Japanese · Intermediate (B1) · Chapter 10 of 12
Money and everyday services
銀行と郵便局Ginkō to yūbinkyoku
Open a bank account and send a parcel in Japanese: very polite requests, the keigo staff use, ～てある, big numbers, 以上, 以下 and ずつ.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Open a bank account and send a parcel
- Make very polite requests with ～ていただけないでしょうか
- Understand the keigo that bank and post office staff use
- Say large amounts with 万 and use 以上, 以下 and ずつ
Listen
In Sapporo, Carlos Silva from Brazil opens a bank account with the help of Kudo Mari at the counter, then sends a parcel at the post office next door. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Kudo
いらっしゃいませ。こちらの窓口へどうぞ。
Irasshaimase. Kochira no madoguchi e dōzo.
Hello. Please come to this counter.
Carlos
すみません、口座を開きたいんですが。
Sumimasen, kōza o hirakitai n desu ga.
Hello, I'd like to open an account.
Kudo
かしこまりました。在留カードと印鑑はお持ちでしょうか。
Kashikomarimashita. Zairyū kādo to inkan wa omochi deshō ka.
Certainly. Do you have your residence card and your seal?
Carlos
在留カードはあります。でも、印鑑は持っていないんです。サインでもいいですか。
Zairyū kādo wa arimasu. Demo, inkan wa motte inai n desu. Sain demo ii desu ka.
I have my residence card. But I don't have a seal. Is a signature all right?
Kudo
はい、サインでも大丈夫です。では、こちらの用紙にご記入ください。書き方は英語でも書いてあります。暗証番号は、最後にこちらの機械でお決めください。
Hai, sain demo daijōbu desu. De wa, kochira no yōshi ni gokinyū kudasai. Kakikata wa Eigo demo kaite arimasu. Anshō bangō wa, saigo ni kochira no kikai de okime kudasai.
Yes, a signature is fine. Then please fill in this form. The instructions are written in English too. At the end, please choose your PIN on this machine.
Carlos
わかりました。あのう、もう一つ教えていただけないでしょうか。家賃の振り込みは、手数料がかかりますか。
Wakarimashita. Anō, mō hitotsu oshiete itadakenai deshō ka. Yachin no furikomi wa, tesūryō ga kakarimasu ka.
All right. Um, could you possibly tell me one more thing? Is there a fee for paying my rent by bank transfer?
Kudo
同じ銀行の口座へは無料でございます。ほかの銀行へは、三万円以上ですと三百三十円でございます。
Onaji ginkō no kōza e wa muryō de gozaimasu. Hoka no ginkō e wa, sanman'en ijō desu to sanbyaku sanjūen de gozaimasu.
To an account at the same bank, it's free. To other banks, it's 330 yen for 30,000 yen or more.
Carlos
そうですか。それから、この近くに郵便局はありますか。
Sō desu ka. Sorekara, kono chikaku ni yūbinkyoku wa arimasu ka.
I see. And is there a post office near here?
Kudo
はい、銀行を出て右にございます。キャッシュカードは一週間ほどでご住所にお送りしますので、それまでは窓口で通帳を使ってお引き出しください。
Hai, ginkō o dete migi ni gozaimasu. Kyasshu kādo wa isshūkan hodo de gojūsho ni ookuri shimasu node, sore made wa madoguchi de tsūchō o tsukatte ohikidashi kudasai.
Yes, it's on the right as you leave the bank. We'll send your cash card to your address in about a week, so until then, please use your bankbook to withdraw money at the counter.
Carlos
この荷物をブラジルに送りたいんですが、送料はいくらですか。
Kono nimotsu o Burajiru ni okuritai n desu ga, sōryō wa ikura desu ka.
I'd like to send this parcel to Brazil. How much is the postage?
Post office clerk
二キロ以下ですので、航空便で九千八百円、船便ですと四千二百円でございます。船便は一か月以上かかります。
Nikiro ika desu node, kōkūbin de kyūsen happyakuen, funabin desu to yonsen nihyakuen de gozaimasu. Funabin wa ikkagetsu ijō kakarimasu.
It's two kilos or less, so it's 9,800 yen by air, or 4,200 yen by sea. Sea mail takes more than a month.
Carlos
急ぎませんので、船便でお願いします。
Isogimasen node, funabin de onegai shimasu.
I'm not in a hurry, so by sea, please.
Understand
Very polite requests: ～ていただけないでしょうか
You know ～てもらえますか and ～ていただけますか from chapter 6. Asking in the negative sounds softer: ～ていただけませんか (-te itadakemasen ka). The most polite of all is ～ていただけないでしょうか (-te itadakenai deshō ka), “might you possibly …?”. Use it for a bigger favour, or with someone you don't know in a formal setting.
Starting with (anō) or (sumimasen) makes a request sound more natural. In Japanese, it is polite to be a little indirect.
| Japanese | How polite |
|---|---|
| (Oshiete kudasai.) | polite, but close to an instruction |
| (Oshiete moraemasu ka.) | polite |
| (Oshiete itadakemasu ka.) | very polite |
| (Oshiete itadakenai deshō ka.) | most polite |
What staff say, and ～てある
Bank and post office staff speak in keigo. or + stem + is a polite instruction: (gokinyū kudasai), please fill in; (okime kudasai), please choose. (de gozaimasu) is a very polite , and (gozaimasu) a very polite . (kashikomarimashita) means “certainly”, and (omochi deshō ka) means “do you have?”.
～てある (-te aru) after the te-form of a transitive verb describes a state that someone has deliberately created: (Eigo demo kaite arimasu), it's been written in English too (someone wrote it so that you could read it). The thing takes or . Compare (mado ga aite iru), the window is open, which just describes the state.
- こちらでお待ちください。Kochira de omachi kudasai.Please wait here.
- お手洗いは二階でございます。Otearai wa nikai de gozaimasu.The toilets are on the first floor.
- 机の上に地図が置いてあります。Tsukue no ue ni chizu ga oite arimasu.A map has been put on the desk (for you).
Big numbers, 以上, 以下 and ずつ
Japanese counts large numbers in units of ten thousand, (man), not a thousand. So 30,000 is (sanman), “three ten-thousands”, and a million is (hyakuman), “a hundred ten-thousands”. The next unit is (oku), a hundred million.
(ijō) means “or more” and (ika) “or less”; both include the number itself. (zutsu) after an amount means “each” or “at a time”: (maitsuki ichiman'en zutsu chokin suru), I save 10,000 yen a month (, chokin suru, to save money); (hitori futatsu zutsu), two each.
| Number | Japanese |
|---|---|
| 10,000 | (ichiman) |
| 30,000 | (sanman) |
| 150,000 | (jūgoman) |
| 1,000,000 | (hyakuman) |
| 10,000,000 | (issenman) |
| 100,000,000 | (ichioku) |
More in the grammar: Numbers, counters, time and dates · Keigo: honorific and humble language
New words
- 窓口madoguchicounter, service window · まどぐち
- 口座kōzabank account · こうざ
- 開くhirakuto open (an account) · ひらく; the same kanji is read (aku) in (doa ga aku), the door opens
- 在留カードzairyū kādoresidence card (for foreign residents) · ざいりゅうカード
- 印鑑inkanpersonal seal, name stamp · いんかん; also called (hanko)
- 記入kinyūfilling in (a form) · きにゅう; (gokinyū kudasai), please fill in; a form is a (yōshi); (kakikata), how to fill it in
- 暗証番号anshō bangōPIN · あんしょうばんごう; you choose it on a (kikai), machine
- 振り込みfurikomibank transfer · ふりこみ; (furikomu), to pay by transfer
- 手数料tesūryōfee, charge · てすうりょう
- 郵便局yūbinkyokupost office · ゆうびんきょく
- キャッシュカードkyasshu kādobank card, cash card · sent to your (jūsho), address
- 通帳tsūchōbankbook, passbook · つうちょう
- 引き出すhikidasuto withdraw (money) · ひきだす
- 送料sōryōpostage, delivery charge · そうりょう; (kōkūbin), airmail; (funabin), sea mail
Practise
1.The clerk hands you a form and says (kochira ni gokinyū kudasai). What should you do?
2.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.The instructions are written in English too.
3.Match the Japanese with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
4.How do you say 150,000 in Japanese?
5.Which is the most polite way to ask “Could you tell me?”
6.Your colleague opened the window on purpose to air the room. Which sentence says “The window has been left open”?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
口座を開きたいんですが。
Kōza o hirakitai n desu ga.
I'd like to open an account.
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.