Learn Japanese (Genki I) [BEGINNERS]

Grammer (ぶんぽう) for Lesson 1

Grammer Notes 1-3

Grammer 1) X は Y です

"I am a student." "My major is the Japanese language." "It is 12:30": These sentences will all be translated into Japanese using an appropriate noun and the word desu.

〜です。 It is . . .

がくせいです。
Gakusee desu.
(I) am a student.

にほんごです。
Nihingo desu.
(My major) is the Japanese language.

じゅうにじはんです。
Juunji han desu.
(It) is half past twelve.

Note that none of these sentences has a "subject," like the "I," "my major," and "it" found in their English counterparts. Sentences without subjects are very common in Japanese; Japanese speakers actually tend to omit subjects whenever they think it is clear to the listener what or who they are referring to.

If it is not clear from the background situation or the preceding context what is being talked about, you can start a sentence with a "topic" marked by wa. Note that when we write in hiragana, we use the letter は for the topic wa following the classical orthography.¹

XはYです。 X is Y. As for X, it is Y.

せんこう は にほんご です。
Senkoo wa nihongo desu.
(My) major is the Japanese language.

わたし は ソラ・キム です。

わたし は そら・きむ です。
Watashi wa Sora Kimu desu.
I am Sora Kim.

やました さん は せんせいです。
Yamashita san wa sensee desu.
Mr. Yamashita is a teacher.

メアリーさん は アメリカじん です。
めあリいさん は あめリかじん です。
Mearii san wa amerikajin desu.
Mary is an American.

Wa is a member of the class of words called "particles." So is the word no, which we will turn to later in this lesson. We add particles to noun phrases to indicate how the phrases relate to the rest of the sentence.

Note also that nouns like gakusee and sensee in the above examples stand alone, unlike their English translations "student" "teacher," which are preceded by "a." In Japanese, there is no item that corresponding to "a," nor is there any item that corresponds to the plural "-s" at the end of a noun. Without context, a sentence like gakusee desu is therefore ambiguous in terms of the singular and plural interpretations.

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Grammer 2) Question Sentences

You can just add ka (か) at the end of a statement and turn it into a question.

リゆうがくせいです。
Ryuygakusee desu.
(I am) an international student.

リゆうがくせいですか。²
Ryuugakusee desu ka.
(Are you) an international student?

The above sentence, Ryuygakusee desu ka, is a "yes/no" question. Question sentences may also contain a "question word" like nan³ (what). In this lesson, we learn how to ask, and answer, questions using the following questions words: nanji (what time), nasai (how old), nannensee (what year in school), and nanban (what number).

A:
せんこう は なん です か。
Senkoo wa nan desu ka.
What is your major?

B:
(せんこう は) えいご です。
(Senkoo wa) eego desu.
B: (My major) is English.

A:
いま なんじ です か。
Ima nanji desu ka.
What time is it now?

B:
(いは) くじ です。
(Ima) kuji desu.
It is nine o'clock.

A:
メアリーさん は なんさい です か。
めあリいさん は なんさい です か。
Mearii san wa nansai desu ka.
How old are you, Mary?

B:
じゅうきゅうさい です。
Juukyuusai desu.
I'm nineteen years old.

A:
なんねんせい です か。
Nannensee desu ka.
What year are you in college?

B:
にねんせい です。
Ninensee desu.
I'm a sophomore.

A:
でんわ ばんごう は なんばん です か。
Denwa bangoo wa nanban desu ka.
What is your telephone number?

B:
867-5309です。
Hachi roku nana go san zero kyuu desu.
It is 867-5309.

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Grammer 3) Noun1 の Noun2

No is a particle that connects two nouns. The phrase Sakura daigaku no gakusee means "a student at Sakura University." The second noun gakusee provides the main idea⁴ (being a student) and the first one Sakura daigaku makes it more specific (not a high school, but a college student). You can use no like the possessive ("Takeshi's") in English, as in first example below. Here are some examples of no between two nouns. The main idea is always the noun2, which the noun, providing restrictions, specifications, etc.

noun1         の      noun2
     ↑                            ↑ 
restrictions       main idea

たけし さん の でんわ ばんごう
Takeshi san no denwa bangoo
Takeshi's phone number

だいがく の せんせい
daigaku no sensee
a college professor

にほんご の がくせい
nihingo no gakusee
a student of the Japanese language

にほん の だいがく
Nihon no daigaku
a college in Japan

A phrase of the form "noun1 no noun2" acts more or less like one big noun. You can put it wherever you can put a noun, as in the following example:

たけしさん の おかあさん は こうこう の せんせい です。
Takeshi san no okaasan wa kookoo no sensee desu.
Takeshi's mother is a high school teacher.

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FOOTNOTE
¹ The hiragana は therfore has two pronunciations: wa (in the topic position) and ha (in most other positions). There are a few exceptions, such as konnichiwa (good afternoon) and konbanwa (good evening). They are usually written with こんにちは and こんばんは.

² It is not customary to write a question mark at the end of a question sentence in Japanese.

³ The Japanese question word for "what" gas two pronunciations: nan and nani. Nan is used immediately before desu or before a "counter" like ji (o'clock). The other form, nani, is used before a particle. Nani is also used in the combination nanijin (person of what nationality.)

⁴ Here is what we mean by the "main idea." In the phrase Takeshi san no denwa bangoo (Takeshi's phone number), the noun denwa bangoo (phone number) is the main idea, in the sense that if something is Takeshi's phone number, it is a phone number. The other noun Takeshi san is not the main idea, because Takeshi's phone is not Takeshi.