Japanese IA
Unit 1 Lesson 5 Guide
Vocabulary:
Hiragana
Roma-ji
English
なまえ
/namae/
name
なん____
/nan/
what?
は
/ha/
The subject particle. It
is pronounced /wa/.
Hiragana
Roma-ji
English
おなまえは。
The particle Wa is written Ha,
but pronounced Wa.
Onamae ha?
(nan desuka is omitted)
What is your name?
おなまえは なんですか。
Onamae ha nan desuka?
What is your name?
たなか です。
Tanaka desu.
I am Tanaka.
たなかさんですか。
Tanaka-san desuka?
Are you Mr. Tanaka?
Important phrases:
The sentence Structures:
＿＿X＿＿は ＿＿Y＿＿＿です。
____X___ha ____Y____desu.
X is Y. X = Y.
＿＿X＿＿は ＿＿Y＿＿＿ですか。
_____X__ ha ____Y____desu ka.
Is X Y?
Asking a Question in Japanese:
か /ka/ is a question marker and comes at the end of the sentence. There is no question
mark in a Japanese sentence traditionally.
おなまえは なんですか。
Onamae ha nan desuka?
What is your name?
As shown above, the /ka/ comes at the end of the sentence in Japanese.
What is Romaji?
Romaji is used to write Japanese words using English letters (ABCs). So, use Romaji
when you type “in Japanese”. For instance, type /arigatou/. You will see ありがと
う. This /arigatou/ or /arigatoo/ is Romaji. These are English letters used to write
the Japanese word for ‘Thank you.’
Please remember that romaji is like a bridge connecting Japanese hiragana to
English ABCs. Romaji is not actually used in Japan in real life. The sooner you can
read in hiragana without any romaji help, the sooner you will master reading in
Japanese.