猫に生まれてよかった !
= Neko ni umarete yokatta.
= We are very happy to have been born cats.
Hi everyone!
Today’s guest teachers are these precious cat teachers, Jinny and Sonia.
They are my angel buddies.
いいゲスト先生に来てもらってよかった！
= Ii gesuto sensei ni kite moratte yokatta!
= I am glad that we have great guest teachers.
*******
Hi! We are Jinny and Sonia.
Being cats is great! People love our fluffy fur. We can please people even just when we are sleeping.
In this lesson we will study the different usages of よかった ( = yokatta)
よい ( = yoi) / いい ( = ii) good, nice
past tense よかった ( = yokatta) was/were good
1) Something was good. / Doing something was good.
Ex. 「あの映画はよかったね。」
= Ano eiga wa yokatta ne.
= That movie was good, wasn’t it?
Ex. 「脚本はよかったけど、演技はひどかったなあ。」
= Kyakuhon wa yokatta kedo, engi ga hidokatta.
= I think the script was good, but the acting was horrible.
Ex. 昔はよかった。
= Mukashi wa yokatta.
= Things were better in old days.
Ex. 彼の歌、よかったね。
= Kare no uta, yokatta ne.
= His songs were really good, weren’t they?
Ex.「彼女のどこがよかったの？
= Kanojo no doko ga yokatta no?
= What did you like about her?
「性格がよかったんだ。」
= Seikaku ga yokattan da.
= I liked her personality.
Ex. 髪を短く切ったのはよかったが冬は寒い。
= Kami wo mijikaku kitta nowa yokatta ga fuyu wa samui.
= It was nice getting my hair cut short but I feel cold in winter.
Ex. 別の色を足したのがよかった。
= Betsu no iro wo tashita no ga yokatta.
= Adding another color worked.
2) When you express your happy feelings or relief.
Ex. 家に携帯を忘れてきたかと思ったらポケットに入って*た！よかった～！
= Ie ni keitai wo wasurete kita ka to omottara poketto ni haitteta! Yokatta~!
= I thought I left my cellphone at home, but it was in my pocket. Whew!
(In casual speech, you omit い ( = i). 入っていた ( = haitte ita) →入ってた ( = haitteta) )
Ex. よかった～！間に合った！
= Yokattaa! Maniatta!
= Whew, I made it on time.
Ex. ああ、よかった！同じクラスだね。
= Aah, yokatta! Onaji kurasu dane.
= Oh goodie! We are in the same class, aren’t we?
3) adjective/ noun て ( = te) / で ( = de) + よかった ( = yokatta) : It is OK with someone/something, certain condition. / It was good because ~
Ex. あのホテルは静かでよかった。
= Ano hoteru wa shizuka de yokatta.
= I liked that hotel because it was quiet.
= That hotel was nice and quiet.
Ex. 「これでよかった？」
= Kore de yokatta?
= Is this OK?
「うん、いいよ。」
= Un, iiyo.
= Yeah, that’s fine.
Ex. 会社の上司は優しくてよかった。
= Kaisha no joushi wa yasashiku te yokatta.
= I’m glad that my boss was nice at work.
Ex. いい天気でよかった。
＝ Ii tenki de yokatta.
= I am glad the weather is nice.
Maggie Sensei used to say:
Ex. 犬でよかった。
= Inu de yokatta.
= I am glad I am a dog.
Ex. 顔がきれいでよかった。 :)
= Kao ga kirei de yokatta.
= I am glad I have a pretty face.
4) verb て/で ( = te / de) + よかった ( = yokatta) : I am glad I did ~ / something happened.
Ex. 試験にやっと受かってよかった。
＝ Shiken ni yatto ukatte yokatta.
= I am glad that I finally passed the exam.
Ex. 生きて（い*）てよかった。
= Ikite (i) te yokatta.
= I love my life. / I’m glad to be alive. / I’m glad (someone else) is alive.
Note: Again, we tend to drop い ( = i) in conversation.
Ex. この会社に入れてよかった。
= Kono kaisha ni hairete yokatta.
= I am glad I got a job at this company.
Ex. Heddaに会えてよかった。
= Hedda ni aete yokatta.
= I am glad to have met Hedda.
Ex. 日本に行ってよかった。
= Nihon ni itte yokatta.
= I am glad I went to Japan.
Ex. 日本に行ってよかったですか？
= Nihon ni itte yokatta desuka?
= Are you happy that you went to Japan?
5) I am glad/happy that someone did something/ it happened: I am happy for you, him/her/them. / Good for someone
Ex. 元気になってよかったですね。
= Genki ni natte yokatta desu ne.
= I am happy that you are OK now.
Ex. お父さんに新しい車を買ってもらってよかったね。
= Otousan ni atarashii kuruma wo katte moratte yokatta ne.
= I am happy that your dad bought you a new car.
Ex. 財布、見つかってよかったですね。
= Saifu, mitsukatte yokatta desune.
= I am happy that you found the wallet.
Ex. 無事でよかった。
= Buji de yokatta.
= I am happy that he / she was / you / they were) safe. (nothing happened to you / him / her / them)
Ex. 私、今日来てよかったのかなあ。
= Watashi, kyou kite yokatta no kanaa.
= I wonder if it was OK for me to come today.
Ex. 「マギー先生、１級の試験に受かりました。」
= Maggie sensei, ikkyuu no shiken ni ukarimashita.
= Maggie Sensei. I passed the level 1 test.
「それはよかったですね。」
= Sore wa yokatta desune.
= I am very happy for you.
(more casual)
「よかったね。」
= Yokatta ne.
= Yay! Good for you!
6) When you express your regrets for not doing something.: I should have done something / It would have been good if ~
(1) verb ば ( = ba)* + よかった ( = yokatta)
* verb ば ( = ba) verb conditional form
Ex. 試験に落ちちゃった。もっと勉強すればよかったなあ。
= Shiken ni ochichatta. Motto benkyou sureba yokattanaa.
= I failed the exam. I should have studied more.
Ex. 夏休みにみんなと北海道に行けばよかった。
= Natsuyasumi ni minna to Hokkaidou ni ikeba yokatta.
= I should have gone to Hokkaido with everyone over summer vacation.
Ex. 留学先は、神戸にすればよかった。
= Ryuugakusaki wa, Koube ni sureba yokatta.
= I should have gone to Kobe to study Japanese.
Ex. 私もパンケーキを頼めばよかった。
= Watashi mo pankeiki wo tanomeba yokatta.
= I should have ordered the pancakes, too.
Ex. お腹すいたなあ。家を出る前になんか食べておけばよかった。
= Onaka suitanaa. Ie wo deru mae ni nanka tabete okeba yokatta.
= I am hungry. I should have eaten something before I left home.
Ex. もっと早くマギー先生に聞けばよかった。
= Motto hayaku Maggie sensei ni kikeba yokatta.
= I should have asked Maggie Sensei earlier.
Ex. あんなこと彼に言わなければよかった。
= Anna koto kare ni iwanakereba yokatta.
= I shouldn’t have said such a thing to him.
Ex. また、太っちゃった。ケーキ食べなきゃよかった。
= Mata, futocchatta. Keiki tabenakya yokatta.
= I put on weight again. I shouldn’t have eaten the cake.
Note: 食べなければ (=tabenakereba) →casual contraction 食べなきゃ ( = tabenakya)
7) When you tell someone what they should have done. / I wish someone had done something
verb ば ( = ba) * + よかった ( = yokatta) + のに ( = noni)
verb ば ( = ba) verb conditional form
Ex. 昨日の飲み会楽しかったよ。直人も来ればよかったのに。
= Kinou no nomikai tanoshikatta yo. Naoto mo kureba yokatta noni.
= The drinking party was a blast. You should have come, Naoto.
Ex.もっと早く言ってくれればよかったのに。
= Motto hayaku itte kurereba yokatta noni.
= You should have told me earlier.
Ex. 一人で行けばよかったのに。
= Hitori de ikeba yokatta noni.
= You should have gone there by yourself.
Ex. 道に迷ったら、その辺にいる人に聞けばよかったのに。
= Michi ni mayottara, sono hen ni iru hito ni kikeba yokatta noni.
= When you got lost, you should have asked someone around there.
Note: When you complain or give someone a suggestion for the present situation, you use いいのに ( = iinoni)
Go check のに ( = noni) lesson.
**********
マギー先生より= Maggie sensei yori = From Maggie Sensei
Jinny先生、Sonia先生、ありがとう！
= Jinny Sensei, Sonia Sensei, arigatou!
= Thank you, Jinny Sensei and Sonia Sensei.
私にはそんなに後悔がありません。
= Watashi niwa sonnani koukai ga arimasen.
= I don’t have so many regrets.
好きなことをして毎日過ごしました。
= Sukina koto wo shite mainichi sugoshimashita.
= I spent my days doing things I enjoyed.
でも、もっと猫と仲良くすればよかったかな。
= Demo, motto neko to nakayoku sureba yokatta kana.
= But maybe I should have been friendlier towards cats.
***
Could you be my Patron?
I appreciate your support! サポートありがとう！
28 Comments
Hello Maggie Sensei,
I have a question :
I have seen this sentence: ごはんを食べたり、お茶を飲んだりしてもよかったです
What does てもよかったです mean here in this context ?
Thank you for your answer.
Best regards.
Léo
Hi Léo,
てもよかったです means “It was OK to do something”
So →It was OK to have a meal, drink tea and etc.
マギー先生ありがとうございます！ One example is “もっと早く言ってくれればよかったのに” Why are there two れ?
My understanding is
言ってくる＝to tell me
言ってくれば=if you tell me
言ってくればよかったのに=if you told me it would have been good/You should have told me
こんにちはオリブ
言ってくれば and 言ってくれれば are different.
言う
te-form 言って
言ってくる to come to someone and say something
conditional form with ば →言ってくれば If you come to tell me
（You also use the conditional form with たら →言ってきたら)
言ってくれる to say something for the speaker/writer
conditional form with ば → 言ってくれれば If you say something for me
（（You also use the conditional form with たら →言ってくれたら)
If you want to learn more about the conditional form check my ば lesson.
Hello Maggie. I have two kinda stupid questions. What’s the difference between saying これでよかった？ and これでよい？
And then what’s the difference between …てよかった and …て嬉しい? Do both translate to “I’m glad …”?
Hello Meg,
They are not stupid questions at all.
これでよかった？ the past tense (For example, 1) you already bought something and show it to someone, Do you like it? Are you happy with this one? 2) You decided something and ask someone if it was OK with him/her.
これでいい？ （You usually say いい in conversation) 1) You are showing something to someone now and asking that person, Is this OK? / Do you like this one? 2) You are deciding what to do and ask someone if that idea is OK. )
Vてよかった I am happy/glad that I did ~. (You are talking about your own action.)
Vて嬉しい I am happy that someone did/does something for you / I am happy that something happened to you.
Sorry sensei, I made typo in my previous comment.
I’d like to correc it
Maggie sensei,
I’d like to ask the ばよかったのに。
Can we use ばよかったのに to talk about ourselves (not the others)?
In details, is it possible to change this sentence
留学先は、神戸にすればよかった。
= I should have gone to Kobe to study Japanese.
into ばのに
留学先は、神戸にすればよかったのに。
How does the meaning with ばよかったのに change , in compare with ばよかたった。
My next question is how is the tone we use to talk in ばよかったsentence.
Is the tone down or up?
When you talk about your own regret, you don’t use のに.
〜神戸にすればよかった。(Your own regret) I should have studied in Kobe. (The tones goes down)
〜神戸にすればよかったのに (Talking about someone else) You should have studied in Kobe.
Thank you sensei !
I understand them.
Maggie sensei,
I’d like to ask the ばよかったのに。
Can we use ばよかった to talk about ourselves (not the others)?
In details, is it possible to change this sentence
留学先は、神戸にすればよかった。
= I should have gone to Kobe to study Japanese.
into ばのに
留学先は、神戸にすればよかったのに。
How does the meaning with ばよかったのに change , in compare with ばよかたった。
My next question is how is the tone we use to talk in ばよかったsentence.
Is the tone down or up?
little mistake with Otouasn , should be Otousan xD
Thank you for spotting the typo. I fixed it. It would be hard to pronounce, “Otouasn”. 😅
Please tell me difference about すればいいなあandすればよかった
@Karan
すればいいな wishing for some future event / I hope ~
すればよかった expressing one’s regret / I should have done
Thank you very much Maggie Sensei! You’re a great teacher!!
@Rafael
ありがとう！ YOU ARE GREAT! !onpu!
Hi, firstly I wanna thank you for all those lessond you have made so far, it is incredibly helpful. !JYANE!
In one book of japanese grammar I found written that the same thing as conditional ba+yokatta/ii can also be expressed using conditional tara+ii/yokatta but so far I have not seen the second possibility so often, so I wanna ask if it is better to stick with conditional ba?
So if I get it right, for example if I wanted to say “If only I had told my mother” it would be: お母さんに言ったらよかった ＝お母さんに言えばよかった and “If only I could swim” would be : 泳げたらいいな＝泳げればいいな? Thanks in advance.
@Robulko
Hi Robulko
Thank you for your kind words. :)
Yes, you can also say お母さんに言ったらよかった・泳げたらいいな
マギー先生、今日先生のサイトを見つけてよかった！＾＿＾
@レベッカ
レベッカが私のサイトを見つけてくれてよかった！ :)
完璧ですね！いつも教えてくれてありがとうございます。マギー先生、回転寿司に行く時は店員さんは「１００円のお皿とか、２００円のお器とか」と言いますね。食器の言葉を教えてくれればよかった。 !SUSHI!!
@Renner Abreu
こんにちは、Renner!
皿 = a place, you put food on it.
器 = a general name for a container, you put food (or not food) in it.
でも回転寿しだと器だとちょっと深いもの、皿は浅いものをさすと思います。
Much appreciated
@Vince
どういたしまして！ :)
I have a question. When you say :
いい天気でよかった。could it also means “I was glad/it was good that the weather was nice.” I am asking that because I am trying to understand why あのホテルは静かでよかった。translates into “I liked that hotel because it was quiet”.
I guess the tense of the verbs depends on the context. Like, for 犬でよかった。it is obvious you would never say “It was good that I was a dog.”
Thank you for your lessons!
@Vince
いい天気でよかった could be “I’m/I was glad it was nice weather.” but you usually include time related word which represents past such as “昨日・あの日は、先週の日曜日は, etc.”
あのホテルは静かでよかった obviously indicates the past because it uses “あのホテル” looking back the past.
As for the verb tense, you may want to check my tense lessons.
Part 1
Part 2
I missed your lessons.. they keep me alive :donuts:
@Roro
よかった〜！！ :)