Japanese · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 5 of 12
Family and friends
家族と友達Kazoku to tomodachi
Talk about your family in Japanese: the two sets of family words, の for “my” and “your”, counting people and asking someone's age.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Talk about your family and ask about someone else's
- Say whose something is with の (no)
- Count people and say how old someone is
- Describe people with a few adjectives
Listen
At their office in Nagoya, Yamamoto Saki shows her colleague Ito Daiki a family photo on her phone. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Yamamoto
伊藤さん、これは私の家族の写真です。
Itō-san, kore wa watashi no kazoku no shashin desu.
Mr Ito, this is a photo of my family.
Ito
ご家族は何人ですか？
Gokazoku wa nannin desu ka?
How many are there in your family?
Yamamoto
五人です。父と母と姉と弟がいます。
Gonin desu. Chichi to haha to ane to otōto ga imasu.
Five. I have my father, my mother, an older sister and a younger brother.
Ito
これは誰ですか？お姉さんですか？
Kore wa dare desu ka? Onēsan desu ka?
Who's this? Your older sister?
Yamamoto
はい、姉です。とても優しいです。
Hai, ane desu. Totemo yasashii desu.
Yes, that's my sister. She's very kind.
Ito
弟さんはおいくつですか？
Otōtosan wa oikutsu desu ka?
How old is your brother?
Yamamoto
二十八歳です。伊藤さんは？
Nijūhassai desu. Itō-san wa?
He's twenty-eight. And you, Mr Ito?
Ito
私は妹が一人います。これです。
Watashi wa imōto ga hitori imasu. Kore desu.
I have one younger sister. This is her.
Yamamoto
かわいいですね。おいくつですか？
Kawaii desu ne. Oikutsu desu ka?
She's lovely. How old is she?
Ito
二十歳です。
Hatachi desu.
She's twenty.
Understand
Whose is it? の
(no) joins two nouns. The first one owns or describes the second: (watashi no kazoku), my family; (Suzuki-san no kuruma), Mr Suzuki's car; (kazoku no shashin), a family photo. Think of it as the English 's, and keep the same order: owner first.
To describe someone, put an adjective before (desu): (ane wa yasashii desu), my sister is kind. (totemo) means “very”: (totemo kawaii desu), she's very sweet. Adjectives come in two kinds, which you'll meet in the next chapter.
- これは私の家族の写真です。Kore wa watashi no kazoku no shashin desu.This is a photo of my family.
- 鈴木さんのお母さんは優しいです。Suzuki-san no okāsan wa yasashii desu.Mr Suzuki's mother is kind.
Two sets of family words
Japanese has two words for most family members. When you talk about your own family to other people, use the plain, modest words: (chichi), my father. When you talk about someone else's family, use the polite words, which usually have (o) at the front or (san) at the end: (otōsan), your father, his father.
Japanese also says whether a brother or sister is older or younger. To say you have one, use (imasu), as for people in chapter 4, with a number of people: (ani ga hitori imasu), I have an older brother.
| Meaning | My own | Someone else's |
|---|---|---|
| family | (kazoku) | (gokazoku) |
| father | (chichi) | (otōsan) |
| mother | (haha) | (okāsan) |
| older brother | (ani) | (oniisan) |
| older sister | (ane) | (onēsan) |
| younger brother | (otōto) | (otōtosan) |
| younger sister | (imōto) | (imōtosan) |
Counting people and saying ages
People are counted with -人 (-nin): (sannin), three people. One and two people are special: (hitori) and (futari). Ask (nannin desu ka?), how many people?
Ages use -歳 (-sai): (sanjussai), thirty years old. To ask someone's age politely, say (oikutsu desu ka?). Twenty has its own word, (hatachi), written 二十歳, long the age of adulthood in Japan. The legal age is now 18, but many towns still hold a coming-of-age ceremony for twenty-year-olds. A few ages change their sound, as in the table.
| Number | People | Age |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (hitori) | (issai) |
| 2 | (futari) | (nisai) |
| 3 | (sannin) | (sansai) |
| 4 | (yonin) | (yonsai) |
| 8 | (hachinin) | (hassai) |
| 10 | (jūnin) | (jussai) |
| 20 | (nijūnin) | (hatachi) |
More in the grammar: The particles と, も, の, や, から and まで · あります and います · です and basic sentences
New words
- 家族kazokufamily · かぞく; someone else's family: (gokazoku)
- 写真shashinphoto · しゃしん
- 何人nanninhow many people · なんにん
- 父chichi(my) father · ちち; someone else's: (otōsan)
- 母haha(my) mother · はは; someone else's: (okāsan)
- 姉ane(my) older sister · あね; someone else's: (onēsan)
- 弟otōto(my) younger brother · おとうと; someone else's: (otōtosan)
- 誰darewho · だれ; (kore wa dare desu ka?), who's this?
- 優しいyasashiikind, gentle · やさしい
- おいくつoikutsuhow old (polite) · (oikutsu desu ka?), how old are you?
- ～歳-sai… years old · さい; (nijūhassai), twenty-eight years old
- 妹imōto(my) younger sister · いもうと; someone else's: (imōtosan)
- かわいいkawaiicute, sweet, lovely
- 兄ani(my) older brother · あに; someone else's: (oniisan)
Practise
1.You're telling a colleague about your own mother. Which word do you use?
2.Put the words in order: say this is a photo of your family.
Tap the words below in the right order.This is a photo of my family.
3.Match the family words with their meanings.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
4.How do you say “I have two younger brothers”?
5.Someone is (hatachi). How old are they?
6.Put the words in order: say Mr Suzuki's mother is kind.
Tap the words below in the right order.Mr Suzuki's mother is kind.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
これは私の家族の写真です。
Kore wa watashi no kazoku no shashin desu.
This is a photo of my family.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.