Japanese Conversation

Dialogues Notes Practice Vocabulary Previous Next

Inviting friends and colleagues to events

Ikimashoo"Let's go"

The part remaining after taking masu from the verb ikimasu is called "stem" (iki-). When adding mashoo to the stem iki-, it becomes to mean "Let's do...".

a.Ikimashoo!
Let's go!
b.Tabemashoo!
Let's eat!

Ikimasen ka?"Won't you go?" or "Shall we go?"

Adding masen ka? or mashoo ka? to the stem of a verb makes an invitation or a suggestion. The masen ka? pattern and the mashoo ka? pattern can be used in many different contexts, such as inviting a friend to watch a movie or have a meal together.

a.Hiru-gohan ni ikimasen ka?
Why don't we go and have lunch?
b.Hiru-gohan ni ikimashoo ka?
Shall we go and have lunch?

These expressions are much alike but when the speaker expects the addressee to accept the speaker's invitation/suggestion, mashoo ka? is likely used and if the speaker is not sure if the addressee is going to accept the speaker's invitation/suggestion, masen ka? is more likely used.

c.Isshoni tenisu o shimasen ka?
Why don't we play tennis together?

When inviting someone to do something using the above patterns, the word isshoni (together) is very often added, as in example sentence c., but this is not necessary since masen ka? and mashoo ka? already imply an invitation or a suggestion, i.e. doing something together.

Nani o tabemashoo ka?"What shall we eat?"

When you want to ask open questions, such as What (nani) shall we...?, Where (doko) shall we...? and When (itsu) shall we...?, use mashoo ka?. You can't use masen ka?.

a.Nani o tabemashoo ka?
What shall we have (to eat)?
b.Doko de aimashoo ka?
Where shall we meet up?

When you know that you are dining with someone or meeting up with someone, ga ii desu is the word which is often used for telling what you fancy to eat or what time to suggest for the meeting as well as asking the person for his/her preferences.

c.Greg:Satoo-san wa nani ga ii desu ka?
Satoo:Watashi wa Karee ga ii desu.
Greg:Satoo-san, what would you like (to eat)?
Satoo:Curry would be nice (to eat).
d.Greg:Satoo-san wa nan-ji ga ii desu ka?
Satoo:Watashi wa 1-ji ga ii desu.
Greg:Satoo-san, what time would you like (to meet)?
Satoo:1 o'clock would be fine (to meet).

Please see Building Up Conversation if you would like to learn more about these invitation/suggestion expressions, as they are explained in detail in these materials.

Kinoo Raamen o tabeta kara,

Watashi wa kinoo Raamen o tabeta kara, hoka no mono ga ii.
I had raamen yesterday, so I would rather have something else.

Tabeta is the so-called ta form of tabemasu. In the above example sentence, it is simply used in the past tense and kara indicates the reason for the statement that follows in the example sentence.

See Building Up Conversation if you would like to learn more about this pattern in detail.

Hiru-gohan o tabete ....

Eiga no mae ni hiru-gohan o tabete ....
We'll have lunch before the movie...

Mae ni means "before" in Japanese. Tabete is the so-called te form of tabemasu. The te form of verbs takes various roles in Japanese but here, it works like a conjunction. In the above example sentences, the statement which should follow tabete is omitted.

See Building Up Conversation if you would like to learn more about this pattern in detail.

Copyright (C)CosCom Language Service, Inc.All Rights Reserved.