Pronunciation of Japanese
When you are reading Japanese as it is written in our
alphabet, the sounds are similar but there are a few differences.
These letters (a, i, u, e, o) have specific sounds that we are not
always used to:
A - is pronounced as Audience
I – HAWAII
U – SUPERMAN
E – Egg
O – Olympics
 When a letter has a line over top of it (ō, ū, ē) the sound it
makes is held for a moment.
Try pronouncing the following Japanese words:
enpitsu
gakkō
tabemono
pen
sēto
uchi
hon
sensē
boku
tsukue
isu
watashi
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“Am, Are, Is a noun” Sentences (desu)
Simple sentences that are showing that a “noun” (person,
place or thing) is, am or are will end in desu.
desu box
Present
Positive
desu
(am, is, are)
Negative
Past
Examples:
A pencil.
Enpitsu desu.
Mr. Lowe.
Lowe sensē desu.
A book.
Hon desu.
A student.
Sēto desu.
The particle “ka” is added to the end of a sentence to make it a
question. No question marks are used.
Examples:
Enpitsu desu ka.
Is it a pencil?
Tokē desu ka.
Is it a book?
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Marking the Topic of a Sentence (topic wa desu)
The sentences we have been using so far have not formally
identified what the topic is. Most of the time we just assume
what the topic is.
Example:
“Hon desu.” This only says “is a book.” But if I said this
to someone they would just assume I was talking about the book
in my hands or on the table or wherever. The particle “wa”
marks the topic.
Examples:
I am Mr. Lowe.
Boku wa Lowe sensē desu.
* I (boku) is the topic.
This is a pencil.
Kore wa enpitsu desu.
* This (kore) is the topic.
That is a book.
Sore wa hon desu.
* That (sore) is the topic.
Is he Canadian?
Kare wa Kanadajin desu ka.
* He (kare) is the topic.
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“Am, Are, Is Not a noun” Sentences (ja arimasen)
Simple sentences that are showing that a “noun” (person,
place or thing) is not, am not or are not will end in
ja arimasen.
desu box
Present
Positive
desu
(am, is, are)
Negative
ja arimasen (am not,
is not, are not)
Past
Examples:
This is not a school.
Kore wa gakkō ja arimasen.
That is not a book.
Sore wa hon ja arimasen.
Today is not Tueday.
Kyo wa kayōbi ja arimasen.
He is not a teacher.
Kare wa sensē ja arimasen.
Tomorrow is not Saturday.
Ashita wa doyobi ja arimasen.
That is not an apple.
Sore wa ringo ja arimasen.
 Do not ask if something is “not”. For example:
That isn’t a pen is it?
Sore wa pen ja arimasen ka.
 When you ask a question only use positive (desu).
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Possession Sentences (person no noun desu / ja arimasen)
The particle “no” is used to show possession. It is placed in
between the person and the “thing” that is owned.
Examples:
The teacher’s book.
Sensē no hon desu.
My watch.
Watashi no tokē desu.
Jon’s watch.
JON no tokē desu.
The CD is not mine.
Boku no CD ja arimasen.
It’s not my pen.
Watashi no pen ja arimasen.
It’s not your school.
Anata no gakkō ja arimasen.
Is that your friend?
Anata no tomodachi desu ka.
Is that your teacher?
Anata no sensē desu ka.
Answering Noun Questions
You will only use the following responses when answering noun
questions.
Is this your book?
Yes it is.
No it is not.
Anata no hon desu ka.
Hai, sō desu.
Iie, sō ja arimasen.
Is that your bag?
Yes it is.
No it is not.
Anata no kaban desu ka.
Hai, sō desu.
Iie, sō ja arimasen.
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“I like/don’t like nouns” (noun ga suki desu/ja arimasen)
The object that you or someone else likes or dislikes is marked
with “ga”. If you like it you end the sentence with “suki desu”.
If you dislike it you end the sentence with “suki ja arimasen”
Examples:
I like apples.
Boku wa ringo ga suki desu.
or
Ringo ga suki desu.
(it is assumed that you are talking about yourself)
I like water.
Watashi wa mizu ga suki desu.
or
Mizu ga suki desu.
I don’t like comic books
Manga ga suki ja arimasen.
I don’t like Tessa’s friend.
Tessa no tomodachi ga suki ja arimasen.
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“Was, Were a noun” Sentences (deshita)
Simple sentences that are showing that a “noun” (person,
place or thing) was or were will end in deshita.
desu box
Present
Past
Positive
desu
(am, is, are)
deshita
(was, were)
Examples:
Yesterday was Monday.
Kino wa getsuyōbi deshita.
That was an apple.
Sore wa ringo deshita.
Was that Jon’s book?
Sore wa Jon no hon deshita ka.
Was that Jon’s watch?
Sore wa Jon no tokē deshita ka.
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Negative
ja arimasen (am not,
is not, are not)
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“Was or Were Not a noun” Sentences (ja arimasen deshita)
Simple sentences that are showing that a “noun” (person,
place or thing) wasn’t or weren’t will end in ja arimasen
deshita.
desu box
Present
Past
Positive
desu
(am, is, are)
deshita
(was, were)
Examples:
Yesterday wasn’t Monday.
Kino wa getsuyōbi ja arimasen deshita.
That wasn’t an apple.
Sore wa ringo ja arimasen deshita.
That wasn’t Jon’s book.
Sore wa Jon no hon ja arimasen deshita.
That wasn’t Jon’s watch.
Sore wa Jon no tokē ja arimasen deshita.
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Negative
ja arimasen (am not,
is not, are not)
ja arimasen deshita
(wasn’t / weren’t)
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Using Adjectives in a Sentence (topic wa adjective desu)
An adjective is placed in the sentence by itself just before the
desu ending.
Examples:
The book is red.
Hon wa akai desu.
Is the pen black?
Pen wa kuroi desu ka.
Now lets make the sentence negative using the colour red (akai)
for example.
“The book is not red.”
“Hon wa akakunai desu.”
To make the adjective negative you drop the “i” ending and
replace it with “kunai”
adjective box
Present
Past
Positive
adjective + desu
Negative
drop the “i” + kunai desu
Examples:
The house is not big.
Uchi wa okikunai desu.
The pencil is not yellow.
Enpitsu wa kirokunai desu.
Today is not cold.
Kyō wa samukunai desu.
The class is not noisy.
Kurasu wa urusakunai desu.
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