Lesson 3 of 24
Only One Rule, So Far
about 13 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Read a short list, say that it is complete or only examples, and say that there is only one of something.
Words this lesson teaches
- ルール
- rule
- リスト
- list
- だけ
- only, just
- たべもの
- food
- のみもの
- a drink
- かみ
- paper
- こども
- child
- おとな
- adult
- いろいろ
- various, all sorts
- わかりません
- I don't understand
What it explains
や … など gives examples
You met と for a complete list last lesson. や is the opposite: たべものや のみものなど means food, drinks and other things besides. など at the end makes the and-so-on explicit. Using と when you meant や claims a list is exhaustive, which is the kind of small precision Japanese asks for and English does not.
だけ for "only"
だけ follows the thing it limits: ひとつだけ is only one, にほんごだけ is Japanese only. It replaces は or が when it appears, in the same way も does. Note where it sits — after the noun, not before, which is the reverse of English.
あります for things that will happen
You learned あります for where an object is. It also announces that an event or an item exists or is provided: たべものが あります — there'll be food. Same verb, and events take が rather than は when they are the new information.
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.
