Basic Word Order

BASIC WORD ORDER

The sentence order is very different from English. In English we use Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) but in Japanese it is usually Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) - observe:

Don't worry! It isn't as bad as it seems. You will get used to it.

For more on this go here

But でも

But, a small word, but... There are other "buts" but demo is the most common. Learn this first and you can pick the others up later.

でも demo - but

日本語　が　好き　でも　フランス語　は　きらい　です。
nihongo ga suki demo furansugo wa kirai desu.
I like Japanese, but I hate French.

Desu, the Copula

Desu is a copula (see yellow box below for definition) and has one of the very few irregular forms in Japanese. Desu can act like the English 'to be' (You know - is, am, are...) in the sense desu is used to explain who or what something or someone is. It is also used when equating one thing with another. Let's take a look:

ゾウは　大きい　です。
zou wa ookii desu .
Elephants are large.

これ　は　ねこ　 です 。
kore wa neko desu .
This is a cat.

Most of the time you want to use the to be verb you will use desu . Later we will learn other forms to show existence.

MAIN POINTS:

	is, are, am
	always at the end
	It doesn't change like its English cousin (is, are, am) in the present tense
	usually pronounced like "dess" HEAR IT! WAV 11 k

Fillers ええと

In English, we have our "um." in Japanese, they have their "eeto." This is the sound you make when you can't think of what to say, but want to say something!

何 の　動物 が　好き　です　か？
nan no doubutsu ga suki desu ka?
What animal do you like?

ええと。。。　ねこ　が　すき。
eeto... neko ga suki.
Um... I like cats.

If もし

For simplicity, we will take the "understandable but not totally correct" approach. To say "if..." start with もし moshi. To be "totally correct" you should also change the end of the verb to a ～ば ba, たら tara, or なら nara or some other conditional. You will need to know the "totally correct" forms later but for now just concentrate on adding the moshi.

Making Questions with か

Making questions か

Making questions in Japanese is easy! -- REALLY! Usually you can change a statement into a question by just adding a か ka to the end!

MAIN POINTS:

	ka is added to the end of statements
	Word order is not changed as in English
	In Japanese (see right example) the ? (Question mark) is not required (optional)
	Just like in English, the last syllable goes up in intonation
	In spoken Japanese sometimes the ka can be dropped if you have the upwards intonation at the end. But for now, let's stick to using the ka

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Particles Intro

In Japanese, grammatical parts of the sentence are shown very clearly by "particles." These particles are placed after the word (or phrase) they modify. The best way to learn to use them is to memorize useful examples and say them!

は wa - overall topic particle - shows the main topic of the conversation [NOTE: it is a hiragana ha but pronounced as "wa"]

あなた　 は 　やさしい。
anata wa yasashii .
You are nice.
[Makes "you" the main topic]

が ga - the subject particle - sometimes the difference between wa and ga are hard to tell. Sometimes they can be used interchangeably with only a slight change in meaning. See next entry for more on this.

ねこ　 が 　へん。
neko ga hen.
The cat is strange.
[Makes the "cat" the subject]

Comparing は and が (by Paul_b)

The topic particle は can easily be confused with the subject particle が. That is because は overrides が, in other words in a sentence something can very easily be both the topic and the subject of that sentence. In such cases the が 'disappears' and it looks like the は is acting as a subject marker.

Take this simple sentence.

わたしはクレイです。
watashi wa kurei desu.
I am Clay.
["I" (that is the speaker, Clay) is the topic and now this is known, it won't be repeated unless the topic changes]

What is the subject of the sentence? That's right - "I" watashi is. But because "I" is also the topic only the topic marker は is used. Now we'll let Clay continue and say another sentence ...

ねこがすきです。
neko ga suki desu.
(I) like cats.
["cats" is the subject here. "I" is still the topic. He could have said "watashi wa neko ga suki desu." but that is unnecessary because he has already said "watashi wa" establishing the topic in the previous sentence.]

if both are in a sentence, the wa is first.

を o - The Direct Object particle

本　 を 　よみました。
hon o yomimashita.
(I) read a book.
[NOTE: it makes "book" the object. If we were to say "I" it would be watashi wa at the beginning.]

に ni - usually shows movement (to)

日本　 に 　いきましょう！
nihon ni ikimashou!
Let's go to Japan!
[There is movement going to Japan ]

or shows time (at)

６時　 に 　いきましょう！
roku ji ni ikimashou!
Let's go at 6.

で de - Shows location (at, in)

日本　 で 　遊びましょう！
nihon de asobimashou!
Let's play (have fun) in Japan!
[Notice there is no movement]

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Possessive "s" の

Possessive "'s" の

This is another nice thing about Japanese. To show relationship or possession between 2 things just put a の no in between them. The trick is knowing (erm... のing) which goes to the left of the no and which goes to the right...

Think of の as a 's (apostrophe S)

Also think of:
わたしの watashino as "my" and
あなたの anatano as "your"

Pronouns

Pronouns are not used nearly as much in Japanese as they are in English. Often the pronoun is used once and then after (until the topic shifts to someone else) the pronoun is dropped. Still they are very important!

NOTE:

	Another meaning of kare (he) is actually "boyfriend" and kanojo is "girlfriend"!
	When the meaning is obvious, the pronoun is usually dropped. Both of the following is clear in meaning: わたしはアメリカからきました。 watashi wa amerika kara kimashita. I came from America. アメリカからきました。 amerika kara kimashita. (I) came from America.

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Question Words

By mastering these question words, your conversational skills will be much stronger!

Two Basic Verb Forms

2 Basic verb forms ～dictionary、～ます

There are many ways to change verbs, but here we will focus on two present tense forms: "dictionary form" (also known as 'plain form') and " ~masu form" (also known as 'polite form')

NOTE : These do not change the meaning of the verb but that the dictionary form is a more casual.

	The dictionary form gets its name because it is what is found in the dictionary.
	The dictionary form verbs ends in - u and many end in -ru
	The masu form verbs are so called because they always end in -masu in the present tense

EXAMPLES:

You will notice some other letter changes between the 2 forms. I would recommend learning about the three verb groups here, but for our purposes right now, just memorize a few examples and try to find patterns with other verbs. And remember: Mistake making is memory making! (As long as you correct yourself, of course)

and と、そして

There are several ways to say "and" (connecting things). Let's look at 2 of them

と to - connecting nouns
わたし　は　日本語　と　英語　と　フランス語　が　話せます。
watashi wa nihongo to eigo to furansugo ga hanasemasu.
I can speak Japanese and English and French.

そして soshite - connecting phrases
新しい本を買いました。　そして今日から読みます。
atarashii hon o kaimashita. soshite kyou kara yomimasu.
I bought a new book. And I today I will start to read it. (lit. And from today, I'll read.)

は、が

These 2 particles は wa & が ga both do what in English is the subject, but は wa is greater in scope than が ga

は wa - the main topic particle of the conversation

が ga - the subject particle of the sentence

わたしは　クレイ　です。
watashi wa kurei desu.
I am Clay.
[Clay is the topic and now this is known, it won't be repeated unless the topic changes]

ねこが　すき　です。
neko ga suki desu.
(I) like cats.  
["cats" are actually the 'subject' here.  Maybe this is easier to see "Cats are liked (by me).  Note you could say "watashi wa neko ga suki desu." but it is unnecessary because we have already said "watashi wa" (The overall topic is already known)]

	if both are in a sentence, the wa is first
	the wa is written with a hiragana ha but pronounced as wa

CAN + VERB [こと　が　できます]

Actually, the above are all shortened versions without the verb.  Let's add the verb.  koto means thing, but here it is used to make a verb a noun so it will work with dekimasu.

TO MAKE IT:  plain negative form - i +　 ければ　なりません kereba narimasen

ピーマン　を　食べなければ　なりません。　
[Would be 食べない for the plain negative form ]
pi-man o tabenakereba narimasen.
(I) must eat green peppers.  (Many Japanese children don't like green peppers)

Say that 5 times fast with your mouth full!

Perhaps the most useful usage is:

～しなければ　なりません
The し shi is from suru (to do)

勉強　しなければ　なりません。
benkyou shinakereba narimasen.
(I) must (have to) study.

しなければ　なりません。
shinakereba narimasen.
(I) must (have to) do (it).

That それ・その

This and that. Now we are on the THAT part.  So this THAT refers to objects near the listener (not the speaker)

それ sore - when "that" is not connected to a noun

That over there あれ・あの

あれ are - when "that" is not connected to a noun

This これ・この