Learning Japanese will make learning Chinese and Korean much easier, or vice-versa. Korean and Japanese share a similar grammatical structure, and both Chinese and Korean also share many Japanese kanji, which originated in China. The pronunciation of words is also sometimes similar.
Pen / Hon o karite mo ii desu ka?
Can I borrow your pen / book?
はい、どうぞ。
Hai, dōzo.
Sure (Yes), please go ahead.
Sumimasen, ima tsukatte imasu.
Sorry, I’m using it now.
Kore (ip-pon) shika nai node…
This is the only one I have...
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
In this kind of conversation, Japanese people usually don’t say “no” directly. Instead, they often say why the thing is impossible; in the second response above, for instance, it’s that “I only have this pen (so I can’t lend it to you).”
Kore / Are wa nan desu ka?
What is this / that?
Kore / Are wa watashi no jisho desu.
This / that is my dictionary.
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
There are several types of dictionaries in Japan. Usually, a person will have one dictionary for English to Japanese, and another one for Japanese to English. There are also other kinds of dictionaries. One, for example, contains only foreign words and their katakana translations.
Are wa dare desu ka?
Who is that?
Are wa watashitachi no sensei desu.
That’s our teacher.
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
“Tachi 達” shows plural, and is an ending added to “watashi 私” or “boku ぼく” to mean “we.”
Kare / Kanojo no namae wa nan desu ka?
What’s his / her name?
Kare no namae wa Seiji desu.
His name is Seiji.
Kanojo no namae wa Keiko desu.
Her name is Keiko.
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
At the end of a sentence or alone, “Nan desu ka?
Seiji(-san) wa doko desu ka?
Where is Seiji?
Shigoto chū desu.
He’s at work.
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
“Doko desu ka? どこですか” means “Where?” or “Where is…? In colloquial speech, you can say “Doko? どこ” to more simply ask “Where?”
Keiko(-san) wa doko desu ka?
Where is Keiko?
Gakkō desu.
She’s at school.
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
“-Ko 子” is a common ending for female names. A lot of Japanese women over 30 years old have names that end with “-ko 子.” It means “child” and is a term of endearment.
“South Korea” to “North Korea” wa Nihongo de nan to iimasu ka?
How do you say “South Korea” and “North Korea”
(in Japanese)?
“Kankoku” to “Kita Chōsen” desu.
“Kankoku” and “Kita Chōsen.”
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
There are long-distance ferries from a few cities in Japan (including Osaka) to Pusan, South Korea. There is also a 3-hour hydrofoil between Fukuoka and Pusan that operates several times a day.
“Nai-tā” wa eigo de nan desu ka?
What
