普通形の 会話 (futsuukei no kaiwa) — Conversation in plain form
Japanese with the distance taken out — talking to close people without です／ます.
Formula (सूत्र ढाँचा)
Grammar rule (व्याकरण नियम र परिभाषा)
A friend or a workmate your own age will not speak to you with です／ます. They use plain form (普通形), which you already learned in N5. Conversation adds three things on top. **One:** a question needs no か — you just lift your voice at the end: 行きますか → 行く？, 休みですか → 休み？. **Two:** the だ after a noun or な-adjective drops in a question (「休み？」, not 「休みだ？」), but stays in a normal statement (「明日は 休みだ」). **Three:** particles like を and が are usually dropped in speech — 「ご飯 食べた？」. You answer with うん／ううん instead of はい／いいえ. **⚠️ The big danger:** plain form is only for friends, same-age 同僚 and 後輩 who joined after you. Never speak plain form to a 店長, a 課長, a 先輩 or a customer — understanding it is not the problem, using it upward is. Even when they say 「休み？」to you, you answer 「はい、休みです」.
Examples (उदाहरणहरू)
明日 休み？
ashita yasumi?
Off tomorrow? — to a workmate your own age
うん、今日は 行かない。
un, kyou wa ikanai.
Yeah, I am not going today.
店長には「明日 休みですか」と 聞きます。
tenchou ni wa "ashita yasumi desu ka" to kikimasu.
To your 店長 you ask 「明日 休みですか」.
Knowledge check (मिनी ज्ञान जाँच)
Question: 1/3How do you say "Did you eat?" to a workmate your own age?
💡 Hint: A spoken question needs no か.
In plain form you just raise your voice: 食べた？. 食べたか？ sounds blunt.
Your 店長 says 「今日 忙しい？」to you. What do you say back?
💡 Hint: Even when they speak casually, what do you do?
Even when someone above you uses plain form, you still answer in です／ます.
Which line is only for a same-age 同僚, not for your 店長?
💡 Hint: だ is what makes a sentence plain form.
「休みだ」is plain form — only for friends, same-age 同僚 and 後輩. The other three are です／ます, so they are safe with your 店長 too.
Your score: /3