Short messages in Japanese: confirming a meeting

Level A1

Short messages in Japanese: confirming a meeting

By the end of this lesson you can write and read a short message that confirms a meeting and passes on a detail. The central idea is this: a short message is a few small sentences that together give a greeting, the date, the place and what you'll do in ます (masu), closed with では、また (dewa, mata), “Well then, see you soon.”

Warm-up: what you'll reuse

These pieces come back in this lesson, even if this is the first time you see them. 4月10日です (shigatsu tōka desu) gives a date, “It's April 10th”. 九時に駅に行きます (kuji ni eki ni ikimasu), “I'm going to the station at nine”, has に (ni) twice: after the hour and after the destination. から (kara) marks where someone starts out: アナさんは駅から来ます (Ana-san wa eki kara kimasu), “Ana is coming from the station”, where 来ます (kimasu) means “come” and さん (san) goes after someone else's name. ましょう (mashō) means “let's”: はい、土曜日に行きましょう (hai, doyōbi ni ikimashō), “Yes, let's go on Saturday”.

Two new pieces

場所 (basho) means “place”. では、また (dewa, mata) is this lesson's closing: では (dewa) means “well then” and また (mata) means “again”, so it leaves the next contact open.

Two messages about Saturday

Listen once without reading, then read along. Ana writes to Tanaka to confirm Saturday: who she is, the date, the hour, the place and her plan. Tanaka answers with はい (hai), “yes”, repeats the hour and adds one idea. Nobody writes “I” or “you”: the message makes that clear.

Opening: a greeting, and your name if needed

Start with the greeting for the moment you're writing: おはようございます (ohayō gozaimasu) in the morning, こんにちは (konnichiwa) in the afternoon, こんばんは (konbanwa) in the evening. These messages need no “Dear …” line: the greeting does that job. If the reader might not know who is writing, add your name with です (desu): こんにちは。アナです。(Konnichiwa. Ana desu.), “Hello. I'm Ana.” If the chat already shows your name, you can leave it out.

When, where and what you'll do

Say the day first, then the place with に, then 行きます: 土曜日に駅に行きます (doyōbi ni eki ni ikimasu), “I'm going to the station on Saturday”. This order is not a strict rule, but it's easy to read. ます covers what you usually do and what you'll do later, so here 行きます also means “I will go”: the day or the hour does the work of a future ending. A date, a weekday or an hour usually takes に before 行きます, as in 4月10日にカフェに行きます (shigatsu tōka ni kafe ni ikimasu), but 明日 (ashita), “tomorrow”, takes none: 明日カフェに行きます (ashita kafe ni ikimasu). One day and one hour fit better in two short sentences here, as in Ana's message. You'll also see hours in digits: 10時 reads the same as 十時, じゅうじ (jūji).

土曜日に／4月10日に／明日／十時に駅に／カフェに行きます

Confirming: repeat what matters

To confirm a meeting, repeat the detail that matters. Ana repeats the date with は (wa) and です: 土曜日は4月10日です (doyōbi wa shigatsu tōka desu), “Saturday is April 10th”. There is no に here, because the sentence says what the date is, not when something happens. Tanaka answers はい、十時に行きます (hai, jūji ni ikimasu). English says “I'm coming”, but when you head for the place where the other person will be, Japanese normally says 行きます, “go”. ます states your own plan, while 駅からカフェに行きましょう (eki kara kafe ni ikimashō), “Let's go to the café from the station”, proposes something for both of you.

Passing on a detail: topic, then detail

Name the topic with は (wa), then give the detail: 場所は駅です (basho wa eki desu), “The place is the station”, or 会議は十時です (kaigi wa jūji desu), “The meeting is at ten”, where 会議 (kaigi) is a work meeting. The same start works for a person: アナさんは十一時に来ます (Ana-san wa jūichiji ni kimasu), “Ana is coming at eleven”. In these sentences the hour takes に before 来ます but not before です. 来ます shows someone arriving where the writer or the group will be.

場所は駅です／会議は十時です／アナさんは十一時に来ます

Closing: では、また

では、また (dewa, mata) closes a message or a conversation when you expect to be in touch again. It names no day or hour, so it fits every message in this lesson. では is the more careful form of じゃあ (jā), “then”. With friends you can use またね (mata ne), “See you!”, which is casual. A message to a client or a formal email asks for more than this, and that is outside this lesson.

Read a message: find the details

Tanaka writes to Mia in the evening. Read the lines below and look for four things: the day, the hour, the place and where Ana is coming from. Then check against the translations. 十時です (jūji desu) doesn't repeat 会議: the sentence before it already gave the topic.

Your turn, and the summary

Cover the lines below. It's morning and you're writing to Mia. Greet her, say you're going to the café tomorrow, give the hour, ten, pass on that Ana is coming at eleven, and close. Only then check. Every word here has already appeared in this lesson.

To sum up: open with a greeting, put the day, the place and your plan in short ます sentences, pass on a detail with は, and close with では、また.

Practise this lesson

Next lessons