Saying what you understand and asking for help in Japanese

Level A1

Saying what you understand and asking for help in Japanese

Someone speaks to you in Japanese and you catch only part of it. In this lesson you say how much you follow with 日本語が少し分かります (nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimasu), “I understand a little Japanese”, and say you don't follow with 分かりません (wakarimasen). You also name a skill with できます (dekimasu), and when you lose track you ask to hear it again or more slowly.

Recap: asking again, and saying no with ません

Two things come back today, even if this is the first time you see them. すみません、もう一度お願いします (sumimasen, mō ichido onegai shimasu) asks someone to say it again: すみません opens politely, もう一度 means “once more” and お願いします means “please”.

The other is the polite negative. 食べます (tabemasu), “eat”, becomes 食べません (tabemasen), “don't eat”, and か (ka) at the end makes a question: ここで食べますか (koko de tabemasu ka), “Do you eat here?”. Today's two verbs work the same way.

  • formal

    すみません、もう一度(いちど)お願(ねが)いします。

    Pardon?

  • formal

    ここで食(た)べますか。

    Do you eat here?

  • formal

    ここで食(た)べません。

    I don't eat here.

The words you need: 分かる, できる, 少し and more

分かる (wakaru) is “understand” and できる (dekiru) is “can do”. The cards show these dictionary forms; in polite speech you'll say 分かります (wakarimasu) and できます (dekimasu). 少し (sukoshi) means “a little” and ゆっくり (yukkuri) means “slowly”.

日本語 (nihongo) is the Japanese language. 料理 (ryōri) is cooking and 運転 (unten) is driving; in Japanese both are nouns, so you don't need another verb in front of できます.

Model: the first day at a café

The owner of a café talks to a new helper about her skills and her shift. Listen once without reading. When the helper misses 明日は九時です (ashita wa kuji desu), “Tomorrow it's at nine”, she doesn't pretend: she says so and asks her to say it slowly. The owner's two lines about tomorrow are only for recognizing; you don't need to say them. The last line includes 分かりました (wakarimashita), “got it”, explained further down.

What you understand: 日本語が分かります

The language comes first, then が (ga), and the verb closes the sentence: 日本語が分かります (nihongo ga wakarimasu), “I understand Japanese”. English makes the language the object of “understand”, so you might expect the を (o) of 水を飲みます (mizu o nomimasu), “I drink water”. 分かります takes the が of コーヒーが好きです (kōhī ga suki desu), “I like coffee”, because the sentence is closer to “Japanese is clear to me”.

In this lesson 少し goes just before the verb: 日本語が少し分かります. To say you don't follow, drop 少し and change the ending: 日本語が分かりません (nihongo ga wakarimasen). Add か to ask. 私は (watashi wa), “as for me”, can come first: は marks the person and が the language. You'll also meet は on the language, as in 日本語は分かりません (nihongo wa wakarimasen), “Japanese, I don't understand”, when the language is what's being talked about.

日本語(にほんご)が分かります／少し分かります／分かりません／分かりますか

What you can do: 料理ができます

できます works the same way: the skill, が, then the verb. 料理ができます (ryōri ga dekimasu) is “I can cook”, and 運転ができません (unten ga dekimasen) is “I can't drive”. In an answer the skill can stay unsaid: はい、少しできます (hai, sukoshi dekimasu), “Yes, a little”.

分かります is about following what you hear or read; 日本語が少しできます (nihongo ga sukoshi dekimasu) says you can use the language a little.

In this lesson what you can do is a noun, not another verb. Japanese does have a way to say “can” with many other verbs, but you don't need it to ask for help: these two verbs and a few nouns already say what you follow and what you can do.

料理／運転／日本語ができます／少しできます／できません／できますか

When you lose track: ask for help

If someone checks with 分かりますか (wakarimasu ka), “Do you understand?”, answer by repeating the verb: はい、分かります (hai, wakarimasu) or いいえ、分かりません (iie, wakarimasen). If you've lost the thread, すみません、分かりません (sumimasen, wakarimasen) is polite and completely normal.

Then say what would help, with お願いします after it: もう一度お願いします to hear it again, ゆっくりお願いします (yukkuri onegai shimasu) to hear it slowly. Once it's clear, say はい、分かりました (hai, wakarimashita), “Yes, got it”. 分かります says what you can follow; 分かりました marks the moment you get something, so it's the natural reaction to an explanation. Learn it whole for now.

Your turn

Imagine a neighbour wants to know if you understand Japanese. Cover the sentences below. Ask the question as the neighbour would, then answer that you understand a little. Say you can't drive. Now imagine you've lost track: say you don't understand, ask them to say it slowly, and finish with “Yes, got it. Thank you.” Only then check.

Summary

In short: what you understand or can do takes が, and the verb closes the sentence. ません says no, and 少し before the verb says “a little”. When you're lost, say so and ask: もう一度お願いします or ゆっくりお願いします.

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