Beginner - Lesson 2 - Japanese Phrases Lesson


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Japanese Phrases

When constructing sentences in Japanese you usually put the verb being used at the end of the sentence and also add the particle o after the object noun being used such as "to eat sushi" one would phrase it in Japanese as sushi o taberu (soo-shae oh ta-beh-roo) or directly translated as sushi to eat.

Affirming and Negative (Hai and Lie)

In Japanese, Hai means what your saying is right and can be used for either positive or negative, a less formal way is Ee.
Example usage is:-

Wakarimasu ka. | Do you get it?
Hai, wakarimasu. | Yes, I do.

Wakarimasen ka. | You dont get it?
Ee, sumimasen. | That’s right. I’m sorry.

On the other hand lie is used to indicate incorrectness regardless if a sentence is affirmative or negative, lya is the less formal version.

Wakarimasu ka. | Do you get it?
Iie, wakarimasen. | No I dont.

Usage of the Ka and Ne(e) particles

In Japanese there is the availability of using the Ka and Ne(e) sentence particles to such that Ka represents a question marker and Ne(e) indicates that the proposer has the same feelings as you.
Using Ka:-

Tabemasu ka | Do you eat it?

Using Ne(e):-
Yoku nomimasu nee. | You drink a lot, don’t you!
Tabemasen ne? | You don’t eat it, right?


Using Adverbs

Adverbs are being used in Japanese to indicate how much of a feeling, often something happens. The usage of Amari and Zenzen can be combined with both affirmitive and negative degrees.

Amari tabemasen. | I don’t eat it very much.
Zenzen hanashimasen. | I do not speak it at all.


You can also use Yoku to indicate that something happend frequently:-
Yoku wakarimasu. | I understand well.
Yoku kaimasu. | I buy it a lot/often

Here are some numbers in Japanese:-

一 ichi (ee-chee) (one) 二 ni (nee) (two) 三 san (sahn) (three) 四 yon (yohn) or shi (shee) (four) 五 go (goh) (five) 六 roku (roh-koo) (six) 七 nana (nah-nah) or shichi (shee-chee) (seven) 八 hachi (hah-chee) (eight) 九 kyū (kyooo) or ku (koo) (nine) 十 jū (jooo) (ten)


 

Japnese Vocabulary

are あれ that
kaimasu かいます 買います buy
kedo けど but
kore これ this
wa は Particle of contrast
sore それ that near you
mo も Particle of Addition
chotto ちょっと little bit, a few
irimasu いります need
+ga が but (more formal than kedo)
+takusan たくさん a lot
+mimasu みます 見ます look, watch
+tsukaimasu つかいます 使います use
+kikimasu ききます 聞きます listen, ask
+yomimasu よみます 読みます read
+kakimasu かきます 書きます write, draw
+hanasimasu はなします 話します talk, speak

Grammar Help
Noun + Verb In Japanese the subject, object and other elements are usually not mentioned in conversation sentence when people have already gained clear understanding of the context. But in the cases where they are not clear, then you can add them before the verb.
Example below:-
Are, tabemasu ka. Do you eat that?
Kore, zenzen wakarimasen. I don’t understand this at all.


Another example for ordering Time--Subject--Object--Adverb--Verb
Watashi kore ypoku wakarimasu. I understand this well.

Noun ordering can be flexible while the verb needs to be at the end.
Kore, watashi yoku wakarimasu This, I understand well.

Ko-so-a-do japanese series

In english we create a two way distinction between this and that, in Japanese there is an additional three way distinction:-
-kore this thing (close to me) or this thing I just mentioned -sore that thing (close to you) or that thing which was just mentioned -are that thing (away from both of us) or that thing we both know about -dore which one

Using Kedo

In Japanese we can use Kedo to connect two sentences to make one, usually the two sentences have contracting ideas with the first acting as an introduction to the second.
-Kore wa kaimasu kedo, are wa kaimasen. I’ll buy this, but I won’t buy that.
-Sumimasen kedo, wakarimasen. I’m sorry but I don’t understand.
-Honda desu kedo, shiturei-shimasu. I’m Honda. Excuse me. (entering a room)

Using Wa

Its possible to use wa to use as contract between nouns.
-Watashi wa mimasu kedo… I watch it, but…(someone else may not)
-Kore wa wakarimasu. I understand this (but not the other one)
-Ashita wa kaimasu. Tomorrow, I will buy it (but not today)

Using Mo

Using Mo as an indication of addition, it can mean too or also.
-Honda-san mo mimasu. Ms. Honda watches it, too (as well as someone else)
-Kore mo wakarimasen. I don’t understand this, either (in addition to something else)
-Ashita mo kaimasu. Tomorrow, I will buy it, too (as well as some other time)

Referenced content from E Konomi




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