Japanese for English speakers Street · Lesson 2

-i anding adjective

Practice basic い-adjectives — 遠い (tōi, far), 近い (chikai, near) — which change form for negation and past tense. Plus convenience store vocabulary コンビニ.

Conversation

  1. Kyle Kyle

    やっと昼ご飯の時間ですね。

    yatto hirugohan no jikan desu ne.

    It's lunch time, finally!

    Tip: <yatto> = at last / finally <...no jikan desu> = it is ... time

  2. Meera Meera

    ハンバーガーはどうですか？

    hanbagā wa dō desu ka?

    What about a hamburger?

    Tip: <hanbāgā> = hamburger

  3. Kyle Kyle

    ううん、食堂は遠いですよ

    ūn, shokudō wa tōi desu yo

    No, the canteen is far

    Tip: <ūn> = informal way to say "īe" (no). Note that informal ways to say yes and no are similarly written and pronounced. <tōi> = far ("i" adjective)

  4. Meera Meera

    コンビニのカレーパンはどうですか？

    konbini no karē pan wa dō desu ka?

    What about a curry bread at the convenience store?

    Tip: <konbini> = convenience store <karē pan> = curry bread (a Japanese snack!)

Common questions

Quick answers about this lesson's grammar and vocabulary.

What's the difference between い and な adjectives?

い-adjectives end in い and conjugate by themselves (高い → 高くない). な-adjectives use です and need な before nouns (綺麗な).

What is a コンビニ?

Japanese convenience store (short for コンビニエンスストア). Sells food, drinks, magazines, and services like bill payment — much more than Western convenience stores.

What is カレーパン (karē pan)?

Curry-filled bread — a popular Japanese snack: bread dough wrapped around curry, deep-fried or baked.

Test yourself

Pick the English translation for each line from this lesson. Wrong answers are pulled from other Japanese lessons.

4 quick questions on what you just heard.

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