Write the same message to a close friend and to a teacher, choosing a suitable tone for each.
The idea
With a close friend, plain forms such as 遅れる and 行けない and a request like 教えてくれる？ can sound natural. For a teacher, use polite endings such as 遅れます and 行けません; 教えてください makes a polite request. ごめん and すみません offer casual and polite apologies respectively.
Examples
- 明日、少し遅れる。I’ll be a little late tomorrow.
- 明日、少し遅れます。I will be a little late tomorrow.
- ごめん、今日は行けない。Sorry, I can’t go today.
- すみません、今日は行けません。I’m sorry, I cannot come today.
- 時間を教えてくれる？Can you tell me the time?
- 時間を教えてください。Please tell me the time.
Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.
No Japanese device voice is available. You can still read the text and use the linked listening resources.
Watch out
The relationship and situation matter: even friends may need a more careful message, and a teacher may call for more formality than these basic examples. Do not switch randomly between plain and polite endings within one short message.
Try it yourself
先生へ：明日、少し＿。（遅れる／遅れます）
Show answer or example answer
遅れます
遅れます is the polite form appropriate to the teacher in this exercise.
親しい友達へ：＿、今日は行けない。（ごめん／すみません）
Show answer or example answer
ごめん
ごめん is the casual apology suited to this close friend.
先生へ：時間を教えて＿。（くれる／ください）
Show answer or example answer
ください
ください makes the request polite; くれる is a casual choice here.
親しい友達へ：明日、少し＿。（遅れる／遅れます）
Show answer or example answer
遅れる
遅れる is the plain form suited to the close friend.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Japanese sentences where available. We keep your score.
先生へ：明日、少し＿。（遅れる／遅れます）
親しい友達へ：＿、今日は行けない。（ごめん／すみません）
先生へ：時間を教えて＿。（くれる／ください）
親しい友達へ：明日、少し＿。（遅れる／遅れます）
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Write two messages saying you will be late and asking for the time: one to a close friend, one to a teacher. Check the apology, request and endings for a consistent tone.