1.  In America, we say "Sensei [last name]" but really it is "[last name] Sensei." 2. You can transcribe 23 additional sounds in hiragana by adding diacritical marks " these are called "tenten." 3. h changes to p with a small circle o.  This circle is called "maru." 4. Small ya, yu and yo characters follow after letters in the second column (i-vowel hiragana, except "i") and are used to transcribe contracted sounds.  The contracted sound represents a single syllable 5. There is anothersmall letter "tsu", which is used when transcribing double consonants such as pp and tt 6. Note that double consonant n's, as in sannen [3 years] are written with "n" and a hiragana with an initial sound 7. When the same vowel is placed one right after the other, the pronunciation of the vowel becomes about twice as long as the single vowel.  Be sure to hold the sound long enough, because the length of the vowel can change on word to another. ex. obaasan - grandmother obasan - aunt 8. The long ee sound is usually transcribed by adding an "i" to an e-vowel hiragana.  There are few words, however, in which "e" is used instead of "i." ex. eega - movie oneesan - big sister 9. The long oo sound is in most cases transcribed by adding an "u" to an o-vowel hiragana.  There are, however, words in which the long vowel is transcribed with an "o" for historival reasons. ex. Hooritsu - law oosama - king too - ten 10.  "n" is treated like a full syllable, in terms of length.  Its pronunciatioin varies, however, depending on the sound that follows it.  Japanese are not aware of the different sound values of  "n".  Therefore, you do not need to worry about your pronunciation of "n." 11. Ohayoo and arigatoo are used between friends and family.  Students speak the longer variants when speaking to their sensei. 12.  There are several goodbyes: Sayoonara means goodbye until tomorrow or death. Jaa, mata is used by friends and means see you soon. oyasuminasai means good night. 13.  Sumimasen means:  excuse me - to get attention I am sorry Thank you [to show apprectiation] 14.  iie is primarily no but can also express "don't mention it" or "you are welcome" 15.  ittekimasu and itterashai is a common exchange at home when a family member leaves.  The person leaving says ittekimasu and the person(s) staying reply with itterashai. 16.  tadaima and okaerinasai are used when a person comes home.  The person coming home says tadaima and the person(s) at home reply with okaerinasai. 17.  itadakimasu is said before consuming a meal and is said in thanks for the meal.  gochisoosama is said after consuming a meal and is also said in thanks for the meal. 18.  Languages are written with the country name + go ex. Nihongo 19.  Where a person is from is written and said as the country name + jin ex.  Nihongo 20.  Time is represented by a number from 1 to twelve ending with -ji. 21.  Gogo and gozen are written and said before the time. ex.  gogo ichi-ji desu 22.  han means half past and comes after the hour. ex.  gogo ichi-ji han desu 23. There are several different ways to show affection in Japanese.  Here are some: Anata ga suki desu - I like you Aishiteru - I love you Suki daioh - I love you [colliguial; informal] 24.  These sentences will all be translated into Japanese using an appropriate noun and the word desu [is] Note that none of these sentences has a "subject" like the "it", "I", and "my major" found in their English counterparts. sentences without subjects are very common in Japanese ______ wa nihongo desu. - ______ is the Japanese language. Where ___ stands for the thing that is talked about, or the "topic" which is later in the sentence identified as nihongo. _ senmon _ wa nihongo desu _ (my) major _ is the Japanese language. similarly, one can use the pattern X ha Y desu to identify a person or a thing X as item Y. X[subject] ha Y[noun] desu X is Y.  As for X, it is Y I am Rebecca Kim - Watashi wa Rebecca Kim desu. Ms. Iwakawa is a teacher. - Iwakawa-san wa sensei desu. 25. WA[ha] is a member of the class of words called "particles" Particles attach themselves to phrases and indicate how the phrases relate to the rest of the sentence. 26.  Note also that nouns like gakusee and sensei in the above examples stand alone, unlike their English translations "student" and "teacher," which are preceded by "a" 27.  To make a question, add ka 1. I am an international student - ryuugakusei desu. 2. Are you an international student? - ryuugakusei desu ka. 3. Is that a cat? neko desu ka. 4. Are you Olivia Dove? Oribia Dobu desu ka. 5. Are you a Chinese? Chuugoku desu ka. Ryuugakusee desu ka is a "yes/no" question.  Question sentences may also contain a "question word" like nan(what).  In this lesson, we learn how to ask, how to answer, questions using the following question words:  nanji [what time], nansai [how old], nannensee [what year in school] In Japanese, the word order is different than English. 1.  What time? - nanji 2. How old? nansei 3. what year in school? nannensei Person of what nationality? - nanijin desuka. What language? - nanigo desu ka. what is your major? - Senmon wa nan desu ka. (My major) is English. - Eego desu. What time is it now? - ima, nanji desu ka. It is nine o'clock. - ku-ji desu How old are you Vince? - Binsu, nansai desu ka. I am 15 years old. - juugo sai desu. What year in high school? - nannensei desu ka. I am in 9th grade. - Kyuu nensei desu. 28.  what time is it? - nanji desu ka. It is 12 o'clock - Juuni-ji desu. ichijikan - 1 hour nijikan - 2 hours sanjikan - 3 hours How many hours do you study? - nanjikan benkyooshimasuka. When using the "be verb"[desu] with "to___" change desu to masu I will study 2 hours - 2-jikan desu OR 2-jikan benkyooshimasu. 29.  Minutes ichipun - 1 minute nifun - 2 minutes sanpun - 3 minutes yonfun or yonpun - 4 minutes gofun - 5 minutes rokkupun - 6 minutes nanafun - 7 minutes happun - 8 minutes kyuufun - 9 minutes jyuppun - 10 minutes jyuuichippun - 11 minutes jyuunifun - 12 minutes How many minutes?  Nanpun/fun desu ka. It is 25 minutes.  25fun desu. What time is it?  Nanji desu ka It is 1:30  Ichiji han desu.
							Demuku... Butabara Butabara ha nan desu ka Japanese Help Japanese Grammar About Me Hiragana Katakana Disclaimer -shita form
		This grammar page will help you with the vocabulary on the first page along with compiling sentences and the many other things you can say.  Please note that a lot of these things may not make sense to beginners or people struggling in Japanese classes and/or self studies.   If you have any further questions feel free to ask me.  However, if you have a tutor, please ask them because that is what they're there for. O-genki de, Edo yori