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)
Meaning
- 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.
How to attach
- 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.
Watch out
- 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？
あした やすみ？
Off tomorrow? — to a coworker your own age
うん、今日は 行かない。
うん、きょうは いかない。
Yeah, I'm not going today.
店長には「明日 休みですか」と 聞きます。
てんちょうには「あした やすみですか」と ききます。
To your 店長 you ask 「明日 休みですか」.
Knowledge check (मिनी ज्ञान जाँच)
How 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