
The stem may change or have a suffix added to show tense, mood and politeness. Verbs are listed in what is known as the "dictionary" or "plain" form.Īll Japanese verbs, except for two irregular verbs, can be divided into two groups orĬonjugations which differ only in the way in which they form their stems and infinitives. Japanese verbs do not have different forms for person, number or gender. While walking, I thought about the problem. Isogashii kara, eiga ni ikimasen deshita.īecause I was busy, I didn't go to the movie.Īruki nagara, mondai ni tsuite kangaemashita. Tanaka san wa kimasu ga, Watanabe san wa kimasen. Watashitachi wa Kyôto ya Ôsaka (nado) e ikimashita. Watashi wa yoku tomodachi to hirugohan o tabemasu. Sono gakusei wa pen to enpitsu o motte imasu. The department store is open from 10:00 o'clock until 6:00 o'clock. The department store closes at 6:00 o'clock. The department store opens at 10:00 o'clock. Tomorrow the two of us are going to a movie.Īre you going to Japan? kara Origin, starting time Watashi wa honya de hon o sansatsu kaimashita. Kinô watashi wa hayaku uchi ni kaerimashita.ĭe Place of action, means, total, material Watashi wa Tanaka san ni hon o kasimashita. Ni object, location, direction, specific time No Possession, noun modification, apposition (Literally, As for me, sushi is likeable.")

(Literally, "As for Yôko, she is a graduate student.") Other interrogative pronouns are the following: Kochira this way sochira that way achira that way dochira which way Koko here soko there asoko over there doko where Kô in this manner sô in that manner â in that manner dô in which way Konna this kind of sonna that kind of anna that kind of donna what kind of

Kore this one sore that one are that one dore which one So- Something nearer the listener than the speaker.Ī- Something at a distance from both speaker and listener. Or adverbs, may be divided into four groups depending on the prefix: The demonstrative and iterrogative words, which are either pronouns, adjectives That young lady sitting over there is my daughter. There are no relative pronouns in Japanese, and the relative clause precedes the word it modifies.Īsoko ni suwatte iru wakai josei wa musume desu. The one reflexive pronoun is jibun (myself, yourself, etc.). The negative indefinite pronouns take a negative verb. The indefinite pronouns are the following: Similarly, when referring to a third person, use the person's name. Nihongo no kurasu Japanese language classĪvoid using anata whenever possible, and use the person's name with san instead. Two nouns used together as a compound noun are joined by the particle no. When referring to a clerk or shopkeeper, the honorific san is used. The suffix -ka means a person who is is an expert or specialist in the designated subject. The suffix -ya means the store where the objects are sold or the person who sells them. Japanese give the family name first followed by the given name. Kodomo child, children kodomotachi children Hon book, books, a book, the book, the booksįor nouns referring to people, the suffix -tachi may be used to indicate the plural.

In romaji the names of persons and places are capitalized as are the names of languages except English ( eigo). Japanese nouns do not have gender, they may not be modified by definite or indefinite articles because none exist in Japanese, and the singular and plural forms are usually the same. Torako saw a mouse (Literally, "Torako mouse saw.")Ī sentence is made into a question by placing the particle ka at the end. Japanese is a Subject-Object-Verb language as compared with English which is a Subject-Verb-Object language. The topics chosen are those which may benefit a person who is beginning to study Japanese and who would like a quick reference to supplement more complete and authoritative sources. Most of the examples have been taken from, or have been suggested by, the references given at the end. Edmonton, Alberta T6G claim is made for either originality or completeness in these notes.
