N5 · Unit 2
Lesson 7What you do and where
Describe everyday actions and mark both the action object and the place where the action occurs.
What you learn
Describe everyday actions and mark both the action object and the place where the action occurs.
Learning points
- Action objects
- Action locations
- Suggestions and responses
Why this lesson comes now
This lesson connects what you can already say to a new way of expressing it. Hear the key sentences, understand the structure, then use it in a real situation.
Your next step
Listen to the key sentences, understand the pattern, finish the examples and vocabulary, then continue to the next lesson.
Open the interactive lessonCore pattern
名詞 を 動詞ます ・ 場所 で 動詞ます ・ 〜ませんか / 〜ましょうBeginner explanation
Mark the direct object of an action with を and the place where an action occurs with で. Use 〜ませんか for a polite invitation and 〜ましょう to suggest doing something together.
Understand these sentences first
- カフェで コーヒーを 飲みます。kafe de kōhī o nomimasu
I drink coffee at a café.
- 図書館で 本を 読みます。toshokan de hon o yomimasu
I read a book at the library.
- 昼ご飯を 食べませんか。hirugohan o tabemasen ka
Would you like to have lunch?
- いっしょに 写真を 撮りましょう。issho ni shashin o torimashō
Let's take a photo together.
Core vocabulary
- 食べますたべますeat
- 飲みますのみますdrink
- 読みますよみますread
- 書きますかきますwrite
- 撮りますとりますtake a photo
- 買いますかいますbuy
- カフェカフェcafé
- 図書館としょかんlibrary
Grammar, one point at a time
Mark an action object with を
object を VUse を for the object directly affected by actions such as drinking, eating, reading, watching, or buying. The particle を is pronounced o. Many する expressions also use noun + を as the object.
Examples
- 毎日 コーヒーを 飲みます。I drink coffee every day.
- 新聞を 読みません。I do not read the newspaper.
Mark the place of an action with で
place で VUse に for a place of existence and で for the place where studying, buying, eating, or another action occurs. First decide whether the sentence states what exists or what someone does there.
Examples
- 図書館で 勉強します。I study at the library.
- コンビニで お弁当を 買います。I buy a boxed lunch at a convenience store.
か between nouns means or
N か NUse か between possible noun choices when one is uncertain or selected. This differs from final question particle か in position and function.
Examples
- 朝は パンか お粥を 食べます。I eat bread or rice porridge for breakfast.
- 休みは 月曜日か 火曜日です。The day off is Monday or Tuesday.
N を ください requests or purchases an item
N を くださいUse Nをください to order food, buy an item, or ask for a form. It requests a concrete item and does not cover every abstract action; verb requests later use てください.
Examples
- コーラと ケーキを ください。A cola and a cake, please.
- 申込書を ください。An application form, please.
Expressions and situations
The reading of 何 depends on what follows
The basic reading is なに. Before の and counters it is normally なん. Both なにで and なんで occur before で, with meaning and nuance determined by context.
- 何を 食べますか。What will you eat?
- 何時ですか。What time is it?
そうですか with falling intonation acknowledges new information
Say そうですか with falling intonation to acknowledge new information. A rise makes it more like confirmation or a question.
そうですね agrees or considers together
Use そうですね to agree with a suggestion or consider together. Lengthening or changing the intonation can signal hesitation, so begin with a natural short form.
じゃあ links the prior topic to a next step
じゃあ means then and is conversational; では is more formal. It can introduce a conclusion, next action, or closing.
Leaving and returning use paired greetings
When leaving with an intention to return, say いってきます or the more formal いってまいります; the person staying replies いってらっしゃい. On returning, say ただいま and hear お帰りなさい.
Service encounters use set polite phrases
Staff welcome customers with いらっしゃいませ and can accept an order with かしこまりました. A friend arriving at home may hear the more casual いらっしゃい.
失礼します marks leave-taking or entering another's space
Use 失礼します when taking leave from a senior or entering another person's room. When leaving after the intrusion, 失礼しました is also used.
すみません can politely get attention
Use すみません before asking a stranger for directions, calling staff, or making a request. Here it means excuse me rather than admitting fault.
親子丼 is named for chicken and egg
丼 appears in rice-bowl dish names. 親子丼 normally places chicken and egg over rice, and the name uses parent and child as a metaphor for the ingredients.
コンビニ is the common shortening of convenience store
Convenience stores commonly sell rice balls, boxed meals, drinks, and daily goods, but hours, products, and services differ by store and region.
What you should be able to do
- Choose を for eating, reading, and buying objects.
- Distinguish に for existence from で for action location.
- Use か between nouns for alternatives.
- Use Nをください when ordering or requesting a form.
- Match nouns and verbs into daily-life collocations.
- Complete an original office-lunch and restaurant-order dialogue.
Culture and real use
Convenience-store food and services vary by region and store
Convenience stores commonly carry rice balls, boxed meals, sushi, sandwiches, bread, noodles, drinks, and daily goods, and some stores provide additional services. Products, prices, heating options, and opening hours vary, so check signs and ask staff.
- この お弁当を 温めて ください。Please heat this boxed meal.
- 袋を ください。A bag, please.