Asking where the juice is and choosing a bottle | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. すみません、ジュースはどこですか？

   Excuse me, where is the juice?

   すみません

   Excuse me

   ジュース

   juice

   はどこですか？

   where is it?

   More detail

   すみません is a polite expression used here to get someone’s attention before asking for help; in this setting, “Excuse me” is the natural meaning. It can also mean “I’m sorry” when apologizing, so the situation determines which use is intended. ジュース is the noun “juice.” It is a loanword written in katakana. Japanese nouns generally do not change form for singular versus plural, so this form can refer to juice as a substance or to a serving/item when the context makes that clear. In はどこですか？, は marks ジュース as the topic: “As for the juice …”. どこ means “where,” and ですか makes the question polite. The pattern Xはどこですか？ is reusable for asking where something is. For example: トイレはどこですか？ — “Where is the restroom?” Together, ジュースはどこですか？ asks for the location of the juice: “Where is the juice?” With すみません at the beginning, the complete utterance is a polite way to ask someone for that information.

2. この売り場にあります。冷たい飲み物の隣です。

   It's in this section, next to the cold drinks.

   この

   this

   売り場

   section; sales area

   にあります

   is located in/at

   冷たい

   cold

   飲み物

   drink; beverage

   隣

   next to; beside

   More detail

   この means “this” and comes before the noun it specifies: この + noun = “this noun.” It is an attributive demonstrative, so it is not used alone here. Example: この本 means “this book.” 売り場 is a noun for a sales area or section of a store. In this sentence, この売り場 means “this section.” Example: 食品売り場 means “the food section.” にあります is the polite form used to say that a nonliving thing is located somewhere. Its base verb is ある; あります is its polite non-past form, and に marks the location: 場所にあります = “is located at/in a place.” In the supplied context, the located item is the juice being asked about. Example: 本は机の上にあります。 — “The book is on the desk.” 冷たい is an i-adjective meaning “cold” here. It directly modifies the noun after it: 冷たい + noun = “cold noun.” Its base form is also 冷たい; unlike an adjective such as 冷たかった (“was cold”), this form presents the condition as non-past. Example: 冷たい水 means “cold water.” 飲み物 is a noun meaning “drink” or “beverage.” 飲む means “to drink,” while 飲み物 is the thing that can be drunk; the two should not be treated as the same part of speech. Example: 飲み物を買います。 — “I will buy a drink.” 隣 is a noun meaning “the side next to something” or “beside.” With の, it can form Aの隣 = “next to A”: 冷たい飲み物の隣 means “next to the cold drinks.” Example: 駅の隣 means “next to the station.” The first sentence combines この売り場に (“in this section”) with あります (“is located”), giving “It’s in this section.” The second combines 冷たい (“cold”) with 飲み物 (“drinks”), then uses の隣 (“next to [them]”) and the polite copula です (“is”): 冷たい飲み物の隣です = “It’s next to the cold drinks.” Together, the utterance locates the item from the preceding question: “It’s in this section, next to the cold drinks.”

3. 何がおすすめですか？

   What do you recommend?

   何

   what

   おすすめ

   recommendation; recommended choice

   ですか？

   is it?

   More detail

   何 means “what” here: it asks for an unspecified choice or item. Before が, it is commonly read as なに in this pattern. A reusable question pattern is 何が…ですか (“What is …?”), as in the example 何が必要ですか？ — “What is needed?” The visible が after 何 marks 何 as the subject or item being identified. It is not included in the selected phrase entries, but it connects the question word to おすすめ. おすすめ is a noun meaning a recommendation or a recommended choice. In this sentence it identifies the choice that is recommended. It can also modify another noun with の, as in the example おすすめの飲み物 — “a recommended drink.” Do not treat おすすめ here as the verb “recommend”; Japanese uses this noun in the pattern Xがおすすめです to say that X is recommended. ですか？ makes the statement into a polite question. です is the polite copular form, and か marks the sentence as a question. With 何 at the beginning, the result is a question seeking information rather than a yes/no question. For example, これはおすすめですか？ means “Is this recommended?” Putting the parts together, 何が asks which item, おすすめ describes that item as the recommended choice, and ですか makes the question polite: “What do you recommend?” Japanese does not state the recommender as a separate subject here; the fixed translation supplies “you” as the intended person being asked. The pattern Xがおすすめです is useful for answering, for example, このジュースがおすすめです。 — “This juice is recommended.”

4. このジュースはさっぱりした味で、飲みやすいです。

   This juice has a fresh taste and is easy to drink.

   この

   this

   ジュース

   juice

   さっぱりした

   fresh, clean-tasting

   味

   taste

   飲みやすい

   easy to drink

   More detail

   この points to a noun as “this ...”. It is a demonstrative determiner, so it appears directly before the noun it modifies; here it combines with ジュース to identify the juice being discussed. The form itself does not state who owns the juice or exactly where it is. ジュース is the noun “juice,” written in katakana as a loanword. Japanese nouns do not change form for singular and plural in this expression. さっぱりした describes the taste here as fresh, clean, or refreshing. It is the past-form attributive form of さっぱりする, used before 味; the past-looking form in this modifier does not make the juice’s taste a past event. Compare the reusable pattern さっぱりした味 (“a fresh, clean taste”). 味 means “taste” or “flavor.” In さっぱりした味, it is the noun being described by さっぱりした. A useful contrast is 甘い味 (“a sweet taste”), where 甘い directly modifies the noun. 飲みやすい means “easy to drink.” It is formed from the verb 飲む (“to drink”) by using its stem 飲み- plus やすい, which expresses ease of performing the action: 読みやすい means “easy to read.” The やすい part is an adjective, so the whole form can become 飲みやすかった (“was easy to drink”) or 飲みやすくない (“is not easy to drink”). The topic marker は makes このジュース the topic. さっぱりした味で uses で to connect the juice’s fresh-tasting quality to the next description. The final です gives the statement a polite ending. Thus このジュースはさっぱりした味で、飲みやすいです。 means, “This juice has a fresh taste and is easy to drink.”

5. では、そのボトルを買います。

   Then I'll get that bottle.

   では

   then

   その

   that

   ボトル

   bottle

   買います

   buy; get

   More detail

   では appears first and means “then” here: it marks a decision or next step based on what has just been said. In other contexts, では can have other functions, so its meaning comes from this position and the surrounding statement. その comes before the noun it describes. It means “that” and points to a contextually identifiable item. Japanese demonstratives such as この (“this”), その (“that”), and あの (“that over there”) are used before nouns; その does not itself state a quantity. ボトル is the noun “bottle.” It is a loanword written in katakana. With その, the phrase そのボトル means “that bottle.” Japanese does not require an article before this noun. 買います is the polite non-past form of 買う, “to buy.” The non-past form can refer to a future action, so here 買います expresses the speaker’s decision or intention to buy. The polite pair is 買います / 買いません (“buy” / “do not buy”); the plain non-past form is 買う. Together, そのボトル is the object of 買います, and では connects the decision to the preceding discussion: では、そのボトルを買います。 means “Then I’ll get that bottle.” The particle を marks そのボトル as the thing being bought. Japanese commonly leaves the subject unstated when the context makes it clear; the translation supplies “I” as the speaker, but no separate Japanese pronoun appears in this sentence.