JR, subway, transfer — asking if this train stops at your station

One train, one stop. Ask if it actually stands there.

In this lesson you will

• Ask この電車は〜に停まりますか
• Catch 乗り換えてください and ask 乗り換えはどこですか
• Ask how many minutes and whether the IC card is enough

Today’s scene

How it works

The scene is the platform, not a diagram of all JR lines. この電車は下北沢に停まりますか pins this train, this station. 停まります is “stop (at).” 行きます is “go (to).” Staff may answer 停まりません, then give you the change: 渋谷で乗り換えてください.

乗り換えはどこですか asks for the place of the change, not the philosophy of the network. Answers come as 改札を出て plus a line name. 井の頭線です is a complete です sentence. 地下です tells you to go down.

何分ぐらいかかりますか is “about how many minutes does it take?” ぐらいは softens the number. 十五分です is the landing. ICカードで大丈夫ですか checks the fare system, not your life.

JR, subway, and private lines share this talk. The company name is a noun you point at. The grammar does not change when the color of the train changes.

The map app is confident. The train in front of you might be an express that skips your stop. This lesson is one conversation on a platform, not a poster of JR, Tokyo Metro, Toei, and every private color. We stay with this train, this staff member, this transfer.

Open the dialogue before the examples. Mina does not ask “how does the Tokyo train system work?” She asks この電車は下北沢に停まりますか. この電車 is the object in front of her nose. に marks the station as a landing point. 停まりますか is the polite question form of “stop.” If you only say 下北沢、行きますか, a kind staff member may hear “are you going in that direction” and say yes while the train still sails past Shimokitazawa. Stopping is the fact you need.

The answer here is いいえ、停まりません。渋谷で乗り換えてください. Two sentences, one plan. で marks Shibuya as the place of the action 乗り換え. てください is the same request shape as the hotel and the gate. You are being sent, politely.

She checks the current train: 渋谷まで行きますか. まで is “as far as,” from beginner-16. Good. 次の次です means the station after next. Japanese counts remaining stops with 次 more often than with a big number. Listen for 次, 二つ目, 三つ目. If you only listen for the place name, you will miss the count.

乗り換えはどこですか is the walk question. In this scene the answer is 改札を出て、井の頭線です. Leave the ticket gate, then the Inokashira Line. 出て is て-form again. Line names are nouns plus です. You do not need to explain what a 線 is. You need to walk toward the sign. 地下です may come next. Down.

何分ぐらいかかりますか asks for duration. かかる is the verb for time or money that “takes.” ぐらい softens it to “about.” 十五分です lands it. Do not add 待ちます unless you mean waiting, not riding. If you want the wait until the train comes, 何分待ちますか is a different question. We will need that at the bus stop in travel-13.

ICカードで大丈夫ですか is a fare-system check. After you exit a JR gate and enter a private line, the same card usually still works. Asking is allowed. はい、大丈夫です closes it. If they say 切符が必要です, you buy. The grammar did not fail. The network just asked for paper.

You will also hear 各駅停車, 急行, 快速. Those are types, not grammar. 各駅停車ですか is a clean yes/no if the train looks too sleek. If they say 急行です, return to どこに停まりますか or name your station again. Do not collect every type as if it were a Pokémon. Collect the question that pins this train.

JR is a company group. The subway is other companies. Travelers say “the train” in English for all of it. Japanese staff will say 電車, 地下鉄, 線. You can say 電車 for the thing with doors in front of you. Precision comes from the station name, not from a lecture.

Do not block the door to have this talk. Step to the staff by the stairs, as Mina does. Do not shout from inside the car. Do not use お前, こっち, or anime conductor bits. Platform Japanese is short and polite.

Korean speakers: 환승 is 乗り換え. The verb you will say is 乗り換えてください when you repeat their plan, or 乗り換えたいです when you state a wish. Chinese speakers: 换乘 is the idea; 乗り換える is the Japanese verb. The 換 kanji will look familiar. The spoken word will not be Mandarin. English speakers: “transfer” is one word. Japanese splits the place (乗り換えはどこ) from the action (渋谷で乗り換えて). Spanish speakers: 分 is minutes, not “from.” 十五分です is a complete answer.

Say the first question at home while pointing at a chair, as if the chair were a train. Then ask the transfer question. Two lines, in that order, are enough to keep you off the wrong express. Next we take the same すみません into a convenience store, where the questions come at you from the register.

Stand where Mina stands: beside the stairs, not in the door. The open door is a clock. Staff would rather answer you on the platform than pull you out of a packed car. If the train is already closing, let it go. 次のです — the next one — is a full plan. You learned 次 at this platform. Spend it.

Company names will pile up: JR, Tokyo Metro, Toei, Keio, Odakyu. Travelers treat them as one “train.” Staff treat them as different wallets that happen to share an IC tap. When they say 改札を出て, they mean you may be leaving one wallet and entering another. The card usually still works. The walk is the new work. Follow the color of the line they named, not the color you liked on the app.

If you did not catch the line name, もう一度お願いします, then 何線ですか. 線 is the line. You do not need to know 井の頭 before you hear it. You need to hear it twice and walk. Writing it in your phone is allowed. Standing in the flow of commuters to type a novel is not.

Hindi and Arabic readers: station names in kanji will look like a wall. The staff’s mouth is still a mouth. Repeat the name they said: 渋谷で乗り換えてください. Repeating is not rudeness here. It is how you keep the plan. Portuguese speakers: 分 is minutes. 十五分です does not need a verb. French speakers: do not translate “correspondance” into a long Japanese sentence. 乗り換えはどこですか is the whole ask.

A last habit: when you sit, look at the LED or the paper map above the door for the next station. 次 is written there more often than you think. The platform question bought you the right train. The car will finish the count if you keep your eyes up. That is still this scene, not a new chapter.

This train, that stop

この電車は〜に停まりますか。
はい、次の次です。 / いいえ、停まりません。
〜で乗り換えてください。

The change

乗り換えはどこですか。
何分ぐらいかかりますか。
ICカードで大丈夫ですか。

Sentences you can use

Close, but not this

OK この電車は下北沢に停まりますか。
NG 下北沢、行く？

行く？ is casual and vague. A train can “go toward” a place and skip you. Ask 停まりますか.

OK 乗り換えはどこですか。
NG どの線が一番すごいですか。

Staff are not a podcast. Ask for the next walk.

Say it out loud

You can ride. You will also get hungry on the way to the hotel. Next is the convenience store: heat, chopsticks, bag, and the register questions that arrive before you have chosen a face.

Write one sentence today