Japanese Basics

[Shakujou]

I'll be posting some basic Japanese stuff. Such as very basic sentence structure, phrases, and words...I don't know Japanese that well myself, I'm just taking things from my notes and textbook and summarizing them here.

Feel free to post after me or ask something in particular. I have a Japanese dictionary, so hopefully I can translate an English word for you.

I'll be making some double/triple posts. *gets banned by the mods* XD

Edit: Feel free to correct me too if I post wrong information. Also, if other people know Japanese too, feel free to post your own information. It's not like I own this topic. XD

Disclaimer: Most of this info is now coming from my textbook. I do not own this information, I did not write it. All copyright goes to Hiromi Peterson and Naomi Omizo. Do not sue.

[Tsuruko]

*mod* Heeeeyyy...... XD

[Shakujou]

Old information:


In Japan, the sentence structure goes as follows: the subject, the object, and the verb.

Random things to know:

I don't know much about Kanji, so I can't help you on that.
Katakana is usually used for foreign names. While Hiragana is for like nouns, verbs, adjectives. etc.
'desu" is present tense.
"desh*ta" is past tense.
"dehaarimasendesh*ta (I think that is how you spell it...kinda foggy)" is past negative. You pronounce the "deha" as "dewa" though.
"dehaarimasen" is present negative.
--------

Wakarimasuka= Do you understand?

I think that is a helpful phrase.

Hai, wakarimasu- Yes, I understand. (When speaking, don't pronounce the "u" at the end. Just say wakarimas in a sense.)
Iie=No

When you want to say something like:

Is it hot?

Atsui (hot) desu ka (I think that is how it goes...)

Ka=question mark at the end.

All hiragana and katakana have the same "alphabet." The verbs are:

a (pronounced "ah" in father)
i (pronounced like the "ee" in machine)
u (pronounced like the "oo" in Sue)
e (pronounced like the "eh" in ledge) Sorta... I can't think of an example right now..
o (pronounced like the "oh" in obey)
---------

Subject---->myself----->place----->direct object----> verb

Random words/phrases:

Hajimemashi*e= How do you do?
Doozo Yoroshiku= Nice to meet you.
Watashi= I
Boku= I (but used by males usually)

Watashi wa Shakujou desu= I am Shakujou. (note that boku can replace Watashi in the sentence)

Of course in Japan, people that you don't know that well you call them by their last name. (So to say a person's name is Hikaru Utada, you would say Utada-sama to show respect. First name bases is for people who are closer. Like Hikaru-chan, I think -kun is more for boys.)
-----------

Kore= This one (Only use it to refer to something near the speaker. Use only for things, not for people.)
Sore= That one (also used to refer to something near the person)
Are= That one over there (Refers to something that is far from the speaker and listener)

Kore wa nan desu ka.= What is this? (Nan or nani is used depending on the following word)
Answer: hon (book) desu= It is (a) book.

Sore wa nan desu ka- (What is that?)
Sore wa hon desu= That is (a) book

Are wa nan desu ka= What is that one over there?
Are wa hon desu= That is (a) book.

Please note of the similar sentence structure of those three. The only thing that really changed is the first word.

More words/phrase:

Ohayoo Gozaimasu= Good morning (formal)
Ohayoo= Good morning (informal). I think if there are two "oo" in the word, the second "o" becomes a "U." I'm not too sure though.
Konban wa= Good evening


Hai, so desu- Yes, it is.
Iie, soo dewa arimasen= Expression of disagreement. Use it as a response.
Sumimasen= Excuse me
Arigato- Thank you
Doo itashimashi*e= You are welcome

Numbers:

Ichi
Ni
San
Shi (or Yon)
Go
Roku
Shichi (or nana)
Hachi
Ku (or kyuu)
Juu

[Shakujou]

Grammar:

When the first noun equals the second noun, you use "Wa" and then "desu."

Example:

Watashi (I) and Shakujou. Those are two nouns that equal to each other. Cause I am Shakujou, your local spamming Rufus fangirl poster. XD So, that is why one would say:

"Watashi wa Shakujou desu." Subject, object, verb. If you translate directly, it would say "I Shakujou am." Of course, one would say "I am Shakujou."

Watashi=Subject
Shakujou=object (I thnk...)
desu= verb. Desu basically means "am, is, or are."

Wa is just a particle that marks the topic of the sentence.

Please note that in Japan, the subjects are frequently omitted especially when the subject or topic is understood by the speaker and listener. This in English, is also known as an Understood statement.

Long Vowels:

If the same vowel appears twice in succession, pronounce it as a prolonged sound.

"Ie" and "Iie," for example, are two different words. "Ie" is a house while "Iie" means "no."
When saying "Ie," don't make any prolonged sounds.
When saying "Iie," make the "ee" (Don't forget, Japanese "I's" are pronounced differently. Henceforth, the "ee" sound comes from the two "I's," not the e) sound longer.

Double Consonants:

When you have a double consonant such as "pp," you take a slight pause between the first and second consonant sounds.

Let's take the word "Koppu" (cup) for an example. Don't say "Koppu" straight out. Take a small break between the first and second sounds.

It will sound like: "Ko" *small pause* "ppu."

Pitch affects the words you speak. "Hashi" and "Hashi" can both mean bridge or chopsticks. A certain pitch at the end of "Hashi" is bridge. The certain pitch at the beginning of "Hashi" is chopsticks. (Dun worry, this confuses me too.)

Intonation:

Wakarimasu (I understand) can be asked as a question depending on how a person says it. For instance:

If I nod my head and smile while saying "wakarimasu," then people will know that I am saying "wakarimasu" as understanding something.

If I say "wakarimasu" in a questioning matter, then people will know that I am saying "wakarimasu" as a question. (Which will then mean, Do you understand?)

And that's enough for now, I have to do a ton of HW.

[Inuyasha-Kun]

TY Shaku

[Shakujou]

No problem. ^^

Am I confusing you at all?

[Inuyasha-Kun]

Not really, i kinda know sum information bout japanese cause of the website ive been learning from but it doesnt explain as clearly as what your saying above

[Shakujou]

Really? I'm glad that I'm explaining things clearly. ^_^

[Inuyasha-Kun]

Yeah the notes u took are very helpful ^_^

[Shakujou]

These are things from my textbook actually. I just sometimes use a different example that is not from the book in order to reinforce what I'm saying and make it less confusing. I sometimes use their examples too.

I'm just basically summarizing (although some things are almost word to word) the textbook's teachings and posting it here for you guys. ^^

[Inuyasha-Kun]

Oh well thats still good, atleast i can understand it and things can become more clear

[Shakujou]

Yeah, the textbook is a good one, not confusing. (for the most part)

[Shakujou]

Counting:

After "Juu" (10), the first 9 numbers are added after the "Juu" to make 11 and etc. Like this:

Ichi (1) + (Juu)= Juu-Ichi (11)
Juu-Ni (12)
Juu-San (13)
Juu-Yon (14)
Juu-Go (15)

and etc... The same method will work for 20's, 30's, 40's, until to 100.

Ni-Juu (20)
San-Juu (30)
Yon-Roku (46)

100 is Hyaku.

Grammar:

"nee" is used to express admiration, surprise, or exclamation.

Atsui (hot) desu nee. = It is hot!

Japanese verbs has two parts, the verb stem and the portion which conjugates:

Verb stems (which is the beginning of the verb) tells the meaning of the word.

The conjugated portion tells the verb tense, whether the verb is affirmative or negative, etc.

These are two conjugated portions:

"Masu" is positive and is used to tell the present and future. It translates to "do, does, will do, going to do."

"Masen" is negative and tells the present and future. It translates to "do not, does not, will not do."

For instance, let's take the word "wakarimasu." (It is used to say if we understand something or not)

Do you notice the "masu" at the end? "wakari" is the verb stem that tells the meaning of the verb. While the added "masu" tells if it is used in a positive or negative context. For example:

If one understands the lesson, one would say:

"Hai, wakarimasu"

If one doesn't understand, they would say:

"Iie, wakarimasen"

"no" in Japanese grammar indicates possession. As in English, the "no" is attached to the noun that possess the object being stated.

Kore wa watashi-no desu. (This is mine)

"Kono", "sono", and "ano" is to show that a certain object is mine. The noun that is being owned comes right after "kono", "sono", and "ano." Those three have the same basic meanings as their counterparts, "kore," "sore" and "are."

Sono hon wa watashi-no desu. (That book is mine)

Sono=That
Hon= book
Desu= Is
Watashi-no= mine

Notice the the word "hon" comes after "sono." That is because I own that book.

[Inuyasha-Kun]

Now i can say 100 in japanese!

XD

[Shakujou]

Yep. XD