Japanese Class Notes - Units 1-5

Main Sections

Things To Study/Topics:

Occupations

• Core Verbs 1-2

• Place Vocabulary

• Katakana Character Recognition and Writing

Greetings/Basics Introduction

1. Meeting People & Everyday Greetings

Hajimemashite (はじめまして): Nice to meet you (for the first time).

(Dōzo) yoroshiku (onegai shimasu) ((どうぞ) よろしく (おねがいします)): Pleased to meet you / Thank you for your future kindness.

Ohayō / Ohayō gozaimasu (おはよう / おはようございます): Good morning (Casual / Polite).

Kon-nichi-wa (こんにちは): Good afternoon / Hello (used during the day).

Kon-ban-wa (こんばんは): Good evening.

Tadaima (ただいま): I'm home (said upon entering your own home).

Okaeri-nasai (おかえりなさい): Welcome home (said to someone returning home).

2. Leave-Taking (Saying Goodbye)

Sayōnara (さようなら): Goodbye.

Jā mata (じゃあ、また): See you later (informal).

Oyasumi (nasai) (おやすみ(なさい)): Good night.

Ittekimasu (いってきます): I'm leaving / See you later (said when leaving home).

Itterasshai (いってらっしゃい): Have a good day / Take care (said to someone leaving home).

3. Appreciation & Meals

Arigatō / Arigatō gozaimasu (ありがとう / ありがとうございます): Thank you (Casual / Polite).

Dō itashimashite (どういたしまして): You're welcome.

Itadakimasu (いただきます): Thank you for the meal (said before eating).

Gochisōsama (deshita) (ごちそうさま(でした)): Thank you for the meal (said after eating).

4. Apologies & Responses

Shitsurē shimasu (しつれいします): Excuse me (used when entering/leaving a room or office).

Sumimasen (すみません): Excuse me / I'm sorry (for minor inconveniences).

Gomen (nasai) (ごめん(なさい)): I'm sorry (casual mistake).

Iie (いいえ): No / Not at all (used to accept an apology)

Daily Speaking

1. Weather (Temperature)

In Japanese, words for temperature change depending on whether you are talking about the air/room (your whole-body feel) or an object you touch.

• Samui (さむい): Cold (air/weather)

• Atsui (あつい): Hot

• Suzushii (すずしい): Cool

• Atatakai (あたたかい): Warm

• Note: For a cold object (like cold food), you use tsumetai (つめたい) instead of samui.

Grammar Templates:

• Affirmative: [Word] desu. (e.g., Samui desu. = It is cold.)

• Negative (FYI): Change the final -i to -ku nai desu (e.g., Samu-ku nai desu. = It is not cold.)

4. Weather (Sky Conditions)

The word for weather is tenki (てんき), which shares the same "ki" (spirit/energy) as genki.

Sky Vocabulary:

• Haré (はれ): Sunny

• Kumori (くもり): Cloudy

• Amé (あめ): Rainy

Grammar Templates:

• Affirmative: [Condition] desu. (e.g., Haré desu. = It is sunny.)

• Negative (FYI): [Condition] ja nai desu. (e.g., Amé ja nai desu. = It is not rainy.)

Daily Speaking Extra

1. Health & Spirit (Genki)

Genki (げんき) means healthy, energetic, or in good spirits.

• Question: O-genki desu ka. (How are you? / Are you well?)

Answering Templates:

• Yes: Genki desu. (I am well.)

• So-so: Māmā desu. (So-so.)

• No: Genki ja nai desu. (I am not well.) Note: Japanese speakers often soften this by saying "Iie, chotto..." (No, a little...).

2. Sleepiness (Nemui)

If you are feeling tired or sleepy in class, you use nemui (ねむい).

Answering Templates:

• Yes: Nemui desu. (I am sleepy.)

• A little: Chotto nemui desu. (I am a little sleepy.)

• No: Nemu-ku nai desu. (I am not sleepy.)

Days of the Week

Useful Related Vocabulary

• Kyou (きょう / 今日) = Today

• Ashita (あした / 明日) = Tomorrow

• Kinou (きのう / 昨日) = Yesterday

• Nan-yōbi (なんようび / 何曜日) = What day of the week?

Asking and Answering

• Question: Kyou wa nan-yōbi desu ka. (What day of the week is today?)

• Answer: Kyou wa [Day] desu. (Today is [Day].)

  • Example: Kyou wa getsuyōbi desu. (Today is Monday.)

Years and Months

Years: Expressed by stating the full four-digit number followed by ねん (nen). Unlike English, years are never split into two-digit pairs (e.g., 1984 is read fully as sen kyuu hyaku hachi juu yo-nen). The only irregular number is 4, which is read as よ (yo).

Months: Named simply by adding がつ (gatsu) after the number of the month. The irregular months are April (しがつ, shi-gatsu), September (くがつ, ku-gatsu), and July (typically しちがつ, shichi-gatsu).

Days and Days of the Week: The days of the month contain many irregularities and are covered in a separate lesson.

Order of Elements: Japanese organizes dates, time, addresses, and names from the largest unit to the smallest unit.

• Date/Time: Year $\rightarrow$ Month $\rightarrow$ Day $\rightarrow$ Day of Week $\rightarrow$ AM/PM $\rightarrow$ Hour $\rightarrow$ Minutes $\rightarrow$ Seconds.

• Addresses: Nation $\rightarrow$ Prefecture/State $\rightarrow$ City $\rightarrow$ Neighborhood.

• Names: Family Name $\rightarrow$ Given Name.

Counting: 1–10

Extra Counting: 11+

Numbers 11–19 (10 + [Digit])

To make numbers 11 through 19, take the word for 10 (じゅう / juu) and add the single digit after it.

11: じゅういち (juuichi) — lit. "ten one"

12: じゅうに (juuni) — lit. "ten two"

15: じゅうご (juugo) — lit. "ten five"

19: じゅうきゅう (juukyuu) — lit. "ten nine"

Tens 20–90 ([Digit] + 10)

To count by tens, put the single digit before the word for 10.

20: にじゅう (nijuu) — lit. "two ten"

30: さんじゅう (sanjuu) — lit. "three ten"

40: よんじゅう (yonjuu) — lit. "four ten"

90: きゅうじゅう (kyuujuu) — lit. "nine ten"

Combined Example: 45 is four-tens-five $\rightarrow$ よんじゅうご (yonjuugo).

Larger Base Numbers: 100, 1,000, and 10,000

When moving into larger numbers, Japanese introduces new base words.

Time

AM vs. PM in Japanese

• AM is gozen (午前)

• PM is gogo (午後)

• Note: Unlike English, these words are placed before the hour.

  • 1 AM = gozen ichi-ji

  • 2 PM = gogo ni-ji

Stating the Current Time

To say what time it is right now, use the word ima (now) at the beginning of the sentence:

• AM Template: Ima, gozen [hour]-ji desu. (e.g., Ima, gozen roku-ji desu. = It is 6 AM now.)

• PM Template: Ima, gogo [hour]-ji desu. (e.g., Ima, gogo hachi-ji desu. = It is 8 PM now.)

Asking and Answering About World Time

• To Ask: [Place] wa ima nan-ji desu ka. (What time is it now in [Place]?)

• To Answer: [Place] wa [gozen/gogo] [hour]-ji desu. (In [Place], it is [hour] AM/PM.)

Pricing

Japanese Currency: The Japanese yen is pronounced en, written in hiragana as えん, and in kanji as 円. Its symbol is ¥.

U.S. Currency: "Dollars" is written in katakana as ドル (doru) and "cents" as セント (sento).

Phrases for Asking Prices:

• How much?: いくら (ikura)

• How much is it?: いくらですか。 (ikura desuka.)

• How much is [Item]?: __は いくらですか。 (__wa ikura desuka.)

• Specific units: nan-doru (how many dollars), nan-sento (how many cents), and nan-en (how much yen).

🏫 Classroom Items/People 📚 Study Supplies & Stationery

🪑 Furniture & Facilities

📱 Electronics

Existence

The Big Picture: Animate vs. Inanimate

Japanese uses two different verbs to express existence or possession, depending on whether the subject is perceived as animate (capable of moving on its own will) or inanimate (cannot move on its own will).

Core Verbs

• います (imasu) / いる (iru): Used for animate beings (people, animals, bugs, ghosts, zombies).

• あります (arimasu) / ある (aru): Used for inanimate objects (books, plants, inanimate things).

Affirmative and Negative Forms

Note on Particles: While が (ga) is typically used to state existence (e.g., Hon ga arimasu), the particle は (wa) is frequently used instead in negative sentences when the topic is already anticipated by the listener (e.g., Hon wa arimasen).

Expressing Ownership (Possession)

In Japanese, stating that something "exists with you" is the preferred way to express ownership or having something.

• Example (Animate): わたしは いぬが います。(Watashi wa inu ga imasu.)

  • Literal: "As for me, a dog exists." $\rightarrow$ Natural: "I have a dog."

• Example (Inanimate): あなたは しゅくだいがありますか。(Anata wa shukudai ga arimasu ka.)

  • Literal: "As for you, does homework exist?" $\rightarrow$ Natural: "Do you have homework?"

The "Perspective" Rule: Subjective Reality

Whether something takes imasu or arimasu ultimately depends on how the speaker perceives it.

• Teddy Bears / Toys: A child or someone who views a plush toy as a friend uses imasu. An adult looking at inventory in a toy store or viewing them strictly as objects uses arimasu.

• Taxis and Buses: A customer waiting at a stop uses imasu because they expect the vehicle to move and function "on its own." However, a transit company tracking its parking lot inventory uses arimasu.

• Fish: A live pet fish swimming in a tank uses imasu, while a dead fish being sold as food at a fish market uses arimasu.

Relative Days/Time

Like/Dislike

Core Structure: To state what you like or dislike (especially regarding food), use the pattern: (Object) が すき／きらい です (ga suki/kirai desu).

Western Food Words: Most Western food items are adopted into Japanese based on their English sound, adapted to the Japanese pronunciation system.

Levels of Preference:

• Like: すきです (suki desu)

• Dislike: きらいです (kirai desu)

• Like very much: とても すきです (totemo suki desu)

• Dislike very much: とても きらいです (totemo kirai desu)

• Like a little: ちょっと すきです (chotto suki desu)

• Dislike a little: ちょっと きらいです (chotto kirai desu)

• Love: だいすきです (daisuki desu)

• Hate: だいきらいです (daikirai desu)

• Neither: すきでも きらいでも ないです (suki demo kirai demo nai desu)

Connecting Words:

• And (と - to): Links multiple items in a single sentence (e.g., sushi to sashimi ga suki desu).

• Also (も - mo): Replaces the particle が (ga) when adding an additional sentence to say you "also" like or dislike something (e.g., ____ mo suki desu).

1. The Core Three-Distance System

Unlike English, which only distinguishes two distances ("this" and "that"), Japanese uses a three-distance system based on the prefixes こ (Ko), そ (So), and あ (A), plus the question prefix ど (Do).

• こ (Ko) Series: Close to the speaker ("this" / "here").

• そ (So) Series: Close to the listener/within easy reach ("that" / "there").

• あ (A) Series: Far from both the speaker and listener ("that over there" / "over there").

• ど (Do) Series: Question words ("which" / "where").

2. Categories of Pointing Words

Important Distinctions:

• Pronoun vs. Modifier: You use これ/それ/あれ independently (e.g., Kore wa hon desu - This is a book). You must use この/その/あの directly before a noun (e.g., Kono enpitsu - This pencil).

• No Plurals: Japanese does not change these words for singular or plural items.

3. Asking About People and Ownership

• People (Who): Instead of using dore (which) for people, Japanese uses だれ (dare) to mean "who".

• Ownership (Whose): By adding the possessive particle の (no), you get だれの (dare no), which means "whose" (e.g., Dare no kaban desu ka - Whose bag is it?).