no chichi dess.
私（わたし）の父（ちち）です｡
He’s Mr. Tanaka’s father.
Tanaka-san no otō-san dess.
田中（たなか）さんのお父（とう）さんです｡
POLITE COMPLICATIONS
Many new employees spend their first days on the job learning when to use honorific and humble speech. It can be confusing at first. For example, suppose a new employee is talking to the company president. He’ll be using as many honorifics as he can. The phone rings. The young man picks it up and the caller is looking for the president, Mr. Sato. “Sato is not in.” the young man says using humble speech to refer to his president. Rude? Far from it. He’s merely showing respect to the caller, someone outside his company, by using humble speech to refer to a member of his own company, even if that person’s (in this case, Mr. Sato) status is much higher than his.
EXPRESSIONS IN CONTEXT
A: Are you Mr. Smith?
Anata wa Sumisu-san dess ka?
あなたはスミスさんですか？
B: Yes, I am.
Hai, sō dess.
はい、そうです｡
OTHER EXPRESSIONS
No, I’m not.
Iie, chigaimahss.
いいえ、違（ちが）います｡
A: What’s your name?
Anata no o-namae wa?
あなたのお名前（なまえ）は？
B: My name is Smith.
Watashi wa Sumisu dess.
私（わたし）はスミスです｡
A: Are you Japanese?
Anata wa Nihon-jin dess ka?
あなたは日本人（にほんじん）ですか？
B: I’m an American.
Watashi wa Amerika-jin dess.
私（わたし）はアメリカ人（じん）です｡
OTHER EXPRESSIONS
Are you an American?
Anata wa Amerika-jin dess ka?
あなたはアメリカ人（じん）ですか？
I’m not Japanese.
Watashi wa Nihon-jin dewa arimasen.
私（わたし）は日本人（にほんじん）ではありません｡
A: Who’s that person?
Ano hito wa dare dess ka?
あの人（ひと）は誰（だれ）ですか？
B: That’s Mr. Tanaka.
Tanaka-san dess.
田中（たなか）さんです｡
OTHER EXPRESSIONS
Is that person Mrs. Tanaka’s father?
Ano hito wa Tanaka-san no otō-san dess ka?
あの人（ひと）は田中（たなか）さんのお父（とう）さですか？
That person isn’t Mr. Tanaka.
Ano hito wa Tanaka-san dewa arimasen.
あの人（ひと）は田中（たなか）さんではありません｡
That person isn’t my father.
Ano hito wa watashi no chichi dewa arimasen.
あの人（ひと）は私（わたし）の父（ちち）ではありません｡
NATIONS AND NATIONALITIES
The United States
Amerika
アメリカ
American
Amerika-jin
アメリカ人
Vietnam
Betonamu
ベトナム
Vietnamese
Betonamu-jin
ベトナム人（じん）
China
Chūgoku
中国（ちゅうごく）
Chinese
Chūgoku-jin
中国人（ちゅうごくじん）
France
Furansu
フランス
French
Furansu-jin
フランス人（じん）
Great
