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April 1, 2021

真犯人 The Real Culprit in Japanese – Upper Beginner – Japanese Listening Practice

This video was made to explain one of our recent Instagram posts. Follow us on Instagram for (mostly) daily fun Japanese posts like this.

真犯人(しんはんにん)(ねこ)でした

真【しん】 (real)⁠
犯人【はんにん】 (offender; culprit; criminal)⁠
は as for... (topic marker)⁠
猫【ねこ】⁠
でした was [past of です]⁠

Listen to the audio and refer to the transcript below

こんにちは。由美(ゆみ)です。 Instagram に「真犯人(しんはんにん)(ねこ)でした」という(ぶん)()せました。これを解説(かいせつ)してみたいと(おも)います。

犯人(はんにん)という言葉(ことば)は、(みな)さん、()ってますよね。(なに)(わる)いことをして警察(けいさつ)(つか)まるような(ひと)(つか)まった(ひと)犯人(はんにん)()います。真犯人(しんはんにん)という言葉(ことば)は、犯人(はんにん)(あたま)(しん)がついています。(しん)というのは、本当(ほんとう)のとか、真実(しんじつ)の、という意味(いみ)ですから、真犯人(しんはんにん)というと、本当(ほんとう)犯人(はんにん)真実(しんじつ)犯人(はんにん)という意味(いみ)になります。

(うそ)ではない、ニセモノではない犯人(はんにん)という意味(いみ)です。

この言葉(ことば)は、推理小説(すいりしょうせつ)やテレビドラマで使(つか)われますけれども、犯人(はんにん)らしい(ひと)犯人(はんにん)かもしれないなという(ひと)何人(なんにん)かいて、その(なか)一人(ひとり)(ひと)、あなたが真犯人(しんはんにん)でした!という(かん)じで使(つか)われます。

Aさんが犯人(はんにん)だと(おも)っていたのに、本当(ほんとう)犯人(はんにん)真犯人(しんはんにん)はあなたです。こういう(かん)じですね。普通(ふつう)会話(かいわ)であんまり真犯人(しんはんにん)という言葉(ことば)使(つか)わないんですけれども、テレビ番組(ばんぐみ)小説(しょうせつ)()てきますから、(おぼ)えておいてください。

インスタに()せた「真犯人(しんはんにん)(ねこ)でした」という(ぶん)から、もしかすると、(ねこ)ではない(ひと)、か、(いぬ)なんかが犯人(はんにん)として(つか)まってしまった可能性(かのうせい)があります。真犯人(しんはんにん)という言葉(ことば)(おぼ)えておいてください。

由美(ゆみ)でした。バイバーイ。

Hello. I'm Yumi. I put this sentence on Instagram "The real culprit was a cat". I'd like to explain this.

You all know the word "criminal", don't you? A person who does something wrong and gets caught by the police, or a person who has been caught, is called "hannin". The word "true criminal" has "shin" at the beginning of "hannin". The word "shin" means "real" or "true," so the word "shinhannin" means a real criminal or a true criminal.

It means it isn't a lie or a fake criminal.

This word is used in mystery novels and TV dramas when there are several people who seem to be the culprit or who might be the culprit, and one of them, you, You are the real culprit! It is used in that sense.

 "I thought that Mr. A was the culprit, but the real culprit is you. It's like this. The word "shinhannin" is not often used in ordinary conversation, but it does appear in TV programs and novels, so please keep it in mind.

From the sentence "The real culprit was a cat" that we put on our Instagram, it is possible that a non-cat person or a dog or something was caught as the culprit. Please remember the word "shinhannin".

This was Yumi. Bye bye.

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