Does this bus go to…? — when the map app lies

Ask this bus, then the next color. Press before the name passes.

In this lesson you will

• Ask このバスは〜に行きますか
• Catch a number and 何分待ちますか
• Ask where the stop button is and how to name the stop

Today’s scene

How it works

The scene is the pole, not a chart of every Kyoto number. このバスは清水寺に行きますか pins this bus. The answer may be いいえ、次の青いバスです — not this one, the next blue one. Color and 次 do as much work as a number.

何番ですか asks the number. 二百六号です. 号 often sits on bus numbers. 何分待ちますか is wait time, not ride time. かかる was the ride. 待つ is the pole.

ICカードは使えます reuses the train’s 使えます. 降りのボタンはどこですか — where is the getting-off button. 席の横です. Then the name: 清水寺、降りますと言いますか. と言いますか asks “do I say it like this?”

はい。停車します is the driver’s or the local’s promise: it will stop. In many cities you press, and the machine announces. In some small buses you still say the name. This scene teaches both without turning into a manual.

The app put a blue dot on this pole. The bus opening its doors might be going to the depot. This lesson is one conversation before you get on. We will not print a Kyoto number table. If you can pin このバス, hear 次の青いバス, and find the button, you can ride in another city tomorrow.

このバスは清水寺に行きますか. Same spine as この電車は〜に停まりますか, different verb. A bus route “goes to.” A train “stops at.” If you mix them, people still understand. If you keep them, you sound like you live here. に marks the place as a destination.

いいえ、次の青いバスです. 次 and a color may arrive before a number. Japanese buses are often painted like teams. Look up. 何番ですか pulls the number. 二百六号です. 号 is common on buses. You may also hear にひゃくろく. Numbers at speed are hard. Ask もう一度お願いします. That line has earned its rent since the IC gate.

何分待ちますか is the pole question. 八分です. If you ask 何分かかりますか here, they may tell you the ride to the temple, which is a different clock. Ride time can wait until you are sitting: 何分ぐらいかかりますか, from the platform lesson.

ICカードは使えます. In many cities you tap on, tap off, or tap once. Watch the person in front. 前のドアから乗ってください / 降りてください will come as てください. Pay when they pay. Some buses are 一区切り — a flat fare. Some want coins in a machine. The Japanese to ask is 現金ですか、ICですか if you are unsure. Do not freeze in the door.

降りのボタンはどこですか. City buses often need a press or they skip your stop. 席の横です. 名前を聞いてください — listen for the name. The machine will say 次は〜. If it is a small bus without a machine, 清水寺、降ります is you naming the stop. Mina checks the script: と言いますか — “do I say it like that?” Good. Staff and locals will correct the script more kindly than they will correct a silent miss.

はい。停車します. 停車します is “it will come to a stop.” Trust it, then stand before the stop, not after the doors open for someone else.

終点です means last stop. Get off. 乗り過ごしました — I rode past — is a useful confession to the driver. どこで降りればいいですか uses the ばいいですか from the camera button. We will not add it to the dialogue. You may keep it in your pocket.

Do not block the step to have a long talk. Ask the waiting person, as Mina does, or the driver if the door is open and they nod. Do not shout from the back. Do not use おい、バス.

Korean speakers: 이 버스 가요? is the cousin. Japanese wants このバスは and ますか. Chinese speakers: 几路 is 何番. 号／路 both appear. English speakers: “Does this go to…” is 行きますか, not 停まりますか, on a bus. Spanish speakers: 待ちます is wait. 八分です can be wait or ride depending on the question you asked. Ask cleanly.

Practice pointing at a passing car: このバスは〜に行きますか, then 次のです. Then mime a button: 降ります. Next we return to the airport as a person leaving — tax refund, stamps, and a boarding pass on the counter.

Front door on, back door off — or the reverse — is local law. Watch the first three passengers. てください will confirm it if you ask どこから乗りますか. We kept the dialogue at the pole so you would not learn a whole vehicle before you learned このバス. Once you are on, sit, listen for the name, press early. Pressing at the last second is how you ride to 終点.

Night buses and highway buses are another species: reserved seats, a ticket with a time. このバスは〜に行きますか still works at the rest stop if two coaches sit together. The number may be a company name. Point at your paper. これですか.

If the waiting person does not know, thank them and ask the driver when the door opens. Drivers have heard this question more than they have heard your country name. 清水寺に行きますか. Yes or no. If no, they may say 次, or they may point at the pole behind you. Walk.

Malay and Indonesian speakers: 番 and 号 both mark numbers. Do not freeze on which counter word they chose. The digits are the news. German speakers: 待ちます is wait. 降ります is get off. Two verbs, two times. Arabic readers: color words 青い, 赤い, 緑 will show up before the number. Look at the bus, not only at the app.

When you press and the chime sounds, you have finished the scene. Stand. 降ります if the driver is looking at you on a small bus. On a city bus the chime is enough. Get off. The temple is a walk from here. You already have left and right from travel-07. Use them.

If you miss the stop, 乗り過ごしました at the front is enough. The driver may say 次で降りてください or name a walk back. わかりました. Do not perform despair. Buses go in loops more often than your app admits. The same このバスは行きますか will get you home if you change the place name to the hotel. One question, two directions, still one mouth.

Rain changes poles. People cluster and the number on the arriving bus is harder to see. Ask anyway. 二百六号ですか. A yes/no on a number is faster than a full 行きますか if you already know the number from the waiting person. Both questions are this scene. Use the shorter one when the door is open and the line is moving.

This bus

このバスは〜に行きますか。
いいえ、次の青いバスです。
何番ですか。→ 二百六号です。

Wait, pay, get off

何分待ちますか。
降りのボタンはどこですか。
〜、降ります。

Sentences you can use

Close, but not this

OK このバスは清水寺に行きますか。
NG 清水寺、行くバス？

The broken line is understandable and rude-casual. Pin このバス and finish with ますか.

OK 何分待ちますか。
NG 何分かかりますか。

かかる is the ride. At the pole you are waiting. 待つ.

Say it out loud

You will leave Japan with receipts in a bag. Next is the airport again, but the other direction: tax refund — stamp, counter, boarding pass. Still one queue, still です/ます.

Write one sentence today