Learn Japanese Conversation

Building Up Japanese - Lesson 5

Where is it?

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Romaji
Romaji
Katoo:Uchi wa doko desu ka?
Brown:Hiroo desu.
Katoo:Hiroo no donohen desu ka?
Brown:Eki no chikaku desu.
Katoo:Eki kara donogurai desu ka?
Brown:Eki kara 5-fun (go-fun) gurai desu.
Katoo:Where is your home?
Brown:In Hiroo.
Katoo:Which part of Hiroo?
Brown:Near the station.
Katoo:How far is it from the station?
Brown:About 5 minutes.

Key Sentences

1.Uchi wa Shibuya desu.
(My) home is in Shibuya.
2.Kaisha wa Ginza desu.
(My) company is in Ginza.
3.Q:Uchi wa doko desu ka?
A:Uchi wa Shibuya desu.
Q:Where is your house?
A:It's in Shibuya.
4.Hon-ya wa eki no tonari desu.
The bookstore is next to the station.
5.ABC Hoteru wa kuukoo no chikaku desu.
ABC Hotel is near the airport.
6.Ginkoo wa eki no mae desu.
The bank is in front of the station.
7.Yamada-san wa kaigi-shitsu desu.
Yamada is in the meeting room.
8.Q:Ginkoo wa doko desu ka?
A:Ginkoo wa eki no tonari desu.
Q:Where is the bank?
A:It's next to the station.

Grammar Notes

Doko desu ka? "Where is it?"

When telling or asking a location, [something] wa [place] desu is commonly used.
"Where" is doko. [something] wa [place] desu ka? is common phrase for asking a location.

1.A:Uchi wa doko desu ka?
B:Uchi wa Hiroo desu.
A:Where do you live? (lit. Where is your house?)
B:It's in Hiroo.
2.A:Kaisha wa doko desu ka?
B:(Kaisha wa) Shinjuku desu.
A:Where is your office?
B:It's in Shinjuku.

This structure can be used for describing person as well.

3.Smith:Yamada-san wa doko desu ka?
Tanaka:(Yamada-san wa) Kaigishitsu desu.
Smith:Where is Yamada?
Tanaka:He is in a meeting room.

Mae, ushiro, tonari,etc.

The locations such as "next to" and "near" are expressed by the following phrases.

1.Ginkoo wa eki no mae desu.
The bank is at the opposite of the station.
2.A:Uchi wa doko desu ka?
B:Uchi wa Meguro eki no chikaku desu.
A:where is your house?
B:My house is near the Meguro station.

Donogurai "how long" or "how far"

Donogurai or donokurai means "how long" or "how far".
It is commonly used in daily conversation to express the required time or the distance to get to a place from another.

A verb meaning "taking time" is kakarimasu. Kakarimasu is often replaced by just desu.

1.Q1:Kuukoo made donogurai kakarimasu ka?
Q2:Kuukoo made donogurai desu ka?
A:1-jikan gurai desu.
Q:How long does it take (from here) to an airport?
A:It takes about 1 hour.
2.Q:Uchi kara kaisha made donogurai desu ka?
A:30-pun gurai desu.
Q:How long does it take from home to your office?
A:It takes about 30 minutes.

Vocabulary

chikaku

near, nearby, close

desu

is, are, am

doko

where

donogurai

how long, how far, how much, how big

donohen

whereabouts

eki

(train) station

fun (-fun)

minutes

ginkoo

bank

Ginza

place name

gurai

about, approximately

Hiroo

place name

honya

bookstore

hon

book

hoteru

hotel

jikan

time

jikan (-jikan)

hours

ka?

question marker

kaigi

meeting, conference

kaigi-shitsu

meeting room, conference room

kaisha

company, office

kara

from

kuukoo

airport

made

till, until, to

mae

in front, on the opposite side of

Meguro

place name

no

particle used between two nouns

Shibuya

place name

Shinjuku

place name

tonari

next to, next (place)

uchi

house, home

wa

particle indicating a topic or a subject

For Your Further Study

Essential Japanese
Building Up Conversation

Essential Japanese Building Up Conversation was developed to help learners master basic conversation skills in Japanese.

When you analyse each conversation, you will find that the conversation builds up using only simple and short sentences.

This material helps you acquire the ability to go with the flow of conversation, even about a complicated subject, by learning how to build up simple and short sentences through audio drills.

For Your Further Study

Essential Japanese Verbs

This material explains clearly about the meaning of each verb with explaining its usage. "Key Sentences", "Practical Usage" and "Short Dialogues" also help you to grasp how you can apply each verb in communication.

Key Sentences shows you in what sentence pattern each verb is used. Practical Usage and Short Dialogues show how to use each verb in a more practical sense as in frequently used expressions and everyday conversations.

For Your Further Study

Japanese@Once

Learn practical Japanese conversation, essential words and grammar at Once.

This material is designed for those who want to learn practical Japanese language in a short period of time.

Frequently used everyday conversations and expressions are carefully selected and compiled with a large number of practical examples and vocabulary.

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