Your place
Collocations, Stage 4chunk 18 of 25Home & daily routine
Talking about where you live: renting, a cramped room, keeping a pet, parcels arriving.
- heya o karirurent a room or flat
- semai heyaa small, cramped room
- inu o kauhave / keep a dog
- nimotsu ga todokua package arrives, gets delivered
Mix-ups Renting uses kariru, the 'borrow' verb, and a cramped room is usually semai (narrow) rather than chiisai. The kau of keeping a pet sounds like kau 'buy', and parcels todoku (reach you) rather than tsuku (arrive) like people.
heya o kariru
polite heya o karimasurent a room or flat
部屋を借りる へやをかりる 部屋を借ります
verbkariru 借りるborrow; use something that is someone else's, free or paidtypical 1% of heya
trap There's no separate 'rent' verb: the tenant kariru (borrows) and the landlord kasu (lends), so heya o kasu means letting it out. rentaru suru is for cars and kimono, not flats.
For renting a place to live as the tenant: hitorigurashi de heya karita (I rented a place of my own). Casual speech drops o, and heya here usually means the whole flat.
eki no chikaku ni heya karita n da.
I've rented a place near the station.
駅の近くに部屋借りたんだ。
eki no chikaku ni heya o karita n desu.
I've rented a place near the station.
駅の近くに部屋を借りたんです。
The monthly rent is yachin (yachin takai = the rent's high).
Same verb: ie (house), apaato (apartment), chuushajou (parking space), kuruma (car)Main list: kasu (Stage 2), n da (Stage 1), chikaku (Stage 3)
semai heya
a small, cramped room
狭い部屋 せまいへや
adjectivesemai 狭いnarrow, cramped; small in floor spacetypical <1% of heya
trap 'Small' points to chiisai, but a room that feels cramped is semai, and a roomy one is hiroi: kono heya semai ne. chiisai heya is fine for a room's size (chiisai heya ga futatsu aru), just not as the complaint.
Rooms and flats are usually judged semai (cramped) or hiroi (roomy): semai heya da kedo, douzo. As a comment it's heya ga semai, usually without ga: kono heya semai ne.
semai heya da kedo, douzo.
It's a tiny place, but come in.
狭い部屋だけど、どうぞ。
semai heya desu kedo, douzo.
It's a small room, but please come in.
狭い部屋ですけど、どうぞ。
The host's set line is semai tokoro da kedo, douzo (politely semai tokoro desu ga); the visitor's compliment is hiroi ne! semai also covers narrow roads.
Same adjective: michi (road), daidokoro (kitchen), ofuro (bath)Main list: chiisai (Stage 4), douzo (Stage 1), -kedo (Stage 1)
inu o kau
polite inu o kaimasuhave / keep a dog
犬を飼う いぬをかう 犬を飼います
verbkau 飼うkeep, raise (an animal); sounds the same as kau 'buy'typical 8% of inu
trap Not inu o motte iru: pets are kept with kau, the sound-alike of 'buy'. inu ga iru also works.
Almost always in the -teru form: inu katteru (I have a dog), nanika katteru? (do you have any pets?). inu ga iru (there's a dog) also works for 'I have a dog'.
uchi, inu katteru n da.
We've got a dog at home.
うち、犬飼ってるんだ。
uchi wa inu o katte iru n desu.
We have a dog at home.
うちは犬を飼っているんです。
katteru also means 'have bought'. In standard Tokyo speech kau 'keep' is accented on ka (KAtteru) while kau 'buy' is flat; context does the rest.
Same verb: neko (cat), petto (pet), kingyo (goldfish)Main list: kau (Stage 3), iru (Stage 1), motsu (Stage 1)
nimotsu ga todoku
polite nimotsu ga todokimasua package arrives, gets delivered
荷物が届く にもつがとどく 荷物が届きます
verbtodoku 届くreach, get to (someone); also reach with a handtypical 2% of nimotsu
trap 'Arrive' points to tsuku, which is people and trains arriving (eki ni tsuku). Things sent to you mostly todoku, 'reach you', the same verb as for letters and messages; nimotsu ga tsuku is heard but less usual.
For deliveries and online orders, mostly in the past: nimotsu todoita (my parcel came), or still waiting: mada todokanai. Casual speech drops ga.
kinou tanonda nimotsu, mou todoita.
The parcel I ordered yesterday already came.
昨日頼んだ荷物、もう届いた。
kinou tanonda nimotsu ga mou todokimashita.
The package I ordered yesterday has already arrived.
昨日頼んだ荷物がもう届きました。
A missed delivery means asking for saihaitatsu (redelivery).
Same verb: tegami (letter), meeru (email), purezento (present)Learn alongside: eki ni tsukuMain list: tanomu (Stage 2), mou (Stage 1), tsuku (Stage 3)