Hello, this is Miyabi.
Have you watched the latest YouTube video I posted recently?
It’s part of the “Learning Japanese Through Stories” series.
In this article, I’ll provide some supplemental explanations for that video. Of course, you’re welcome to learn just by watching the video, but the aim of this post is to help you deepen your understanding through additional commentary.
Ideally, as you watch various videos on my channel, I’d like you to start picking up on the nuances of Japanese naturally—like, “Oh, can this word be used this way?” or “Maybe this phrase carries this kind of nuance?”
However, since my upload schedule isn’t very frequent right now, I’m writing these explanations for those of you who want to grasp the meanings a little more quickly.
If you haven’t seen the video yet, you can watch it here:
Key Words from the Video
Key Words from the Video
This time, the word “nagai” (long), which you may have picked up on intuitively in a previous videoappears again in a conversational context.
↓previous video here
If you’re a beginner in Japanese, I wanted you to be able to catch these words:
- 長い (nagai / long)
- へび (hebi / snake)
- ぞう (zou / elephant)
- 鼻 (hana / nose)
- きりん (kirin / giraffe)
- 首 (kubi / neck)
Some of these animal names also appeared in a vocabulary-focused video I made earlier:
So for “zou” and “kirin,” this is the second time they’ve come up.
If you were able to catch and understand the meanings of those words, then congratulations—
you’ve achieved the main goal of this video!
That’s the end of today’s lesson!
For Intermediate and Advanced Learners:
For Intermediate and Advanced Learners:
Let me add a little bonus explanation for you.
● About the use of “さん san” with animals:
In the video, both “Yuu-kun” and his mother refer to the giraffe and elephant as “きりんさん kirin-san” and “ぞうさん zou-san.”
The honorific “さん san” is commonly used for people, and when applied to animals, it gives a somewhat childlike tone.
If you want to sound more mature or intellectual, it’s better not to use “-san” for animals.
● About the song lyrics in the video:
There’s a children’s song featured in the video that includes the giraffe.
Here are the lyrics:
きりん さん きりん さん どうして おくび が ながい の？
あっち の おやま も みたい し
こっち の おやま も みたい し
だから おくび が ながい の
“Kirin-san, Kirin-san, doushite okubi ga nagai no?
Acchi no oyama mo mitai shi
Kocchi no oyama mo mitai shi
Dakara okubi ga nagai no”
“どうして〜の？Doushite ~ no?” is a casual way of asking “Why ~?”
This expression is very common in spoken Japanese, often used with “の no?” at the end.
However, Japanese people also like to keep things short in conversation, so you’ll hear “なぜ naze” used a lot too.
Both “なぜ naze” and “どうして doushite” mean “why.”
In more polite language, the sentence ends with “ですか desu ka.”
A Little Quiz for Intermediate and Advanced Learners
Let’s try converting “どうして 首が 長いの？Doushite kubi ga nagai no?” into polite form!
(Think before reading ahead to challenge yourself.)
But before revealing the answer, let’s take a look at the expression “お首 okubi.”
You might think “お首 okubi” sounds polite, but native Japanese speakers almost never use this term.
It may be a form of baby talk or an old-fashioned word—I’m not entirely sure myself.
However, it doesn’t sound odd in something like a historical drama, so it’s likely old-fashioned.
Quiz Answer
Okay, here’s the answer to the earlier quiz:
How do we politely say “Why is the neck long?”
Possible correct answers:
- どうして首が長い の ですか？Doushite kubi ga nagai no desu ka?
- どうして首が長い ん ですか？Doushite kubi ga nagain desu ka?
The first is more suitable for writing, and the second is more natural in speech.
If you came up with “どうして首が長い ですか？Doushite kubi ga nagai desu ka?”, that’s also grammatically correct and acceptable for beginner to intermediate learners.
However, native speakers might feel it sounds a bit awkward or unnatural.
Adding “の no” (or “ん”) makes the sentence feel more natural and native-like.
This may be influenced by old Japanese forms such as:
- “どうして首が長いのだ？Doushite kubi ga nagai no da?”
- “どうして首が長いのであろう？Doushite kubi ga nagai no de arou?”
We don’t say “長いだ nagai da?”—that’s incorrect.
It must be “長いのだ nagai no da?”, with “の no” included.
If you’ve studied Japanese grammar, especially adjective types like “イ形容詞(い けいようし)i-adjectives” and “(ナ形容詞(な けいようし)na-adjectives,” this might ring a bell.
By the way, even though Japanese language schools teach terms like “i-adjective” and “na-adjective,”
most native Japanese people have never heard of them!
These grammar terms are mainly used by teachers who teach Japanese as a foreign language.
Native Japanese speakers naturally pick up correct usage by listening and speaking.
So I recommend listening to as much Japanese as possible and learning the patterns naturally through exposure.
That wraps up today’s explanation!
