Lesson 1． Copula (am/are/is),

Declarative, negative, and interrogative sentence

Vocabulary (pp.10-11)
Grammar Notes (pp.14-15)
In our textbook and my materials,
N noun
In my materials,
: long vowels such as a:, i:, u:, e:, o:
(1) ①
# No good or unnatural
! Be careful

1.Declarative sentence
N1 wa N2 desu. N1 am/are/is N2.
Watashi wa Maiku Mira: desu. I am Mike Miller. (1)
"I" "topic" "Mike Miller" "am"

1) Particle wa
topic of the sentence As for∼ , Talking about∼
Watashi wa Maiku Mira: desu. I am Mike Miller. (1)
2) Desu
judgement or assertion
politeness towards the listener
c.f. casually omitted

Watashi wa kaishain desu. I am a company employee. (2)

Anata wa kaishain desu. You are a company employee.
Mira:-san wa kaishain desu. Mr.Miller is a company employee.
2. Negative sentence
N1 wa N2 ja arimasen. N1 am/are/is not N2.

Watashi wa gakuse: ja arimasen. I am not a student.

Anata wa gakuse: ja arimasen. You are not a student.
Santosu-san wa gakuse: ja arimasen. Mr.Santosu is not a student. (3)

3. Interrogative sentence
N1 wa N2 desu ka. Am/Are/Is N1 N2 ?

1) Add "ka" at the end of the sentence.

No question mark.
No word order change.

Watashi wa sense: desu ka. Am I a teacher?

Anata wa gakuse: desu ka. Are you a student?
Mira:-san wa sense: desu ka. Is Mr. Miller a teacher? (5)

2) Yes/no question
Mira:-san wa Amerika-jin desu ka.
Is Mr.Miller an American? (4)
Hai, Amerika-jin desu. Yes, he is . (4)
Mira-san wa sense: desu ka. Is Mr.Miller a teacher? (5)
Iie, sensei ja arimasen. No, he is not. (5)

3) Wh-question
Put interrogative word at N2 position, and "ka" at the end.
Same structure as yes/no question.
N1 wa N2 desu ka .

Ano kata wa donata desu ka.

"that person" "topic" "who" "is" "Q"
Who is that (person)? (6)
6.-san
Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. +family/given name

When "Anata" is used for the junior or equal, it is polite.

"Anata" for the senior or respectful person is not good.
"-san" should be used when you know the listener's name.
Omitt "anata" when you do not know the name.

#Anata wa gakuse: desu ka. Are you a student?

Mira:-san wa gakuse: desu ka.
Are you a student, Mr. Miller? (10)
Gakuse: desu ka. Are you a student?