Using a Shared Fridge | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. 共有の冷蔵庫を使ってもいいですか。

   Can I use the shared fridge?

   共有の

   shared; communal

   冷蔵庫

   refrigerator; fridge

   使ってもいいですか

   May I use ...?

   More detail

   共有の means “shared” or “communal” here. 共有 is a noun meaning shared use or joint ownership, and の links it to the noun that follows: 共有の冷蔵庫 means “a shared refrigerator.” This pattern is reusable with other nouns, such as 共有のキッチン (“a shared kitchen”). 冷蔵庫 means “refrigerator” or “fridge.” In this sentence it is the object of 使う, so it is marked by を: 冷蔵庫を使う means “use the refrigerator.” 使ってもいいですか is the polite permission pattern “May I use ...?” The observed form 使って is the て-form of 使う (“to use”). In 使ってもいい, the pattern 〜てもいい expresses that doing something is permitted; adding ですか makes the question polite. The understood subject is the speaker, as shown by the fixed translation. For reuse, place a noun before を使ってもいいですか: このペンを使ってもいいですか。 means “May I use this pen?” Together, 共有の modifies 冷蔵庫, forming “the shared fridge,” and 共有の冷蔵庫を使ってもいいですか。 asks politely whether the speaker is allowed to use it: “Can I use the shared fridge?”

2. 入れる前に、食べ物にラベルを貼ってください。

   Label your food before you put it in.

   入れる

   put in

   前に

   before

   食べ物

   food

   ラベル

   label

   貼ってください

   please attach

   More detail

   入れる is the dictionary form meaning “to put in” here. It is used in the reusable pattern Vる前に (“before doing V”): 入れる前に means “before putting it in.” The subject and object of 入れる are understood from the situation and translation: the food is being put into the shared refrigerator. The verb itself does not show who performs the action. Example: 冷蔵庫に入れる前に、名前を書きます。 — “Before putting it in the refrigerator, I write my name.” 前に means “before.” After a verb, Vる前に places the earlier action before the later one. Here, putting the food in happens after the labeling instruction is carried out. 食べ物 means “food.” 食べる means “to eat,” and 物 means “thing,” but 食べ物 is a regular noun meaning food, not an instruction to eat. In this sentence it is the item receiving the label and the item referred to by “it” in the translation. ラベル is the noun “label.” This is a Japanese loanword written in katakana. It can be used for a physical label attached to an item. 貼ってください is a polite request meaning “please attach” or “please stick on.” 貼る is the dictionary form “to attach/stick,” and its て-form is 貼って; ください after a て-form makes a polite request. The surface or item receiving something attached is commonly marked with に, as in 食べ物にラベルを貼る (“attach a label to the food”). Example: 箱にシールを貼ってください。 — “Please stick a sticker on the box.” Together, 食べ物にラベルを貼ってください says “Please attach a label to the food,” while 入れる前に specifies the time: this should happen before putting the food into the shared refrigerator. The complete utterance is therefore: “Label your food before you put it in.”

3. ラベルはどこにありますか。

   Where can I find a label?

   ラベル

   label

   どこにありますか

   Where is it?

   More detail

   ラベル is a noun meaning “label.” Japanese nouns generally do not mark singular versus plural, so this form can refer to one label or to labels; the fixed translation presents it as “a label.” どこにありますか asks where an inanimate thing is located. どこ means “where,” に marks the location, and あります is the polite nonpast form used for the existence or location of inanimate things. か turns the statement into a question. The subject is naturally omitted here because ラベルは already establishes what is being located. A reusable pattern is Xはどこにありますか。 — “Where is X?” For example, 本はどこにありますか。 means “Where is the book?” Together, ラベルは sets “a label” as the topic, and どこにありますか asks where it is located, giving “Where can I find a label?”

4. 冷蔵庫の横にラベルがあります。

   There are labels beside the fridge.

   冷蔵庫

   fridge

   横に

   beside; next to

   ラベル

   label(s)

   があります

   there is; there are

   More detail

   冷蔵庫 means “fridge” here. It is a noun; the compound 冷蔵庫の横 means “the side next to the fridge,” with の linking one noun to a related noun. For example, 机の横 means “beside the desk.” 横に means “beside; next to.” 横 is “side,” and に marks the location where something exists. The pattern [place]にあります is useful for saying that an inanimate thing exists at a place. For example, 本は机の横にあります。 means “The book is beside the desk.” ラベル means “label.” Japanese nouns generally do not mark singular versus plural in this form, so ラベル can mean “a label” or “labels”; the fixed translation selects the plural reading here. The preceding の-phrase identifies the location, not a possession relation involving the label. があります expresses the existence or presence of an inanimate thing in polite nonpast form. The plain form is ある; あります is its polite form. This form is used for objects and other nonliving things, while います is used for people and animals. In the pattern Xがあります, X is present or exists; the form itself does not state a numeric count. Together, 冷蔵庫の横に sets “beside the fridge” as the location, ラベル identifies what is present, and あります politely states its existence: “There are labels beside the fridge.”

5. 中に十分なスペースがありますか。

   Is there enough space inside?

   中に

   inside

   十分な

   enough; sufficient

   スペース

   space; room

   ありますか

   is there?

   More detail

   中に means “inside” here. 中 is “inside/interior,” and に marks the location where something exists. The location can be reused with other nouns, for example: 箱の中に本があります。 — “There is a book inside the box.” 十分な means “enough” or “sufficient.” 十分 is a な-adjective in this use, so な appears before the noun it describes: 十分な時間 — “enough time.” Do not confuse this with 十分 used adverbially, as in 十分に (“sufficiently” or “fully”). スペース is a noun meaning “space” or “room,” especially available physical room. It is a loanword and does not change form for number here. For example: ここにはスペースがあります。 — “There is room here.” ありますか is the polite question form of ある, used for the existence or availability of an inanimate thing. ある becomes polite あります, and か marks the sentence as a question. A useful contrast is いる, used for people and animals: 人がいますか。 — “Is there a person?” Together, 中に identifies the location, 十分なスペース means “enough space,” and ありますか asks whether it exists there. The whole utterance therefore means, “Is there enough space inside?”

6. 上の棚を使ってください。そこに空きがあります。

   Use the top shelf; there is room there.

   上の

   top; upper

   棚

   shelf

   使ってください

   please use

   そこ

   there

   空き

   available space; room

   あります

   there is; exists

   More detail

   上の modifies the noun that follows it. Here, 上 conveys “upper/top,” and の links it to 棚. The reusable pattern A の B means “B related to A,” often translated as “B of A” or “A’s B” when that relationship is possessive. In this sentence, 上の棚 means “the top shelf.” 棚 is the noun “shelf.” Example: 本を棚に置きます。 — “I put a book on the shelf.” In that example, に marks the location or destination; it is not part of 棚. 使ってください is a polite request meaning “please use.” Its base verb is 使う (“use”); 使って is its て-form. The pattern V-てください politely asks someone to do V. Thus, 使ってください asks the listener to use something, without specifying duration or amount. そこ is a place demonstrative meaning “there.” Here it indicates the relevant place referred to in the utterance, matching “there” in the fixed translation. Japanese also has ここ (“here”) and あそこ (“over there”); the exact physical distance is not otherwise stated here. 空き is a noun meaning “available space” or “room” in this context. It refers to usable empty space, not to an unspecified object. The related verb 空く means “become empty” or “become available”; the observed 空き is the noun in 空きがあります. あります is the polite nonpast form of ある, used here to state that an inanimate thing or condition exists: “there is.” In 空きがあります, the available space is what exists. Its negative counterpart is ありません, “there is not.” Japanese generally uses いる rather than ある for people and animals. Together, 上の棚を使ってください means “Please use the top shelf”; を marks 上の棚 as the object of 使う. そこに空きがあります means “there is room there”: そこ identifies the place, に marks that place, and 空きがあります states that usable space exists. The complete utterance is “Use the top shelf; there is room there.”

7. あとで食べ物を出します。

   I will take my food out later.

   あとで

   later

   食べ物

   food

   出します

   take out

   More detail

   あとで means “later” and places the action at a later time. It can be used with many actions, for example: あとで電話します。 — “I’ll call later.” 食べ物 means “food,” literally the general category of things to eat. The form does not itself mark ownership, so the fixed translation’s “my” comes from the intended context rather than from a possessive word in this sentence. For explicit possession, Japanese can use a phrase such as 私の食べ物 (“my food”). 出します is the polite non-past form of 出す, “to take out,” “to put out,” or “to bring out.” Here, with food as the object, it means “take out the food.” The non-past form can refer to a future action when the context makes that clear; here あとで supplies that later-time reading. Its polite form is 出します; the plain form is 出す. For example: あとで本を出します。 — “I’ll take out the book later.” The particle を marks 食べ物 as the object of 出します: 食べ物を出します means “take out the food.” Japanese commonly leaves the subject unstated when it is understood; the fixed translation identifies the actor as the speaker. Together, あとで食べ物を出します。 means “I will take my food out later.”

8. それで、ほかの人のために場所を空けておけます。

   That keeps space open for other people.

   それで

   so; that way

   ほかの

   other

   人

   person; people

   ために

   for; for the sake of

   場所

   space; place

   空けておけます

   can keep open

   More detail

   それで means “so” or “that way” here, linking this result to the preceding situation. The word それ points to something already understood, and で makes it the means or circumstance: “with that” → “that way.” ほかの means “other” before a noun. ほか is the noun meaning “another one” or “else,” and の connects it attributively to the following noun. The phrase ほかの人 therefore means “other people.” Japanese does not mark plural on 人 here; the English plural comes from the intended meaning. 人 means “person” in this sentence and is read ひと. It can refer to one person or people generally, so number is supplied by context rather than by a special plural ending. For example, 人が来ました。 means “A person came” or “People came,” depending on context. ために expresses the purpose or beneficiary of an action: “for” or “for the sake of.” In ほかの人のために, the particle の links ほかの人 to ため, giving “for other people.” A useful pattern is Nのために V = “do V for N.” 場所 means “space” or “place.” Here it means available physical space, not a location being identified. For example, 場所を取る means “take up space.” 空けておけます contains the verb 空ける, “to make empty” or “to leave available,” followed by ておく and the polite potential ending. 空ける is transitive: someone makes space available. The ておく pattern presents an action as being done and left in that state, often in preparation. 空けておける means “can keep or leave open,” and 空けておけます is its polite form. This is different from 空く, “to become empty” or “to be vacant,” which describes the space itself becoming available. Together, 場所を空けておけます means “can keep space open”: 場所を marks the space affected by the transitive verb, and 空けておけます says that maintaining it as available is possible. The full pattern is それで、ほかの人のために場所を空けておけます。 — “That way, [someone] can keep space open for other people.” The sentence presents leaving the space available as a possible result or useful arrangement; it does not itself specify a particular number of other people.