grammatical order of Japanese is subject-object-verb, instead of the subject-verb-object form of English. Having said that, I suggest that you ignore it for the time being (although this is probably the reason why the subject is often left out in Japanese conversation when the meaning is clear without it, and why the verb is often used by itself, playing the role of all the parts of speech).
The verb “to be”
The all important “I am; he/she is; we/you/they are” are all expressed in Japanese by desu (です). The past tense of desu (です), expressing “I/he/she was; we/you/they were,” is deshita (でした).
“There is/are”
There are several ways to express “there is” and “there are.” When referring to human beings, use
orimasu (おります) for yourself or your family/in-group members when you need to be humble.
imasu (います) for anyone, you, your friends, etc. when you do not need to be humble.
irasshaimasu (いらっしゃいます) for someone you should pay respect to.
When referring to animals, imasu (います) is also used. When referring to inanimate objects, arimasu (あります) is used. For the past tense of these words, simply replace masu (ます) with mashita (ました).
Singular/plural
There is no definite or indefinite article (i.e. the, a) in Japanese, and there are very few plurals in the language. With few exceptions, the sense of plural is made evident by the context of the phrase or sentence. Tokei (とけい) means watch (time-piece) or watches, depending on how it is used.
Superlative
It is very easy to “make” the superlative in Japanese. All you do is put the word ichiban (いちばん), meaning “first” or “number one” in front of the term you want to qualify. If big is ōkii (おおきい), the biggest is ichiban ōkii (いちばんおおき い); the longest is ichiban nagai (いちばんながい); the smallest is ichiban chiisai (いちばんちいさい); the highest is ichiban takai (いちばんたかい); the heaviest is ichiban omoi (いちばん おもい); the best is ichiban ii (いちばんいい), and so on.
Questions
In Japanese a question is indicated by the particle ka (か), usually enunciated with the same “questioning” tone used in English. In written Japanese this ka (か) takes the place of the familiar question mark.
The honorific “O”
It is customary in Japanese to add an honorific “o” or “go” before many words that refer to other people, to things relating to others, and to certain special words, as a sign of respect or as a polite gesture. In the sign-of-respect category are such words as go-shujin (ごしゅじん), meaning “your honorable” husband; o-taku (おたく), “your honorable” residence; o-namae (おなまえ), “your honorable” name; o-toshi (おとし), “your honorable” age, and o-denwa-bangō (おでんわばんごう), “your honorable” phone number. In the polite category are such words as weather (o-tenki おてんき), sake or rice wine (o-sake おさけ), money (o-kane おかね), boxed lunch (o-bentō おべんとう), chopsticks (o-hashi おはし), bath (o-furo おふろ), temple (o-tera おてら), and New Year’s (o-shōgatsu おしょうが つ). In many cases, these “o” and “go” honorifics have more or less become a part of the words they precede and are generally included regardless of the circumstances.
PART ONE
Common Expressions & Key Words
KEYS WORDS
| I | watashi (wah-tah-she) わたし̶Used by both males and females in formal situations.watakushi (wah-tock-she) わたくし̶More formal than watashi.boku (boe-kuu) ぼく̶Used by boys and men in informal situations.ore (oh-ray) おれ̶A ‘rough’ term used by males in informal situations.washi (wah-she) わし̶Sometimes used by elderly men in informal situations.atashi (ah-tah-she) あたし̶Mainly used by girls and women in informal situations. |
NOTE : When talking about oneself, these terms are normally followed by wa (は topic marker), as in watashi-wa amerikajin-desu (wah-tah-she wah ah-may-ree-kah-jeen dess) わたし はアメリカじんです “I am American.”
| me | Any of the above terms used in the objective sense, in which case they are usually used with o (oh) (を direct object marker) or ni (nee) (に indirect object marker). For example,watashi-o shōkai-shimashita (wah-tah-she oh showkie she-mah-sshtah) わたしを しょうかいしました “(Someone) introduced me (to someone else).”watashi-ni shōkai-shimashita (wah-tah-she nee show-kie she-mah-sshtah) わたしに しょうかいしました “(Someone) introduced (someone else) to me.” |
| my | Any of the above “I” words followed by no (no) (の possessive marker). “My book,” for example, is watashi-no hon (wah-tah-she no hoan) わたしのほん, boku-no hon (boe-kuu no hoan) ぼくの ほん, and so forth. |
| mine | Any of the above “I” words with no (no) の alone, i.e. watashi-no (wah-tah-she-no) わたしの, boku-no (boe-kuu no) ぼくの, and so forth. |
| we | The “we” concept is formed by adding tachi (tah-chee) たち to any of the above forms of “I,” i.e.: watashi-tachi (wah-tah-she-tah-chee) わたしたち, boku-tachi (boe-kuu-tah-chee) ぼくたち, and so forth. |
| you | anata (ah-nah-tah) あなた̶Used by both males and females when addressing a stranger, or by women when addressing their husbands. In the latter case, anata is the equivalent of “dear.”kimi (kee-me) きみ̶Used by males when addressing females in informal situations.anta (ahn-tah) あんた̶Used by both males and females in informal situations.omae (o-mah-eh) おまえ̶A ‘rough’ term used by males in informal situations. |
NOTE: The plural of “you” is formed by adding the suffix gata (gah-tah) がた, which is polite, or tachi (tah-chee) たち, which is less formal: anata-gata (ah-nah-tah-gah-tah) あなた がた, anata-tachi (ah-nah-tah-tah-chee) あなたたち.
In Japanese, “you” is hardly ever used unless the speaker doesn’t know the listener’s name. Otherwise, his/her name is used to address the listener, as in kore-wa tomu-san-no-desuka (koe-ray wah toe-moo-sahn no dess kah) これはトムさんの ですか “Is this yours, Tom?”
| he | ano hito (ah-no-he-toe) あのひと, or more polite, ano kata (ah-no-kah-tah) あのかた, both of which literally mean “that person.”kare (kah-ray) かれ̶—Sometimes used by both males and females in informal situations. It can also mean “boyfriend.” |
| she | ano hito (ah-no-he-toe) あのひと, or more polite, ano kata (ah-no-kah-tah) あのかた.kanojo (kah-no-joe) かのじょ̶—Sometimes used by both males and females in informal situations. It can also mean “girlfriend.” |
| they | ano kata-gata (ah-no-kah-tah-gah-tah) あのかたがた, which is polite, or ano hito-tachi (ah-no-he-toe-tah-chee) あのひとたち, which is less polite. |
In conversation, “he,” “she” and “they” are frequently not used. The practice is to use the name of the individual concerned in order to be more
