Japanese · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 7 of 12
My day
私の一日Watashi no ichinichi
Describe your daily routine in Japanese with the ます form, tell the time, and say where, how, from when and until when.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Say what you do every day with the ます (masu) form
- Say what you don't do with ません (masen)
- Ask and say what time something happens
- Say where you go, how you get there, and from when until when
Listen
Early one morning in Yokohama, two neighbours chat outside their block of flats: Mori Takashi, a retired teacher, and Ishii Nana, a nurse. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Mori
石井さん、おはようございます。毎朝早いですね。
Ishii-san, ohayō gozaimasu. Maiasa hayai desu ne.
Good morning, Ms Ishii. You're up early every morning.
Ishii
おはようございます。毎朝六時に起きます。
Ohayō gozaimasu. Maiasa rokuji ni okimasu.
Good morning. I get up at six every morning.
Mori
朝ご飯は食べますか？
Asagohan wa tabemasu ka?
Do you have breakfast?
Ishii
はい、食べます。七時の電車で病院に行きます。
Hai, tabemasu. Shichiji no densha de byōin ni ikimasu.
Yes, I do. I take the seven o'clock train to the hospital.
Mori
何時まで働きますか？
Nanji made hatarakimasu ka?
Until what time do you work?
Ishii
五時半までです。六時半に帰ります。
Goji han made desu. Rokuji han ni kaerimasu.
Until half past five. I get home at half past six.
Mori
そうですか。私は毎朝五時に起きます。
Sō desu ka. Watashi wa maiasa goji ni okimasu.
I see. I get up at five every morning.
Ishii
五時ですか。早いですね。
Goji desu ka. Hayai desu ne.
Five? That's early.
Mori
はい。晩ご飯は六時に食べます。九時に寝ます。
Hai. Bangohan wa rokuji ni tabemasu. Kuji ni nemasu.
Yes. I have dinner at six and go to bed at nine.
Ishii
私は十一時に寝ます。
Watashi wa jūichiji ni nemasu.
I go to bed at eleven.
Understand
Verbs: the ます form
Japanese verbs come at the end of the sentence. In polite speech they end in (masu): (okimasu), I get up. The same form covers what you do regularly, what you're about to do, and the future: (kuji ni nemasu) is “I go to bed at nine” or “I'll go to bed at nine”. It doesn't change for I, you, he or they.
For the negative, change (masu) to (masen): (tabemasen), I don't eat. For a question, add (ka): (tabemasu ka?).
Verbs fall into three groups: ru-verbs, like (tabemasu); u-verbs, like (ikimasu); and two irregular verbs, (shimasu), to do, and (kimasu), to come. The groups matter for other forms later. For now, learn each verb in its ます form.
| Meaning | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| get up | (okimasu) | (okimasen) |
| eat | (tabemasu) | (tabemasen) |
| go | (ikimasu) | (ikimasen) |
| go home, come back | (kaerimasu) | (kaerimasen) |
| work | (hatarakimasu) | (hatarakimasen) |
| go to bed, sleep | (nemasu) | (nemasen) |
| do | (shimasu) | (shimasen) |
| come | (kimasu) | (kimasen) |
Telling the time
Hours are the number + 時 (-ji): (sanji), three o'clock. Ask (nanji desu ka?), what time is it? Half past is (han): (rokuji han). Minutes are 分 (-fun), which becomes -pun after some numbers: (gofun), (juppun), ten minutes. Say (gozen) for a.m. and (gogo) for p.m. before the time.
To say at a clock time, add (ni): (rokuji ni okimasu), I get up at six. Words like (maiasa), every morning, don't take (ni): (maiasa rokuji ni okimasu).
| Time | Japanese |
|---|---|
| 4:00 | (yoji) |
| 7:00 | (shichiji) |
| 9:00 | (kuji) |
| 10:15 | (jūji jūgofun) |
| 5:30 | (goji han) |
| 2:10 p.m. | (gogo niji juppun) |
| at what time? | (nanji ni) |
Where, how, from and until: に, で, から, まで
With (ikimasu) and (kaerimasu), the place you go to takes (ni) or へ (e): (byōin ni ikimasu), I go to the hospital. へ is written with the letter for “he” but said e.
(de) marks the place where you do something: (kaisha de hatarakimasu), I work at a company. It also marks how you do it: (densha de ikimasu), I go by train. (kara) is “from” and (made) “until”: (kuji kara goji made), from nine to five.
- 電車で会社に行きます。Densha de kaisha ni ikimasu.I go to work by train.
- 病院で働きます。Byōin de hatarakimasu.I work at a hospital.
- 九時から五時まで働きます。Kuji kara goji made hatarakimasu.I work from nine to five.
Building a sentence: the verb comes last
A Japanese sentence ends with its verb, or with (desu). Everything else comes before it, and each piece is marked by the particle after it. So “I go to the hospital by train” is (densha de byōin ni ikimasu), word for word “train-by hospital-to go”.
Because the particles show each word's job, the order before the verb can change a little. The most usual order is: the topic with は (wa), the time, the place or the means, the object with (o) or the place you go to, and the verb last. Leave out anything that's clear, especially “I”.
| Topic | Time | Place or means | Object or goal | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (watashi wa) | (rokuji ni) | — | (asagohan o) | (tabemasu) |
| (Ishii-san wa) | (shichiji ni) | (densha de) | (byōin ni) | (ikimasu) |
| (left out) | (kuji kara goji made) | (byōin de) | — | (hatarakimasu) |
More in the grammar: Kanji · The particles と, も, の, や, から and まで · The particles を, に, で and へ · The ます form · です and basic sentences
New words
- 毎朝maiasaevery morning · まいあさ
- 起きますokimasuget up, wake up · おきます
- 朝ご飯asagohanbreakfast · あさごはん
- 食べますtabemasueat · たべます
- 電車denshatrain · でんしゃ; (densha de), by train
- 行きますikimasugo · いきます
- 何時nanjiwhat time · なんじ
- 働きますhatarakimasuwork · はたらきます
- ～時半-ji hanhalf past … · じはん; (goji han), half past five
- 帰りますkaerimasugo home, come back · かえります
- 早いhayaiearly · はやい
- 晩ご飯bangohandinner, evening meal · ばんごはん
- 寝ますnemasugo to bed, sleep · ねます
- 会社kaishacompany, office · かいしゃ; (kaisha ni ikimasu), I go to work
Practise
1.How do you say “I get up at seven”?
2.Put the words in order: say you get up at six every morning.
Tap the words below in the right order.I get up at six every morning.
3.Match the Japanese with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
4.How do you say “I don't eat breakfast”?
5.What time is (kuji han)?
6.Put the words in order: say you go to work by train.
Tap the words below in the right order.I go to work by train.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
毎朝七時に起きます。
Maiasa shichiji ni okimasu.
I get up at seven every morning.
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.