LESSON
NOTES

Particles
#4
Take
Your
Japanese
Questions
to
New
Heights
with
Particles
Ka
and
No!

CONTENTS
Dialogue
-
Japanese
Kanji
English
Rōmaji
Hiragana
Vocabulary
Sample
sentences

4
Grammar

#
JAPANESEPOD101.COM PARTICLES #4 1
DIALOGUE
-
JAPANESE
KANJI
1. ⽥中明
: けい⼦さんは、お⼦さんがいますか。
2. 佐藤けい⼦
: はい。4才の男の⼦がいます。
3. ⽥中明
: 本当ですか？うちの⼦も4才。
4. あ、今週の⽇曜⽇、時間がありますか。
5. バーベキューをしませんか。
6. 佐藤けい⼦
: はい！是⾮。

ENGLISH
1. Akira
Tanaka
: Do
you
have
any
kids,
Keiko?
2. Keiko
Sato
: Yes,
I
have
a
four-year-old
son.
3. Akira
Tanaka
: Oh,
really?
My
child
is
also
four!
4. Oh,
do
you
have
any
time
on
Sunday
this
week?
5. Would
you
like
to
have
a
barbecue?
6. Keiko
Sato
: Yes!
Definitely.

RŌMAJI
1. Tanaka
Akira
: Keiko-san
wa,
o-ko-san
ga
imasu
ka.
2. Satō
Keiko
: Hai.
Yon-sai
no
otoko
no
ko
ga
imasu.
3. Tanaka
Akira
: Hontō
desu
ka?
Uchi
no
ko
mo
yon-sai.
4. A,
konshū
no
nichi-yōbi,
jikan
ga
arimasu
ka.
5. Bābekyū
o
shimasen
ka.
6. Satō
Keiko
: Hai!
Zehi.

JAPANESEPOD101.COM PARTICLES #4 2
HIRAGANA
1. たなかあきら
: けいこさんは、おこさんが
いますか。
2. さとうけいこ
: はい。よんさいの
おとこのこが
います。
3. たなかあきら
: ほんとうですか？うちのこも
よんさい。
4. あ、こんしゅうの
にちようび、じかんがありますか。
5. バーベキューを
しませんか。
6. さとうけいこ
: はい！ぜひ。

VOCABULARY
Kanji Kana Romaji English Class
お⼦さん おこさん o-ko-san (someone
else's)child
⼦ こ ko child
才 さい sai counter
for
years
of
age counter
男の⼦ おとこのこ otoko
no
ko boy noun
うちの⼦ うちのこ uchi
no
ko my
child
今週 こんしゅう konshū this
week noun
時間 じかん jikan time noun
バーベキュー バーベキュー bābekyū barbeque noun
是⾮ ぜひ zehi certainly,
by
all
means,
please
SAMPLE
SENTENCES
あなたのお⼦さんはいくつですか。 あの⼦、知ってる？
Anata
no
o-ko-san
wa
ikutsu
desu
ka. Ano
ko
shitteru?
How
old
is
your
child? Do
you
know
that
kid?
健くんは１才です。 男の⼦が、ホットドッグを⾷べている。
Ken-kun
wa
issai
desu. Otoko
no
ko
ga,
hotto
doggu
o
tabete
iru.
Ken
is
1
year
old. The
boy
is
eating
a
hot
dog.
悲しそうな男の⼦ 男の⼦は⼥の⼦より背が⾼い。
kanashi
sō
na
otoko
no
ko Otoko
no
ko
wa
onna
no
ko
yori
se
ga
takai.
sad
boy The
boy
is
taller
than
the
girl.

JAPANESEPOD101.COM PARTICLES #4 3
 クラスの男の⼦達が駅の前にいた。 うちの⼦はやさしい。
Kurasu
no
otoko
no
ko
tachi
ga
eki
no
mae
ni
ita. Uchi
no
ko
wa
yasashii.
Boys
from
my
class
were
in
front
of
the
station. My
child
is
very
sweet.
私は今週７⽇間全部昼⾷にサラダを⾷べた。 私は、今週7⽇間とも、お昼ご飯にサラダを⾷べ
Watashi
wa
konshū
nanokakan
zenbu
chūshoku た。
ni
sarada
o
tabeta. Watashi
wa,
konshū
nanokakan
tomo,
o-hiru
go-
I
had
salad
for
lunch
all
seven
days
this
week. han
ni
sarada
o
tabeta.
I
had
salad
for
lunch
all
seven
days
this
week.
今週⽔曜⽇ 今週の⽇曜⽇、暇ですか。
konshū
sui-yōbi Konshū
no
nichiyōbi,
hima
desu
ka.
this
week
on
Wednesday Are
you
free
this
Sunday?
時間がありません。 先週、バーベキューをしました。
Jikan
ga
arimasen. Senshū
bābekyū
o
shimashita.
We
don't
have
time. We
had
a
barbecue
last
week.
是⾮、また会いましょう。
Zehi
mata
aimashō.
Let's
meet
again!
GRAMMAR
In
This
Lesson,
We'll
Look
at
the
Particles
か
and
の
When
Used
in
Questions
本当ですか？
Hontō
desu
ka?

"Oh,
really?"




In
this
lesson,
you'll
learn
two
sentence-ending
particles
we
use
in
questions.
You'll
also
learn
another
usage
of
particle
ga
(が),
which
we
introduced
in
Lesson
2.


Question
Marking
Particle
(か)



The
particle
ka
attaches
to
the
end
of
a
sentence
and
turns
the
sentence
into
a
question.
Unlike
question
sentences
in
English,
when
a
statement
becomes
a
question,
the
word
order
stays
the
same.
The
intonation
rises
regardless
of
whether
it
is
a
yes-no
question
or
a
WH-question.


Formal
Sentences:

JAPANESEPOD101.COM PARTICLES #4 4
 Affirmative Question
Verb クミは英語がわかります。 クミは英語がわかりますか。


Kumi
wa
eigo
ga
wakarimasu.

Kumi
wa
eigo
ga
wakarimasu
ka.
"Kumi
understands
English."
"Does
Kumi
understand
English?"

I-adjective これは、おいしいです。 これは、おいしいですか。
Kore
wa
oishii
desu.
Kore
wa
oishii
desu
ka.

"This
is
delicious."
"Is
this
delicious?"

Na-adjective 電⾞は便利です。 電⾞は便利ですか。


Densha
wa
benri
desu.

Densha
wa
benri
desu
ka.
"Trains
are
convenient.
" "Are
trains
convenient?"

Noun それは、本当です。 それは、本当ですか。
Sore
wa
hontō
desu.
Sore
wa
hontō
desu
ka.

"It
is
true."
"Is
it
true?"

Informal
sentences:


For
informal
speech,
we
omit
the
copula
da
that
comes
after
na-adjectives
and
nouns.

Affirmative Question
Verb クミは英語がわかる。 クミは英語がわかるか。
Kumi
wa
eigo
ga
wakaru.


Kumi
wa
eigo
ga
wakaru
ka.
"Kumi
understands
English.
"

"Does
Kumi
understand
English?"
I-adjective これは、おいしい。 これは、おいしいか。
Kore
wa
oishii.
Kore
wa
oishii
ka.


"
"This
is
delicious. "Is
this
delicious?"

Na-adjective 電⾞は便利だ。 電⾞は便利か。


Densha
wa
benri
da.

Densha
wa
benri
ka.

"
"Trains
are
convenient.

"Are
trains
convenient?"
Noun それは、本当だ。 それは、本当か。
Sore
wa
hontō
da.
Sore
wa
hontō
ka.

"It
is
true."
"Is
it
true?"

●

Note
that
using
ka
after
an
informal
form
is
usually
representative
of
male
speech
and
can
sound
a
little
rough.
Please
see
how
the
particle
no
is
used
to
create
an
informal
question.


When
we
attach
the
sentence-ending
particle
ka
to
a
negative
sentence,
it
forms
a
negative
question.
We
often
use
this
grammar
for
suggestions
or
invitations.
明⽇、映画をみませんか。
Ashita,
eiga
o
mimasen
ka.




"Do
you
want
to
see
a
movie
tomorrow?"
少し、休みませんか。

.

Sukoshi,
yasumimasen
ka
"Do
you
want
to
take
a
rest?"

JAPANESEPOD101.COM PARTICLES #4 5
Sentence-Ending
Particle
の
(no)



Previously,
you
learned
the
usage
of
the
particle
の
where
it
appears
between
two
nouns.
In
this
lesson,
you'll
learn
the
usage
of
the
particle
の
where
it
appears
at
the
end
of
a
sentence.


The
sentence-ending
particle
の
indicates
a
colloquial
question,
explanation,
or
emphasis.
Colloquial
question


When
you
attach
の
at
the
end
of
an
informal
sentence,
the
sentence
turns
to
a
question.
The
intonation
rises
at
の.

Affirmative Question
Verb クミは英語がわかる。 クミは英語がわかるの？
Kumi
wa
eigo
ga
wakaru.
Kumi
wa
eigo
ga
wakaru
no?

"Kumi
understands
English.
"

"Does
Kumi
understand
English?"
I-adjective これは、おいしい。 これは、おいしいの？
Kore
wa
oishii.
Kore
wa
oishii
no?


"
"This
is
delicious. "Is
this
delicious?"

Na-adjective 電⾞は便利だ。 電⾞は便利なの？


Densha
wa
benri
da.

Densha
wa
benri
na
no?

"
"Trains
are
convenient. "Are
trains
convenient?"

Noun それは、本当だ。 それは、本当なの？
Sore
wa
hontō
da.
Sore
wa
hontō
na
no?

"It
is
true."
"Is
it
true?"

For
na-adjectives
and
nouns,
drop
the
da
that
comes
after
them
and
insert
na.
Explanation
の
can
also
come
at
the
end
of
a
sentence
when
explaining
something.
This
usage
of
no
sounds
feminine.
明⽇、映画をみるの。
Ashita,
eiga
o
miru
no.




"I'm
going
to
see
a
movie
tomorrow. "
Particle
が
(ga)



As
you
learned
in
Lesson
2,
the
particle
が
marks
the
object
for
verbs
of
ability.
In
this
lesson,
you'll
learn
the
usage
of
ga
that
indicates
existence.


Verbs
that
express
existence
ある [
aru
]
⇒ "to
be,"
"to
have"
(for
inanimate
objects)
いる [
iru
]
⇒ "to
be,"
"to
have"
(for
animate
objects)
JAPANESEPOD101.COM PARTICLES #4 6
Examples
from
the
dialogue:
けい⼦さんは、お⼦さんがいますか。
Keiko-san
wa,
o-ko-san
ga
imasu
ka.

"Do
you
have
any
kids,
Keiko?"

時間がありますか。
Jikan
ga
arimasu
ka.

"Do
you
have
time?"

Reference



は[wa
]
-
topic
marking
particle,
see
Lesson
1
も[mo
]
-
"also"
or
"too,"
see
Lesson
1



の[
no
]
-
possessive
marker,
"-'s,"
see
Lessons
1,
3
を[o
]
-
object
marker,
see
Lesson
2



Practice



Fill
in
the
blanks
with
the
particle
ka,
no,
or
ga


1.
ペット（    ）いますか。
Petto
(



)
imasu
ka.

"Do
you
have
any
pets?"

2.
これはおいしいです（    ）。

Kore
wa
oishii
desu
(



).

"Is
this
delicious?"

3.
この⽔はきれいな（    ）。
Kono
mizu
wa
kireina
(



)?

"Is
this
water
clean?"

4.
今⽇は、⽔曜⽇です（    ）。

Kyō
wa
Sui-yōbi
desu
(




).

"Is
it
Wednesday
today?"

5.
明⽇、何をします（     )。.
Ashita,
nani
o
shimasu
(




)
.



"What
are
you
going
to
do
tomorrow?"
Answer:
1)
ga,

2)
ka,

3)
no,

4)
ka,

5)
ka

JAPANESEPOD101.COM PARTICLES #4 7