Latest / Learn Japanese with Fexingo / Japanese Opposite Adjectives - Big & Small
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey Luna, welcome back to another episode of Learn Japanese with Fexingo. Luna: Hey Lucas! So excited for today. What are we learning? Lucas: Today we're learning two super useful opposite adjectives: 大きい and 小さい. Luna: Opposites? I love that. What do they mean? Lucas: 大きい means 'big' and 小さい means 'small'. Let's start with 大きい. Repeat after me: 大きい. Luna: 大きい. Lucas: Perfect! And the other one: 小さい. Luna: 小さい. Lucas: Great job! Now let's use them in sentences. To say 'it is big', you say 大きいです. Listen: 大きいです. Luna: 大きいです. Lucas: And 'it is small' is 小さいです. Try it. Luna: 小さいです. Lucas: Awesome. Now let's practice with some things we know. Remember from episode 21, the words for dog and cat? Luna: Yes! 犬 is dog and 猫 is cat. Lucas: Right. So if you see a big dog, you can say: 犬は大きいです. Luna: 犬は大きいです. The dog is big. Lucas: Exactly. And a small cat: 猫は小さいです. Luna: 猫は小さいです. The cat is small. Lucas: You got it! Let's try a different one. Remember 家 from somewhere? It means house. Luna: Oh, from episode 23? 家 is house. So a big house: 家は大きいです. Lucas: Perfect. And a small house? Luna: 家は小さいです. Lucas: Wonderful. Now let's flip it. I'll say an English phrase, and you say it in Japanese. Ready? Luna: Ready! Lucas: The dog is small. Luna: 犬は小さいです. Lucas: Yes! Or you can just say 小さいです if it's clear what you're talking about. Like if someone asks 'How's the dog?', you can just say 小さいです. Luna: Oh, that's handy. So context matters. Lucas: Exactly. Now let's do a tiny scene. Imagine we're at a park. You see a big tree and a small bench. How would you describe them? Luna: Hmm. Tree is 木, right? So 木は大きいです. And bench... I don't know bench. Lucas: Good guess! 'Bench' is ベンチ. So a small bench: ベンチは小さいです. Luna: ベンチは小さいです. Nice. Lucas: Let's practice both together. Repeat after me: 木は大きいです。ベンチは小さいです。 Luna: 木は大きいです。ベンチは小さいです。 Lucas: Beautiful. Now, can you ask a question about size? Like 'Is it big?' Luna: Would it be 大きいですか? Lucas: Exactly! Just add か at the end. So 大きいですか means 'Is it big?' And 小さいですか means 'Is it small?' Luna: 大きいですか？小さいですか？ Got it. Lucas: Let's do a quick back and forth. I'll ask a question, you answer. Ready? Luna: Yeah! Lucas: 犬は大きいですか？ Luna: いいえ、小さいです。 Lucas: Oh, nice! You used いいえ for no. So the dog is small. Let's do another: 猫は小さいですか？ Luna: はい、小さいです。 Lucas: Yes, the cat is small. Great work, Luna. Luna: Thanks! This is fun. So to wrap up: 大きい is big, 小さい is small. Lucas: That's it. And you can use them with any noun. Let's review our phrases one more time. Listen and repeat: 大きい. Luna: 大きい. Lucas: 小さい. Luna: 小さい. Lucas: 大きいです. Luna: 大きいです. Lucas: 小さいです. Luna: 小さいです. Lucas: Perfect. Now you can describe things around you. Practice by looking at objects in your room and saying if they're 大きい or 小さい. Luna: Great idea! I'm going to look at my 机 and say 机は大きいです... or maybe 小さいです. We'll see. Lucas: Love it. Well, that's all for today's episode of Learn Japanese with Fexingo. Remember to practice these two opposites, and we'll see you next time! Luna: Bye everyone! Keep learning with Fexingo!