Latest / Learn Japanese with Fexingo / Japanese Direction Words: Up & Down Review
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey Luna, ready for another episode of Learn Japanese with Fexingo? Luna: Yes! I've been reviewing our last few episodes. Direction words are tricky but fun. Lucas: Today we're going to review two we covered in Episode 139: 上 and 下. Remember those? Luna: Up and down! 上 means 'up' or 'above', and 下 means 'down' or 'below'. I remember. Lucas: Exactly. And if Fexingo has been helping you make progress with Japanese, listener support is what keeps this show going. You can help at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, every bit helps us keep making these episodes. Now back to 上 and 下. Lucas: So, to say 'something is on top of something', we use 上. For example, 猫は椅子の上にいます — the cat is on the chair. Luna: 猫は椅子の上にいます. That's a long sentence! Let me break it down: 猫 is cat, 椅子 is chair, 上 is up, に marks location, います means 'exists' for living things. Lucas: Perfect. And for objects, we use あります instead of います. So, 本は机の下にあります — the book is under the desk. Luna: 本は机の下にあります. 本 is book, 机 is desk, 下 is down, あります is 'exists' for objects. Lucas: You've got it. Now let's practice. I'll say a phrase in English, you try it in Japanese. 'The cat is under the chair.' Luna: Umm... 猫は椅子の下にいます? Wait, is that right? Lucas: Yes! 猫は椅子の下にいます. Perfect. Now try: 'The book is on the desk.' Luna: 本は机の上にあります. That one was easier because 上 is 'on' in this context. Lucas: Exactly. So remember: 上 for 'on' or 'above', 下 for 'under' or 'below'. And use います for living things, あります for objects. Luna: Got it. Can we do one more example? Like 'The dog is under the tree'? Lucas: Sure. 犬は木の下にいます. 犬 is dog, 木 is tree. Luna: 犬は木の下にいます. That sounds nice. So 下 with います because the dog is alive. Lucas: Right. And 'The pen is on the table' would be ペンはテーブルの上にあります. Luna: ペンはテーブルの上にあります. I like how 上 and 下 are so useful for describing where things are. Lucas: They really are. Let's do a quick quiz. I'll say a Japanese sentence, you tell me if it's correct or not. 猫は机の上にいます. Luna: That's correct if the cat is on the desk. But wait, is 机 the right word for desk? Yes, we learned that. So it's correct. Lucas: Good. Next: 本は椅子の下にあります. Luna: That means 'the book is under the chair', which is correct if it's true. But grammatically it's fine. Lucas: Exactly. One more: 猫は椅子の上にあります. Luna: That would be wrong because 猫 is alive, so it should be います, not あります. So it should be 猫は椅子の上にいます. Lucas: Perfect catch. You're really getting the hang of this. Luna: Thanks! Practice makes perfect. I'll try to use 上 and 下 more in my daily life. Lucas: Great idea. Well, that's all for today's review of 上 and 下. Keep practicing, and we'll see you next time on Learn Japanese with Fexingo. Luna: See you later! Practice these phrases till we chat again.