Free Japanese Lesson for Beginners 1

8/3/2019 Free Japanese Lesson for Beginners 1

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You might be wondering "what is my name in Japanese?" or "how do I say my name in

Japanese?". If so, this lesson should be able to help. Once you know your name in Japanese,

we will also teach you how to introduce yourself in Japanese.

There aren't direct equivalents of foreign names in Japanese but foreign names can be

sounded out using the sounds in the Japanese language creating a "closest pronunciation

equivalent". It doesn't matter how the name is spelled but only how it is pronounced. Below

are a number of common names sounded out in Japanese. Foreign names are written

out in Katakana which is covered in Lesson 2. The character (called a

"bou") elongates the vowel sound of the character in front of it.Remember,

these are not actual Japanese names. Please don't name your son "ma-ku" because you love

Japan and the name "Mark".

Note:You may notice certain combinations (such as (she) or (ti)) that aren't part

of the standard Katakana character set. These are special exceptions for foreign names only.

--

Now, how do you introduce yourself using your name? Many places teach "watashi wa

______ desu." but this has a couple of problems:

1. "watashi wa _____ desu." means both "I am ______." and "I am a ______."

Unless the Japanese person you are introducing yourself to is familiar with your name

(which isn't always too likely) they won't know that you are telling them your

name. This is particularly a problem with names that have the same sound as actualwords in the Japanese language. For instance, "jimu" (Jim) means "business" and

"gym/gymnasium" in Japanese (depending on the context) so "watashi wa jimu desu." could

also mean "I am a business." or "I am a gymnasium."

2. This is not how the Japanese typically introduce themselves.

So what is the better way to introduce yourself?"watashi wa ______ to

iimasu." means "I am called ______." and makes it very clear that the "______" is your

name. It can be either your first name, last name, or nickname - whatever you want themto call you by.

--

Hiragana -


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The first step to learning the Japanese language is to learn the Japanese alphabet. Or,

at least, to learn the sounds that exist in the Japanese language. There are

absolutely no "tones" in Japanese like in many other asian languages and there are only 2

exceptions within the Japanese alphabet which will be explained later. The Japanese

alphabet does not contain letters but, instead, contains characters and, technically, they are

not alphabets but character sets. The characters in the chart below are called Hiragana.

Hiragana is the main alphabet or character set for Japanese. In addition to

Hiragana, theJapanese language also consists oftwo other character sets -

Kanji(Chinese characters), which we will get into later, and another

alphabet/character set, Katakana, which is mainly used for foreign words.

Katakanawill be covered in the Katakana lesson.

There are 5 vowelsin the Japanese language. (a), pronounced "ahh", (i),

pronounced like "e" in "eat",(u), pronounced like "oo" in "soon",(e),

pronounced like "e" in "elk", and (o), pronounced "oh". All Hiragana characters

end with one of these vowels, with the exception of (n) . The only "consonant" that does

not resemble that of English is the Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it were a

combination of a "d", "r", and "l".

--

(See the adobe file ofHiragana letters)

--

Exceptions:

1. The Hiragana (ha) is pronounced "wa" when it immediately follows the

topic of the sentence. This Hiragana character is usually only pronounced "ha" when it is

part of a word.

2. The Hiragana (he) is pronounced "e" when it immediately follows a place

or direction. Both of these are very simple to detect.

--

In the classic Japanese language the "h" sound was pronounced like "w", "h", and "f" all puttogether. The sound for the "ha", "hi", "fu", "he", "ho" evolved one way and the particles,

which sounded closer to "wa" and "we", went a different route. They finally ended up taking

sounds slightly different then the hiragana was normally pronounced which were also

sounds already found in the Japanese language so these two exceptions are often very

confusing to outsiders.

--


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Note: You probably noticed in the chart above that there are 2 Hiragana characters

pronounced "zu" and 2 Hiragana characters pronounced "ji" . The Hiragana

characters (zu) and (ji) are very rarely used. (zu) only occurs when

there is a (tsu) in front of itlike in (tsuzuku to continue) or when a

Kanji (Chinese character) that has a reading which starts with (tsu) ispaired at the end with another character changing the (tsu) to a (zu) .

The same applies for the Hiragana (ji) . Since they are used so rarely, I wouldn't worry

about them too much. I will let you know whenever we come upon a word in which they

are used.

--

Katakana -

As mentioned in theHiragana lesson, Katakana (as seen in the Katakana chart below) is

mainly used for foreign words such as foreign names and words that have

been borrowed from other languages such as (kompyu-ta- =

computer). Katakana is the least frequently used of the three character sets in Japanese.

The Japanese language does not have as many sounds as the English language so, when

creating a name in Katakana for instance, the name must be sound out to the closest

Japanese equivalent. Katakana , Hiragana , and Furigana (when Hiragana is

written small next to a Kanji character to show how that character is read) are

collectively known as Kana .

There are some special Katakana characters that exist only for foreign names (such as

(she) or (ti)). These special Katakana characters are not in the Katakana chart

below (which contains only the standard set of Katakana characters) but can be seen in

our Names in Japanese lesson.

--

(See the adobe file of Katakana letters)

--

Vocabulary -

Now that you've got the Japanese alphabets down, let's learn some basic Japanese

vocabulary words and simple Japanese phrases. I will list the Kanji , Hiragana ,

Romaji (the word sounded out using English letters), and the English meaning for each


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Japanese word or phrase. Most Japanese words have Kanji for them but I will only

include the Kanji if that word is typically written that way.

Keep in mind that the Japanese language has different levels of politeness that change

based on who you are talking to. I will refer to these as "ultra-formal", "formal" (or "polite

form"), "normal" (or "plain form"), "informal", and "rude" (we won't be covering too much

of the rude form, however).

--

- Kanji - Hiragana Romaji

(English Letters)English Meaning

watashi

I (formal for

males, normal

for females)

bokuI (normal for

males)

kare he

kanojo she

anata

you

(singular/normal)

korethis (the object

itself)

koko here

kono this (ex. this pen)

sore that (the objectitself)

soko there

sonothat (ex. that

pen)


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hito person

inu dog

neko cat

ie house

arigatouThank you.

(normal)

arigatou

gozaimasu

Thank you.

(formal)

douitashimashite You're welcome.

(normal)

ohayou

(sounds like "Ohio")

Good morning.

(informal)

ohayou

gozaimasu

Good morning.

(normal and

formal)

konnichiwa Hello. (normal)

konbanwaGood evening.

(normal)

sayonaraGoodbye.

(normal)

gambatte

kudasai

(can also be written

"ganbatte kudasai")

Hang in there

ki o tsukete

kudasai

(can also be written

"ki wo tsukete

Be careful, Take

care


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kudasai")

--

Numbers, Time, and Days of the Week

Before we get too much further into grammar and verb conjugation, I thought it would be a

good idea to teach numbers, time, days of the week, etc.

- Kanji - HiraganaRomaji


ichi one

ni two

san three

shi (yon after 10) four

go five

roku six

shichi (nana after 10) seven

hachi eight

kyuu nine

juu ten

hyaku hundred

Numbers after 10are a piece of cake once you know 1 through 10. 11 is simply ten with aone after it, (,juuichi), 12 - juuni, 13 - juusan, 14 - juuyon, etc. 20 is

simply (, nijuu), 21 - nijuuichi, and so forth.

Put these numbers in front of the character for time and you've got the

time of the day.


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ichiji one o'clock

niji two o'clock

nijihan two thirty (means half)

nijiyonjuugofun 2:45 (means minute)

...etc.

Now just put the character for moon after a number and you've got a

month.



ichigatsu January

nigatsu February

sangatsu March

shigatsu April

...etc.

Days of the week don't follow such an easy pattern but here they are anyway along with

some other time-related words.



nichiyoubi Sunday ( - sun/day)

getsuyoubi Monday ( - moon)

kayoubi Tuesday ( - fire)


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suiyoubi Wednesday ( - water)

mokuyoubi Thursday ( - tree/wood)

kinyoubi Friday ( - gold)

doyoubi Saturday ( - dirt)

kyou Today

ashita Tomorrow

kinou Yesterday

ototoi the day before yesterday

asatte

the day after tomorrow (a

small "tsu" () makes a

double consonant)

kesa this morning

konban this evening

ima now

--

asic Japanese Grammar -

Japanese grammar is quite simple and straight forward but very different from English

grammar so most English speakers find it rather confusing. For instance, in Japanese

grammar the verb always comes at the end. The best thing you can do when

learning Japanese grammar is to learn it from the bottom up and not compare itto English grammar.

Japanese grammar uses what we will refer to as particles to mark the various parts of the

sentence. The main Japanese particles are: (These particles will be described in more detail

below)


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wa

(as mentioned in the Hiragana lesson, the

Hiragana "ha" is pronounced "wa" when it

immediately follows the topic)

topic marker

ga subject marker

wo

(pronounced "o")direct object marker

ni

direction marker,

time marker, indirect

object marker

e

(as mentioned in the Hiragana lesson, the

Hiragana "he" is pronounced "e" when it

immediately follows a place or direction)

direction marker

The particles "wa" () and "ga" (): The particle "wa" marks the topic of the sentence and

the particle "ga" marks the subject of the sentence. In the example, "Iknow where you

live"(watashiwa anata ga doko ni sunde iru ka shitte iru), "I"would be the

topicwhile "you"would be the subject.

Not all Japanese sentences have both a topic and subject and, in many cases, the topic isimplied in Japanese (for example, the "I" (watashi wa) would be left out of this sentence

because it is implied that since I am talking I am the one that knows where you live). Many

Japanese books and teachers teach that "wa" and "ga" are the same thing and it doesn't

matter which you use when. This is not the case but I wouldn't worry too much about

keeping them straight at first - it will come with time.

The particle "wo" (): The particle "wo" (or "o") marks the direct object of a Japanese

sentence. In the example, "I'm going to take her home"(watashi wa kanojo wo ie

ni okuru), "her"would be the direct object.

The particle "ni" (): The particle "ni" can be used to mark the direction, time, or the

indirect object of a Japanese sentence.

An example of a direction marker can be seen in the previous example "I'm going to take

her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie niokuru). In this case, the "ni"acts like


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a "to"- "I'm going to take her'to'home". The particle "e"() can be usedin

this way as well but usuallyimplies more of a general direction as opposed to

a specific place.

The particle "ni" is also used to mark time in a Japanese sentence. For example, "I'mleaving at3 o'clock"(watashi wa sanjinihanareru).

The final use for the particle "ni" in Japanese grammar is that of indirect object marker. In

the example, "Iwas taken home byhim"(watashi wa kare niie made

okurareta), "him" is the indirect object.

Note: The "watashi wa" in all of the example sentences used above would

normally be left out as it is implied

--

Godan Verbs -

Now, before you can start making up sentences of your own, you need to learn how to

conjugate verbs. Verbs are the most important part of the Japanese sentence. Often times

Japanese people will leave out everything but the verb.

They are very big on leaving out the obvious and sometimes not so obvious which can get

confusing at times. There are only 3 types of verbs in the Japanese language and they each

follow a pattern that is very simple and very rarely has any exceptions. Most Japanese verbs

fall into the first group, the Godan () verbs. These verbs always conjugate the same way

with only one exception. These verbs have five changes that follow the order of the

Japanese vowels, hence the name Godan (meaning 5 levels or steps), and then the "te" and

"ta" forms that are common to all verbs. Here's an example:


(English Letters)Verb Base

hanasu (to speak)

hanasa Base 1

hanashi Base 2


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hanasu Base 3

hanase Base 4

hanasou Base 5

hanashite Base "te"

hanashita Base "ta"

Base 1: Base 1 can not be used by itself but becomes the plain form negative simply by

adding -nai. (ex. hanasanai - I won't say anything.) If the verb ends in (u) then the end for

Base 1 becomes (wa). (ex. au (Base 1) -> awa)

(Plain form is what people use when talking to a friend. It would not be proper to use in a

business environment. We will go over the polite form in Using the Verb Bases - Part 1.)

Base 2: Base 2 is, in most cases, a noun when used by itself but is primarily used with the

polite form of the verb.

Base 3: Base 3 is the main form (the one that would be found in the dictionary) and is also

the plain form present/future tense.

Base 4: Base 4 is most often used as "if verb" by adding -ba. (ex. hanaseba - If he'd just say

something.) It can also be used by itself as a command form but it is extremely rude and I

recommend not using it at all.

Base 5: Base 5 is used by itself as the "let's" form. (ex. hanasou - Let's talk.) We will get into

other ways it's used in later lessons.

Base "te": Base "te" can be used by itself as a plain form command. It is not rude but should

only be used with close friends and children. By adding kudasai it becomes the polite form

command. Base "te" can also be used in other ways that we will get into in later lessons.

Base "ta": Base "ta" is merely Base "te" with an "a" sound on the end instead of an "e"

sound. It is mainly used by itself as the plain form past tense. (ex. hanashita - I talked.) Wewill get into other ways it's used in later lessons.

Notice: There is one thing that you'll need to learn in order to conjugate the "te" and "ta"

forms correctly. Basically, for all Godan verbs ending in (u), (tsu), or (ru); the (u),

(tsu), or (ru) becomes (tte) in the "te" form and (tta) in the "ta" form. (ex.

katsu (to win) -> katte (Win!), katta (We won!))


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For all Godan verbs ending in (bu), (mu), or (nu); the (bu), (mu), or (nu)

becomes (nde) in the "te" form and (nda) in the "ta" form. (ex. yomu (to read ->

yonde (Read it.), yonda (I read it.))

For all Godan verbs ending in (ku), the (ku) becomes (ite) in the "te" form and

(ita) in the "ta" form. (ex. aruku (to walk) -> aruite (Walk!), aruita (I walked here.)) The

only exception to this rule is for the verb iku (to go) which becomes,

(itte/itta).

For all Godan verbs ending in (gu), the (gu) becomes (ide) in the "te" form and

(ida) in the "ta" form. (ex. oyogu (to swim) -> oyoide (Swim!), oyoida (I swam.))

For all Godan verbs ending in (su), the (su) becomes (shite) in the "te" form and

(shita) in the "ta" form. (ex. hanasu (to talk) -> hanashite (Say something!), hanashita (Italked (to him).))

Here are some Godan verbs. Try conjugating them on a piece of paper using what you have

just learned. Clickhere for the answers.



au to meet

katsu to win

uru to sell

asobu to play

nomu to drink

shinu to die

aruku to walk

oyogu to swim

kesu to erase, turn off


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iku

to go

(Remember the exception

for Bases "te"and "ta")

--

Ichidan Verbs -

The second group of verbs are called Ichidan () verbs. It is usually an Ichidan verb if it

ends with the sound "iru" or "eru". Some well used verbs which appear to be Ichidan but are

really Godan are listed here. Ichidan verbs also follow a simple conjugation pattern that is

somewhat similar to that of the Godan verbs. Here's an example:



taberu (to eat)

tabe Base 1

tabe Base 2

taberu Base 3

tabere Base 4

tabeyou Base 5

tabete Base "te"

tabeta Base "ta"

Base 1 and Base 2: As you can see, Base 1 and 2 are the same. Just like with the Godan

verbs, a negative can be made by adding -nai (ex. tabenai - I will not eat.) and this base, or

root form, is also used for the formal form of the verb.

Base 3: Base 3 is the same as with Godan verbs.

Base 4: Base 4, however, can not be used by itself like with Godan verbs. It is only used for

"if verb" by adding -ba. (ex. tabereba - If I eat it...) It is not the low command form for

Ichidan verbs. The low command form for Ichidan verbs is Base 1 + (ro).


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Base 5: Base 5 is the same as with Godan verbs.

Base "te" and Base "ta": The Base "te" and "ta" forms for Ichidan verbs are a lot easier than

with Godan verbs. Simply take off the "ru" and add a "te" for Base "te" and a "ta" for Base

"ta". These have the same functions as with Godan verbs.

Here are some Ichidan verbs. Try conjugating them on a piece of paper using what you have

just learned. Clickhere for the answers.



iruto exist (animate), to be

somewhere

miru to see

neru to sleep

kiru to wear, put on

dekiru can do

oboeru to remember

Irregular Verbs

The last type of verbs are the Irregular verbs but there are only 2 of them in the entire

language so just memorize their charts below. The first one is suru (to do something). Many

nouns can be used as a verb simply by putting "suru" right after them. It is probably the

most used of all Japanese verbs. The second Irregular verb is kuru (to come).

- Kanji - Hiragana Romaji(English Letters)

Verb Base

suru (to do)

shi Base 1


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shi Base 2

suru Base 3

sure Base 4

shiyou Base 5

shite Base "te"

shita Base "ta"

The functions for these bases are the same as for the Godan verbs except that Base 4 can

only be used as the "if verb".

The rude command form is "Shiro".



kuru (to come)

ko Base 1

ki Base 2

kuru Base 3

kure Base 4

koyou Base 5

kite Base "te"

kita Base "ta"

The functions for these bases are the same as for the Godan verbs except that Base 4 canonly be used as the "if verb".

The rude command form is "Koi" and really should only be used on animals.

--

Using Verb Bases


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Now that you know about 30 verbs and can conjugate them, I'll show you what you can do

with those bases. You may want to regularly refer to Verb Conjugation (Godan) and Verb

Conjugation (Ichidan and Irregular) while learning these. The following chart applies to all

verbs unless otherwise noted.

-

Hiragana

Romaji(English

Letters)

English Meaning

Base 1 + Base 1 + nai plain form negative (will not verb)

Base 1 +Base 1 +

nakattaplain form past negative (did not verb)

Base 2 + Base 2 + masu polite form present/future tense

Base 2 +Base 2 +

mashitapolite form past tense

Base 2 +Base 2 +

masenpolite form negative (will not verb)

Base 2 +

Base 2 +

masen deshitapolite form past negative (did not verb)

Base 2 + Base 2 + tai want to verb (add (desu) to make it polite)

Base 3 Base 3 plain form present/future tense

Base 4 + Base 4 + ba if verb

Base 4 + Base 4 + ruplain form can verb (Godan verbs only)

(verb now becomes an Ichidan verb)

Base 4 + Base 4 + masu polite form can verb (can be changed like above)

Base 5 +Base 5 + to

suru

try to verb

(this suru is the same verb learned in Verb Conjugation

(Ichidan and Irregular) (to do something))

Base "te" +

Base "te" +

hoshiiwant someone else to verb

(hoshii is an adjective which will be covered in


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the Descriptive Words - Part 1 lesson)

Base "te" Base "te" plain form command

Base "te" +

Base "te" +

kudasaipolite form command

Base "te" + Base "te" + iru

plain form presently verbing

(this iru is the same verb learned in Verb Conjugation

(Ichidan and Irregular) (to exist (animate))

Base "te" +

Base "te" +

imasu

polite form presently verbing (can be changed like

above)

Base "ta" Base "ta" plain form past tense

Base "ta" + Base "ta" + ra if and when I verb (similar to Base 4 + ba)

Base "ta" +

Base "ta" + ri

suru

do such things as...

(this suru is also the same verb learned in Verb

Conjugation (Ichidan and Irregular) (to do something))

--

Adjectives and Adverbs

There are two different types of Japanese words that can be used to modify nouns

(adjectives) and verbs (adverbs). One group is much like what we would call an adjective but

they can also be conjugated to modify verbs as well. We will refer to these as "dv" (for

"descriptive verb"). These are often referred to as "true adjectives" or "i-adjectives". The

other group can, in most cases, stand alone like a noun but can also be used to modify

nouns and verbs. We will refer to these as "dn" (for "descriptive noun"). These are often

referred to as "quasi adjectives" or "na-adjectives".

All adjectives in the "dv" group always end with (i). No exceptions. These are placed in

front of a noun in order to modify it. For example:




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akai kuruma red car

These adjectives can be conjugated to form different tenses, turned into adverbs (modify

verbs), etc. The conjugation rules for "true" Japanese adjectives are as follows:

- Hiragana Romaji(English Letters)

English Meaning

drop the

and add

drop the "i"

and add "ku"

modifies a verb (adverb form)

(akaku natta -> became red)

(naru is the verb "to become")

drop the

and add

drop the "i"

and add "kunai"

present tense negative

(akakunai -> is not red)

drop the

and add

drop the "i"and add "katta"

past tense(akakatta -> was red)

drop the

and add

drop the "i"

and add "kunakatta"

past tense negative

(akakunakatta -> was not red)

(This one might take a little practice saying.)

It's not as easy to recognize "dn" adjectives but I will point them out in the vocabulary lists.

Sometimes you'll even find a "dn" that ends in (i) (ex. kirei - pretty). As mentioned

before, these words can, in most cases, be used by themselves like a noun (ex. shizen -

nature). By adding a (na) to the end of these words they can be used to modify a noun

(ex. shizen na kankyou -> a natural environment). And by adding a (ni) to the end of

these words they can be used to modify a verb as an adverb (ex. shizen ni aruku -> to walk

naturally).

Here's a list of some commonly used "dv" and "dn" adjectives:



akai (dv) red

kiiroi (dv) yellow

aoi (dv) blue


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kuroi (dv) black

shiroi (dv) white

omoshiroi (dv) interesting, funny

atsui (dv) hot

samui (dv) cold

ookii (dv) big

chiisai (dv) small

shizen (dn) nature

kirei (dn) pretty, clean

shitsurei (dn) rude

shizuka (dn) quiet

tokubetsu (dn) special

genki (dn) in good spirits

hen (dn) weird, strange

jouzu (dn) skillful

shinsetsu (dn) kind, nice

suteki (dn) "cool", good looking

--

Attention: Be sure to study the Basic Grammar lesson before moving on to this one.

Japanese sentence construction will generally follow the pattern below (elements not

applicable to a particular sentence can be left out):

[time] (ni) [topic] (wa) [subject] (ga) [direct object] (o/wo) [indirect object or


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direction] (ni) [verb].

The verb is the most important part of a Japanese sentence. Be sure to study the lessons on

verb conjugation and verb bases in great detail.

Note: For times such as "today" ( - - kyou), "tomorrow" ( - -

ashita), "yesterday" ( - - kinou), "the day after tomorrow" ( - -

asatte), and "the day before yesterday" ( - - ototoi), a time marker is not

necessary.

Here are some example sentences (all in plain form):

Japanese

(In Kanji, Hiragana, and Romaji)English Meaning

Ashita, kodomotachi wa gakkou ni modoru.

The children arereturning to

school tomorrow.

Sanjihan ni kare wa kanojo no ie ni iku.

He is going to her

house at 3:30.

Gojijuugofun ni kanojo wa mugicha o nonda.

She drank wheat

tea at 5:15.

Niji ni kanojo wa kare ga kuruma o unten shite iru koto o mita.

She saw him

driving a car at

2:00.

Vocab Breakdown

( - ashita - tomorrow)

( - kodomotachi -

children)

( - gakkou - school)

( - modoru - to return to)

( - sanjihan - 3:30)

( - ie - house)

( - iku - to go)

( - mugicha - wheat tea)

( - nomu - to drink)

( - kuruma - car)

( - unten suru - to


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( - kare - he/him)

( - kanojo - she/her)

drive)

( - miru - to see)

To, Ya, and No

"To" () is a particle that is used in many ways in the Japanese language. "To" can mean"and". For instance, "Ringo to orenji" (apples and oranges). "Ya" can also mean "and" but

implies that there are items not being mentioned. For instance, "Ringo ya orenji" (apples

and oranges and...). "To" can also be used as "with". For instance, "Kare to iku" (I'm going

with him). "To" can also act as "quotes" for something heard, said, or thought. "Kanojo ga

byouki da to kiita" (I heard she is sick), "Kare wa ikitakunai to itta" (He said he doesn't want

to go), "Kanojo wa boku no koto ga suki ka na to omotte ita" (I was thinking, "I wonder if she

likes me").

The main function for the particle "no" is to join nouns together. For instance, in an example

sentence above we used "kanojo no ie". The "no" connects "she/her" to "house" making it

"her house". "Boku/watashi no ie" would be "my house" and "kare no ie" would be "his

house". "No" can also be used at the end of a plain form sentence to turn the sentence into

a question (in the same way that "ka" would be used in the polite form).

To Be

The verb "de aru" () ("desu" () in the polite form) is generally considered to be

the "to be" verb (am, is, be, etc.). "De aru" is typically "da" () in the plain form and is

generally only found as "de aru" when it is being used to modify a noun (which is something

Japanese verbs can do). For instance, "Kanojo ga kirei de aru koto ga suki desu." (I like thatshe is pretty). The negative form of "de aru" is "dewa nai" () or "ja nai" ()

(more commonly spoken). The base "ta" form (past tense by itself) is "datta" () and

the past tense negative is "dewa nakatta" () or "ja nakatta" ()

which, as you might notice, follows the conjugation rules for "dv"/true adjectives

(see Descriptive Words). Other uses will generally follow the conjugation rules for godan

verbs - see Verb Conjugation (Godan). For "desu" (polite form), the negative is "dewa

arimasen" (), the past tense is "deshita" (), and the past tense

negative is "dewa arimasen deshita" (). "De aru" is not the only

thing that can convey "to be", however. The verbs "iru" (to exist, animate) and "aru" (to exit,

inanimate) are also used in ways where "to be" would be used in English. For instance, "Kare

wa soto ni iru." which is literally "He exists outside" is how the Japanese would say "He is

outside". Also, the last "i" in every "dv"/true adjective (see Descriptive Words) acts as "to

be" and can end the sentence by itself. A "desu" can be added to make the sentence more

polite but it is not needed (in plain form).

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Meeting Someone New

We are often asked by our students learning Japanese how to introduce oneself to someone

new. The interaction is normally very formal and filled with a few bows. Below is a typical

Japanese conversation between two people meeting for the first time:

Japanese

(In Kanji, Hiragana, and Romaji)English Meaning

Person

1:

Konnichi wa. Hajimemashite.

Hello. Nice to meet

you.

Person

2:

Hajimemashite. O-genki desu ka?

Nice to meet you.

How are you?

Person

1:

Hai, genki desu.

I am fine.

Person

1:

______

______

Watashi wa ______ to moushimasu. Anata no o-namae

wa?

My name is ______.

What is your name?

Person

2:

______

______

Watashi wa ______ to iimasu. Yoroshiku o-negai shimasu.

My name is ______.

Pleased to make your

acquaintance.

Person

1:

Yoroshiku o-negai shimasu.

Pleased to make your

acquaintance.

Explanation: "Hajimemashite" literally means "it is a beginning" but would be the equivalent

of "Nice to meet you" in English. It would only be used the first time meeting someone. As

learned in Descriptive Words - Part 1, "genki" means "in good spirits". "O-genki desu ka" is

literally asking "Are you in good spirits?". This is the most common way of asking "How are

you?" in Japanese. The other person responds "Yes, I am in good spirits". "Mousu" is the

ultra polite form of the verb "iu" (to say). Both people are literally saying "I am said/called


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_____". "Namae" is the word for "name". An "o" is added in front of it (and other words

throughout this exchange) to show respect. This is not done when talking about yourself.

"Yoroshii" means "good/fine" and "negai" is a wish or request. "Yoroshiku o-negai shimasu"

literally means "I request/wish kindly of you". It is basically like saying "Please treat me

well". It can be used in other situations as well - such as when asking for a favor.

Other Common Japanese Phrases

We are often asked how to say "I love you" in Japanese. This would be "Anata o ai shite

imasu" BUT be advised that the Japanese typically don't use the word for love ( - -

ai) when talking about their feelings for someone else (not even a boyfriend, girlfriend,

spouse, child, parent, etc.). They would typically say "Anata no koto ga suki desu" or "Anata

ga daisuki desu". "Suki" means "like" and "daisuki" means "favorite". This may seem strange

but this is just what they say for "I love you".

- Kanji - Hiragana

Romaji

(English

Letters)

EnglishMeaning

tanjoubi

omedetou

gozaimasu

Happy

Birthday!

akemashit

e

omedetou

gozaimasu

Happy New

Year!

omedetou

gozaimasu

Congratulatio

ns!

oyasumina

sai

Good night.

(used when

someone is

going to bed)

gomennas

aiI'm sorry.

sumimase

nExcuse me.


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toire wa

doko desu

ka

Where is the

bathroom?

onaka ga

suite

imasu

I am hungry.

("My

stomach is

empty.")

See Beginning Vocabulary - Part 1 for other common Japanese phrases.

Free Japanese Lesson for Beginners 1

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