Learn Japanese Pod with Ami and Alex
Podcast 26: Japanese verbs for daily life

In this lesson you will learn the following:✓​ Learn verbs to talk about your daily routine✓​ Learn how to use verbs naturally in casual conversation✓​ Learn the how plain form verbs and -TE form verbs are used together totalk about lists of actions you do.

LEVEL: Upper Beginner

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Introduction - What you are going to learn
In this podcast you’re going to learn useful verbs to talk about your daily routine. These verbs
are very commonly used in casual conversation throughout the day so they are well worthlearning. You will also study a little grammar related to plain form verbs and -TE form verbs
which are the most common type of verb used in casual speech. You will also learn how they
are used together when describing actions in a sequence.
Also, the dialogue in this lesson will teach you particles which are sounds that usually go at theend of sentences to change the nuance of what you are saying. Learning these will help you
sound a lot more natural when speaking Japanese.

How to study
Use the links below to help you study this lesson. There are various ways to study this lesson
but I suggest listening to the main podcast first to get a general idea of the topic.
Main Podcast Lesson - Ami sensei and Alex demonstrate the main dialogue, briefly explain thegrammar and talk about other Japan related topics.
Then you can use these show notes to read through and study in more depth. We include
grammar and vocabulary explanations to better understand the main lesson dialogue.
Finally, you can use the Japanese dialogue only audio to file to practice your listening. You canlisten to the audio phrase by phrase and then repeat afterwards to practice your speaking andlistening skills.
Main Podcast Download​ - This is the full podcast with Japanese dialogues, explanations inEnglish and free conversation.
Japanese Dialogue Only Audio Download​ - Just listen to Japanese dialogues and phrase
without the English explanations.

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Main Vocabulary for the lesson
Here is the main vocabulary from the lesson in one easy to use list.

JapanesePronunciation

English平日

Heijitsu

Weekday

週末

ShuumatsuWeekend

過ごし方

Sugoshikata

How you spend time

教えてOshieteTell me

７時にShichi ji ni

At 7 o’clock

起きてOkite

Wake up

顔を洗って

Kao wo aratte

Wash one’s face

朝ごはんを食べる

Asagohan o taberu

Eat breakfast

その後

Sono ato

After that

着替えてKigaete

Get dressed

メイクしてMeiku shite

Put on makeup

仕事にいく

Shigoto ni iku

Go to work

休憩時間

Kyuukeijikan

Break time

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お弁当を食べて

Obentō o tabete

Eat a bento lunch

携帯Keitai

Mobile phone

時間を潰す

Jikan o tsubusu

Kill time / Waste time

仕事が終わったら

Shigoto ga owattara

When work is finished

うちに帰ってUchi ni kaette

Go home

晩御飯を食べてBangohan o tabete

Eat dinner

お風呂に入る

Ofuro ni hairu

Have a bath

何をするの？

Nani o suru

What do you do?

寝るNeruSleep

忙しいIsogashii

Busy

まあね

Maa neI guess so / I suppose soLearn Japanese Pod

Main Dialog 1 - Japanese verbs for daily life (Japanese)
へいじつす

かた おし

A: Amiの平日の過ごし方を教えて！
じおかお あらあさた

B: ７時に起きて、顔を洗って、朝ごはんを食べるよ。
​ あときがしごとい

その後着替えて、メイクして、仕事に行くよ。
きゅうけいじかん

A: 休憩時間は？
きゅうけいじかん

べんとう たけいたい じかんつぶ

B: 休憩時間はお弁当を食べて、携帯で時間を潰すよ。
しごとおA: 仕事が終わったら？
かえばんごはん

たふろはい

B: うちに帰って、晩御飯を食べて、お風呂に入るよ。
あとなに

A: その後は何をするの？
ねる

B: 寝る！
いそが

A: Amiは忙しいね！
B: まあね！

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Main Dialog 1 - Japanese verbs for daily life (Pronunciation)
A: Ami no heijitsu no sugoshikata oshiete!
B: Shichi ji ni okite, kao o aratte, asagohan o taberu. Sono ato kigaete, meiku shite,shigoto ni iku yo.
A: Kyuukei jikan wa?
B: Kyukeijikan wa obentō o tabete keitaii de jikan o tsubusu yo.
A: Shigoto ga owattara?
B: Uchi ni kaette, bangohan o taberu, ofuro ni hairu yo.
A: Sono ato nani suru no?
B: Neru!
A: Ami wa isogashii ne.
B: Maa ne.

Main Dialog 1 - Japanese verbs for daily life (English)
A: Ami, how do you spend your weekdays?
B: I wake up at 7, I wash my face and eat breakfast. After that I get dressed, put on mymakeup and go to work.
A: What about your break time?
B: During my break time I eat a bento and kill time with my mobile phone.
A: And when work finishes?
B: I go home, I eat dinner and have a bath.
A: What do you do after that?
B: Sleep!
A: Ami, you’re busy!
B: I guess so.

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Extra Dialog Example - Japanese verbs for daily life (Japanese)
しゅうまつ すかた おし

A: Amiの週末の過ごし方を教えて！
みひなま

B: ユーチューブを見て、ピアノを弾いて、怠ける。

Extra Dialog Example - Japanese verbs for daily life
(Pronunciation)
A: Ami no shuumatsu no sugoshikata oshiete!
B: Yuuchuubu o mite, piano o hiite, namakeru.

Extra Dialog Example - Japanese verbs for daily life (English)
A: Ami, tell me how you spend your weekends.
B: I watch Youtube, play the piano and be lazy.

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Grammar Explanation - Plain form verbs vs Te form verbs.
Plain form verbs versus TE form verbs
Plain form verbs - ​In the podcast you heard both plain form and Te form verbs. Plainform verbs (also known as dictionary form verbs) are present tense affirmative verbs
and are commonly used in casual conversation. For example: 食べる taberu - (I) eat, 寝る neru - (I) sleep and 行く (I) go.
These verbs end with sounds taken from the U row of the Hiragana chart.

These verbs are used all the time in casual conversation to talk about actions you aredoing now so are worth learning. It is also possible to use them for talking about thefuture. For example:
明日大阪に行く Ashita Osaka ni iku - Tomorrow I’m going to Osaka,Learn Japanese Pod

Te form verbs - ​Te form verbs end with て (te) and are extremely useful as they have
many different grammatical uses. However in this lesson we will focus on one use as
was heard in the podcast. And that is to list a sequence of actions. For example:
７時に起きて、顔を洗って、朝ごはんを食べるよ。
Shichi ji ni okite, kao o aratte, asagohan wo taberu.
I wake up at 7, wash my face and eat breakfast.
Note the pattern here. The last verb in the sequence will be the plain form verb, but theactions before that will be in Te form. This is how native speakers naturally list things
they do in casual conversation.
Here’s another example:
週末はYoutubeを見て、ピアノを弾いて、怠ける。
Shuumatsu wa youtube wo mite, piano o hiite, namakeru.
On weekends I watch youtube, play the piano and be lazy.
Conjugating plain form to Te form verbs can be a little involved and we will cover that ina future episode.

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For now here is a list of verbs used in the podcast in both plain form and Te form:

Plain form

Te form

Meaning

起きる Okiru

起きて Okite

Wake up

洗う Arau

洗って Aratte

Wash

食べる Taberu

食べて Tabete

Eat

着替える Kigaeru

着替えて Kigaete

To change clothes

メイクする Meiku suru

メイクして Meiku shite

Put on makeup

行く Iku

行って Itte

Go

時間を潰す Jikan otsubusu

時間を潰して Jikan oysubushite

Kill time

見る Miru

見て MiteWatch / Look at / See

弾く Hiku

弾いて Hiite

Play (an instrument)

怠ける Namakeru

怠けて Namakete

To be lazy

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Grammar Explanation - Particles
The particle を - O
The particle を doesn’t translate into English and has various grammatical uses inJapanese. The most common use is when を comes after a noun, it becomes a direct
object marker. In other words, it points to the thing you are doing an action to.
For example:Noun​ + を + ​Verb
朝ごはん​を​食べる
晩御飯​を​食べる
顔​を​洗うAsagohan​ o ​taberu
Bangohan​ o ​taberu
Kao​ o ​arau

Eat​ ​breakfast
Eat​ ​dinnerWash​ ​one’s faceNote: ​There are other uses of を. However, for this lesson this is the main use of thisparticle.
Insider tip!: ​What they never teach you in grammar textbooks is that native speakers
will often drop particles such as を in casual speech. There’s aren’t any simple rules forthis as it depends on the speaker and the situation. So, plenty of listening practice iskey!
は vs がThis is an enormous subject in Japanese grammar. So here is a super slimmed downsummary not including all the possible uses of these particles.
は Wa​ - This marks the topic of conversation and usually but not always comes after thesubject of the sentence. It means something like “As for (so and so topic)”. For example:
このお寿司​は​美味しいですよ - Kono osushi ​wa​ oishii desu yo.
(As for) ​this sushi, it’s delicious.

Learn Japanese Pod休憩時間​は​お弁当を食べる - Kyuukei jikan ​wa​ obentō wo taberu(As for)​ my break time, I eat a bento
は can also be used as a question to mean something like “How about…” or “Whatabout…”. For example:
これは？ - Kore wa?
How about this?
休憩時間は？- Kyuukei jikan wa?
What about your break time.
が Ga -​ Again this has many uses but for the purposes of this lesson here are basic one
you need to know.
が replaces を - ​As we learned before を can go between a noun and a verb. Forexample:
朝ごはん​を​食べる Asagohan ​o​ taberu - To eat breakfast
However with special exceptions が replaces を, for example:
これが欲しい - Kore ga hoshii - I want this
これが好き - Kore ga suki - I like this
これが嫌い - Kore ga kirai - I dislike this
これが聞こえる - Kore ga kikoeru - I can hear this
これが見える - Kore ga mieru - I can see this
これが分かる - Kore ga wakaru - I can understand this
仕事が終わる Shigoto ga owaru -​ This grammar is a little technical but it did appear in
the podcast so here an explanation.

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The reason we say 仕事が終わる Shigoto ga owaru and we don’t use を is because inthis case 終わる is an intransitive verb. That means the action completes by itself andthere is no direct. 仕事が終わる means work finishes (by itself) not I finish work, and in
those cases you use が。
I know this is a lot more technical than we usually get in the podcast but it did appear so
I hope that makes sense!
Yo - ​This is a particle that is a little hard to translate into English but will make you
sound more natural if you can use it. It emphasises what the speaker is saying. It's also
used when giving new information or the speaker wants to stress their opinion aboutsomething.
明日行くよ Ashita iku yo - I’m (really) going tomorrow
美味しいですよ Oishii desu yo - It’s (really) delicious
Ne - ​This is another very common particle that goes at the end of sentences and means
something like “isn’t it?” or “Don’t you think so”. For example:
暑いですね Atsui desu ne - It’s hot isn’t it?
難しいですね Muzukashi desu ne - It’s difficult isn’t it?
いいね - Ii ne - It’s good isn’t it?

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Random Phrase of the week
Random phrase of the week is where we teach you funny random phrases to make yourJapanese friends chuckle and say “Where on earth did you learn that?!”This week’s phrase is 微妙 ​Bimyō. T​ his is made from two kanji, 微 which means a littleor slightly and 妙 which means strange. So it is used to mean something like “doubtful”,“something is a little off”, “It’s so so (but there’s a problem).
A typical example would be:
A: このドレスはどう？Kono doresu wa dō? - What do you think about this dress?
B: 微妙！ Bimyō - It’s OK but…(there’s something not right)
You can also talk about slight differences between things:
A: これとそれはどう違う？ Kore to sore, dō chigau?
What’s the difference between this one and this one?
B: これの方が微妙に辛い。 Kore no hō wa bimyō ni karai.
This one is slightly more spicy.

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Hi, this is Alex, the creator of Learn
Japanese Pod. Thanks for downloadingthese show notes, I hope you find them
useful. If you need any help with yourJapanese or have any questions orcomments please drop me a line at
info@learnjapanesepod.com
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Alex
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