When you ask somebody to 

do something in Japanese, you say TE-form verbs and then

KUDASAI (Please, or I would ask you to). For an example, a verb meaning "to eat" is
TABEMASU. Its TE-form is TABETE. So, TABETE KUDASAI means "Please eat." "To look at"
is MIMASU.

ましょう (mashou)" is a word which means "let's".

You can use this word with every verb in Japanese.

Examples:

Let's go.
⇒いき ましょう。
    i ki ma sho u

いき(iki) or いく(iku): go

Let's walk.
⇒あるき ましょう。
    a ru ki ma sho u

あるき(aruki) or あるく(aruku): walk

Let's do.
⇒し ましょう。
    shi ma sho u

し(shi) or する(suru): do

Like above, if we put "ましょう (ma sho u)" right after a verb, it means "let's".

However, when we put a word right after Japanese verbs, we need to be careful.We need to be
careful because the form of Japanese verbs changes depending on the words that follow.

です(desu)' and 'ます(masu)' are put at the end of sentences when you speak politely.
The "topic" often means the subject of a verb.

the subject of a verb means what the verb is talking about as in : cut the bread, the verb (the
action) is referring to the bread

Predicate of the sentence Which should we use?

Noun です
Adjective or Adjective verb です
Verb ます

・ [Subject] は [Noun] です。

  ・ [Subject] は [Adjective] です。
  ・ [Subject] は [Adjective verb] です。
  ・ [Subject] が [Verb] ます。

*Jā, hajimemashō! - Let’s start!1

When you need to ask for directions to somewhere, name the place you want

to go, add the particle wa after it, and say doko desu ka ,as in Eki wa doko desu ka.
(Where is the train station?)

Eating out and buying food

1
Jā, hajimemashō! - Let’s start!
Bamboo – take
どちらまでですか。 Dochira made desu ka. (Where are you heading to?)
i tenki desu ne. (It’s nice today, isn’t it?)
bijutsukan(art museums)
博物館 hakubutsukan (museums)
カラオケ karaoke (karaoke)
クラブ kurabu (nightclub)
mēru (e-mail) ; ヴォイスメール boisu-mēru (voicemail)
dokusho (reading)
Your server will ask you, Go-chūmon wa (Your order?). That’s your opportunity
to say, for example, Sushi o onegai shimasu. (Sushi, please.)

Going shopping

If you’re looking for something in particular, name it, add wa (wah) after it, and
say arimasu ka, as in Sukāfu wa arimasu ka. (Do you have a scarf?). Definitely
check the price, though. You can do so by asking : Ikura desu ka. (How much?).

Preparing for a trip

チケット chiketto (ticket) genkin (cash)

飛行機 hikōki (airplane) ban (evening)

konban(tonight)
ホテル hoteru (hotel)

パスポート pasupōto (passport)

スーツケース (sūtsukēsu) (suitcase)

Local transportation :

chikatetsu (subway) ; densha (train) ; jitensha (bicycle) ; タクシー takushī

(taxi)

Taking action during emergencies

だれか！ Dareka! (Someone help!)

泥棒！ Dorobō! (A thief!)

火事！ Kaji! (Fire!) ; 助けて！ Tasukete! (Help me!)

2
Japanese Vowel Sounds
おばさん obasan (aunt); おばあさん obāsan (grandmother)

セル seru (cell); セール sēru (sale)

おじさん ojisan (uncle); おじいさん ojīsan (grandfather)

とり tori (bird); とおり tōri (street)

ゆき yuki (snow); ゆうき yūki (courage)

The basic rules - Japanese Sounds

The character ん (n) represents an independent syllable for Japanese even though it may sound
like part of an existing syllable to you. を is usually pronounced as o, like the character お, but it’s
exclusively used as a direct object marker A few kana characters have an exceptional
pronunciation: は (ha) (hah) is read as wa (wah) when used as a topic particle, and へ (he) (heh)
is read as e (eh) when used as a particle that shows directions.) Japanese uses two diacritic marks:
two short dashes ( „) and a small circle ( ̊ ). By adding ( „) at the right upper corner of a kana
character that starts with the consonant k, s, t, h, or f, you can make that consonant voiced. For
example, か represents ka (kah), while が represents ga (gah). So you can convert k to g, s to z,
and t to d by using ( „). Strangely, h and f are converted to b. Also remember that じ and ぢ both
sound ji (jee) and ず and づ both sound zu (zoo). (However, ji and zu are almost always
represented by じ and ず, respectively.) What does voiced mean? To understand voiced and
unvoiced sounds, say k and g while lightly touching your throat. You feel a vibration only when
you say g, even though you’re doing largely the same thing with your mouth when you say k,
right? Linguists call vibrationless sounds such as k, p, t, and s voiceless sounds, and sounds that
do vibrate, such as g, b, d, and z, are voiced sounds. On the other hand, by adding a small circle
( ̊ ) at the right upper corner of a kana character that starts with h or f, you can convert the
consonant to p.

Particles
2
お ao (blue color)
あおい aoi (blue)
1. が(ga) - Specifies the subject of the sentence.
Ex: Jon ga kita. (John came.)

2. を (o) - Specifies the direct object of the sentence.

Ex: Mearī ga Jon o sasotta. (Mary invited John.)

3. から (kara) – from - Specifies the starting point of the action.

Ex: Ku-ji kara benkyō shita. (I studied from 9:00.)

4. まで (made) – until - Specifies the ending point of the action.

Ex: San-ji made benkyō shita. (I studied until 3:00.)

5. に (ni)– to, on, at, in - Specifies the target of the action

Ex: Nihon ni itta. (I went to Japan.)
Ex: Otōto ni hon o ageta. (I gave the book to my little brother.)
- Specifies the location of existence:
Ex: Ani wa Tōkyō ni iru. (My brother is in Tokyo.)
- Specifies the time of the event:
Ex: San-ji ni tsuita. (I arrived at 3:00.)
6. へ (e)- to, toward - Specifies the direction of the action.
Ex: Tōkyō e itta. (I went to/toward Tokyo.)

7. で (de) - in, by, with, at - Specifies the location, the manner, or

the background condition of the action.
Ex: Bosuton de benkyō shita. (I studied in Boston.)
Ex: Takushī de itta. (I went there by taxi.)
Ex: Fōku de tabeta. (I ate with a fork.)
8. の (no) - Creates a possessive phrase or a modifier phrase.
Ex: Mearī no hon.(Mary’s book)
Ex: nihongo no hon (a Japanese language book)

9. と (to) - and, with - Lists items. Specifies an accompanying

person or a reciprocal relationship
Ex: Sushi to sashimi to tenpura o tabeta. (I ate sushi, sashimi,
and tempura.)
Ex: Jon ga Mearī to utatta. (John sang with Mary.)
Ex: Tomu wa Maiku to nite iru. (Tom resembles Mike.)

10. は (wa) - speaking of - Marks the topic of the sentence.

Ex: Tōkyō wa kyonen itta. (Speaking of Tokyo, I went there last year.)

Dropping understood words

One way to pare down sentences is to drop pronouns and words that are
understood in the context, and Japanese drop both almost all the time. As a
result, you often hear sentences without a subject, a direct object, a time
phrase, or a location phrase. A sentence that consists of just the verb or a
question that consists of just the topic isn’t uncommon.

Yes/no questions

To form a question that you expect a yes or no answer to, just add the
question particle ka at the end of the statement sentence and use a rising
intonation, just as you do in English. For example, Jon wa kimasu. means
John will come. and Jon wa kimasu ka. means Will John come?
Typical Question Words
だれ dare – who

どこ doko – where

どなた donate – who (polite form)

どれ dore – which one

どう dō – how

いくら ikura – how much

いつ itsu – when

何 nani – what

3
Demonstrative pronouns
Suppose you’re the speaker and your girlfriend is the listener, and just the two of you are sitting
face to face at a cozy table in a fancy restaurant. How romantic! In this case, the half of the table
on your side is your territory, and the other half on your girlfriend’s side is her territory.
“Territory” is a strange word in this context, but it gives you a clear idea. Any other tables in the
restaurant are outside of both your territories. With these boundaries drawn, you can use the
following pronouns when referring to various foods throughout the restaurant.

これ kore : Things in your territory

それ sore : Things in her territory

あれ are : Things outside of both your territories

Sore - that one (near you)

Desu – to be

Kore – this one

Are - that one (over there)

3
Kinō – yesterday
Kuru – to come
Pātī – party
Tako - octopus
 Personal Pronouns
1. watashi – I, me
2. watashitachi – we, us
3. あなた anata – you (singular)
4. あなたたち anatatachi – you (plural)
5. kare - he, him
6. karera - they, them (male and mixed genders)
7. kanojo - she, her
8. kanojora or kanojotachi - they, them (female)

Understanding basic verb forms

 Japanese speakers use four basic verb forms frequently: the dictionary
form, the nai-form, the stem form, and the te-form. The other forms of a
verb can be easily created by making a minor adjustment to one of these
forms:
 taberu
 tabenai
 tabe(masu)
 tabete

Dictionary form
 The dictionary form, or plain present affirmative, is kind of like an
infinitive in English, but without the to. You see this verb form when
you look up words in the dictionary. All dictionary forms end in one of
the syllables ぶ bu , む mu, ぬ nu, ぐ gu , く ku , る ru, す su, つ tsu, and
う u. They all include the vowel u.
Nai-form
 The nai-form, or plain present negative, is the negative counterpart of
the dictionary form. For example, if the dictionary form means I do, the
nai-form means I don’t. All nai-forms end in nai.

Stem form
 The stem form is the shortest pronounceable form of a verb, and it can
be tightly combined with grammatical items such as masu, nagara, ni,
and tai and with words such as nikui, sugiru, tsuzukeru, and yasui (just
to name a few) to form a compound verb or adjective.

Examples featuring tabe, the stem form of the verb taberu:

- tabe-masu (to eat [polite])

- 食べながら tabe-nagara) (while eating)
- 食べに tabe ni (in order to eat)
- 食べたい tabe-tai (to want to eat)
- 食べにくい tabe-nikui (to be difficult to eat)
- 食べすぎる tabe-sugiru (to eat too much)
- 食べつづける tabe-tsuzukeru (to continue to eat)
- 食べやすい tabe-yasui (to be easy to eat)

Conjugating verbs

Regular verbs come in two basic types: ru-verbs and u-verbs. Before you

can conjugate any regular verb, you have to determine which type you’re

dealing with.

✓ If you don’t see eru or iru at the end of the dictionary form of a verb,

you can relax and trust that it’s an u-verb.

✓ If the verb ends in eru or iru, you need to be on alert because it can be
either a ru-verb or an u-verb.

For example, kaeru is either a ru-verb (meaning change) or an u-verb (meaning go

home). Similarly, kiru is either a ru-verb (meaning wear) or an u-verb (meaning
cut). The distinction is important because these verbs conjugate differently
depending on the form. Ru-verbs are sort of more stable verbs conjugation-wise
because the stem-form appears in every form. U-verbs are a bit more complex:
They add one more sound or one more syllable in the nai-, stem, and te-forms

Verb Forms

Ru-verbs

to eat
Dictionary Form Nai-Form Stem Form Te-Form

taberu tabenai tabe tabete

to change

kaeru kaenai kae kaete

to wear

kiru kinai ki kite

U-verbs

to speak

hanasu hanasanai hanashi hanashite

to write

kaku kakanai kaki kaite

to drink

nomu nomanai nomi nonde

 to go home

kaeru kaeranai kaeri kaette

to wait

matsu matanai machi matte

Irregular verbs

to exist (inanimate things)

aru nai ari ate

to come

kuru konai ki kite

to do

suru shinai shi shite

to go

iku ikanai iki itte

To conjugate a ru-verb, you drop the ru (roo) at the end of its dictionary form and
add something or nothing. By contrast, to conjugate an u-verb, you drop the u (oo)
and always add something. (Maybe I should call them ru-dropping verbs and u-
dropping verbs. First drop something and then add something or nothing!)
Te - form
✓ For u-verbs whose dictionary forms end in う u, る ru, or つ tsu, replace

these ending syllables with って tte.

✓ For u-verbs whose dictionary forms end in む mu, ぬ nu, or ぶ bu,

replace these ending syllables with んで nde.

✓ For u-verbs whose dictionary forms end in す su, replace す su with して

shite.

✓ For u-verbs whose dictionary forms end in く ku or ぐ gu, replace them

with いて ite and いで ide, respectively.

✓ For the two major irregular verbs, くる kuru (to come) and する suru (to

do), as well as the verb いく iku (to go), simply remember their te-forms,

which are きて kite, して shite, and いって itte.

✓ For ru-verbs, just replace the る ru at the end of the dictionary form

with て te.