Nouns

Proper nouns

Are a specific item/person/institution/place

さん

Is a respectful which can be used after a family name or a given name, regardless of the person’s gender or marital status.

ちゃん

Respectful title that can be used after the given name to show affection(usually girls).

君 → くん

Respectful title is used more commonly used for boys.

様　→　さま

Respectful title that is used in extremely polite contexts but is typically used for addressing a business customer or client.

Respectful titles do’s and don’ts

If a certain person has a certain position or function, his or her professional title should be used after the family name instead of さん.

Do not use respectful titles or professional title when addressing oneself, when telling one’s name just say one’s name without the respectful titles.

Adults usually say their family name.

Common nouns vs Proper nouns

proper nouns are capitalized and name specific people, places, or things, while common nouns are general, non-capitalized words for categories of people, places, or things

How to refer to a specific item without a proper name?

By adding a a demonstrative adjective(この,　その,あの,どの) to a common noun.

demonstrative adjective + common noun

この + common noun

If the item is near the speaker but not the　listener.

その + common noun

If the item is near the listener but not the speaker.

あの + common noun

If it is far from either the speaker or listener.

どの + common noun

If it is not clear which item, one can ask about. どの has a similar meaning to the English word “Which“.

Compound Nouns

Are nouns that are made by combining two or more nouns.

The stems of some verbs can serve as nouns and are used to create compound nouns:

食べ物 tabe-mono (food)　←　食べる taberu (to eat)　+　 物 mono (thing)

焼き肉 yaki-niku (grilled meat)　←　焼く yaku (to grill) +　肉 niku (meat)

飼い猫 kai-neko (house cat)　←　飼う kau (feed and keep animal)　+　猫 neko (cat)

The following nouns are made of two verbs in the stem form:

読み書き yomi-kaki (reading and writing)　←　読む yomu (to read) + 書く kaku (to write)

立ち読み tachi-yomi (reading in a bookstore without buying them) 　←　立つ tatsu (to stand)　+　読む yomu (to read)

The following nouns contain a na adjective in the stem form:

酒好き sake-zuki　←　酒 sake (alcohol)　+　好きな suki na (like)

人間嫌い ningen-girai (those who hate people)　←　人間 ningen (human being)　+　嫌い kirai (hate)

Demonstrative Pronouns

Are used to refer to items that the speaker and the listener can see.

When referring to people you and your addressee can see use a demonstrative adjective directly followed by a common noun

ex: あの人 ano hito (that person)

ex: この学生 kono gakusei (this student)

Alternatively you can use the demonstrative pronoun こちら kochira,　そちら sochira or　あちら achira in relatively formal contexts. If you use　これ kore,　それ sore or　あれ are to refer a person you will sound very rude. These words and phrases can be placed before a topic particle は wa and the copula です.

ex:あの人は学生です。

Ano hito wa gakusei desu.

That person is a student.

ex:こちらは山田さんです。

kochira wa Yamada-san desu.

This is Ms. Yamada.　

ex:この学生は日本人です。

kono gakusei ha nihonjin desu.

This student is Japanese.

Demonstrative Adjectives

:

The Speaker’s Domain (close to the speaker)	The Listener’s Domain (close to the listener but far from the speaker)	Beyond the Speaker and the Listener’s Domain (far from both the speaker and the listener)	Question Word
この kono	その sono	あの ano	どの dono

Demonstrative Pronouns for Things and animals

The Speaker’s Domain (close to the speaker)	The Listener’s Domain (close to the listener but far from the speaker)	Beyond the Speaker and the Listener’s Domain (far from both the speaker and the listener)	Question Word
これ kore	それ sore	あれ are	どれ dore

Demonstrative Pronouns for Location

The Speaker’s Domain (close to the speaker)	The Listener’s Domain (close to the listener but far from the speaker)	Beyond the Speaker and the Listener’s Domain (far from both the speaker and the listener)	Question Word
ここ koko	そこ soko	あそこ asoko	どこ doko

Demonstrative Pronouns for Direction

The Speaker’s Domain (close to the speaker)	The Listener’s Domain (close to the listener but far from the speaker)	Beyond the Speaker and the Listener’s Domain (far from both the speaker and the listener)	Question Word
こちら kochira	そちら sochira	あちら achira	どちら dochira

Personal Pronouns

Is used to refer to people in terms of first, second and third person.

Although in English it changes form depending on the grammatical case (ex: he and him),Japanese do not because of grammatical case is expressed by particles が ga and を o.

Personal Pronoun: First person, gender neutral,

Singular	Plural
私 watashi	私達　watashi-tachi

Personal Pronoun: First person, masculine.

Singular	Plural
僕 boku	僕達 bokut-achi

Personal Pronoun

Second person, gender neutral.

Singular	Plural
あなた　anata	あなた達　anata-tachi

Personal Pronoun: Third person, masculine or gender neutral.

Singular	Plural
彼　kare	彼ら　karera

Personal Pronoun: Third person, feminine.

Singular	Plural
彼女　kanojo	彼女ら　kanojora

Personal Pronouns

Used to refer to people in terms of first, second and third person. Although for English it changes form depending on the grammatical case (ex: he and him). For Japanese it does not because of grammatical case is expressed by particles such as が ga and を o.

First person, gender neutral	私 watashi	私達 watashi-tachi
First person, masculine	僕 boku	僕達 boku-tachi
Second person	あなた anata	あなた達 anata-tachi
Third person, masculine, or gender neutral	彼 kare	彼ら karera
Third person, feminine	彼女 kanojo	彼女ら kanojora

Note : it is usually ommitted when understood in context in Japanese. In fact one should avoid using あなた anata (you) either by dropping it or by replacing it with the name of a person.

Dropped pronouns and lack of articles and number specification

The Japanese prefer to drop words in sentences if they are understood within context. So they rarely use pronouns such as ‘it‘,’I’,’you’ and ‘he/her.

Articles like ‘a‘,’an’ and ‘the‘ are absent, and the singular/plural distinction is not usually clarified.

ex: “Did you brush your teeth?“

But in this example when converted to Japanese there is no pronoun that corresponds to ‘you’ or ‘your’ and there is no indication for whether or not it means ‘tooth‘ or ‘teeth’.

歯を磨きましたか。

ha o migakimashitaka?

The particle の no

Used in Japanese to modify a noun by placing another noun before it. However, the particle 　の will be needed to be added at the end of the added noun to indicate that it is a modifier.

ex: 文学の学生 bungaku no gakusei which means ‘a student of literature.’.

Multiple such modifiers can be added.

ex:ボストンの大学の文学の学生 which means ‘a student of literature in a university in Boston.’.

Omitting nouns after の no

You can omit the noun after the particle の no if it is the last noun in the noun phrase and it is understood in context. So instead of saying 私の本です Watashi no hon desu, you can say 私のです Watashi no desu. Similarly, instead of saying 私の友達の本です Watashi no tomodachi no hon desu, you can say 私の友達のです Watashi no tomodachi no desu.

Kinship terms

There are two sets of kinship terms in Japanese. Plain forms are shorter and used when referring  to one’s own family members in front of someone not part of one’s family.

Polite forms, which are longer  are used when referring to someone else’s  family members.

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for father

父 chichi　お父さん otousan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for mother

母 haha　お母さん okaasan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for sibling(s)

兄弟 kyoudai　ご兄弟 go-kyoudai

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for older brother

兄 ani　お兄さん oniisan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for older sister

姉 ane　お姉さん oneesan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for younger brother

弟 otouto　弟さん otoutosan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for younger sister

妹 imouto　妹さん imoutosan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for grandfather

祖父 sofu　おじいさん ojiisan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for grandmother

祖母 sobo　おばあさん obaasan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for uncle

おじ oji　おじさん ojisan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for aunt

おば oba　おばさん obasan

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for husband

主人 shujin ; 夫 otto　ご主人 go-shujin

Kinship terms(plain and polite forms) for wife

家内 kanai；妻 tsuma　奥さん okusan