I can ask for what I need in a store with a polite unfinished sentence, ask about and name a floor, and understand door signs.
How to ask in a store
How to ask in a store
In a store you need to say what you want and find the floor it's on.
The request goes like this: でんちがほしいんですが… The sentence is left unfinished, and that is polite: the clerk will show you where it is. Don't finish it with “…so show me”, and don't say it flatly like English “I want batteries. Where are they?”: that sounds blunt.
ほしい is a word about a thing: “to want (a thing)”. English “want” takes an object, but here the thing takes the particle が, not を: かさがほしいです. The negative works like an い-adjective: ほしくないです. In the negative, the thing usually takes は: ふくはほしくないです.
Where it is: でんちはどこにありますか — 3階（さんがい）にあります. A floor is a number + かい. Four floors don't follow the rule: いっかい, さんがい, ろっかい, じゅっかい; the question is なんがい. All the floors are in the table.
Doors in Japan are labeled with characters: 押 — “push” (おします), 引 — “pull” (ひきます).
Common mistakes:
• NOT でんちをほしいです → でんちがほしいです.
• NOT さんかい → さんがい.
• NOT じゅうかい → じゅっかい.
• NOT ふくはほしいないです → ふくはほしくないです.
ほしい: what I want
The thing you want takes が. In the negative, the thing usually takes は.
| What you say | Model | Particle |
|---|---|---|
| I want | ちいさいかさがほしいです。 | が |
| I don't want | でんちはほしくないです。 | は |
| what do you want? | なにがほしいですか。 | が |
Floors and door signs
The highlighted readings don't follow the rule. The characters 階, 押, and 引 are only for recognition.
| Floor | How it's read | On a sign |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | いっかい | 1階 |
| 2 | にかい | 2階 |
| 3 | さんがい | 3階 |
| 4 | よんかい | 4階 |
| 5 | ごかい | 5階 |
| 6 | ろっかい | 6階 |
| 7 | ななかい | 7階 |
| 8 | はちかい | 8階 |
| 9 | きゅうかい | 9階 |
| 10 | じゅっかい | 10階 |
| what floor? | なんがい | 何階 |
| first basement level | ちかいっかい | 地下1階 |
| door: “push” | おします | 押 |
| door: “pull” | ひきます | 引 |
Lesson notes
How to ask in a store
In a store you need to say what you want and find the floor it's on.
The request goes like this: でんちがほしいんですが… The sentence is left unfinished, and that is polite: the clerk will show you where it is. Don't finish it with “…so show me”, and don't say it flatly like English “I want batteries. Where are they?”: that sounds blunt.
ほしい is a word about a thing: “to want (a thing)”. English “want” takes an object, but here the thing takes the particle が, not を: かさがほしいです. The negative works like an い-adjective: ほしくないです. In the negative, the thing usually takes は: ふくはほしくないです.
Where it is: でんちはどこにありますか — 3階（さんがい）にあります. A floor is a number + かい. Four floors don't follow the rule: いっかい, さんがい, ろっかい, じゅっかい; the question is なんがい. All the floors are in the table.
Doors in Japan are labeled with characters: 押 — “push” (おします), 引 — “pull” (ひきます).
Common mistakes:
• NOT でんちをほしいです → でんちがほしいです.
• NOT さんかい → さんがい.
• NOT じゅうかい → じゅっかい.
• NOT ふくはほしいないです → ふくはほしくないです.