Keeping in touch by message in Japanese

Level A2

Keeping in touch by message in Japanese

A friend writes that they tried a new café. “OK” ends the chat; a reaction and one question keep it alive. In this lesson you read and write short messages like that, with friends and with colleagues. The central idea: よ (yo) hands over something the other person doesn't have yet, ね (ne) marks something you treat as shared or want to confirm, and a short reaction plus one question keeps the conversation going.

Quick review: what you'll reuse

These five lines hold what comes back, even if this is the first time you see them. 公園に行った (kōen ni itta), “I went to the park”, ends in a plain verb, the form for friends. 公園は大きかった (kōen wa ōkikatta), “the park was big”, is an adjective in the plain past. アナさんは土曜日に来ると言っていました (Ana-san wa doyōbi ni kuru to itte imashita), “Ana said she's coming on Saturday”, passes on what someone said: 来る (kuru) is “come”, と (to) closes what was said and 言っていました (itte imashita) is “said”. 場所は駅だと思います (basho wa eki da to omoimasu), “I think the place is the station”, gives your own opinion: 場所 (basho) is “place”, 駅 (eki) “station”, and だ (da) is the plain form of です (desu). では、また (dewa, mata), “Well then, see you soon”, closes a message.

Model: two friends texting

Listen once without reading, then read along. A tells B about a new café: 新しい (atarashii) means “new”, カフェ (kafe) is “café”, and 土曜日、 (doyōbi) is “on Saturday”, with a short pause. Now look at how the lines end. A's news ends in よ; B answers with short reactions and ね. B's questions have no か (ka), and we'll come back to that. The other words: どう (dō) “how”, コーヒー (kōhī) “coffee”, 何 (nani) “what”, 食べた (tabeta) “ate”, パン (pan) “bread”, 行く (iku) “go”, 明日も (ashita mo) “tomorrow too”, 何時 (nanji) “what time”, 私も (watashi mo) “me too”. よかった (yokatta) is the past of いい (ii), “good”. またね (mata ne), “See you!”, closes a chat between friends.

よ: telling them something new

Put よ at the very end of a finished sentence when you give the other person something they don't have yet. 土曜日、新しいカフェに行ったよ (doyōbi, atarashii kafe ni itta yo) is news for B. English sometimes says “you know”, but よ is much more frequent and often isn't translated at all: it simply says “this is for you”.

よ follows whatever ending the sentence already has: a plain verb (行ったよ, itta yo), an adjective (大きかったよ, ōkikatta yo) or a polite ending (十時ですよ, jūji desu yo, “it's at ten”). In this lesson's plain sentences, before よ or ね, nouns and きれい (kirei), “clean”, keep だ or だった (datta), the past of だ: カフェはきれいだったよ (kafe wa kirei datta yo). 大きい and 大きかった take no だ.

よ doesn't change how polite a sentence is, so it works with colleagues too: 会議は十時ですよ (kaigi wa jūji desu yo), where 会議 (kaigi) is a work meeting. Said to a boss or a teacher, though, よ can sound as if you're correcting them, so keep it for neutral information.

行った／大きかった／十時だ／十時ですよ

ね: sharing it with them

ね at the end treats something as common ground: you've both seen it, heard it or just agreed on it. いいね (ii ne), “Nice!”, shares your reaction to what the other person said, and 駅は大きいね (eki wa ōkii ne) is what you say when you're both looking at the station. ね also checks a detail you've just been given: 十時だね (jūji da ne), “Ten o'clock, then”, repeats the hour so that you can both rely on it. The polite versions work the same way: いいですね (ii desu ne), and 土曜日の十時ですね (doyōbi no jūji desu ne), “Saturday at ten, then”, where の (no) links the day and the hour.

ね is close to “right?” or “isn't it?”, but a reaction like いいね isn't a real question and needs no answer. In またね, ね simply adds warmth to the goodbye.

いい／大きい／十時だ／十時ですね

Same sentence, two endings

Here is the difference in two pairs. Say 駅は大きいよ (eki wa ōkii yo) to someone who hasn't seen the station: you're informing them. Say 駅は大きいね (eki wa ōkii ne) when you're both standing in front of it: you're sharing. In the same way, 会議は十時ですよ (kaigi wa jūji desu yo) tells a colleague an hour they don't know, while 会議は十時ですね (kaigi wa jūji desu ne) checks an hour you've both heard. So ask yourself: does the other person already have this? If not, よ. If so, or if you want to confirm it, ね.

Neither particle changes the facts, and a sentence without them is still correct. In a chat, though, a bare ending can feel a little flat.

Short reactions

A reaction shows you've read the message. Here are five, with the polite line first and, for the first four, its plain partner after it.

いいですね (ii desu ne) and いいね (ii ne): for good news or a plan you like. そうですか (sō desu ka) and そうなんだ (sō nan da): “I see”, neutral, you've taken it in. そうですか has か, but the voice falls and it asks nothing. よかったですね (yokatta desu ne) and よかったね (yokatta ne): something turned out well for them. 残念ですね (zannen desu ne) and 残念だね (zannen da ne): a plan fell through, for small disappointments like a cancelled coffee. 本当ですか (hontō desu ka), “Really?”, shows surprise.

Choose polite or plain as you do with verbs, by who you're writing to.

A reaction, then one more question

A reaction alone can end the conversation. To keep it going, add one question about what the other person just told you, with どう (dō), “how”, 何 (nani), “what”, or 何時 (nanji), “what time”. With です and ます, keep か at the end.

Someone mentions a park: いいですね。どうでしたか (ii desu ne. dō deshita ka). Someone mentions a café: そうですか。何を飲みましたか (sō desu ka. nani o nomimashita ka). Someone says Ana is coming: 本当ですか。何時に来ますか (hontō desu ka. nanji ni kimasu ka). Match the time: ました and でした for what already happened, ます for what's still to come.

残念ですね。日曜日はどうですか (zannen desu ne. nichiyōbi wa dō desu ka), where 日曜日 (nichiyōbi) is Sunday, turns a “no” into a new proposal: どうですか proposes, どうでしたか asks how something went. Ask one question at a time; several in one message sound like an interview.

いいですね／そうですか／本当ですか／残念ですね。どう／何／何時…か

To recognize: questions without か

The lines after the first are for recognizing, not for practice yet. With a polite ending, this lesson's questions keep か: どうでしたか (dō deshita ka). Between friends, a question often has none: どうだった？ (dō datta?), 何時に行く？ (nanji ni iku?) and 本当？ (hontō?), “Really?”. The voice rises, and in writing ？ does the job.

So don't add か to every plain ending to make a question. Plain form plus か is not the friendly version of a polite question: it can sound blunt, or as if you're talking to yourself. ああ、そうか (ā, sō ka), “Oh, I see”, shows this: it has か and asks nothing, because the speaker has just understood something. When you read a chat between friends, look for ？ and question words, not for か.

Read a work thread

Two colleagues write about a meeting; おはようございます (ohayō gozaimasu) is “good morning” and 月曜日 (getsuyōbi) is Monday. Read the lines and look for four things: the day and the hour, who's coming at eleven, the place, and which of these is only an opinion. Then check the translations.

Notice what the endings do. The first writer marks with よ what the other doesn't know yet. The other answers そうですか, asks about the place, and repeats the time with ね before saying ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu), “thank you”. カフェだと思います (kafe da to omoimasu) is the opinion: the writer isn't sure.

Your turn, and a summary

Cover the lines below. Tell a friend you went to a new café on Saturday. Then a colleague mentions a trip: react and ask how it was. She adds that Ana is coming: show surprise and ask what time. Finally, confirm the meeting: Monday at ten. Check only afterwards.

In short: よ hands over what the other person doesn't have yet; ね marks what you treat as shared or want to confirm; neither changes politeness. React in a few words, then ask one question, with か after です and ます. Among friends, questions often have no か: recognize them, and don't add か to every plain ending.

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