BASIC GRAMMAR PAGE 1
BASIC WORD ORDER
The sentence order is very different from English. In English we use Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) but in Japanese it is usually Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) - observe:
S
V
O
ENGLISH
I
eat
bread.
JAPANESE
watashi wa
pan o
tabemasu.
Don't worry! It isn't as bad as it seems. You will get used to it.
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DESU
Desu is a grammatical form that can act like to be (You know - is, are, am...) in English in the sense of explaining who or what something / one is or equating one thing with another. Let's take a look:
わたし は クレイ です。watashi wa kurei desu.I am Clay.
これ は ねこ です。kore wa neko desu.This is a cat.
Most of the time you want to use the to be verb you will use desu. Later we will learn other forms to show existence.
MAIN POINTS:
is, are, am
always at the end
It doesn't change like its English cousin (is, are, am) in the present tense
usually pronounced like "dess" HEAR IT! WAV 11 k
2 Basic verb forms ～dictionary、～ます
There are many ways to change verbs, but here we will focus on 2 present tense forms "dictionary form" and "~masu form" NOTE: These 2 mean the same thing, but the dictionary form is a little more casual and shorter.
The dictionary form gets its name because it is what is found in the dictionary.
The dictionary form verbs ends in -u and many end in -ru
The masu form verbs always ends in -masu in the present tense
To keep this page as simple as possible, I am writing all examples (for other grammar points) in the masu form.
EXAMPLES:
たべるtaberu
たべますtabemasu
Both mean "to eat"
のむnomu
のみますnomimasu
to drink
はしるhashiru
はしりますhashirimasu
to run
するsuru
しますshimasu
to do (this is one of the 2 irregular verbs)
You will probably see some other letter changes between the 2 forms. I won't go into this now. There is no need to complicate things. I think it is better to memorize the useful verb changes and eventually once you get a feel for the verbs you can 'guess' the correct form for unknown verb! And remember: Mistake making is memory making!
q4Making questions か
Making questions in Japanese is easy! -- REALLY! Usually you can change a statement into a question by just adding a か ka to the end!
あなた は アメリカ人 です。anata wa amerikajin desu.You are an American.
あなた は アメリカ人 です か。anata wa amerikajin desu ka.Are you an American?
ka is added to the end of statements
Word order is not changed as in English
In Japanese (see right example) the ? (Question mark) is not required (optional)
Just like in English, the last syllable goes up in intonation
In spoken Japanese sometimes the ka can be dropped if you have the upwards intonation at the end. But for now, let's stick to using the ka
FOR MORE ON THIS ...
Question words
By mastering these question words, your conversational skills will be much stronger!
いつ itsu - when いつ きました か？ itsu kimashita ka? When did you come? [lit. when came?]
どこ doko - where どこ から きました か？ doko kara kimashita ka? Where did you come from? [lit. where from came?]
どうして doushite - whyどうして きました か？ doushite kimashita ka? Why did you come? [lit. why came?]
だれ dare - who だれが きました か。 dare ga kimashita ka? Who came?
Even with the question word a か ka is used. (Except in casual spoken Japanese)
The question word is at the beginning, but after the は wa if there is one.あなた は だれ です か？anata wa dare desu ka?Who are you? (the question word dare is after the wa)
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