Lesson 23 of 24
Because the Poster Says Sunday
about 15 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Give a reason for something, and ask which of two conflicting facts is right.
Words this lesson teaches
- どうして
- why
- あめ
- rain
- まちがい
- a mistake
- ただしい
- correct
- ふるい
- old
- けします
- deletes, switches off
- かえます
- changes
- へや
- room
- りゆう
- a reason
- にちようび
- Sunday
What it explains
…から for because
The reason comes first and から closes it: あめですから、へやの なかで します. That is the reverse of English, which puts because in front of the reason. から attaches to whatever ends the first half — です, ます, an adjective — so it needs no special form.
ので, the softer one
Same job, gentler tone. ので presents the reason as circumstance rather than argument, so it is preferred when explaining yourself to someone senior or apologising: あめですので、なかで します. から can sound like you are pressing a case; ので rarely does.
どうして and asking which is right
どうして asks why. When two sources disagree, the useful question is どちらが ただしいですか — which one is correct. Asking that is faster and less awkward than working out who made the mistake, which is a question nobody needs answered.
んです — recognise it, do not chase it
You will hear ふるい ポスターなんです or どうして なんですか constantly. It frames a statement as an explanation of the situation rather than a bare fact. It needs plain form and its rules are subtle, so at this level the goal is noticing it and not being thrown — producing it correctly comes later.
The scene itself is in the app.
Lesson one of this track is free to read in full. From lesson two on, the story, the audio and the review are part of a free account.
