JAPANESE

Now that you've got the Japanese alphabets down, let's learn some vocabulary words and
simple phrases. I will list the Kanji, Hiragana, Romaji (the word sounded out using English
letters), and the English meaning for each word or phrase. Most words have Kanji for them but I
will only include the Kanji if the word is regularly written that way.

Keep in mind that the Japanese language has different levels of politeness that change based
on who you are talking to. I will refer to these as "ultra-formal", "formal" (or "polite form"),
"normal" (or "plain form"), "informal", and "rude" (we won't be covering too much of the rude
form, however).

漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Romaji English Meaning

Hiragana (English Letters)
私 わたし watashi I (formal for males, normal for
females)
僕 ぼく boku I (normal for males)
彼 かれ kare he
彼女 かのじょ kanojo she
あなた あなた anata you (singular/normal)
これ これ kore this (object)
ここ ここ koko here
この この kono this (ex. this pen)
それ それ sore that (object)
そこ そこ soko there
その その sono that (ex. that pen)
人 ひと hito person
犬 いぬ inu dog
猫 ねこ neko cat
家 いえ ie house
ありがとう ありがとう arigatou Thank you. (normal)
ありがとう ありがとう arigatou Thank you. (formal)
ございます ございます gozaimasu
どういたしまして どういたしまして douitashimashite You're welcome. (normal)
おはよう おはよう ohayou Good morning. (informal)
(sounds like Ohio)
おはようございま おはようございま ohayou gozaimau Good morning.
す す (normal and formal)
こんにちは こんにちは konnichi wa Hello. (normal)
こんばんは こんばんは konban wa Good evening. (normal)
さよなら さよなら sayonara Goodbye. (normal)
Grammar - 文法

Japanese grammar is quite simple and straight forward but very different from English grammar
so most English speakers find it rather confusing. For instance, the verb always comes at the
end. The best thing you can do when learning Japanese grammar is to learn it from the bottom
up and not compare it to English grammar.

Japanese grammar uses what we will refer to as particles to mark the various parts of the
sentence. The main particles are: (These particles will be described in more detail below)

は wa subject marker
(as mentioned in lesson 1, the Hiragana "ha"
is pronounced "wa" when it immediately
follows the subject)
が ga topic marker
を wo direct object marker
(pronounced "o")
に ni direction/time marker,
indirect object marker
へ e direction marker
(as mentioned in lesson 1, the Hiragana "he"
is pronounced "e" when it immediately follows
a place or direction)

The particles "wa" (は) and "ga" (が): The particle "wa" marks the subject of the sentence and
the particle "ga" marks the topic of the sentence. In the example, "I know where you live"
(watashi wa anata ga doko ni sunde iru ka shitte iru), "I" would be the subject while "you" would
be the topic.

Not all sentences have both a subject and topic and, in many cases, the subject is implied in
Japanese (for example, the "I" (watashi wa) would be left out of this sentence because it is
implied that since I am talking I am the one that knows where you live). Many Japanese books
and teachers teach that "wa" and "ga" are the same thing and it doesn't matter which you use
when. This is not the case but I wouldn't worry too much about keeping them straight at first.

The particle "wo" (を): The particle "wo" (or "o") marks the direct object of the sentence. In the
example, "I'm going to take her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni okuru), "her" would be the
direct object.

The particle "ni" (に ): The particle "ni" can be used to mark the direction, time, or the indirect
object of a sentence.

An example of a direction marker can be seen in the previous example "I'm going to take her
home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni okuru). In this case, the "ni" acts like a "to" - "I'm going to
take her 'to' home". The particle "e" (へ) can be used in this as well but usually implies more of a
general direction as opposed to a specific places.

The particle "ni" is also used to mark time in a sentence. For example, "I'm leaving at 3 o'clock"
(watashi wa sanji ni hanareru).

The final use for the particle "ni" is that of indirect object marker. In the example, "I was taken
home by him" (watashi wa kare ni ie made okurareta), "him" is the indirect object.

Note: The "watashi wa" in all of the example sentenced used above would normally be left out
as it is implied.

Numbers, Time, and Days of the Week

Before we get too much further into grammar and verb conjugation, I thought it would be a good
idea to teach numbers, time, days of the week, etc.
 漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning
(English Letters)
一 いち ichi one
二 に ni two
三 さん san three
四 し、 よん shi (yon after 10) four
五 ご go five
六 ろく roku six
七 しち、 なな shichi (nana after 10) seven
八 はち hachi eight
九 きゅう kyuu nine
十 じゅう juu ten
百 ひゃく hyaku hundred

Numbers after 10 are a piece of cake once you know 1 through 10. 11 is simply ten with a one
after it, 十一 (じゅういち, juuichi), 12 - juuni, 13 - juusan, 14 - juuyon, etc. 20 is simply 二十 (に
じ ゅ う , nijuu), 21 - nijuuichi, and so forth.

Put these numbers in front of the character for time 時 and you've got the time of the day.

漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning

(English Letters)
一時 いちじ ichiji one o'clock
二時 にじ niji two o'clock
二時半 にじはん nijihan two thirty (半 means half)
二時四十五分 にじよんじゅうごふん nijiyonjuugofun 2:45 (分 means minute)
...etc.

Now just put the character for moon 月 after a number and you've got a month.

漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning

(English Letters)
一月 いちがつ ichigatsu January
二月 にがつ nigatsu February
三月 さんがつ sangatsu March
四月 しがつ shigatsu April
...etc.

Days of the week don't follow such an easy pattern but here they are anyway along with some
other time-related words.
 漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning
(English Letters)
日曜日 にちようび nichiyoubi Sunday (日 - sun/day)
月曜日 げつようび getsuyoubi Monday (月 - moon)
火曜日 かようび kayoubi Tuesday (火 - fire)
水曜日 すいようび suiyoubi Wednesday (水 - water)
木曜日 もくようび mokuyoubi Thursday (木 - tree)
金曜日 きんようび kinyoubi Friday (金 - gold)
土曜日 どようび doyoubi Saturday (土 - dirt)
今日 きょう kyou Today
明日 あした ashita Tomorrow
昨日 きのう kinou Yesterday
一昨日 おととい ototoi the day before yesterday
明後日 あさって asatte the day after tomorrow (a
small "tsu" (っ) makes a
double consenant)
今朝 けさ kesa this morning
今晩 こんばん konban this evening
今 いま ima now

Godan Verbs - 五段動詞

Now, before you can start making up sentences of your own, you need to learn how to
conjugate verbs. Verbs are the most important part of the Japanese sentence. Often times
Japanese people will leave out everything but the verb.

They are very big on leaving out the obvious and sometimes not so obvious which can get
confusing at times. There are only 3 types of verbs in the Japanese language and they each
follow a pattern that is very simple and very rarely has any exceptions. Most Japanese verbs fall
into the first group, the Godan (五段) verbs. These verbs always conjugate the same with only
one exception that I can think of. These verbs have five changes that follow the order of the
Japanese vowels, hence the name Godan (meaning 5 levels or steps), and then the "te" and
"ta" forms that are common to all verbs. Here's an example:
 漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji Verb Base
(English Letters)
話す はなす hanasu (to speak)
話さ はなさ hanasa Base 1
話し はなし hanashi Base 2
話す はなす hanasu Base 3
話せ はなせ hanase Base 4
話そう はなそう hanasou Base 5
話して はなして hanashite Base "te"
話した はなした hanashita Base "ta"

Base 1: Base 1 can not be used by itself but becomes the plain form negative simply by adding
-nai. (ex. hanasanai - I won't say anything.) If the verb ends in う (u) then the end for Base 1
becomes わ (wa). (ex. au (Base 1) -> awa)
(Plain form is what people use when talking to a friend. It would not be proper to use in a
business environment. We will go over the polite form in lesson 5.)

Base 2: Base 2 is, in most cases, a noun when used by itself but is primarily used with the
formal form of the verb.

Base 3: Base 3 is the main form (the one that would be found in the dictionary) and is also the
plain form present/future tense.

Base 4: Base 4 is most often used as "if verb" by adding -ba. (ex. hanaseba - If he'd just say
something.) It can also be used by itself as a command form but it is extremely rude and I
recommend not using it at all.

Base 5: Base 5 is used by itself as the "let's" form. (ex. hanasou - Let's talk.) We will get into
other ways it's used in later lessons.

Base "te": Base "te" can be used by itself as a plain form command. It is not rude but should
only be used with close friends and children. By adding kudasai it becomes the polite form
command. Base "te" can also be used in other ways that we will get into in later lessons.

Base "ta": Base "ta" is merely Base "te" with an "a" sound on the end instead of an "e" sound.
It is mainly used by itself as the plain form past tense. (ex. hanashita - I talked.) We will get into
other ways it's used in later lessons.
Notice: There is one thing that you'll need to learn in order to conjugate the "te" and "ta" forms
correctly, however. Basically, for all Godan verbs ending in う (u), つ (tsu), or る (ru); the う (u),
つ (tsu), or る (ru) becomes っ て (tte) in the "te" form and っ た (tta) in the "ta" form. (ex. katsu
(to win) -> katte (Win!), katta (We won!))

For all Godan verbs ending in ぶ (bu), む (mu), or ぬ (nu); the ぶ (bu), む (mu), or ぬ (nu)
becomes ん で (nde) in the "te" form and ん だ (nda) in the "ta" form. (ex. yomu (to read ->
yonde (Read it.), yonda (I read it.))

For all Godan verbs ending in く (ku), the く (ku) becomes い て (ite) in the "te" form and い た
(ita) in the "ta" form. (ex. aruku (to walk) -> aruite (Walk!), aruita (I walked here.)) (The only
exception I know of is for iku (to go) which becomes いって, い っ た (itte/itta). I have no idea
why.)

For all Godan verbs ending in ぐ (gu), the ぐ (gu) becomes い で (ide) in the "te" form and い だ
(ida) in the "ta" form. (ex. oyogu (to swim) -> oyoide (Swim!), oyoida (I swam.))

For all Godan verbs ending in す (su), the す (su) becomes し て (shite) in the "te" form and し
た (shita) in the "ta" form. (ex. hanasu (to talk) -> hanashite (Say something!), hanashita (I
talked (to him).))

Here are some Godan verbs. Try conjugating them on a piece of paper using what you have just
learned. Click here for the answers.

漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning

(English Letters)
会 う あう au to meet
勝 つ かつ katsu to win
売 る うる uru to sell
遊 ぶ あそぶ asobu to play
飲 む のむ nomu to drink
死 ぬ しぬ shinu to die
歩 く あるく aruku to walk
泳 ぐ およぐ oyogu to swim
消 す けす kesu to erase, turn off
行 く いく iku to go
(Remember the exception
for Bases "te"and "ta")
Ichidan Verbs - 一段動詞

The second group of verbs are called Ichidan ( 一 段 ) verbs. It is usually an Ichidan verb if it
ends with the sound "iru" or "eru". Some well used verbs which appear to be Ichidan but are
really Godan are listed here. Ichidan verbs also follow a simple conjugation pattern that is
somewhat similar to that of the Godan verbs. Here's an example:

漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji Verb Base

(English Letters)
食べる たべる taberu (to eat)
食べ たべ tabe Base 1
食べ たべ tabe Base 2
食べる たべる taberu Base 3
食べれ たべれ tabere Base 4
食べよう たべよう tabeyou Base 5
食べて たべて tabete Base "te"
食べた たべた tabeta Base "ta"

Base 1 and Base 2: As you can see, Base 1 and 2 are the same. Just like with the Godan
verbs, a negative can be made by adding -nai (ex. tabenai - I will not eat.) and this base, or root
form, is also used for the form form of the verb.

Base 3: Base 3 is also the same as with Godan verbs.

Base 4: Base 4, however, can not be used by itself like with Godan verbs. It is only used for "if
verb" by adding -ba. (ex. tabereba - If I eat it . . .) It is not the low command form for Ichidan
verbs. The low command form for Ichidan verbs is Base 1 + ろ (ro).

Base 5: Base 5 is also the same as with Godan verbs.

Base "te" and Base "ta": The Base "te" and "ta" forms for Ichidan verbs is a lot easier than
with Godan verbs. Simply take of the "ru" and add a "te" for Base "te" and a "ta" for Base "ta".
These also have the same function as with Godan verbs.
Here are some Ichidan verbs. Try conjugating them on a piece of paper using what you have
just learned. Click here for the answers.

漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning

(English Letters)
いる いる iru to exist (animate), to be
somewhere
見る みる miru to see
寝る ねる neru to sleep
着る きる kiru to wear, put on
出来る できる dekiru can do
覚える おぼえる oboeru to remember

Irregular Verbs

The last type of verbs are the Irregular verbs but there are only 2 of them in the entire language
so just memorize their charts below. The first one is suru (to do something). Many nouns can be
used as a verb simply by putting "suru" right after it. It is probably the most used of all Japanese
verbs. The second is kuru (to come).

漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji Verb Base

(English Letters)
する する suru (to do)
し し shi Base 1
し し shi Base 2
する する suru Base 3
すれ すれ sure Base 4
しよう しよう shiyou Base 5
して して shite Base "te"
した した shita Base "ta"

The function for these bases are the same as for the Godan verbs except that Base 4 can only
be used as the "if verb".
The rude command form is "Shiro".
 漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji Verb Base
(English Letters)
来る くる kuru (to come)
来 こ ko Base 1
来 き ki Base 2
来る くる kuru Base 3
来れ くれ kure Base 4
来よう こよう koyou Base 5
来て きて kite Base "te"
来た きた kita Base "ta"

The function for these bases are the same as for the Godan verbs except that Base 4 can only
be used as the "if verb".
The rude command form is "Koi" and really should only be used on animals.

Using Verb Bases

Now that you know about 30 verbs and can conjugate them, I'll show you what you can do with
those bases. You may want to regularly refer to Lesson 6 and Lesson 7 while learning these.
The following chart applies to all verbs unless otherwise noted.
ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning
(English Letters)
Base 1 + な い Base 1 + nai plain form negative (will not verb)
Base 1 + な か っ た Base 1 + nakatta plain form past negative (did not verb)
Base 2 + ま す Base 2 + masu polite form present/future tense
Base 2 + ま し た Base 2 + mashita polite form past tense
Base 2 + ま せ ん Base 2 + masen polite form negative (will not verb)
Base 2 + ま せ ん で Base 2 + masen polite form past negative (did not verb)
した deshita
Base 2 + た い Base 2 + tai want to verb (add で す (desu) to make it polite)
Base 3 Base 3 plain form present/future tense
Base 4 + ば Base 4 + ba if verb
Base 4 + る Base 4 + ru plain form can verb (Godan verbs only)
(verb now becomes an Ichidan verb)
Base 4 + ま す Base 4 + masu polite form can verb (can be changed like above)
Base 5 + と す る Base 5 + to suru try to verb
(this suru is the same verb learned in lesson 4 (to
do something))
Base "te" + 欲 し い Base "te" + hoshii want someone else to verb
(hoshii is an adjective which will covered in the next
lesson)
Base "te" Base "te" plain form command
Base "te" + 下 さ い Base "te" + polite form command
kudasai
Base "te" + い る Base "te" + iru plain form presently verbing
(this iru is the same verb learned in lesson 4 (to
exist (animate))
Base "te" + い ま す Base "te" + imasu polite form presently verbing (can be changed like
above)
Base "ta" Base "ta" plain form past tense
Base "ta" + ら Base "ta" + ra if and when I verb (similar to Base 4 + ba)
Base "ta" + り す る Base "ta" + ri suru do such things as . . .
(this suru is also the same verb learned in lesson 4
(to do something))

Adjectives and Adverbs

There are two different types of words that can be used to modify nouns and verbs. One group
is much like what we would call an adjective but they can also modify verbs as well. We will
refer to these as "dv". The other group can, in most cases, stand alone like a noun but can also
be used to modify nouns and verbs. We will refer to these as "dn". All words in the "dv" group
always end with い (i). No exceptions. This is placed in front of a noun in order to modify it. For
example:

漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning

(English Letters)
赤い車 あかいくるま akai kuruma red car

These words can be conjugated to form different tenses, modify verbs, etc. Here is how that is
done:

ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning

(English Letters)
drop the い and add く drop the "i" and add "ku" modifies a verb (akaku natta ->
became red)
(naru is the verb "to become")
drop the い and add く な drop the "i" and add present tense negative (akakunai -> is
い "kunai" not red)
drop the い and add か っ drop the "i" and add past tense (akakatta -> was red)
た "katta"
drop the い and add く な drop the "i" and add past tense negative (akakunakatta ->
かった "kunakatta" was not red)
(This one might take a little practice
saying.)

It's not as easy to recognize a "dn" but I will tell you that's what they are in the vocabulary lists.
Sometimes you'll even find a "dn" that ends in い (i). (ex. kirei - pretty) As mentioned before,
these words can, in most cases, be used by themselves like a noun. (ex. shizen - nature) By
adding a な (na) to the end of these words they can be used to modify a noun. (ex. shizen na
kankyou -> a natural envionment) And by adding a に (ni) to the end of these words they can be
used to modify a verb as an adverb. (ex. shizen ni aruku -> to walk naturally)

Here's a list of some "dv" and "dn":

漢字 - Kanji ひらがな - Hiragana Romaji English Meaning
(English Letters)
赤い あかい akai (dv) red
黄色い きいろい kiiroi (dv) yellow
青い あおい aoi (dv) blue
黒い くろい kuroi (dv) black
白い しろい shiroi (dv) white
面白い おもしろい omoshiroi (dv) interesting, funny
暑い あつい atsui (dv) hot
寒い さむい samui (dv) cold
大きい おおきい ookii (dv) big
小さい ちいさい chiisai (dv) small
自然 しぜん shizen (dn) nature
綺麗 きれい kirei (dn) pretty, clean
失礼 しつれい shitsurei (dn) rude
静か しずか shizuka (dn) quiet
特別 とくべつ tokubetsu (dn) special
元気 げんき genki (dn) in good spirits
変 へん hen (dn) weird, strange
上手 じょうず jouzu (dn) skillful
親切 しんせつ shinsetsu (dn) kind
素敵 すてき suteki (dn) "cool", good looking