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16. First Actions

0:00 --:--
こんにちは
Hello
何をしますか
What are you going to do
食べませんか
Want to eat
はい
Yes
一緒に食べます
We'll eat together
何を飲みますか
What will you drink
水を飲みます
I'll have water
一緒に行きますか
Want to go together
はい、行きます
Yeah, I'll go
何を見ますか
What are you looking at
あの人は
That person
知りません
I don't know
日本語を話しますか
Do they speak Japanese
ちょっと待ちます
Give me a second
はい
Yes
一緒に食べます
We'll eat together
何を飲みますか
What will you drink
水を飲みます
I'll have water
一緒に行きますか
Want to go together
はい、行きます
Yeah, I'll go

Cultural Notes

When casual is fine and when it is not

Japanese has two "modes" for verbs: casual (食べる) and polite (食べます). With friends, family, and people your age or younger, casual is normal. With anyone else — a boss, a stranger, someone older — use the polite ます form. If you are not sure which to use, ます is always safe.

する is everywhere

する means "to do," but it also turns lots of nouns into verbs. You will hear it attached to words all the time in Japanese. For now, just know that する on its own means "to do" — later you will see it team up with other words to mean things like "to study" or "to cook."

知る works differently than you would expect

In English you say "I know." In Japanese, the present tense 知る is almost never used that way. Instead, people say 知っています (I know / I am in a state of knowing). But for "I don't know," 知りません works perfectly on its own. You will learn the ています form later — for now, 知りません is the one you will use most.