Basic Grammar

One thing that makes Japanese very different from English is the Japanese tendency to drop the subject of the sentence when the meaning is clear from context. Statements usually refer to oneself, while questions usually address the person you're speaking with.

The Question Marker

Adding question marker か at the end will make the affirmative (positive) sentence into question. If the sentences end in ～です(to be), it’s easy to formulate questions by using ～ですか。

Positive	Question
アメリカ人です。(I’m American.)	アメリカ人ですか(Are you American?)
中村(むら/ソン)です (I am Nakamura)	中村ですか (Are you Nakamura?)
がくせいです。(I’m a student.)	がくせいですか。(Are you a student?)

マリアさんは 中国しゅっしんです (Ms. Maria is from China / Ms. Maria is chinese.)

• 中国しゅっしんです (Chūgoku shusshin desu)

• 中国出身です(I am from china)

Tips ：マリア——maria；さん——honorific(Mr./Mrs.);はwa——is;しゅっしん——from

honorific——To show respect or reverence for a person or concept

**本田(ほんだ)**さんは日本人です（Mr. Honda is Japanese）

本田 is the Japanese name, Honda, which is both a surname and the car company.

However, the full name of the Honda Motor Corporation is 本田技研工業株式会社. The short version is 本田技研工業. The two Kanji, 本田, would be the shortest way to write Honda, but it can be confused with other Honda names (surnames and given names).

本田 also be pronounced Motoda, Honden, or Honta (various surnames in Japan written the same way, but pronounced differently).

Technically, the word honda means rice paddy.

If you want to say John is American or Maria is Japanese,put は after John or Maria to show that it's the topic of your sentence(what the subject is)! Notice that when it's a topic of your sentence.

ジョン さんは アメリカ人です（john is american）

マリアは留(ryū)学生です。

• Maria is a foreign exchange student.

直美と健太は大学生です。

• Naomi and Kenta are college students.

Negative

In English, we’d say I am not a student, but to say that you’re not something in Japanese, you change the verb です (desu) to ではありません (dewa arimasen).

Here is the table of possible ways to say "is not/ wasn't":

	では PRESENT	じゃあ PRESENT	では PAST	じゃあ PAST
FORMAL	~ではありません or ~ではないです	~じゃありません or ~じゃないです	~ではありませんでした(deshita) or ~**ではなかった(nakatta)**です	~じゃありませんでした or ~じゃなかったです
INFORMAL	~ではない	~じゃない	~ではなかった	~じゃなかった

じゃ is less formal than では however, じゃ sounds easier to say so it is most commonly used in conversational Japanese.

Japanese
アメリカ人ではありません。	I’m not American.
私は学生ではありません / 私は学生じゃないです。	I'm not a student.
私も学生です	I’m also a student.
マリアさんも学生です	Maria is also a student

です (desu) is used in many other situations that aren’t translatable to English.

For example, to say I like water! or I like tea!, use が (ga) to mark the thing you like, then end with 好きです (suki desu).

Don’t like it? Change 好きです (suki desu) to 好きじゃないです (suki janai desu)!

野菜は好きじゃないです。Yasai wa suki janai desu. (I) do not like vegetables.

What are you speaking?

Remember how you use は after a noun to show what the subject is?

For now, when talking about languages, just remember that you usually use が in statements, and は in questions!

英語は話せますか？

• Eigo wa hanasemasuka?

• Can you speak English/Do you speak English?

私は英語が話せます。

• I can speak English.

日本語がはなせます。

• Nihongo ga hanasemasu.

• I can speak japanese.

田中先生は日本語と英語がはなせます。

• Mr. Tanaka can speak Japanese and English.

私は日本語学校の学生です。

• I am a Japanese language school student.

フランス語が話(はな)せますか？

• Can you speak French?

from https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/36961184/Can-you-speak-French @DaemonBeats

Japanese sentence structure is SOV/Subject, Object, Verb.

We start off with the object of the sentence, フランス語. This simply means "French." Feel free to put あなたは ("you + は," the subject of the sentence/question) or another form of address like a name, before French here, but the person you're asking most likely knows you're asking THEM the question, so it's not needed in the sentence and it's easier. Since the Subject is implied not included in the sentence, and French is the Object, it is first. SOV

Then, we have the particle が. Think of it as a word that puts emphasis on what comes before it and connects it to what's after, and is often introducing what comes before it. In this case, you're asking the person if it's FRENCH that they can speak. French is probably just being introduced to the conversation, or brought back to attention. This question may prompt the answer to be something like "No, I don't speak French, but I can speak..." the new idea in the sentence is (French), and perhaps you were already talking about speaking other languages beforehand.

If you use は instead of が, it puts more emphasis on what it is introduced after it. If it was used in this question, French would probably already be the topic of the conversation, and you'd be asking along the lines of "oh! Speaking of French, can you speak it?" The new idea is (the speaking) of French.

Lastly, 話せます (はなせます). I've more often heard 話します (はなします), with a し, which means "I DO speak..." //whilst with the せ means "I CAN speak."

Particles are a bit tricky in Japanese, but hang in there and you'll get it!

Pronouns

Pronouns are relatively rare in Japanese, but they are sometimes used to explicitly specify the subject or topic of a sentence. Below are some of the most common ones.

Japanese	Hiragana	English	Notes
私	わたし	I, me	Used in polite settings by women and men, used by women in most other settings
僕	ぼくboku	I, me	Used by men in informal settings
私たち	わたしたち	we, us	most common
我々	われわれ		sounds rather stiff and business-like.
	あなた	you	あなた is used in polite settings, If you know someone's name, it's best to call someone by their name, typically followed by さんor せんせい。あなたたち is used in formal settings.
君	きみ		Used by men in informal settings, specifically to those on or beneath one's social level. 君たち is used in informal settings, especially to subordinates.
彼	かれ	he, him	Can also mean "boyfriend"
彼女	かのじょ	she, her	Can also mean "girlfriend"
彼ら	かれら karera	they, them	Used for an all-male or mixed-gendered group(where men are the majority)
彼女たち	かのじょたち kanojyo tachi	they, them	Used for an all-female group

the general pronouns

これは水です。

• This is water.

これはお茶ですか？

• is this tea?

それは何ですか？

• What is that？

• 何 is "nani" which is contracted to "nan" before a "d" sound. So the full sentence reads "Sore wa nan desu ka ?" The meaning of 何 is "what".

あれとあれをください。

• That one and that one, please.

そと (outside)

	こ	そ	あ	ど	だ
Japanese	これ kore	それ sore	あれ are	どれ dore	だれdare	どこ doko
English	this	that	that (over there)(one)	which (one)	who	where
Notes	closer to the speaker in front of me	closer to the listener , Next to you	far from both the speaker and listener	question	question

near the speaker	これ, ここ, この kore, koko, kono this, here, this
near the listener	それ, そこ, その sore, soko, sono that, there, that
far from both	あれ, あそこ, あの are, asoko, ano that, there, that
question word	どれ, どこ, どの dore, doko, dono which, where, which

You can also use を (o) when asking for something! Just put it after the thing you want, then add please!

これをください。(Kore o kudasai.) This one, please.

ペットはどこですか？ Where is your pet?

In English, we’d say There is a table or There are tables. In Japanese, you can use the verb あります (arimasu)! Keep in mind, nouns in Japanese have the same form, whether you’re talking about one thing or many things. In a conversation, you can tell based on context, or it’s just not important.

But, if you want to say something like There is a cat, you actually need to use います (imasu) instead of あります (arimasu)! あります (arimasu) is for inanimate things, while います (imasu) is for people and animals!

カメラはどこにありますか？Where is the camera ?

Verbs

JP		JP
よむ yomu	read
のむ nomu	drink	きる kiru	wear
すき suki	like	ほしい	want