Latest / Learn Japanese with Fexingo / Asking Why in Japanese - Kara
Transcript
- Lucas: Hey, welcome back to Learn Japanese with Fexingo. I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Episode 108! We're getting so far into this. Lucas: I know. Today we're tackling a really useful question word: how to ask 'why' and answer with 'because.' Luna: Oh, that's perfect. I always need to explain things. So, what's the word for 'why'? Lucas: It's どうして. Luna: どうして. Lucas: Exactly. You can use it alone or in a full sentence. For example, どうしてですか means 'why is it?' Luna: どうしてですか. Lucas: Right. And to answer, you use から, which means 'because.' Luna: から. So I could say something like どうして日本に行きたいですか? And then answer with 〜からですか? Lucas: Almost. For the answer, you say the reason, then から, then です. Like 日本に行きたいからです — 'because I want to go to Japan.' Luna: So the reason comes before から. Lucas: Yes. Let's practice a couple more. How would you ask 'why did you come to Japan?' Luna: Uhh... どうして日本に来ましたか? Lucas: Perfect. 来ました is the past of 来る, 'to come.' So that's spot on. And an answer could be 日本語を勉強したいからです — 'because I want to study Japanese.' Luna: 日本語を勉強したいからです. I like that. So I'm giving my reason. Lucas: Exactly. Let's do a quick scene. Imagine I ask you: どうして日本語を勉強していますか? Luna: Ah, 'why are you studying Japanese?' Let's see... 日本のアニメが好きだからです — 'because I like Japanese anime.' Lucas: Nice one. だから is actually 'so' in casual speech, but here you used から, which is correct. In writing, keep から. But in casual conversation, some people say から. Well done. Luna: Oh, good. So it's flexible. Lucas: Yeah. Now, let's practice the question form again. How do you say 'why is it?' Luna: どうしてですか. Lucas: And 'why did you eat that?' Luna: どうしてそれを食べましたか? Lucas: Yes. Now answer: 'because I was hungry.' Luna: お腹が空いたからです. Lucas: Oh, good. お腹が空いた means 'I got hungry.' But careful: 空いた is the past of 空く, which means 'become empty.' So it's a set phrase. But for a beginner, you could say お腹がすいたからです. That works. Luna: Okay, お腹がすいたからです. Got it. Lucas: Let's do one more full exchange. I'll ask: どうして昨日学校に行きませんでしたか? Luna: Wow, that's long. 'Why didn't you go to school yesterday?' Hmm... 病気だからです — 'because I was sick.' Lucas: Perfect. 病気 means sickness. So you put the reason, から, です. Nice. Luna: So から is like a reason marker. Lucas: Exactly. It attaches to the plain form or past tense. But for now, just remember the pattern: reason + から + です. Luna: Reason + から + です. Got it. Lucas: Let's quickly review today's phrases. どうして means 'why.' Luna: どうして. Lucas: どうしてですか means 'why is it?' or 'why?' Luna: どうしてですか. Lucas: And から means 'because.' You can say 〜からです. Luna: 〜からです. Lucas: And a full example: どうして日本に来ましたか? Answer: 日本語を勉強したいからです. Luna: 日本語を勉強したいからです. Lucas: Great job today, Luna. Listeners, if Fexingo has been helping you make progress with Japanese, and you'd like to support the show so we can keep it ad-free, consider buying us a coffee. It's at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, every little bit helps. We really appreciate it. Lucas: Now, to solidify today's lesson, try asking yourself 'why' about something in your day, and answer with から. Practice makes perfect. Luna: I'm going to use どうして with my friends. They'll be impressed. Lucas: They will. Thanks for joining us on Learn Japanese with Fexingo. See you next time. Luna: Bye!