Easy Japanese Chapter 2

Easy Japanese Chapter 2

[Sentences to Memorize]

1. わたしはがくせいです。
Watashi wa gakusei desu.
I am a student.

2. あなたはだいがくせいですか?
Anata wa daigakusei desu ka?
Are you a college student?

3. ほんださんはせんせいですか?
Honda-san wa sensei desu ka?
Is Honda-san a teacher?

- はい、そうです。Hai, sou desu. - Yes he/she is.
- いいえ、ちがいます。Iie, chigaimasu. - No he/she isn't.

4. これわじしょです。
Kore wa jisho desu.
This is a dictionary.

5. それはなんですか?
Sore wa nan desu ka?
What is that?

6. あれはびょういんですか?
Are wa byouin desu ka?
Is that over there a hospital?

7. わたしとあきらくんはともだちです。
Watashi to Akira-kun wa tomodachi desu.
Akira-kun and I are friends.

[Words For This Lesson]

わたし - watashi - I
あなた - anata - You
ほんだ - Honda - Family name
すずき - Suzuki - Family name
けいこ - Keiko - Female name
あきら - Akira - Male name
-さん - san - Attached after person's name to be polite
-くん - kun - Normally attached after boy's name
がくせい - gakusei - Student
だいがくせい - dai gakusei - College student
こうこうせい - koukousei - High school student
せんせい - sensei - Teacher, used after teacher's name (Ex. Suzuki-sensei)
がっこう - gakkou - School
びょういん - byouin - Hospital (Be careful not to mix up with 'biyouin' meaning beauty parlor).
ほん - hon - Book
まんが - manga - Comic, manga
じしょ - jisho - Dictionary
ともだち - tomodachi - Friend
これ - kore - This
それ - sore - That
あれ - are - That over there
は - wa - Focus marker, shows focus of the sentance (When は is used as a marker, then it is pronunced 'wa', not 'ha' like it normally would.
と - to - And, with
か - ka - Marks a question
の - no - show's relation of two objects (Ex. Keiko-san no hon--->Keiko's book)
なに/なん - nani/nan - What (Before 'desu', 'nani' becomes 'nan'.)
はい - hai - Yes
いいえ - iie - No
そう - so - So
ちがいます - chigaimasu - That's wrong, it differs
しつれいですが... - shitsurei desu ga... - Excuse me, but...

1.) Building a Basic Japanese Sentence (A wa B desu or A is B)

A basic Japanese sentence is "A は Bです" or "A is B". "A" represents the focus of the sentence, where as "B" indicates the description of "A". So let's let you wanted to say "I am a student". The focus of the sentence is yourself (watashi) and the description is your being a student (gakusei). So following this structure, that means your sentence would be "わたしはがくせいです. - Watashi wa gakusei desu."

2.) Asking a Question

To turn a sentence into a question, just add ka (か) at the end. So for example, using the "A は Bです" structure, let's say we want ask if an object we're holding is a book. The focus of this sentence is "this" or in Japanese, "kore" and what we are describing is a book (hon). So if you wanted to say "Is this a book?", just add "ka" at the end and you will get "Kore wa hon desu ka? - Is this a book?"

3.) Names + -San (-Kun)

The suffix -san (-さん) is almost always attached after someone's name, last name or full name, unless they are a close friend. The suffix -kun (-くん) is usually only used for young boys. It is sometimes used after a girl's to show affection. Please note that you NEVER use these after YOUR OWN NAME!

4.) This , That and That Over There － Kore, Sore, and Are

These words are used to point to things. Kore (これ) means this. Kore is used from something closest to you or in your hand. Sore (それ) is used to talk about something that is closer , or held by the person you are speaking to. Are (あれ) is used for something that is far away from both of you.

5.) What - Nani

The word for what is nani (なに) . When used before desu (です) it becomes nan (なん).

Ex. これは なんですか。- Kore wa nan desu ka? - What is this?

6.) A to B (to C) or A and B (and C)

The word to (と) means and. It is used only after a noun to connect it to another noun. It's never used at the beginning of a sentence.

Ex. ほんださんとすずきさんはだいがくせいです。- Honda-san to Suzuki-san wa daigakusei desu. - Honda-san and Suzuki-san are college students.

7.) Excuse me, but... - Shitsurei desu ga...

Shitsurei desu ga... (しつれいですが...) is used at the beginning of a sentence the same way you would use "Excuse me" at the beginning of an English sentence. So, if you want to ask someone, "Excuse me, but what is that?" you would say "Shitsurei desu ga, sore wa nan desu ka?" (しつれいですが、それはなんですか。)

Easy Japanese Chapter 1 - Japanese Greetings

Easy Japanese Chapter 1: Japanese Greetings

Let's Greet in Japanese!
Nihongo De Aisatsu O Shimashou!
にほんご で あいさつ を しましょう!

[Common Greetings]

(Remember to say these with a bow!)

おはよう ございます

Ohayō gozaimasu

Good Morning (Informal: ohayō-おはよう)

こんにちは

Konnichi wa

Hello, good afternoon (when used around 12-4pm)

こんばんは

Konban wa

Good evening (Used when meeting someone, not when leaving)

おげんきですか?

Ogenki desu ka?

How are you?

(Don't say this to people that you see everyday. Use this either when seeing someone for first time or when seeing someone again that you haven't seen in a while.)

はじめまして

Hajimemashite

How do you do? (Used only when meeting for first time)

さようなら

Sayōnara

Good-bye, farewell (Casual way is "さよなら - Sayonara")

(どうも) ありがとう ございます

(Dōmo) arigatō gozaimasu

Thank you (very much)

どういたしまして

Dou itashimashite

You're welcome (One funny way of remembering this word is thinking of it as "Don't touch my mustache.")

(どうも) すみません

(Dōmo) Sumimasen

I'm sorry (Can also mean "Thank you" in the sense of "I'm sorry for all the trouble")

じゃあ、また (あとで)

Jaa, mata (atode)

Well then, see you again (later)

じゃあ、また あした (らいしゅう)

Jaa, mata ashita (raushuu)

Well, see you again tomorrow (next week)


[Common Classroom Expressions]


じゃあ、はじめましょうか?

Jaa, hajimemashō ka?

Well then, shall we begin? (Don't go up at end like it's a question.)

もういちどう いって ください

Mōichidō itte kudasai.

Please say it once more.

みんな で いって ください

Minna de itte kudasai.

Please everyone say it together.

よんで (かいて) ください

Yonde (kaite) kudasai.

Please read (write) it.

いいですか?

Ii desu ka?

Are you ready? (or Is it OK/correct?)

ちょっと まって ください

Chotto matte kudasai.

Please wait a moment.

わかりますか?

Wakarimasu ka?

Do you understand?/Do you know?

はい、わかります

Hai, wakarimasu.

Yes, I do (understand).

いいえ、わかりません

Iie, wakarimasen.

No, I don't (understand).

Japanese Characters and Pronunciation

Japanese Characters and Pronunciation

Welcome to Kantan Nihongo (Easy Japanese), a blog for learning Japanese! To start things off, I will be teaching you Japanese characters and their pronunciations. Through out these lessons, I will be writing in both Japanese and roman characters. You don't have to learn to write Japanese to learn from this blog, but I'd highly recommend it.


Hiragana

In Japanese, there are 5 vowels. They are:

あ /a/ - 'a' as in father
い /i/ - like the 'i' in ink
う /u/ - 'oo' like in boot
え /e/ - 'e' like in bet or egg
お /o/ - like the 'o' in open

Consonants

[tsu] - Pronouced like [ts] in 'pets' or 'cats'.
[g] - Like g in 'go' If it comes either in middle or end of word, depending on the region, it can be pronouced like 'ng' like in 'song'. Either way is fine.
[w] - as in 'want'. Try not to round your lips.
[f] - in Japanese [fu]. It is prounced with a slight amount of friction between your upper and lower lips. Like if you about to blow out a candle, or whistle. Don't pronouce like English [f]!
[r] - This is nothing like English [r]. This sound is made by slightly lightly tapping the tip of your tounge just behind the teeth. About the same place your tounge hits when saying English [l]. Somewhat similar to Spanish rolling [r].

When pronouncing the vowels [ei - えい] and [ou - おう], pronouce them like long [e] and long [o].
In Japanese, you will run into words spelt with a small [tsu - っ] character. This will produce double consonants (Ex. pp, sshi, tt, kk, etc.) Like [issai - いっさい], [ippai -いっぱい ] or [nikkou -にっこう]. It is said like a quick pause in the word. Unless it is double 's'. Like [sesshou - せっしょう], where instead if a pause, there is a 's' sound.

Here are the rest of the hiragana characters:

[KA] -- [KI] -- [KU] -- [KE] -- [KO]
[か] --- [き] ---- [く] --- [け] --- [こ]

[SA] -- [SHI] -- [SU] -- [SE] -- [SO]
[さ] ---- [し] ---- [す] --- [せ] --- [そ]

[TA] -- [CHI] -- [TSU] -- [TE] -- [TO]
[た] ---- [ち] --- [つ] ----- [て] --- [と]

[NA] -- [NI] -- [NU] -- [NE] -- [NO]
[な] ---- [に] --- [ぬ] --- [ね] ---- [の]

[HA] -- [HI] -- [FU] -- [HE] -- [HO]
[は] --- [ひ] --- [ふ] --- [へ] --- [ほ]

[MA] -- [MI] -- [MU] -- [ME] -- [MO]
[ま] ----- [み] --- [む] ---- [め] ---- [も]

[YA] -- [YU] -- [YO]
[や] ---- [ゆ] --- [よ]

[RA] -- [RI] -- [RU] -- [RE] -- [RO]
[ら] ---- [り] ---- [る] --- [れ] ---- [ろ]

[WA] -- [O]
[わ] ---- [を]*

[N]
[ん]

*This is special "o" (also writen as "wo") that is only used as a particle.


Use of "dakuten" and "handakuten"

If you add two small dashes in the upper right part of the character, which I call 'tenten' (also called "dakuten"), it changes the sound of the character. For example:

[KA] [KI] [KU] [KE] [KO] ---becomes---> [GA] [GI] [GU] [GE] [GO]
[か] [き] [く] [け] [こ] ----------------------- [が] [ぎ] [ぐ] [げ] [ご]

[SA] [SHI] [SU] [SE] [SO] ---becomes---> [ZA] [JI] [ZU] [ZE] [ZO]
[さ] [し] [す] [せ] [そ] ----------------------- [ざ] [じ] [ず] [ぜ] [ぞ]

[TA] [CHI] [TSU] [TE] [TO] ---becomes---> [DA] [JI] [ZU] [DE] [DO]
[た] [ち] [つ] [て] [と] -------------------------- [だ] [ぢ] [づ] [で] [ど]

[Note]: The characters ぢ and づ are rarely used becuase the are pretty much the same as じ and ず . One example of when you would use ぢ and not じ would be for the word 'hanaji' (はなぢ ) which means 'nose bleed'. Hana(はな ) means nose and chi (ち) means blood. When put together, chi (ち) turns to ji (ぢ).

[HA] [HI] [FU] [HE] [HO] ---becomes---> [BA] [BI] [BU] [BE] [BO]
[は] [ひ] [ふ] [へ] [ほ] --------------------- [ば] [び] [ぶ] [べ] [ぼ]

There is another symbol, which I just call 'maru' (also called "handakuten"), that changes the sound for 'h' characters.

[HA] [HI] [FU] [HE] [HO] ---becomes---> [PA] [PI] [PU] [PE] [PO]
[は] [ひ] [ふ] [へ] [ほ] --------------------- [ぱ] [ぴ] [ぷ] [ぺ] [ぽ]

Use of small ya (や), yu (ゆ) and yo (よ):

[KYA] [KYU] [KYO] ------> [GYA] [GYU] [GYO]
[きゃ] [きゅ] [きょ] ----------- [ぎゃ] [ぎゅ] [ぎょ]

[SHA] [SHU] [SHO] ------> [JA] [JU] [JO]
[しゃ] [しゅ] [しょ] --------- [じゃ] [じゅ] [じょ]

[CHA] [CHU] [CHO]
[ちゃ] [ちゅ] [ちょ]

[NYA] [NYU] [NYO]
[にゃ] [にゅ] [にょ]

[HYA] [HYU] [HYO]
[ひゃ] [ひゅ] [ひょ]

[BYA] [BYU] [BYO]
[びゃ] [びゅ] [びょ]

[PYA] [PYU] [PYO]
[ぴゃ] [ぴゅ] [ぴょ]

[MYA] [MYU] [MYO]
[みゃ] [みゅ] [みょ]

[RYA] [RYU] [RYO]
[りゃ] [りゅ] [りょ]

Long Vowels and Short Vowels

Unlike in English, Japanese is sensitive about the length of vowels. Making a vowel too long or too short can change the entire meaning of the word.

Some examples are:
いえ -/ie/ - House
いいえ - /iie/ - No
おばさん - /obasan/ - Aunt, middle-aged woman
おばあさん - /obaasan/ - Grandma, old lady
ちず - /chizu/ - Map
チーズ - /chiizu/ - Cheese

Whispered Vowels

There are sometime vowels that are whispered in Japanese. They are 'i' and 'u'. They are usually silent when they are before p, t, k, s, sh, etc.

Some examples of this are:

わたくし -/watakushi/- I, myself - pronunced as 'watakshi'
すきやき - /sukiyaki/ - sukiyaki - pronunced as 'skiyaki'
がくせい - /gakusei/ - student - pronunced as 'gaksei'

Pitch Accent

Unlike in English, different pitches can mean different words in Japanese. An example of this is the word あめ (ame). あめ (ame) with a downward pitch means 'rain', where as あめ (ame) with an upward pitch means 'candy'. Don't worry though, Japanese will still understand you if you get the pitch wrong. In some dialects of Japan, the tone used for words is reversed.