is subject to change and this year's cost hasn't been officially announced as of yet.


What do the Levels Mean?

The JLPT comes in four distinct flavours, ranging from beginner at level 4 to fluent at level 1. No, that isn't a misprint. The higher the number, the easier the test. In 2010, the test is supposed to be revised and will include 5 levels, ranging from N5 to N1, and will be offered twice a year instead of the current once. N5 will correspond to the current JLPT4, N4 will be the same as JLPT3, N3 will be a new test combining parts of JLPT3 and 2, N2 will be similar to JLPT2 and N1 will be the same as JLPT1.


Which Test Should I Take?

As for what test you should take, that varies from person to person and should be decided based on the requirements of each test, which are listed below.

JLPT4

Recommended Amount of Study Time - estimated 150 Hours
Kanji - you should know about 100 kanji
Vocabulary - you should know about 800 words
Grammar - you should be able to read, understand and write basic sentences

JLPT3

Recommended Amount of Study Time - estimated 300 Hours
Kanji - you should know about 300 kanji
Vocabulary - you should know about 1500 words
Grammar - you should be able to take part in everyday conversation and read, understand and write intermediate sentences

JLPT2

Recommended Amount of Study Time - estimated 600 Hours
Kanji - you should know about 1000 kanji
Vocabulary - you should know about 6000 words
Grammar - you should be able to converse freely on a variety of subjects and read, understand and write complex sentences

JLPT1

Recommended Amount of Study Time - estimated 900 Hours
Kanji - you should know about 2000 kanji
Vocabulary - you should know about 10000 words
Grammar - you should have an intimate knowledge of the language, be able to freely converse on any topic, read, write and speak fluently and be ready to integrate into everyday Japanese society


My recommendation would be to estimate your current level based on these guidelines and then make a decision on what test you will take based on how much time you will be able to devote to learning over the next several months.

Don't let the high vocabulary numbers discourage you. They seem to count different tenses and conjugations of words, similar to how run, runs, running and ran are all come from the same base word, run, in English. So, while you may be thinking you don't know 800 words, you'd be surprised how many you actually do know once you see the actual vocab list.

Also, you do not need to know every kanji for all of the vocabulary. Just the hiragana or katakana writing.


What is the Test Comprised of?

Regardless of what level test you take, each is broken up into three parts - Writing - Vocabulary, Listening and Grammar. The test is scored out of 400 with each section weighted differently. Writing - Vocabulary and Listening comprised 100 points each while Grammar is worth 200 points for 50% of the final mark. This means you must know how to read and form sentences in order to pass and cannot rely solely on rote memorization of kanji and vocabulary. Furthermore, the test lengths vary in time for each level with JLPT4 only being 100 minutes long while JLPT1 can go upwards to 180 minutes.


What is the Test Like?

The test is, as stated, broken down into three sections. Each section is made up of multiple choice questions and you are asked to pick the best answer from the four available choices. This can range from picking correct kanji for hiragana, hiragana for kanji, particles, conjugations and so on.

Writing - Vocabulary Section

Here's an example from the Writing - Vocabulary section for those curious. The instructions are not given in English, but are basically telling you to pick the best choice for each of the following multiple choice question, which, in this case, requires you to choose the correct hiragana writing for each kanji in the sentence.

もんだいI _____の　　ことばは　　どう　　よみますか。　　1 2 3 4
から　　いちばん　　いい　　ものを　　えらびなさい。


とい1 （１）友だちが　　（２）外国から　　来ました。

1　　友だちが 1.　ともだち 2. どもだち 3. どむだち 4.　とむだち
2　　外国 1.　がいごく 2. かいこく 3. がいこく 4.　かいごく

Here's another section from the Writing - Vocabulary part of the test. This time, the instructions tell you to, again, choose the best answer for each question. However, this time, they give you the hiragana word and ask you to pick the correct kanji for each. You should be careful during this section as many of the kanji answers look very similar to each other, as evidenced in this example question.

もんだいII　　____の　　ことばは　　どう　　かきますか。 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
から　いちばん　　いい　　ものを　　えらびなさい。

とい1　　わたしの　　（１６）こどもは　　はなが　　すきです。

16 こども 1.了ども 2.子ども 3.千ども 4.予ども

Listening Section

While I have never taken the test before, based on what I've read and have been told, the Listening section consists of listening to a taped recording of Japanese speakers discussing something and you having to answer questions based on what was said. It should be played twice so you won't have to worry about accidently missing something if it was said too quick or if you misheard the first time.

Grammar Section

The Grammar section requires you to fill in particles for given sentences and you will be required to be able to properly distinguish between particles such as は, か, も, の, が, で, を, に and several others. You will also be required to be able to choose the correct conjugation of words based on the sentence, whether the te-form, masu-form or what have you. It is, by far, the most difficult section and probably the one most people end up neglecting, especially if they are self taught, due to over-focusing on kanji and vocabulary memorization.

There is also a reading part to this section where you are asked to read sample paragraphs and answering multiple choice questions on each.


What is the Pass Mark for the Test?

For the JLPT2, 3 and 4, the pass mark is 60% while the JLPT1 requires a 70% to pass. Here's a breakdown of each test level's certification percentages (based on 2005 scores).

When test taken in Japan:

JLPT1 - 39.9%
JLPT2 - 42.5%
JLPT3 - 63.5%
JLPT4 - 73.4%

When test taken overseas:

JLPT1 - 29.6%
JLPT2 - 30.4%
JLPT3 - 47.6%
JLPT4 - 51.4%


Where Can I Find Out More Information?

You can check out the JEES Japanese Language Proficiency Test Home Page or the Japan Foundation's English JLPT pages for more details on test locations, requirements and more.

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Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 16 Transcript

We're just rounding the half way point for Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I and Lesson 16 is a relatively simple chapter with only one small quirk to watch out for in the form of the polite form, んですが added to some sentences. It's nothing that should cause anyone any grief, but it can be a little odd pronouncing at first.

To be honest, I was pretty wrapped up in my JLPT studying last week and never got around to making any posts on that topic. I know it's still pretty early, seeing as the test isn't until December and applications haven't even been released yet (at least in Canada, as far as I know), but I've never taken one before and am looking to skip the first level, JLPT4, and go straight to JLPT3.

As such, I'm kind of nervous and probably a little too gung-ho out of the gate. I did manage to make a short post on the Japanese form of glottal stops, though, and will try to get around to some JLPT introduction and vocabulary posts this week.

Enjoy the Absolute Pimsleur's transcript and make sure to let me know if there are any questions or mistakes in the transcript. As always, these are abridged transcripts and I don't bother repeating older vocabulary or sentences or even duplicates of the current new vocabulary. Hit the jump for the full transcript!

Intro Conversation

もしもし。鈴木さん（すずきさん）。ジョンソンです。こんばんは。

Hello, Suzuki-san. This is Johnson. Good evening.

ジョンソンさんこんばんは。

Johnson-san! Good evening.

鈴木さん（すずきさん）私（わたし）とばんごはんをたべませんか。

Suzuki-san, would you like to / won't you eat supper / dinner with me?

こんばん。こんばんはちょっと。。。

Tonight / This evening? That's a little...

じゃあ明日（あした）のばんは。

Then, what about tomorrow evening / night?

明日（あした）のばん。ええいいです。何時（なんじ）に。

Tomorrow evening / night? Ya, that's fine / good. [At] What time?2.

七時（しちじ）は。

[How about] 7 o'clock?

ええ。いいですね。

Ya, that's fine.


Previous Vocabulary

ドル

dollars

たくさん

many / a lot

たべられます

I can eat

たべられません

I can't eat

かえます

I can buy

かえません

I can't buy

ぜんぜん

not at all

と

and

で

with


New Vocabulary

何（なん）ですか。

what is it?

すしです。

it's sushi

たくさんです。

that's a lot

たくさんですね。

that's a lot isn't it?

おおすぎます。

it's too much

二十四（にじゅうよん）

24

二十八（にじゅうはち）

28

三十（さんじゅう）

30

四十（よんじゅう）

40

おおすぎますか。

is it too much?

じゅうぶんです。

it's enough

じゅうぶんじゃありません。

it's not enough

んですが。

Polite form for requesting / asking something. (See Notes)

四十八（よんじゅうはち）ドルほしいんですが。

I would like to have 48 dollars but.. (only if it's convenient)

おかねがほしいんですが。

I would like to have some money but.. (only if it's convenient)

どういたしまして。

you're welcome


Notes

んですが。

It was hard for me to make out how they were pronouncing this when I first started out and it's basically just adding an ん sound to the end of the preceeding word followed by the usual ですか with が replacing the か. It takes some practice to get the prounciation down, as it's odd making the ん sound at first, but it's fairly straightforward for the most part.

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Japanese Pronounciation - つ (tsu) aka the Glottal Stop

This isn't the most advanced topic I'll ever cover, but it's something that I have never seen explained on any of the major Japanese learning websites that I have been to since I started learning Japanese.

Basically, it's about the つ character. Actually, let me rephrase that. It's about the little っ character you see every once in a while when reading Japanese.

For example, ちょっとまってください is a popular expression used to ask someone to please wait or slow down or a variety of other liberal translations. You'll notice that both ちょっと and まって have a small っ character separating two characters. That the is the っ I wish to discuss today.

Hit the jump for the full discussion.

What is a Glottal Stop?

Simply put, the small っ represents a glottal stop. A glottal stop is just a fancy expression to describe something everyone already knows how to do - press their vocal cords together to restrict air flow and then release.

Still no idea what I'm talking about? Well, say the word, "uh-oh", or the word, "cat", and you'll have an idea of what I mean. That small pause between "uh" and "oh" or the double "t" sound as you say "kat" followed by the "tt" sound to pronounce the word, "cat" are just two examples of numerous words in English, and just about every other language in the world, that use a glottal stop.

In Japanese, they outright tell you when you must do this to say the word correctly and the small っ character is how they do so.


How Do I Use A Glottal Stop in Japanese?

So, back to our original example, ちょっとまってください, you would pronounce ちょっと by having a small pause after ちょ and a doubling of the consonant "t" in と, one to end the ちょ and another to start the と. In romanji, you could write this as, "chotto", or, in broken into syllables, as "chot-to". The same would be done for まって and every other instance of the glottal stop in Japanese.


What About Katakana?

Finally, before there's any confusion, you can do the same thing in katakana using the ツ character.


Conclusion

As I said at the start, this is pretty much a beginner level lesson, but it's something that perplexed me for the longest time, seeing as I didn't take lessons and was doing it all on my own. I couldn't find out the reason why some words had the small っor what it even meant until I started listening to audio files provided on some sites and noticed the glottal stop.

Hopefully, someone out there will find this post useful in their Japanese learning endeavours.

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Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 15 Transcript

Welcome back to another lesson of Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I! This marks the second week of Kirby no Nihongo after returning from several months of hiatus. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the new site and return of the transcripts.

If you are wondering, the current schedule I'm hoping to stick to is one transcript per week, every Monday, and a grammar / vocabulary / etc post sometime near the end of the week, roughly on Thursdays. I'm making preparations for the JLPT at the end of the year and will probably start making some vocabulary, practice tests and other materials related to that available on the site. You can look for a post on that later this week.

Like last week's and all future transcripts, you will see kanji littered about the transcript in large fonts with the kana reading in brackets and small font immediately following. If you are this far along, I'd recommend beginning to learn a few kanji in the near future.

Enjoy the transcript and, as always, keep a look out for any mistakes I may have made while typing this up.

Intro Conversation

いってきます。

I'm leaving!

どこへ。

Where to? [Where are you going?]

なにかかいます。

[I'm going] To buy something. (the "I'm going" is understood)

でも円（えん）をもっていませんね。

But, I don't have any yen.

でもドルをもっています。

But, I do have some dollars.

いくらもっていますか。

How many [dollars do you have]?

八（はち）ドルか九（きゅう）ドル。

[I have] Eight or nine dollars.

じゃあ十（じゅう）ドルあげます。はいどうぞ。今（いま）十九（じゅうきゅう）ドルもっていますね。円（えん）もあげます。はい三千円（さんぜんえん）。

Then, I'll give you $10. Here you go. Now, you have $19, right? Here's some yen, too. Here you go, ￥3000.

どうもありがとうございます。

Thank you, very much!


Previous Vocabulary

いくら

how much

¥ or　円 or　えｎ

yen

ドル

dollars

たくさん

many / a lot

ください

please give me ____ / give me ____, please

あげます

will give


New Vocabulary

いってきます

I'm leaving (See Notes)

どこへ

where to? (See Notes)

私（わたし）に。

For me?

たべられます

I can eat

たべられません

I can't eat

かえます

I can buy

かえません

I can't buy

ぜんぜん

not at all

ぜんぜんありません。

There isn't any at all.

ぜんぜんもっていません。

I don't have any at all.

たくさんもっています

I have many

おさけがかえます

I can buy sake

と

and

で

with

二（に）と二（に）でいくらですか。

What is two and two? (See Notes)


Notes

いってきます

This literally means someting like, "I'm going and coming back". It's used when leaving the house or going somewhere with the intent to return. It's similar to words such as ごちそうさま and いただきます, which are words said before and after meals, respectively.

Do not confuse いってきます with いただきます, as they sound very similar, but mean completely different things.


へ

へ is a particle modifying どこ. Try to recognize instances where a particle is being used, as it will make your life much easier later on. For reference, へ is used to indicate a direction or recipient of the word it is modifying and is pronounced like え, similar to how を is pronounced as お when used as a particle.


Math

The math at the end was an odd addition to Pimsleur's and it shows up random in future lessons, but only at the end, if memory serves. I found the math rather difficult to make out and they went really fast. They use と to represent the addition of two numbers and the actual sentence given comes out as "2 and 2 are how many?" or some variation of that (いくら is "how much / many").

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Japanese Pronounciation -ん (-n)

Japanese, unlike English, is made up of a very limited number of phonetic symbols. In fact, there are only 46 Japanese phonetic symbols used to pronounce every other possible syllable in the Japanese language and those are represented by the kana, hiragana and katakana.

In English, vowels and consonants change their sounds seemingly at random. There are homonyms, synonyms, homographs and various other rules and exceptions to how things are pronounced. A common expression is, "You say potato, I say potato.", whereby each instance of potato is pronounced differently, yet has the same meaning. Just look at the "a". It can be pronounced "ah" or with a long "a" sound, giving each instance of its use a different meaning.

In Japanese, you never have to worry about these things 99% of the time because each phonetic symbol has only one pronounciation, except under very specific and easily understood instances.

Today, I'll talk about one such symbol, -ん, and how it is pronounced and how it modifies other syllables.

-ん

When I was first starting out, I had many problems with the -ん syllable. Sometimes it is pronounced with the expected 'n' sound, as seen in the word, ごはん, and other times with an 'm' sound, such as in the word, せんぱい. It always confused me as to why it did this. At least, until I eventually found out, months later.

Luckily, it's not as random as I originally thought and it boils down to a simple rule. ん always modifies the preceeding vowel sound into a nasal vowel and, if it is followed by a syllable beginning with a b- (ば, び, ぶ, べ and ぼ), m- (ま, み, む, め, and も) or p- (ぱ, ぴ, ぷ, ぺ, and ぽ), the ん is pronounced with the m sound.


"n" Sound

So, ごはん isn't pronounced like ごは with an ん sound tacked on the end. The ん actually changes the は sound into a nasal version, similar to how it is pronounced in the word, "son", in English (it's not identical to how son sounds, but that's the closest comparison to the Japanese version I could think of).


"m" Sound

In the case of せんぱい, the following ぱ modifies the ん to make it more of an "m". So, when you watch various anime or Japanese television shows and a student calls his upperclassman, "sempai", it still uses ん for it's spelling, but the ぱ that follows the ん changes its pronounciation to the "m" sound. The same would happen for any of the other b-, m- or p- symbols if they followed an ん.


Conclusion

I hope this cleared up some of the confusion around the pronounciation of -ん and it's modification of the vowels that precede it. It is the only kana that has multiple pronounciations that does not require the addition of a long vowel, such as the use of the syllable う when it is added to words such as どうも or ありがとう to modify the と and ど syllables.

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Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 14 Transcript

Welcome back to Kirby no Nihongo! This is the first new transcript in a long time and the first bit of new content on the relaunched blog. There are a few small changes to the format of these transcripts that I'll out line for you below.

First, kanji are being incorporated now. I'm not doing full kanji transcripts, but numbers, names, like Japan, and the odd word will now be listed with kanji in large font with the hiragana pronounciation following it in small font and in brackets.

This allows people to get used to seeing kanji, maybe learn a couple along the way and makes it easier for me, as I find it much easier to read the transcripts with the kanji I know breaking up the long string of hiragana.

Finally, I just want to welcome everyone back and say hello to any newcomers that happen upon the site. It took some effort migrating from the Wordpress site and I apologize for the long layoff. I had a death in the family followed up with a stint in the hospital myself that I'd rather not get into. It gave me time to polish up on my own Japanese learning, but left the blog in a state of flux.

I'm back now and I hope you enjoy the transcripts! Feel free to leave comments below. There is no registration and you can simply post as Anonymous if you'd like. I'm still far from perfect, so there may be some mistakes in the transcripts and I'm hoping some intrepid readers out there can catch any mistakes I happen to make along the way so I can keep the transcripts as correct as possible.

Hit the jump for the transcript for Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 14 or check out the Japanese I Transcript Archives to refresh your memory or start over or pick up where you left off!

Intro Conversation

すみません。ビールはありますか。

Excuse me, do you have have / is there any beer?

ええ。あります。はいどうぞ。

Yes, there is. Here you are / go.

ありがとう。いくらですか。

Thank you. How much is it / does it cost?

三（さん）ドルです。

[It's / It costs] $3.

ビールいっぽん十三（じゅうさん）ドルですか。

One beer costs $13?

いいえ。十三（じゅうさん）じゃありません。三（さん）ドルです。

No, [it's] not $13. [It's] $3.

ああわかりました。じゃあ三（さん）ドル。ありがとうございます。

Ah / yes, I understand [now]. It's $3. Thank you very much.


Previous Vocabulary

こんばん

this evening / tonight

ばんごはん

evening meal / dinner / supper

いくら

how much

¥ or　円 or　えｎ

yen

そして

and, and then / also

あした

tomorrow

きょう

today

こんばんは

good evening

かね

money

もっています

I have/I have got

もっていません

don't have

いっぽん

one bottle

はいどうぞ

here you are / go

ドル

dollars


New Vocabulary

三千円（さんぜんえん）ほしいです。

I want ￥3000.

十七（じゅうしち）

17

十八（じゅうはち）

18

十九（じゅうきゅう）

19

ドルでいくらもっていますか。

In dollars, how many do you have? [How many dollars do you have / How much US currency do you have?]

円（えん）をたくさんもっています。

I have a lot of / many yen.

たくさん

many / a lot

でもドルはもっていません。

But, as for dollars, I don't have any.

円（えん）をすこしもっています。

I [only] have a few yen. (See Notes)

円（えん）もすこしもっています。

I also have a few yen / I have a few yen, too. (See Notes)

十七（じゅうしち）ドルもっています。

I have $17.

円（えん）をください。

Give me [some] yen, please.

ください

please give me ____ / give me ____, please

おかねをください

please give me money / give me money, please

ビールはありますか。

Is there / Do you have any beer? (lit. does beer exist?)

ええあります。

Yes, there is. (beer is understood) (casual)

はいあります。

Yes, there is. (beer is understood) (polite)

いいえありません。

No, there isn't any. (beer is understood)

すみません今日（きょう）はありません。

Sorry, as for today, there isn't any.

十（じゅう）ドルあげます。

I will give you $10.

あげます

will give

円（えん）をかいます。

I am going to buy some yen.

円（えん）をすこしあげます。

I will give you a few yen.


Notes

円（えん）をすこしもっています。 vs. 円（えん）もすこしもっています。

Not much to say about this other than that the only difference is the change in particle from を to も. を is basically making 円（えん） the object the verb is acting on while も is making it possessive and changes the sentence from referring only to円（えん） to making it an additional object the verb is acting on.

It's a small, but important, differences that you should pay attention to when reading, speaking or listening to Japanese.

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