Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 2

28 一万円 いちまんえん ぐらいかかります。 Ichi-man-en gurai kakarimasu. It costs about ten thousand yen 約一万円 やくいちまんえん かかります。 Yaku ichi-man-en kakarimasu. It costs about ten thousand yen. You may even hear yaku ichi-jikan gurai or yaku ichi-jikan hodo . It may seem redundant to have approximation expressed twice in the same phrase, but this is common. Dore grai and dono gurai both ask ‘how long/how much’ and ikura gurai asks how much (money). 会社 かいしゃ まで、どのぐらいかかりますか . Kaisha made dono gurai kakarimasu ka. How long does it take to get to work? このアパート、いくらぐらいでしょうか . Kono apaato, ikura gurai deshou ka. How much do you suppose this apartment (rent) is? Approximation, or making things vague, is preferred over being exact and considered more polite in many situations in Japan. This may be because the approximation allows wiggle room. So, when given an approximate number, you are expected to figure out what number is actually meant in each context. Unless it’s critical, Japanese people usually do not request clarification. 6-2-3 Particle de “by means of” A noun followed by particle de indicates the means by which something is done. Note that there are a number of ways in which this might be translated into English. The particles は and も can be added to this particle. おはしで召 め し上 あ がりますか。 Ohashi de meshiagarimasu ka . Are you going to eat with chopsticks? タクシーで行 い きましょう。 Takusii de ikimashou . Let’s go by a taxi. 日本語 に ほ ん ご では話 はな しませんでした。 Nihongo de wa hanashimasen deshita. I didn’t talk in Japanese. 電車 でんしゃ でも一時間 いちじかん かかります。 Densha de mo ichi-jikan kakarimasu. It takes one hour by train, too. 6-2-4 the starting point ~ kara 、 the ending point ~ made The particle kara indicates the point from which something starts and the particle まで indicates the limit at which something ends.