LESSON 2

Grammar
This chapter will help you make your own sentences. It's arranged alphabetically for ease of navigation. If you can't find the exact phrase remember that with just a little grammar, a few gestures, and a couple of well-chosen words, you'll generally get the message across.

:: Part 1 ::
Adjectives & Adverbs (Describing People/Things - Doing Things)
As in English adjectives come before the noun they describe. There are two types of adjectives: (i adjectives) that end in a vowel or i (い) and (na adjectives) that end in na (な).

We had a nice meal. おいしい食事をしました。(lit: nice meal o did) (Oy-shī sho-ku-ji o shi-mash-ta)

That is a beautiful building. あれはきれいな建物です。(lit: that-over-there wa beautiful building is) (a-re wa ki-rē na ta-te-mo-no des)

Adverbs which describe a verb or an adjective, can be formed by replacing the i (い) ending of (i adjectives) with the ending ku (く). The adjective ha-yai (速い) , for example, becomes the adverb ha-ya-ku (速く).
Many adverbs in Japanese however exist as a word in their own right. For example to-te-mo (とても) very , yuk-ku-ri (ゆっくり) slowly , and Kyō (今日) today to name a few.

:: Part 2 ::
Articles (Naming People/Things)
Japanese does not have words equivalent to the English indefinite and definite articles (a/an) and (the):

It's a/the hotel. ホテルです。(lit: hotel is) (ho-te-ru des)

Words are used without articles and context will tell you whether (a) or (the) is meant.

:: Part 3 ::
Be (Describing People/Things - Making Statements - Pointing Things Out)
The word des (です) roughly corresponds to the English verb (be) and like any verb in Japanese it doesn't change according to who or what it refers to; des can mean (I am) or (she is) or (we are) etc depending on the situation - there's one form only for all subjects. Japanese verbs do change their form when they're expressing the past tense and/or negative. The following table shows how des changes in these cases:

I'm Australian. 私はオーストラリア人です。(lit: I wa Australian is) (wa-ta-shi wa ō-sto-ra-rya-jin des)

I'm not a medical doctor. 私は医者じゃありません。(lit: I wa doctor is-not) (wa-ta-shi wa i-sha ja a-ri-ma-sen)

It was rainy yesterday. きのうは雨でした。(lit: yesterday wa rain was) (ki-nō wa a-me desh-ta)

The person I met last night was not Mr. Takagi. ゆうべ会った人は高木さんじゃありませんでした。(lit: yesterday met person wa Tagaki-Mister not-was) (yū-be at-ta hi-to wa ta-ka-gi-san ja a-ri-ma-sen desh-ta)

Note that you drop the particle of the word that immediately precedes a form of the verb des.

:: Part 4 ::
There is/There are
There are two ways of expressing that something exists in Japanese. For animate objects (people and animals) the verb i-mas (います) is used. For inanimate objects (things) a-ri-mas (あります) is used.

There are many good restaurants in Tokyo. 東京にはいいレストランがたくさんあります。(lit: Tokyo in wa good restaurant ga many there-are-inanimate) (tō-kyō ni wa ī res-to-ran ga ta-ku-san a-ri-mas)

There are four dogs in the garden. 庭に犬が4匹います。(lit: garden in dog ga four there-are-animate) (ni-wa ni i-nu ga yon-hi-ki i-mas)

:: Part 5 ::
Demonstratives (Pointing Things Out - Indicating - Making Statements)
To refer to or point out a person or object, use one of the words in the table below. Note that the element ko (こ) refers to someone or something close to the speaker, so (そ) to someone or something close to the listener and a (あ) to something far from both the speaker and listener.

How much does this cost? これはいくらですか？ (lit: this wa how-much is question) (ko-re wa i-ku-ra des ka)

That train is full. その電車は満員です。 (lit: that train wa full is) (so-no den-sha wa man-in des)

:: Part 6 ::
Have (Possessing)
Possession can be shown in various ways in Japanese. The easiest way is to use the possessive particle no (の) after the noun, pronoun or proper noun that indicates who or what possesses something:

My friend 私の友達 (lit: I no friend) (wa-ta-shi no to-mo-da-chi)

It's hers. これは彼女のです。 (lit: this wa she no is) (ko-re wa ka-no-jo no des)

Takashi's hotel たかしのホテル (lit: Takashi no hotel) (ta-ka-shi no ho-te-ru)

An alternative way of expressing possession is to use the verb mot-te i-mas (持っています) (have) or the expression ga a-ri-mas (があります) (there is something to me) :

I have money. (私は)お金を持っています。 (lit: (I wa) (honourable-money o have) (wa-ta-shi wa)(o-ka-ne o mot-te i-mas)

I have a car. 私は自動車があります。 (lit: (I wa)(car there-is) (wa-ta-shi wa)(ji-dō-sha ga a-ri-mas)

:: Part 7 ::
Negatives (Negating)
To make a verb in the present tense negative, replace the ending mas (ます) with ma-sen (ません) :

I smoke. タバコを吸います。 (lit: cigarette o inhale) (ta-ba-ko o su-i-mas)

I don't smoke. タバコを吸いません。 (lit: cigarette o inhale-not) (ta-ba-ko o su-i-ma-sen)

To make a verb in the past tense negative, replace mash-ta (ました) with ma-sen desh-ta (ませんでした) :

I came by train. 電車で来ました。 (lit: train by did-come) (den-sha de ki-mash-ta)

I did not come by train. 電車で来ませんでした。 (lit: train by come did-not) (den-sha de ki-ma-sen desh-ta)

In Japanese adjectives also have a negative form. For (i adjectives) replace the ending i (い) with ku (く) and negate them by adding a-ri-ma-sen (ありません) or nai des (ないです) :

For (na adjectives) keep only the stems of the word (ie drop the ending na (な) ) then negate them by adding ja a-ri-ma-sen (じやありません) or ja nai des (じやないです) :

:: Part 8 ::
Nouns (Naming People/Things - Making Statements)
Japanese nouns have no gender (masculine or feminine) or plural forms: you always use the same form of the noun whether you're referring to a masculine or feminine person, object, place or concept, and whether it's singular or plural.

box/boxes 箱 ha-ko
person/people 人 hi-to
ticket/tickets 切符 kip-pu

Make sure you always use a particle after the nouns when using them in a phrase.

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