Moving House

1. Vocabulary List

Japanese	Romaji	English
トラック	torakku	truck
たのむ / 頼む（たのむ）	tanomu	to ask; to request; to rely on
あいさつ / 挨拶（あいさつ）	aisatsu	greetings
れいぞうこ	reizōko	fridge / refrigerator
そうじ	sōji	cleaning
引っこし屋（ひっこしや）	hikkoshi-ya	moving company
引っこし（ひっこし）	hikkoshi	move (the act of moving house)
手伝い（てつだい）	tetsudai	help / assistance
近所の人（きんじょのひと）	kinjo no hito	neighbours
そば	soba	soba (buckwheat noodles)
後（あと）	ato	after
運び終わる（はこびおわる）	hakobi owaru	to finish moving / to finish carrying

When you drop ます from a verb (masu-form), it becomes a noun.

Verb (masu-form)	Meaning	Noun	Meaning
引っこします	to move	引っこし	move
手伝います	to help	手伝い	help

Usage: Add 屋 to a noun to mean a company or shop. 引っこし屋 = moving company.

Structure: [Reason clause] + から、[Result clause]
Key Phrase: トラックが来たから、はこを持って行きます。(Torakku ga kita kara, hako o motte ikimasu.) — "Because the truck has arrived, we'll take out the boxes."

Japanese	Romaji	English
友だちにたのみます。	Tomodachi ni tanomimasu.	I rely on my friends.
友だちに引っこしの手伝いをたのみます。	Tomodachi ni hikkoshi no tetsudai o tanomimasu.	I asked my friends to help me move.
大きい物は引っこし屋にたのみます。	Ōkii mono wa hikkoshi-ya ni tanomimasu.	For the large items, I'll rely on the moving company.
しょうたさんは引っこし屋でアルバイトをします。	Shōta-san wa hikkoshi-ya de arubaito o shimasu.	Shouta works part-time at a moving company.
トラックにはこを運びます。	Torakku ni hako o hakobimasu.	We carry boxes to the truck.
はことれいぞうこをトラックで運びます。	Hako to reizōko o torakku de hakobimasu.	We'll transport the boxes and the fridge by truck.

Used to describe what happens after a given event or noun.

Structure: [Noun] + の後、[Result clause]
Key Phrase: あいさつの後、引っこしを始めます。(Aisatsu no ato, hikkoshi o hajimemasu.) — "After greeting each other, we will start moving."

Japanese	Romaji	English
朝起きたらあいさつをします。	Asa okitara aisatsu o shimasu.	I'll greet them when I wake up in the morning.
近所の人にあいさつに行きます。	Kinjo no hito ni aisatsu ni ikimasu.	I'll go and greet my neighbours.

Used to express that another action will take place after completing something.

Structure: [Verb te-form stem] + 終わったら、[next action]
Key Phrase: はこをぜんぶ運び終わったら、そうじします。(Hako o zenbu hakobi owattara, sōji shimasu.) — "I'll clean when I've finished moving all the boxes."

Topic: Moving day — vocabulary, customs, and connecting actions with reasons and sequence
Key Structures: Verb noun formation (dropping ます); から (reason); noun + の後 (after); 〜終わったら (after finishing)
Cultural Note: 引っこしそば — In Japan, people traditionally gave soba noodles to new neighbours on moving day. そば also means "close/near", and long noodles represent a long relationship. Today many people simply eat soba themselves on moving day.