Reading a Japanese notice: title, date, condition and what to do

Level B1

Reading a Japanese notice: title, date, condition and what to do

By the end of this lesson, you can find the essentials of a Japanese notice and explain them to someone else, without reading every line or knowing every kanji. The central idea is this: in a notice, look for four points, the title (what it is about), the date (when), the condition (in what case) and the action (what to do), and pass those four on. Two document words help: 受付 (uketsuke), reception, and 記入する (kinyū suru), to fill in.

Recap: a change, a condition and a rule

These three pieces come back in this lesson, even if this is your first time seeing them. 金曜日の十時に変更しました (kin’yōbi no jūji ni henkō shimashita) reports a change: 変更 (henkō) is “change”, and the new value takes に. 雨が降ったら (ame ga futtara) is “if it rains”; what happens in that case comes after it, here 日曜日に行く予定です, “the plan is to go on Sunday”. 月曜日と木曜日に出すことになっています is about trash day: ことになっています (koto ni natte imasu) says what has been arranged and still holds. Listen and repeat.

Document words, with their readings

Document kanji tend to be hard, so this list gives each word’s reading and audio. You don’t need to write them by hand. Two are worth keeping. 受付 (uketsuke) is reception, the desk where someone serves you. 記入する (kinyū suru) is to fill in, to write in the spaces on a piece of paper; 書く (kaku) is “to write” in general.

The others will turn up in the notices. 受付時間 (uketsuke jikan) is reception hours, 用紙 (yōshi) is a form, 日時 (nichiji) is “date and time”, a common label, and 利用者カード (riyōsha kādo) is a library card. お知らせ (oshirase) is a notice or announcement, 掲示板 (keijiban) is a bulletin board, 掃除する (sōji suru) is to clean and 忘れる (wasureru) is to forget.

Model: the park notice

This notice is on the neighborhood bulletin board. Listen and follow along, looking for four things only: what it is about, when, in what case and what to do. 公園 (kōen) is “park”, 6月8日 is read rokugatsu yōka and 6月15日 is read rokugatsu jūgonichi. In the third line, 自治会 (jichikai) is the residents’ association and 用意 (yōi) is “preparing”. That line is about trash bags, ゴミ袋 (gomibukuro), and isn’t one of the four points. In a notice, you can skip a line like that. Each line comes with its reading, for when a kanji stops you.

Model: explaining the notice to a neighbor

Listen once without reading. A has seen the notice, and B asks questions. Notice that A doesn’t read the notice aloud: A gives a short answer to each question and leaves the trash bags out. いつ (itsu) is “when”, どうなりますか (dō narimasu ka) is “what happens?” and 何をしなければなりませんか (nani o shinakereba narimasen ka) is “what do I have to do?”. 行ったら (ittara) is “when you arrive”, from 行った, the plain past of “go”. The notice says 来たら (kitara) because whoever wrote it speaks from the park’s side; A, speaking from a distance, says 行ったら.

Four questions, four signals

Each question has a signal in the text. In this lesson’s notices, the signals are these.

What is it about? Look at the title, at the top; here it ends in お知らせ. Read a chain of の backwards: 公園の掃除のお知らせ is “notice of the cleaning of the park”.

When? Look for 月 and 日, the label 日時 and the particles から (kara, “from”) and まで (made, “until”).

In what case? Look for 〜たら. It can be “if”, as in 雨が降ったら, and also “when”, as in 公園に来たら: it is the same pattern, and the situation decides. In real notices you’ll also see 雨の場合は (ame no baai wa), “in case of rain”; here, just recognize it.

What to do? Look for 〜てください, “please do”: that’s the notice’s request.

Another notice, the same four points

Now a library notice. Listen and find the four points. Then compare it with the park notice.

The title is still at the top, with a longer chain: “notice of the change to the library’s reception hours”. The date has no label: the sentence simply opens with 6月1日から (rokugatsu tsuitachi kara), “from June 1”. 17時 (jūshichiji) is 17:00: notices often use the 24-hour clock.

The condition plays a different role. At the park, rain changes the date, and the request applies to everyone who comes. Here, 利用者カードを忘れたら, “if you forget your card”, sits in the same sentence as the request, which applies only to people who forgot. So search by signal, not by position in the text, and check whether the condition applies to you before you act. In the park notice, 〜たら also opens the request sentence, but there it marks the moment you arrive.

Passing on a change: 変更になります

変更します (henkō shimasu) is the organizer’s voice: “we’ll change it”. Someone only passing the news on tends to say 変更になります (henkō ni narimasu), “it moves to”. It’s the same なる (naru, “become”) as in ことになる: the sentence reports the result and doesn’t point to who changed it. That’s why 〜になります also appears in notices, as in the library’s 17時までになります. The new value still takes に: 6月15日に, 図書館に. Compare 6月15日に変更します in the notice with 6月15日に変更になります in the dialogue. Here, 会議 (kaigi) is a meeting and 木曜日 (mokuyōbi) is Thursday.

6月15日／図書館に変更(へんこう)になります

Passing on what to do: ことになっています

〜てください is the request of whoever wrote the notice. If you repeat it as it stands, it can sound like your own request. When you explain to someone else, say what has been arranged: 記入してください → 記入することになっています (kinyū suru koto ni natte imasu). Here, the verb before こと is in its dictionary form. To state a direct obligation, 記入しなければなりません (kinyū shinakereba narimasen), “you have to fill it in”, works too, without the idea of an arrangement. 〜たら stays at the start of the sentence: 利用者カードを忘れたら、….

記入することになっています

Model: telling a friend

Listen once without reading. The points are the same, now between friends, with plain endings: 見た？ (mita?), “did you see?”, 変更だよ (henkō da yo) and なるよ (naru yo). ううん (uun) is “no”. ことになっています shortens to ことになってる (koto ni natteru). A says 5時 (goji), “five o’clock”, not 17時: in speech 17:00 usually becomes “five”, and the context makes clear it’s the afternoon. The title doesn’t even need 〜のお知らせです: 受付時間の変更だよ already says what it’s about.

At the desk: 受付 and 記入 in sentences

Now the two words in use, in sentences to say or hear at a desk. 受付はどこですか (uketsuke wa doko desu ka) asks where reception is, and 受付は何時までですか (uketsuke wa nanji made desu ka) asks until what time it’s open. どこに記入しますか (doko ni kinyū shimasu ka) is “Where do I fill this in?”: the spot you write on takes に, as in 用紙に, and what you write takes を, as in 名前を; the place where you do it, like the desk, takes で, as in 受付で. The person at the desk may answer ここに名前だけ記入してください: だけ (dake) is “only” and ここ (koko) is “here”. You don’t need to understand a whole form to find the space that matters. When a kanji stops you, point and ask これは何と読みますか (kore wa nan to yomimasu ka).

Your turn and summary

The first five lines are a new notice. 土曜日 (doyōbi) is Saturday, 授業 (jugyō) is a class, 7月5日 is read shichigatsu itsuka, 10時 (jūji) is ten o’clock and 場所 (basho) is “place”. Find the title, the date, the condition and what to do. Then explain the notice aloud, without looking at the last three lines, and compare. The rain sentence doesn’t change: it has no request and no organizer’s voice, so it stays the same when you pass it on.

Summary: in a notice, look for the title, the date, the condition and what to do, and skip the rest. When you pass it on, 〜のお知らせです introduces the topic, 変更になります reports the change, 〜たら gives the condition and ことになっています says what to do. 受付 is reception, and 記入する is to fill in.

Practise this lesson

Next lessons