newborn Japanese baby is shown off for the first time, someone will say Kawaii-nē? かわいいねえ？ (Isn’t he/ she cute?), and inevitably the flock of admirers will all say Nē! ねえ！ (Oh yes!). From such early exposure, the child is doomed to utter nē for the rest of his/her life.
Nē gives an (familiar yet) emphatic ending, usually a rhetorical question, and lengthening it adds more emphasis. With falling intonation it’s more of an explanation. It isn’t often said with a rising intonation, but can be said in a high pitch for emphasis. Girls prefer ne and nē, and guys have an alternative, na, which is used in the same way. But as we said before, the gap is narrowing, and, especially around women, guys will often use ne.
Other handy sentence endings (added to any form but the mas form) include yo よ, used to emphasize that “I’m telling you what I think (and you should do this).” Wa わ is often added by women to soften phrases, and you’ll see it throughout this book. If you prefer a more blunt style, don’t use it, or use yo instead. -noda ～のだ (less formally -nda ～んだ) makes the sentence a clear explanation, with a feeling, of “that’s the way it is.”
These can be combined liberally. For example, you’re trying to decide which movie to see, and someone is being quite pushy about their choice. To be clear that you’ve already seen it and once was enough, you can say Mō mitan-dayone もう見みたんだよね。
Zo ぞ and ze ぜ can be added (usually by guys) to give instructions. Zo means “let’s do...” as in Yoshi, iku-zo よし、行いくぞ (Right, let’s go), similar to but slightly harsher than ikō 行いこう. Ze is a very strong command form, e.g. Iku-ze! 行いくぜ！ (Move it!) Finally, -kke is a handy ending, expressing either uncertainty or forgetfulness Nan-datta-kke? 何なんだったっけ？ (What was it again...?)
The meaning of some phrases may be changed from a statement to a question by a rising final intonation, and these phrases are marked by diamonds (◆). For example:
Haven’t seen you around for a while.
◆ Hisashiburi-ne. ♀
久ひさしぶりね。
◆ Hisashiburi-dane.
久ひさしぶりだね。
With a rising intonation, the sentence becomes “Haven’t seen you around for a while, have I?”
And which parts of the phrase you stress also make a big difference—stressing a yo emphasizes that you’re pushing your opinion. Stressing the sō in sō-dane/sō des-ne そうだ ね/そうですね (that’s right) means you agree more strongly.
Finally, put emotion into your voice. You might think that the Japanese spoken around you is emotionless because it seems so fast, but nothing could be further from the truth. Put feeling into your voice as you would in English, and your message will be loud and clear.
THE LAST WORD
Does all of this sound really daunting? It shouldn’t! Think of this introduction as a reference page for your journey through the Japanese-speaking world. Just keep these points in mind, and you’ll find this book a valuable resource to speed your street Japanese skills along.
And there’s one last thing: the Japanese love to see foreigners making an effort to speak Japanese! Through their troubles learning English, they know how hard it is, so even if you can’t get the point across to start with, keep trying and you’ll earn more respect. And if you’re using real phrases like the ones in this book, all the better!
1 What’s Up?
Hello! Hi!
Ohayō!
おはよう！
Kon’nichi-wa!
こんにちは！
Konban-wa!
こんばんは！
Ohayō! is used in the morning, say until 10 a.m., and with people you’re seeing for the first time that day. Kon’nichiwa! is for the daytime, and Konban-wa! for the evening. As everyday phrases, there are many variations and contractions of these, formal and informal, and they differ between regions of Japan—but these are the universal standards!
Haven’t seen you around for a while.
Hisashiburi.
久ひさしぶり。
Hisashiburi-dayo-ne.
久ひさしぶりだよね。
This is the first of many overused phrases you’ll come across in this book; Hisashiburi is a natural and integral part of a greeting to someone you haven’t seen for a while.
How are you?
Genki?
元げん気き?
How’s it going?
Genki datta?
元げん気きだった？
Saikin dō? Genki?
最さい近きんどう? 元げん気き?
So we’ve met again.
Mata atta-ne.
また会あったね。
I wanted to see you/I missed you.
Aitakatta.
会あいたかった。
You can use this to a friend (as in “I missed you”) or to your lover (as in “I was lonely without you”), though naturally you’ll put more feeling into the latter. It can also be used about a third person.
How have you been doing (recently)?
(Saikin) DM shiteta?
(最さい近きん) どうしてた？
(Saikin) Nani shiteta?
(最さい近きん) 何なにしてた？
What have you been doing?
Nani yatteta-no?
何なにやってたの？
Usually for asking what’s happened just before or just recently (e.g. in the last week).
What’s up?
Nan-ka
