Japanese Guide

8/8/2019 Japanese Guide

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Hiragana -

The first step is to learn the alphabet. Or, at least, the sounds that exist in the Japanese language.There are absolutely no "tones" like in Chinese, Thai, etc. and there are only 2 exceptions within thealphabet which will be explained later. The characters listed below are called Hiragana. It is the mainalphabet for Japanese. The Japanese language also consists of Chinese characters (Kanji), which we

will get into later, and another alphabet, Katakana, which is mainly used for foreign words. Katakanawill be covered in Lesson 2.

There are 5 vowels in 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". AllHiragana 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 acombination of a "d", "r", and "l".

a

i

u

e

o

ka

ki

ku

ke

ko

ga

gi gu

ge go

sa

shi su

se so

za

ji

zu

ze

zo

ta

chi

tsu

te

to

da

ji

zu

de

do na

ni nu

ne no

ha

hi

fu

he

ho ba

bi bu

be bo

pa

pi pu

pe po

ma

mi

mu

me

mo

ya

yu

yo ra

ri ru

re ro

wa

wo n/m

Combinations

kya

kyu kyo

gya

gyu

gyo sha

shu sho

ja

ju jo

cha

chu

cho

nya

nyu

nyo hya

hyu hyo

bya

byu byo

pya

pyu

pyo mya

myu myo

rya

ryu

ryo



Exceptions:

1. (ha) is pronounced "wa" when it immediately follows the topic of the sentence. It is usually onlypronounced "ha" when it is part of a word.

2. (he) is pronounced "e" when it immediately follows a place or direction. Both of these are verysimple to detect.

Click her e if you'd like to know why these two exceptions exist.

Note: You probably noticed that there are 2 "zu" and 2 "ji". (zu) and (ji) are very rarely used.

(zu) only occurs when there is a (tsu) in front of it like in (tsuzuku - to continue) or when a

Kanji (Chinese character) that starts with (tsu) is paired at the end with another character changing

the (tsu) to a (zu). The same applies for (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.



Vocabulary -

Now that you've got the Japanese alphabets down, let's learn some vocabulary words and simplephrases. I will list the Kanji, Hiragana, Romaji (the word sounded out using English letters), and theEnglish meaning for each word or phrase. Most words have Kanji for them but I will only include theKanji if the word is regularly written that way.

Keep in mind that the Japanese language has different levels of politeness that change based on whoyou 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 Letter s) English Meaning watashi I (formal for males,

normal for females) boku I (normal for males) kare he kanojo she

anata you (singular/normal) kore this (the object itself) koko here kono this (ex. this pen) sore that (the object itself) soko there sono that (ex. that pen) hito person inu dog neko cat ie house

arigatou Thank 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) konbanwa Good evening.

(normal) sayonara Goodbye. (normal)



Grammar -

Japanese grammar is quite simple and straight forward but very different from English grammar somost English speakers find it rather confusing. For instance, the verb always comes at the end. Thebest thing you can do when learning Japanese grammar is to learn it from the bottom up and notcompare it to English grammar.

Japanese grammar uses what we will refer to as particles to mark the various parts of the sentence.The main particles are: (These particles will be described in more detail below)

wa(as mentioned in lesson 1, the Hiragana "ha" is

pronounced "wa" when it immediately follows thetopic)

topic marker

ga subject marker wo

(pronounced "o") direct object marker ni direction marker, timemarker, indirect object

marker e

(as mentioned in lesson 1, the Hiragana "he" ispronounced "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, "I know where you live"(watashi wa anata ga doko ni sunde iru ka shitte iru), "I" would be the topic while "you" would be thesubject.

Not all sentences have both a topic and subject and, in many cases, the topic is implied in Japanese(for example, the "I" (watashi wa) would be left out of this sentence because it is implied that since Iam 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 Iwouldn't worry too much about keeping them straight at first.

The particle "wo" (): The particle "wo" (or "o") marks the direct object of the sentence. In theexample, "I'm going to take her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni okuru), "her" would be the directobject.

The particle "ni" (): The particle "ni" can be used to mark the direction, time, or the indirect objectof a 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 ni okuru). In this case, the "ni" acts like a "to" - "I'm going to take her 'to'home". The particle "e" () can be used in this way as well but usually implies more of a generaldirection as opposed to a specific place.

The particle "ni" is also used to mark time in a sentence. For example, "I'm leaving at 3 o'clock"(watashi wa sanji ni hanareru).

The final use for the particle "ni" is that of indirect object marker. In the example, "I was taken homeby him" (watashi wa kare ni ie made okurareta), "him" is the indirect object.



Note: The "watashi wa" in all of the example sentenced used above would normally be left out as it isimplied.

Number s, 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 - Hiragana Romaji(English Letter s) English Meaning

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 10 are a piece of cake once you know 1 through 10. 11 is simply ten with a one 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.


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) 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



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!))

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) inthe "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 (I talked (to him).))

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

learned. Click her e 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 iku to go

(Remember the exception for Bases "te"and "ta")



Ichidan Ver bs -

The second group of verbs are called Ichidan () verbs. It is usually an Ichidan verb if it ends withthe sound "iru" or "eru". Some well used verbs which appear to be Ichidan but are really Godan arelisted her e. Ichidan verbs also follow a simple conjugation pattern that is somewhat similar to that of the Godan verbs. Here's an example:

- Kanji - Hiragana Romaji(English Letter s) Ver b Base

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, anegative can be made by adding -nai (ex. tabenai - I will not eat.) and this base, or root form, is alsoused 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).

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 withGodan verbs. Simply take off the "ru" and add a "te" for Base "te" and a "ta" for Base "ta". These havethe 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. Click her e for the answers.


iru to exist (animate), to besomewhere

miru to see neru to sleep kiru to wear, put on dekiru can do oboeru to remember



Irr egular Ver bs

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 asa 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).


suru (to do) shi Base 1 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 beused 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 can only beused as the "if verb".

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



Using Ver b Bases

Now that you know about 30 verbs and can conjugate them, I'll show you what you can do with thosebases. You may want to regularly refer to Lesson 6 and Lesson 7 while learning these. The followingchart applies to all verbs unless otherwise noted.

-

Hiragana Romaji(English Letter s) English Meaning

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

Base 1 + nakatta plain form past negative (did not verb) Base 2 + Base 2 + masu polite form present/future tense

Base 2 + Base 2 + mashita polite form past tense Base 2 + Base 2 + masen polite form negative (will not verb) Base 2 +

Base 2 + masen

deshita polite 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 + ru plain 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 lesson 7(to do something))

Base "te" +

Base "te" + hoshii want someone else to verb(hoshii is an adjective which will be covered in

the next lesson) Base "te" Base "te" plain form command

Base "te" +

Base "te" +kudasai polite form command

Base "te" + Base "te" + iru plain form presently verbing(this iru is the same verb learned in lesson 7

(to exist (animate)) Base "te" +

Base "te" + imasu polite form presently verbing (can be changedlike 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" + risuru

do such things as...(this suru is also the same verb learned in

lesson 7 (to do something))



Adjectives and Adver bs

There are two different types of words that can be used to modify nouns and verbs. One group ismuch like what we would call an adjective but they can also modify verbs as well. We will refer tothese as "dv". 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". All words in the "dv" group always end with

(i). No exceptions. This is placed in front of a noun in order to modify it. For example:


akai kuruma red car These words can be conjugated to form different tenses, modify verbs, etc. Here is how that is done:

- Hiragana Romaji(English Letter s) English Meaning

drop the and add drop the "i" and add

"ku" modifies a verb (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 practicesaying.)

It's not as easy to recognize a "dn" 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":

-

Kanji -

Hiragana Romaji

(English

Letter s) English Meaning akai (dv) red kiiroi (dv) yellow aoi (dv) blue 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



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 Japaneseconversation between two people meeting for the first time:

Japanese (In Kanji, Hiragana, and Romaji) English Meaning

Per son 1:

Konnichi wa. Hajimemashite.

Hello. Nice to meet you.

Per son 2:

Hajimemashite. O-genki desu ka?

Nice to meet you.How are you?

Per son 1:

Hai, genki desu.

I am fine.

Per son 1:

______

______

Watashi wa ______ to moushimasu. Anata noo-namae wa?

My name is ______ .What is your name?

Per son 2:

______

______

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

My name is ______ .Pleased to make your acquaintance.

Per son 1:

Yoroshiku o-negai shimasu.

Pleased to make your acquaintance.

Explanation: "Hajimemashite" literally means "it is a beginning" but would be the equivalent of "Niceto meet you" in English. It would only be used the first time meeting someone. As learned in Lesson 9,

"genki" means "in good spirits". "O-genki desu ka" is literally asking "Are you in good spirits?". This isthe most common way of asking "How are you?" in Japanese. The other person responds "Yes, I amin good spirits". "Mousu" is the ultra polite form of the verb "iu" (to say). Both people are literallysaying "I am said/called _____ ". "Namae" is the word for "name". An "o" is added in front of it (andother 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" literallymeans "I request/wish kindly of you". It is basically like saying "Please treat me well". It can be used inother situations as well - such as when asking for a favor.



Other Common 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 abouttheir 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 Letter s) English Meaning

tanjoubi omedetou

gozaimasu Happy Birthday!

akemashiteomedetou

gozaimasu Happy New Year!

omedetougozaimasu Congratulations!

oyasuminasai Good night.(used when someone

is going to bed) gomennasai I'm sorry. sumimasen Excuse me. toire wa doko desu

ka Where is thebathroom?

onaka ga suiteimasu

I am hungry.("My stomach is

empty.") See Lesson 3 for other common phrases.

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