Say, say say

This is a supplement to today's Twitter mini-lesson. Some verbs for a change - differents kinds of verbal communication.

言う　いう　iu (like ew). - say The past tense is 言った　いった　itta

Example 1:　ドイツ語圏のスイス人はよく　『ダンケ」でなく　『メルシー」と言う　 どいつごけんのすいすじんはよく　「だんけ」でなく　「めるしー」という: Swiss people in the German-speaking areas often say "merci", not "danke".

Example 2: 昨日彼女に｢さよなら」と　言った。　きのうかのじょに「さよなら』と言った。 Yesterday (I) said 'Goodbye' to her. 　（彼女　literally means 'her', but also implies 'girlfriend').

話す はなす　hanasu - speak, talk to

Example: 友達と電話で話す。ともだちとでんわではなす。　I talk to my friend(s) on the phone.

しゃべる shaberu - say, talk to, chat

Similar to 話す　but implies more informal talking/chatting

(おしゃべり　oshaberi, noun, is a chitchat, or (if a person) a loud mouth or gossip. However, おしゃべりする　becomes a verb meaning to gossip or chitchat.)

Example: 私はよくビルとしゃべります。わたしはよくビルとしゃべります。 I often talk to (chat to) Bill.

Example: みっちゃんとまきちゃんはいつも廊下でおしゃべりする。 Micchan and Makichan always gossip in the hallway.

語る　かたる　kataru - tell or narrate, talk about

Example: 母はよく昔モデルだった頃について語る。はははよくむかしもでるだったころについてかたる。 (My) mother often talks about the the times long ago when she used to be a model.

Some more words...

囁く　ささやく　sasayaku - whisper; noun form is ささやき　

言い訳　いいわけ　iiwake - (noun) and excuse. Verb form is 言い訳する　いいわけする　iiwakesuru

Example: 先生に宿題について言い訳する　Make excuses for my homework to the teacher

怒鳴る　どなる　donaru - yell

Comments

[Eve]

Thank you very much for this lesson! I often have a lot of problems conjugating the informal version of 言う since most Japanese lessons aimed at English speakers concentrate only on the polite form of verbs. While useful for speaking, it makes it a bit more difficult with listening and reading...

Ah, I'm not sure if this is correct or not, but before the verb in your sentences the character is written as と - I found this greatly confusing at first until I realized it should be を？Or is を　sometimes written と ?? I would greatly appreciate it if you could clear this up for me!

[maki]

と　is used
- after quoting someone. e.g. まゆみは「こんにちは」と言った　- Mayumi said 'Hello'.

- when you are talking to someone. e.g. in the example above, 私はビルとしゃべる　- I chat to /with Bill

another example - 犬と遊ぶ　(inu to asobu) -　play with the dog

(sometimes に　is used when an action is directed AT something...I know, confusing ^_^;)

を　is used when the action is not directional.
E.g.
箱を運ぶ　(hako o hakobu) - carry the box

服を着る　(fuku o kiru) - wear clothes