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Culture Documents
Japanese Conversation Help
Japanese Conversation Help
Practice
Watashi wa Tanaka desu. : I am Tanaka.
Watashi no namae wa Tanaka desu. : My name is Tanaka.
If you say " There is / are ..." for animals including human, "iru" is used. For "thing",
"aru" is used.
points;
...demo : any...
for example
nandemo : whatever
nan/nani : what, anything
daredemo : whoever
dare : who, anyone
dokodemo : wherever
doko : where, any place
Itsudemo (anata ga(you))+(sukina(like)) toki : any time , you like, time : any time you
like.
If you put "ni (at)" at the end of above sentence,
Itsudemo (anata ga(you))+(sukina(like)) toki ni : means " at any time you like".
Watashi wa Nihongo ga amari tokui dewa arimasen.: I'm not good at Japanese very
much.
amari ...arimasen / nai : not...very much
tokui dewa arimasen : not good at
Watashi wa Nihongo ga amari tokui dewa arimasen. : I'm not good at Japanese very
much.
Toshokan niwa takusan no hon ga arimasu.: There are many books in a library.
toshokan : library
niwa : at
takusan : many
takusan no hon : many books
Toshokan niwa takusan no hon ga arimasu. : library, at, many, book, exist(are):
There are many books in a library.
Mado o aketemo yoroshii desuka : window, opening, good , ? : Would you mind
opening the window?
Denwa o karitemo yoroshii desuka : telephone, borrow, good,? : Can I use the
telephone?
kariru : borrow, use something which is no mine
(kari-nai, kari-masu, kariru,kariru-toki,karre-ba,kariro,kariyou,karita)
tsukattemo : tsukai-temo
tatsu : stand up
(tata-nai,tachi-masu,tatsu,tatsu-toki,tate-ba,tate,tatou,tatta)
Tattemo yoroshii desuka : Can I stand up ?
tattemo : tachi-temo
Don't do it.
Suruna : Don't do it.
suru : do
(shi-nai,shi-masu,suru,suru-toki,sure-ba,shiro,shiyou,shita)
suru+na : don't do (imperative)
shi-nai + de : don't do (imperative)
In the case that the object word is needed, the object word is put at top of the sentense.
Watashi o minaide kudasai. : me, don't look ,please : Don't look at me ,please.
Hon o yomanaide kudasai. : book , don't read,please : Don't read a book, please.
conjunction ; but
ga/shikashi / shikashinagara : but
demo / kedo : but
"shikashi" and " shikashinagara" should be put at the begining of the sentence not in the
middle.
"ga" can be put in the middle.
conjunction ; and, or
We use ,in a sentence, conjunction words to connect word and word, sentence and
sentence and so on.
If you forgot to make euphonic change and say " kakite miru", it is not wrong but old
Japanese which samurai used.
All the phrases below are sentences which ask your name.
Anatano namae wa nan desuka ? : your ,name, what,is,? : What is your name?
no : makes possessive case, A no B : A's B
anata : you
anatano : your
namae : name
nan / nani : what
desu : is / are : "desu" makes the sentence end with affirmation.
ka : "?" : "ka" makes the sentence interrogative
Dochira ni osumai desuka? : Where are you living?/ Whre do you live?
osumai : to be living, live
If you could hear the word "dochira" in the conversation, you may know "dochira" is
used for a place or just as "which" in the context of the conversation.
Koko kara toshin made wa donokurai desuka : How far is it from here to downtown?
koko : hire
kara : from
toshin : downtown
made : to, upto
donokurai : how far, how much
Koko kara toshin made wa donokurai (no jikan) desuka : here, from, downtown,
to , how far, is? : How far is it from here to downtown.
jikan : time
Koko kara toshin made wa donokurai (no jikan) kakarimasuka : How long will it
take to get downtown from here?
kakaru : take(time)
(kakara-nai,kakari-masu,kakaru,kakaru-toki,kakare-ba,kakare,kakarou,kakatta)
Koko kara toshin made wa donokurai kakarimasuka : here,from,downtown,to,how
long,take?: How long will it take to get downtown from here?
"donokurai no jikan " can be substituted for " donokurai jikan ga".
Koko kara toshin made wa donokurai jikan ga kakarimasuka : How long will it take to
get downtown from here?
Kono hon wa ookuno hito ni yomareru : this, book, many people, by , is read.:This
book is read by many people.
shiteiru : literaly means "is / are doing". Sometimes "shiteiru" describes not only the
action but also situation
When "shiteiru" attached to verb, the verb should be form b (-masu form).
And sometimes verb should be with euphonic change.
Kono hon wa ookuno hito ni yomareteimasu : This book is read by many people.
For example, let us try with "miru(see)".
miru+rareru : mirareru
mirareru+shiteiru : mirareteiru
mirareteiru : mirareteimasu.
dareka : someone
ni : by
It is not important to know grammatical terms mentioned above, but when you learn a
verb, you'd better see all the conjugation forms of the verb.
Moreover, in the case of past tense, "ta" / "da" / "ita"/"datta" and etc would be attaced
to form b,but you should learn them as another form h.
e.g.
kaku :write
(kaka-nai, kaki-masu, kaku,kaku-toki,kake-ba,kake,kakou,kaita)
miru : look, see
(mi-nai,mi-masu,miru,miru-toki,mire-ba,miro,miyou,mita)
yomu : read
(yoma-nai,yomi-masu,yomu,yomu-toki,yome-ba,yome,yomou,yonda)
hashiru : run
(hashira-nai,hashiri-masu,hashiru,hashiru-toki,hashire-ba,hashire,hashirou,hashitta)
I have to go.
Watashi wa ikanakerebanaranai. : I have to go.
watashi : I
iku : go
(ika-nai,iki-masu, iku,iku-toki,ike-ba, ike)
ika-nakerebanaranai : must go, have to go/ has to go
ika-kakerebaikenai : must go, have to go/ has to go
By attaching "-reru" or "-rareru" after a verb with conjugation, you can make a passive
voice.
nusumu : steal
nusuma-reru : is stolen
nusuma-reta : was stolen
Basic rules of making a past tense and a passive voice are mentioned above.
In order to know the conjugation rule , you'd better meet actual sentenses as much as
possible.
But if you say just "nusumu (ra)reru ta/da" to Japanese people, maybe they can
understand what you say.
Don't do that.
Sore wa shinaide kudasai. : Don't do that.
sore : it, that
shinai : don't do, doesn't do
kudasai : give me
shinai de kudasai : don't do please
You can see that the head of the word changes to "su-" or "-shi".
"suru" is a kind of a special word which has strange conjugation pattern.
If you want to make a negative imperative sentense, you can make it by "do not"
pattern + de + kudasai.
tataku : beat
(tatakanai, tatakimasu, tataku,tatakutoki,tatakeba, tatake)
Tatakanai de kudasai. : beat not, please : Don't beat.
Watashio tatakanai de kudasai : me, beat not, please : Don't beat me.
miru : look
(minai, mimasu, miru, mirutoki, mireba, miro)
Show me please.
Misete kudasai. : Show me ,please.
(verb)shite kudasai : (verb), please
miseru : show
miseru+shite kudasai : misete kudasai
In any case mentioned above, the parts of verb "Misete" are the same.
At restaurant, at shops, you can use this phrase " kore kudasai".
kore tsukattemo iidesuka? : this, in terms of using, is it good? : Can I use this? May I
use this?
Kono kuruma untenshitemo iidesuka ? : Can I drive this car? / May I drive this car?
kono : this
kuruma : car
untensuru : drive
No one knows.
Dare mo shiranai. : No one knows.
dare : who
dare mo ...nai : no one ....
shiru / shitteiru : know
(conjugation : shiranai, shirimasu, shiru, shirutoki,shireba,shire)
(conjugation : shitteinai, shitteimasu, shitteiru, shitteirutoki, shitteireba, shitteiro)
In above case, " mo " is important. You should better learn it as a phrase.
Dare ga shiranai : who, does not know : Who doesn't know?( I think everyone knows
it.)
Comparative degree
Kore wa are yori ookii : This is bigger than that.
But in Japanese, adjective words will not be conjugated but attached some words.
ookii : big
...yori : than...
mottomo : (most) , -est
chiisai : small
Kore wa are yori chiisai : this, that, than, small : This is smaller than that.
Kare wa karera no nakade mottomo sega takai.: he, them , among, tallest : He is the
tallest among them.
Kanojo wa kare yori sega hikui : she, he/him, than, short : She is shorter than he.
kouen : park
ni : to , on, at
iku : go
(ika-nai, iki-masu,iku,iku-toki,ike-ba,ike)
-mashou : let's do
hashiru : run
(hashir-anai,hashiri-masu,hashiru,hashiru-toki,hashir-eba,hashire)
made : upto, to
Kouen made hashirimashou. : the park, upto, let's run: Let's run to the park.
Somethng to drink
nanika nomumono : something to drink
nanika : some
nomu : drink(plain)
-mono : thing
taberu : eat
nanika taberumono : something to eat
yomu : read
nanika yomumono : something to read
tataku : beat
nanika tatakumono : something to beat
aisuru : love(verb)
aishiteiru : be loving
aishiteimasu : be loving (polite)
There exists a little bit diffrence between " verb+-shiteiru" and " be+-ing".
Watashi wa anata o eienni aishimasu. : I, you, forever, love : I love you forever.
In above case, "aishimasu" is right. If "aishiteimasu" is used, the meaning of sentense
will chang to " I'll be loving you forever.".
Similar case;
shiru : know
shitteiru : (literaly means " be knowing" ) know
I don't know.
When you are asked something but don't know the answer, you can use this phrase.
shiru : know
shirimasu : know(polite)
shiranai : know not
shirimasen : know not (polite)
wakaru : understand
wakarimasu : understand ( polite)
wakaranai : understand not
wakarimasen : understand not ( polite)
"wa" or "ga"
"wa" or " ga" makes a noun a subjective word by being attached in a sentense.
One thing Ican say is that "ga" is used in the case where something is specified or
emphasized.
For example,
A teacher found that window glass of classroom is broken, and he thought someone of
students did it.
Then he asked the students "Who broke the window?" in front of all of the students.
On the contrary, assuming that there is a man whose work is to break glass everyday,
, he would say " Watashi wa garasu o mainichi warimasu."( I break glass everyday)
In this case, he needs not to specify anything.
I think it is better for you to learn "wa" and "ga" by encountering as much as possible.
dare : who
nani : what
shita : did
desuka : ( "desuka" added at the end of the sentense make it interrogative.)
no : ( which connect a verb and "desuka". when connecting a noun and "desuka", no
need to put "no")
eg.
hashiru : run
hashiru nodesuka : Do you run ?
hashitta : ran
hashitta nodesuka : Did you run?
pen : pen
pen desuka : Is this a pen?
In the conversation, if you couldn' t catch some words, you can ask by substituting the
word you caught for "who" or "what" in the above sentense.
Mr. Tanaka ga nani o shitanodesuka. : Mr. Tanaka did what?/ What Mr.Tnaka did?
Watashi wa nani o surunodesuka. : I do what? / What should I do?
It is very difficult to explain difference between " wa" and "ga" .Next time I will .
mou : more
ichi do : one time, once
mou ichido : once again
iu : say
itte : (conjugation ) say
kudasai : please
Mou ichido itte kudasai. : once again, say , please, : Say it again please / I beg your
pardon.
sumimasen : excuse me
Sumimasen, mou ichido itte kudasai : excuse me, once again, say, please. : Excuse me
, please say again.
I can't do that
…dekinai/ …dekimasen ; can not …./ is(/are) not able to …
sore/are : that
Yesterday, I wrote in this blog about "can.."sentense, and explained that if a verb is
included in the sentense, the verb should be conjugated.
The case of "cannot …"sentense is same.
hanasu : speak
hanas-eru : can speak
hanas-enai: can't speak
hanas-emasen : can't speak(polite)
Watashi wa nihongo o hanasemasen. : I, Japanese, can't speak: I can't speak Japanese.
And also explained a easier way to make " can..." sentense with changing a verb into a
noun.
hanasu : speak
hanasu koto : speaking, to speak
You may already know a basic structure of easy Japanese sentense, then you can try to
make sentenses as much as possible for your prctice.
I can do that.
...dekiru : can... , be able to ....
hanasu : speak
nihongo : Japanese
-eru : can..., be able to...
-emasu : (polite)can..., beable to...
hanasemasu : hanasu+-emasu : can speak
if "-eru" or "-reru" is attached to a verb, it means " can...." with verb conjugation.
For example,
yomu : read
(conjugation : yomanai,yomimasu,yomu,yomutoki,yomeba,yome)
Watashi wa hon o yomu koto ga dekimasu (yomemasu). : I, book, reading, can, : I can
read a book.
Conjugaiton of verbs is difficult so you can use this easy way to make "can do "
sentense.
denwa : telephone
... wa doko ni arimasuka ? : (same with "...wa doko desuka ?") Where is .....?
on the phone
Every Japanese people , at the beginning of the telephone conversation, says " moshi-
moshi" as an accost word.
Introdece yourself
When you meet someone for the first time, you have to itroduce yourself.
hajimemashite : how do you do (learn it as a phrase)
namae : name
to moushimasu : (literaly means " I say...", but usually means "is")
Usually, "you" or " I " as a subject is omitted, then, you can say like this ;
Suzuki to moushimasu. : Suzuki, is : ( I am ) Suzuki. / (My name) Suzuki.
Remember that there are many cases in which a subject of the sentense is omitted.
You should concentrate on listening ordinary nouns and proper nouns but " watashi
( I )" as a subject. Personal pronouns are not so important in our conversation because
you can imagine them.
vocabulary : family
otousan , chichi : father
okaasan , haha : mother
ojiisan, sofu : grand father
obaasan , sobo: grand mother
oniisan , ani: elder brother
otouto : younger brother
oneesan , ane : elder sister
imouto : younger sister
ojisan , oji : uncle
obasan , oba : aunt
itoko : cousin
musuko : son
musume : daughter
kodomo : child
oya : parents
mago : grandchild
akachan : baby
kazoku : family
A no B : A's B, B of A
sumu : live
sunda : lived
sundeiru : be living
sundeimasu : be living (polite)
Oji no musuko wa itoko desu. : son of uncle, cousin, is : Son of uncle is cousin.
kekkon : marriage
kekkonsuru : marry, get married
A noun "kekkon" plus a verb "suru" becomes a verb "kekkonsuru" .
mou : already
shinu : die
shinanai : die not
shinimasu : die (polite)
shinu : die
shinutoki : die when
shineba : die if
shine : die (imperative)
If you have to say something about someone's death, you should better use more polite
word in spite of using "shinu".
That is " nakunaru".
nakunaru : die
nakunaranai : die not
nakunarimasu : die (polite)
nakunaru : die
nakunarutoki : die when
nakunareba : die if
nakunare : die (imperative)
nakunatta : died
nakunarimashita : died, was/were dead (polite)
umareru : be born
umarenai : be born not
umaremasu : be born(polite)
umareru : be born
umarerutoki : be born when
umarereba : be born if
umarero : be born(imperative)
On the taxi
Many Japanese taxi drivers are not good at speaking English.
This may be top level in the world.
But once they got your destination, you will be satisfied with their driving tequnique.
When you get on a taxi, the most important thing is to make a taxi driver understand
where to go.
iku : go
shitai : want
ikitai : want to go
no desuga : literaly means "....,but..". When you ask for something, these words are
added at the end of the sentense in many cases.
Tokyo ni ikitai no desuga : Tokyo to, want to go, (I mean),: I want to go to Tokyo.
Hotel ni ikitai no desuga : Hotel to, want to go,: I want to go to the hotel.
or
At a shop;
Kore onegaishimasu. : this, please : I want this.
At a station counter;
Shinjuku made onegaishimasu. : Shinjuku to , please : I want a ticket for shinjuku.
At a movie theater ;
otona : adult
ichi : one
mai : when you count thin thing , "mai" would be added after numbers
Otona ichi mai onegaishimasu. : adult, 1, please : I want 1 adult ticket.
At a restaurant;
mizu : water
hanbaagu : humburg
Mizu o onegaishimasu. : water, please : I want a glass of water.
Hanbaagu o onegaishimasu. : humburg, please : I want a humburg.
sentense-final particles
Japanese language sentenses consists of many kinds of particles.
It is no exaggeration to say that you mastered Japanese if you've got full understanding
of Japnese particles.
Some particles are very important to make a sentense have a meaning, but some are not
in our conversation.
For example, "sentense-final particle" are not so important for non-native speakers,
especially bigginers, I think.
It is not a main purpose to explain grammar of Japanese on this blog, but I want to say
that Japanese language has that kind of structural character.
I hope you to feel the meaning of sentense-final particles when you meet it.
okane : money
otosu :
yo : (sentense-final particle)
otosu : drop
otosanai : drop not
otoshimasu : drop(polite)
otosu : drop (plain)
otosutoki : drop when
otoseba : drop if
otose : drop (imperative)
otoshita : dropped
otoshimashita : dropped(polite)
Conjunction words
A conjunction words like " and ", " but ", " or " and etc are to connect a word and a
word , a sentense and a sentense.
hare : fine(weather)(noun)
hareteiru : be fine
samui : cold
Kyou wa hareteiru demo samui : today, fine,but, cold : It is fine today but cold.
ame : rain
Kyou wa ame nanode samui : today, rain because, cold : It is cold today because of
rain.
yasui : cheap
kau : buy
Yasui kara sore o katta.: cheap because, it , bought. : Because it is cheap, I bought it.
today's conjugation;
yasumu : be absent
yasumanai : be absent not
yasumimasu : be absent (polite)
yasumu : be absent (polite)
yasumutoki : be absent when
yasumeba : be absent if
yasume : be absent(imperative)
kau : buy
kawanai : buy not
kaimasu : buy (polite)
kau : buy (plain)
kautoki : buy when
kaeba : buy if
kae : buy(imperative)
katta : bought
Passive voice
When you say a paasive voice in Englis, you use past participle.
tegami : letter
kaku : write
kakareru : is/are writen
ni (yotte ): by
Kono tegami wa watashi ni yotte kakareru.: this , letter, me by, be writen.: This letter is
writen by me.
tataku : beat
tatakareru : is/are beaten
tatakareta : was/were beaten
Watashi wa kare ni tatakareta : I, him by, was beaten : I was beaten by him.
tazuneru : ask
michi : way , road, street
eki : station
e : to
no : on, in
...e no michi : a way to...
Watashi wa eki e no michi o tazunerareta.: I,station, a way to ,was asked. : I was asked
a way to a station.
conjugation
age-nai : give not
age-masu : give (polite)
ageru : give (plain)
ageru -toki : give when
ager-eba : give if
ager-o : give(imperative)
Anata ni kore o agemasu. : (the subject "watashi wa" omitted) ,you to, this, give.: I give
you this.
Anata wa watashi ni kore o kuremasu. : you, me to, this, give.: You give me this.
Kare wa kanojo ni kore o ageta. : he, her to, this, gave : He gave her this.
Anata wa kare ni kore o ageta. : you , him to, this, gave : You gave him this.
Kare wa watashi ni kore o kureta. : he, me to, this, gave : He gave me this.
kureru : give
conjugation
kure-nai : give not
kure-masu : give (polite)
kureru : give (plain)
kureru-toki : give when
kurer-eba : give if
kure : give (imperative)
When the recipient and "me"(the first person) is in the same group like family, "kureru"
can be used.
omocha : toy
musuko : son
watashi no : my
Kare wa watashi no musuko ni omocha o kureta. : he, my son to, toy,gave : He gave a
toy to my son.
We can say that "ageru" has a nuance of "going out", "kureru" has "coming in".
Excuse me.
sumimasen / sumimasen ga : excuse me
vocabulary : Months
It is very easy to say a montsh in Japanese.
Number plus "gatsu", that's all.
ichi-gatsu : January
ni-gatsu : February
san-gatsu : March
shi-gatsu : April
go-gatsu : May
roku-gatsu : June
shichi-gatsu : July
hachi-gatsu : August
ku-gatsu : September
juu-gatsu : October
juuichi-gatsu : November
juuni-gatsu : December
In case of date of the month, basicaly number+"nichi".But there are some exceptions.
nichi : day
juuichi-nichi : 11th
juuni-nichi : 12th
juusan-nichi :13th
.
.
.
kyou : today
Kyou wa roku-gatsu futsuka desu.: today, June,2nd, is : It is June 2nd today.
hataraku : work(verb)
...kara : from
...made : to,up to
conjugation
hatarakanai : work not
hatarakimasu : work(polite)
hataraku : work(plain)
hatarakutoki : work when
hatarakeba : work if
hatarake : work(imperative)
tense
hataraku darou : will work
hataraita : worked
vocabulary : colors
iro : color
kuro : black(noun)
aka : red(noun)
ao : blue(noun)
kiiro : yellow(noun)
midori : green(noun)
chairo : brown(noun)
shiro : white(noun)
kuroi : black(adjective)
akai : red (adjective)
aoi : blue(adjective)
Kono iro wa kuro desu.: this, color , black, is : This color is black.
Kore wa kuroi desu. : this, black, is : This is black.
word order
I said "word order is not important" before.
But , today, I would like to say a key point to make a sentence with right word order.
It is very easy.
A subjective word should be put the beginning of a sentence and a verb at the end of a
sentence.
That's all.
eg:
Watashi wa densha de ikimasu. : I, train,by,go : I go by train
densha : (electric) train
de : by
iku : go
(ika-nai, iki-masu,iku,iku-toki,ike-ba,ike, itta)
Ano hana wa totemo utsukushii (desu). : That , flower, very, beautiful (is) : That
flower is very beautiful.
ano : that
hana : flower
totemo : very
utsukushii : beautiful
(an adjective word have a function of be-verb)
watashi : I ,
watashi wa : I (subject)
nihongo : Japanese language
hanasu : speak
(hanasa-nai, hanashi-masu, hanasu, hanasu-toki, hanase-ba, hanase)
hanasenai : can't speak
hanasu : speak
(hanasa-nai, hanashi-masu, hanasu, hanasu-toki, hanase-ba, hanase)
exception;
In Japanese, there are cases in which "noun"+"suru" makes it verb.
suru : do
(shi-nai, shi-masu, suru, suru-toki, sure-ba, shiro)
benkyou : study(noun)
benkyousuru : study(verb)
unten : driving(noun)
unten suru : drive(verb)
infinitive
Infinitives ( to+verb) are often seen in English conversation.
In Japanese , "....suru tameni" , " ...no tameni " or " ...tameni " is very convinient word
for infinitives.
"suru tameni" means " for doing..." ( same with " no tameni")
dokusho(reading) suru tameni : for reading
unten(driving) suru tameni : for driving
Pactice;
Watashi wa anata ni au tameni koko ni kita. : I, you , with, see, for , here, came : I came
here to see you.