どうしてHai (or ee) is quite often used in the sense of “yes, I hear you” or “yes, I’m listening” in conversation, particularly when talking on the phone. Bear in mind that this use of hai (or ee) does not mean “you are right” or “I agree with you.”
| no | iie (ee-eh) いいえ , also ie (e-eh) いえ, which is less formal. |
Iie (or ie) is used more often to mean “no” than hai (or ee) is to mean “yes.” However, Japanese do not like to say “no” outright unless the situation is informal or they are answering a simple yes-no question, such as “Do you know Mr. Smith?” Especially in business they usually couch the concept in more subtle forms and try to avoid saying “no.”
Here are some commonly used verbs, presented first in the dictionary form (i.e. the plain non-past affirmative form, which you can find in a dictionary), then in the stem form, the te-form (a sort of present participle), and the nai-form (i.e. the plain non-past negative form). There are two tenses in Japanese, namely, the non-past tense, which corresponds to the English present and future tenses, and the past tense. The following table shows how to conjugate verbs:
For example,
| buy | kau (kah-uu) かう, kai (kie) かい,katte (kot-tay) かって, |
| kawanai (kah-wah-nie) かわない, | |
| kaimasu (kie-mahss) かいます “buy / will buy.” | |
| kaimasen (kie-mah-sen) かいません “do not buy / will not buy.” | |
| kaimashita (kie-mah-sshtah) かいました “bought.” | |
| kaimasendeshita (kie-mah-sen desh-tah) かいませんでした “did not buy.” | |
| kaitai-desu (kie-tie dess) かいたいです “want to buy.” | |
| kaitakunai-desu かいたくないです (kie-tah-kuu-nie dess) “do not want to buy.” | |
| katte kudasai かってください (kot-tay kuu-dah-sie) “please buy.” | |
| kawanaide kudasai かわないでください (kah-wah-nie day kuu-dah-sie) “please do not buy.” |
Note that the subject (I, you, he, she, we or they) is usually omitted when it is easily understood from the context.
To change them to the interrogative form, simply add ka (kah) (か question marker) to the end (e.g. kaimasu-ka (kiemahss kah) かいますか “buy?”, kaimashita-ka (kie-mahsshtah kah) かいましたか “bought?”).
| come | kuru (kuu-rue) くる, ki (kee) き,kite (kee-tay) きて, konai (koe-nie) こない. |
| drink | nomu (no-muu) のむ, nomi (no-me) のみ,nonde (noan-day) のんで,nomanai (no-mah-nie) のまない. |
| eat | taberu (tah-bay-rue) たべる,tabe (tah-bay) たべ,tabete (tah-bay-tay) たべて,tabenai (tah-bay-nie) たべない. |
| forget | wasureru (wah-sue-ray-rue) わすれる,wasure (wah-sue-ray) わすれ,wasurete (wah-sue-ray-tay) わすれて,wasurenai (wah-sue-ray-nie) わすれない. |
| give (to someone) | |
| ageru (ah-gay-rue) あげる,age (ah-gay) あげ,agete (ah-gay-tay) あげて,agenai (ah-gay-nie) あげない. | |
| give (to me ) | |
| kureru (kuu-ray-rue) くれる,kure (kuu-ray) くれ,kurete (kuu-ray-tay) くれて,kurenai (kuu-ray-nie) くれない. |
Note that “please give me” is simply kudasai (kuu-dah-sie) く ださい, not kurete kudasai (kuu-ray-tay kuu-dah-sie) くれて ください.
| go | iku (ee-koo) いく, iki (ee-kee) いき,itte (eet-tay) いって,ikanai (ee-kah-nie) いかない. |
| hear | kiku (kee-koo) きく, kiki (kee-kee) きき,kiite (kee-tay) きいて,kikanai (kee-kah-nie) きかない. |
| have | motsu (moe-t’se) もつ, mochi (moe-chee) もち,motte (moat-tay) もって,motanai (moe-tah-nie) もたない. |
Note that, instead of the stem form, motte-i (もってい te-form + i い ) is used in the non-past and past forms (e.g. motte-imasu (moat-tay ee-mahss) もっています “have,” motte-imasen (moat-tay ee-mah-sen) もっていません “do not have”).
| know | shiru (she-rue) しる, shiri (she-ree) しり,shitte (ssh-tay) しって,shiranai (she-rah-nie) しらない. |
Note that in the affirmative forms shitte-i (しってい te-form + i い) replaces the stem form, with the exception of the desiderative form (e.g. shitte-imasu? (ssh-tay-ee-mahss) しっていま す “know,” shitte-imashita (ssh-tay-ee-mah-sshtah) しってい ました “knew,” but shiritaidesu (she-ree-tie-dess) しりたいで す “want to know”).
| read | yomu (yoe-muu) よむ,yomi (yoe-me) よみ,yonde (yoan-day) よんで,yomanai (yoe-mah-nie) よまない. |
| return (go/come back) | |
| kaeru (kah-eh-rue) かえる,kaeri (kah-eh-ree) かえり,kaette (kah-eh’t-tay) かえって,kaeranai (kah-eh-rah-nie) かえらない. | |
| say | iu (yuu) いう, ii (ee) いい,itte (eet-tay) いって,iwanai (e-wah-nie) いわない. |
| see (someone) | |
| au (a-uu) あう, ai (ai) あい,atte (at-tay) あって,awanai (ah-wah-nie) あわない. | |
| see (something) | |
| miru (me-rue) みる, mi (me) み,mite (me-tay) みて, minai (me-nie) みない. | |
| sleep | neru (ney-rue) ねる, ne (ney) ね,nete (nay-tay) ねて, nenai (nay-nie) ねない. |
| speak | hanasu (hah-nah-sue) はなす,hanashi (hah-nah-ssh) はなし,hanashite (hah-nah-sshtay) はなして,hanasanai (hah-nah-sah-nie) はなさない. |
| understand | |
| wakaru (wah-kah-rue) わかる,wakari (wah-kah-ree) わかり,wakatte (wah-kot-tay) わかって,wakaranai (wah-kah-rah-nie) わからない. | |
| walk | aruku (ah-rue-kuu) あるく,aruki (ah-rue-kee) あるき,aruite (ah-rue-ee-tay) あるいて,arukanai (ah-rue-kah-nie) あるかない. |
| wait | matsu (mah-t’sue) まつ,machi (mah-chee) まち,matte (maht-tay) まって,matanai (mah-tah-nie) またない. |
| write | kaku (kah-kuu) かく, kaki (kah-kee) かき,kaite (kie-tay) かいて,kakanai (kah-kah-nie) かかない. |
COMMON PHRASES
► Do you speak English?
Eigo-o hanashimasu-ka. えいごを はなしますか。
(Aa-go oh hah-nah-she-mahss kah)
Note that the Japanese full stop is a small circle, which is used whether the sentence is a statement or a question.
► I can speak a little Japanese.
Nihongo-ga sukoshi hanasemasu.
(Nee-hoan-go gah suu-koe-she hah-nah-say-mahss)
にほんごが すこし はなせます。
► I don’t understand.
Wakarimasen. (Wah-kah-ree-mah-sen) わかりません。
► Please say it again.
Mō
