Japanese 1, Module 2, Lesson 6 Grammar Notes

1. ぶんぽう： レッスン6
Grammar: Lesson 6

2. If you’re new to Japan, there’s a good chance that you will be asked this
question a lot!
dochira kara desu ka
どちらからですか。
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

3. どちらからですか。
Where are you from?
どちらdochira can be translated as where or which.
In this lesson you will use どちらdochira as where. からkara translates as from.
• To ask someone where they’re from you would say:
– どちらからですか。
– Dochira kara desu ka.
– Where are you* from?
To answer this question, replace the word どちらdochira with the name of the place
you’re from and remove the question marker, かka from the end of the sentence.
• Let’s say you’re from Japan. You would answer:
– にほんからです。
– Nihon kara desu.
– I’m* from Japan.
* See the sidenote on the next few slides

4. *Sidenote: “Me” and “You” and pronouns, too.
In Japanese, the topic of the sentence can be completely omitted in the
most obvious cases.
• For example:
– おじさんはにほんからです。べんごしです。
– Ojisan wa nihon kara desu. Bengoshi desu.
– My uncle is from Japan. He is a lawyer.
• We don’t add the possessive phase わたしのwatashi no to
indicate that I am talking about my uncle. It’s implied.
• We also don’t add a pronoun for he in the second sentence
because it is implied from the previous sentence that we are still
talking about my uncle.

5. *Sidenote: “Me” and “You” and pronouns, too.
(continued)
It is also somewhat impolite to overuse certain pronouns.
• Take, for example, わたしwatashi or “I.”
– In Japanese culture, someone who uses わたしwatashi to start every
sentence can sound boastful, arrogant, or ignorant of the rest of the group.
Generally speaking, in Japan, it is impolite to think of oneself over the group.
For example:
• じゅうろくさいです。
• Jyuu roku sai desu.
• I am 16 years old.
– Even without わたしはwatashi wa ,still imply that you are talking
about yourself.
– This is very unlike English, where when we talk about ourselves, we always
begin our sentence with “I.”

6. *Sidenote: “Me” and “You” and pronouns, too.
(continued)
“You”
• In Japanese there are two pronouns for the word “you” that you may have heard
before:
– きみkimi
• Is VERY casual and typically only used between very close friends.
– あなたanata
• Has an even more intimate connotation, and is sometimes used between
couples like dear or sweetie.
• Because of this connotation, it sounds very odd to start sentences to your
boss, coworker, or even your friends, with あなたanata.
Rule of thumb: It is much more common to simply use the other person’s name if
you would like to direct your speech or question toward them.
– さとうさんはどちらからですか。
– Satou san wa dochira kara desu ka.
– Where are you (Mr. Satou) from?

7. Nani go O hanashimasu ka
なにごをはなしますか。
WHAT LANGUAGE DO YOU SPEAK?

8. なにごをはなしますか。
What language do you speak?
This is a pretty straightforward question.
• なにnani translates as what.
• ごgo, usually represented in Kanji as 語go means language.
• はなしますhanashimasu is the masu-form (also called polite form) of the verb は
なすhanasu – to speak.
– なにごをはなしますか。
– Nani go O hanashimasu ka.
–What language do you speak?
Remember:
かka placed at the end of the sentence functions like question mark in English.

9. なにごをはなしますか。
What language do you speak? (continued)
To respond to this question, drop the question marker かka and replace なにnani
with the language that you speak:
– えいごをはなします。
– Eigo O hanashimasu
– I* speak English.
*The topic “I” is omitted, as we discussed in the sidenote of this lesson.
Speak more than one language?
– えいごとにほんごをはなします。
– Eigo to nihongo O hanashimasu.
– I speak English and Japanese.
Remember:
1. The particle とto means and.
2. In Japanese, the verb (in this
case, “speak”) always comes
at the end of the sentence!

10. なにごをはなしますか。
What language do you speak? (continued)
Speak more than one language?
– えいごとにほんごをはなします。
– Eigo to nihongo O hanashimasu.
– I speak English and Japanese.
Remember:
1. The particle とto means “and.”
2. In Japanese, the verb (in this case, “speak”)
always comes at the end of the sentence!

11. In Japanese 1, you will focus on polite or ますmasu form verbs.
THE NEGATIVE FORM OF POLITE VERBS

12. The Negative Form of Polite Verbs
To change a polite or ますmasu-form verb from affirmative to negative, you
simply change the ending of the verb from…
– ますmasu
to…
– ませんmasen
Let’s take a look at how to do this:
Plain (Dictionary) verb form
Affirmative ます
(present & future tense)
Negative ません
(present & future tense)
To ｈave/exist (inanimate objects)
あります
arimasu
ありません
あるarimasen
Aru
To ｓpeak
はなします
hanashimasu
はなしません
はなすhanashimasen
hanasu

13. The Negative Form of Polite Verbs (continued)
Take a look at these examples:
Affirmative Negative
かみがあります。
Kami ga arimasu.
I have paper.
かみがありません。
Kami ga arimasen.
I do not have paper.
だいちさんは
かんこくごをはなします。
Daichi san wa
kankokugo O hanashimasu.
Daichi speaks Korean.
だいちさんは
かんこくごをはなしません。
Daichisan wa
kankokugo O hanashimasen.
Daichi does not speak Korean

14. In this lesson, you’ll learn about the direct object marker particle, をO.
Another one to add to your list of particles!
jyoshi
じょし
PARTICLES

15. をO – the Direct Object Marker
*Sidenote:
When typing in Japanese, to produce the をO character,
you will need to type in the letters w o on your keyboard.
When speaking, the “w” sound is usually not pronounced.
The most important thing you need to know about をO is that it
does not translate to anything.
(ﾟДﾟ；) whaaaa?!
Don’t worry! It doesn’t have a translation, but it does have a FUNCTION!
(゜o゜)? tell me more…
The particle をO lets us know that the verb has a direct object.
For example:
にほんごをはなします
Nihongo O hanashimasu.
I speak Japanese.
In the above sentence, をO tells us that the direct object of the verb, はなします
hanashimasu, is the noun, にほんごnihongo.

16. ADVERBS OF DEGREE…
AND HOW TO USE THEM

17. Adverbs of Degree…And How to Use Them
Adverbs of degree describe to what extent someone or something does something.
Two that you will learn in this lesson are:
• よくyoku - often (can also be translated as “well” depending on the context)
• すこしsukoshi - a little
These adverbs typically come before the verb. You do not need any particles after
these words.
• For example:
– にほんごをよくはなします。
– Nihongo O yoku hanashimasu.
– I speak Japanese well (or often).
– ちゅうごくごをすこしはなします。
– Chuugokugo O sukoshi hanashimasu
– I speak a little Chinese.

18. おわり
This is the end of the Grammar Notes for
this lesson.
You can print these notes for your reference
using the link above this slideshow.