BASIC JAPANESE SENTENCE STRUCTURE – No. 2
Present Form
Affirmative
Negative
desu
dewa arimasen
is
is not
Affirmative
deshita
was
Past Form
Negative
dewa arimasendeshita
was not
Present/Negative: A is not B. → A wa B dewa arimasen.
Watashi
Anata
Watashi
Monroe-san
Anata
Kore
Kore
Kore
Kore
Kore
wa
wa
wa
wa
wa
wa
wa
wa
wa
wa
Indiana Jones
John Monroe-san
Nihonjin
Amerikajin
bengoshi
hon
kami
pen
inu
neko
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
I am not Indiana Jones.
You are not Mr. John Monroe.
I am not Japanese.
Mr. Monroe is not an American.
You are not a lawyer.
This is not a book.
This is not a piece of paper.
This is not a pen.
This is not a dog.
This is not a cat.
Kochira
Kochira
wa
wa
Sasaki-san
bengoshi
dewa arimasen.
dewa arimasen.
This is not Mr. Sasaki.
This is not the lawyer.
Anata
Monroe-san
Monroe-san
Hai, M-san
Iie, M-san
wa
wa
wa
wa
wa
gakusei
bengoshi
amerikajin
amerikajin
amerikajin
dewa arimasen ka?
dewa arimasen ka?
dewa arimasen ka?
desu.
dewa arimasen.
Anata
Anata
wa
wa
Home Depot no bengoshi
PREP no sensei
dewa arimasen ka?
dewa arimasen ka?
Aren't you a student?
Isn't Mr. Monroe a lawyer?
Isn't Mr. Monroe an American?
Yes, Mr. M. is an American.
No, Mr. M. is not an American.
Aren't you Home Depot's lawyer?
Aren’t you PREP's instructor?
Particles
In the short phrases shown above, and also in Basic Japanese Sentence Structure, No. 1, wa, ka,
and no are called Particles. "Particles" are one of the characteristic features of the Japanese
language. When standing alone, these particles have NO MEANINGS, but they all play an
IMPORTANT ROLE in the Japanese sentence structure. There are quite a few particles
altogether in the Japanese language, to which you will be introduced later.
Anata wa amerikajin desu. →
subject word of the sentence.)
Topic marker (You could say that the word preceding wa is the
Anata wa Home Depot no bengosi desu ka? → A lawyer belonging to, or affiliated with
Home Depot. "ka" is a question-maker particle.
All of the above will be explained in detail in class. You will also receive the audio version of the above from
me. - PREP instructor.
© Ryoko Popjoy