つ). In many cases, these “o” and “go” honorifics have more or less become a part of the words they precede and are generally included regardless of the circumstances.
PART ONE
Common Expressions & Key Words
KEYS WORDS
| I | watashi (wah-tah-she) わたし̶Used by both males and females in formal situations.watakushi (wah-tock-she) わたくし̶More formal than watashi.boku (boe-kuu) ぼく̶Used by boys and men in informal situations.ore (oh-ray) おれ̶A ‘rough’ term used by males in informal situations.washi (wah-she) わし̶Sometimes used by elderly men in informal situations.atashi (ah-tah-she) あたし̶Mainly used by girls and women in informal situations. |
NOTE : When talking about oneself, these terms are normally followed by wa (は topic marker), as in watashi-wa amerikajin-desu (wah-tah-she wah ah-may-ree-kah-jeen dess) わたし はアメリカじんです “I am American.”
| me | Any of the above terms used in the objective sense, in which case they are usually used with o (oh) (を direct object marker) or ni (nee) (に indirect object marker). For example,watashi-o shōkai-shimashita (wah-tah-she oh showkie she-mah-sshtah) わたしを しょうかいしました “(Someone) introduced me (to someone else).”watashi-ni shōkai-shimashita (wah-tah-she nee show-kie she-mah-sshtah) わたしに しょうかいしました “(Someone) introduced (someone else) to me.” |
| my | Any of the above “I” words followed by no (no) (の possessive marker). “My book,” for example, is watashi-no hon (wah-tah-she no hoan) わたしのほん, boku-no hon (boe-kuu no hoan) ぼくの ほん, and so forth. |
| mine | Any of the above “I” words with no (no) の alone, i.e. watashi-no (wah-tah-she-no) わたしの, boku-no (boe-kuu no) ぼくの, and so forth. |
| we | The “we” concept is formed by adding tachi (tah-chee) たち to any of the above forms of “I,” i.e.: watashi-tachi (wah-tah-she-tah-chee) わたしたち, boku-tachi (boe-kuu-tah-chee) ぼくたち, and so forth. |
| you | anata (ah-nah-tah) あなた̶Used by both males and females when addressing a stranger, or by women when addressing their husbands. In the latter case, anata is the equivalent of “dear.”kimi (kee-me) きみ̶Used by males when addressing females in informal situations.anta (ahn-tah) あんた̶Used by both males and females in informal situations.omae (o-mah-eh) おまえ̶A ‘rough’ term used by males in informal situations. |
NOTE: The plural of “you” is formed by adding the suffix gata (gah-tah) がた, which is polite, or tachi (tah-chee) たち, which is less formal: anata-gata (ah-nah-tah-gah-tah) あなた がた, anata-tachi (ah-nah-tah-tah-chee) あなたたち.
In Japanese, “you” is hardly ever used unless the speaker doesn’t know the listener’s name. Otherwise, his/her name is used to address the listener, as in kore-wa tomu-san-no-desuka (koe-ray wah toe-moo-sahn no dess kah) これはトムさんの ですか “Is this yours, Tom?”
| he | ano hito (ah-no-he-toe) あのひと, or more polite, ano kata (ah-no-kah-tah) あのかた, both of which literally mean “that person.”kare (kah-ray) かれ̶—Sometimes used by both males and females in informal situations. It can also mean “boyfriend.” |
| she | ano hito (ah-no-he-toe) あのひと, or more polite, ano kata (ah-no-kah-tah) あのかた.kanojo (kah-no-joe) かのじょ̶—Sometimes used by both males and females in informal situations. It can also mean “girlfriend.” |
| they | ano kata-gata (ah-no-kah-tah-gah-tah) あのかたがた, which is polite, or ano hito-tachi (ah-no-he-toe-tah-chee) あのひとたち, which is less polite. |
In conversation, “he,” “she” and “they” are frequently not used. The practice is to use the name of the individual concerned in order to be more specific and personal. It is also common practice to leave out “I” and “you” when the meaning is clear from the context, often subsuming the meaning in the verb form used. For example, “are you going?” is often just expressed as ikimasu-ka (ee-kee-mahss kah) いきますか, which technically means “going?” with the “you” understood. The usual answer would be ikimasu (ee-kee-mahss) いきます “going,” meaning, of course, “I am going.”
| who | donata (doe-nah-tah) どなた, or less formal,dare (dah-ray) だれ.When used as the subject, the “who” words are followed by ga (gah) (が subject marker), as in dare-ga ikimasu-ka (dah-ray-gah ee-kee-mahss kah) だれがいきますか “Who is going?” |
| what | nani (nah-nee) なに often shortened to nan (nahn) なん before certain sounds. |
| when | itsu (eet-sue) いつ |
| where | doko (doe-koe) どこ |
| why | naze (nah-zay) なぜ, alsodōshite (doe-ssh-tay) どうして |
| how | dō (doh) どう |
| yes | hai (hie) はい, also ee (eh-eh) ええ, which is less formal. |
Hai (or ee) is quite often used in the sense of “yes, I hear you” or “yes, I’m listening” in conversation, particularly when talking on the phone. Bear in mind that this use of hai (or ee) does not mean “you are right” or “I agree with you.”
| no | iie (ee-eh) いいえ , also ie (e-eh) いえ, which is less formal. |
Iie (or ie) is used more often to mean “no” than hai (or ee) is to mean “yes.” However, Japanese do not like to say “no” outright unless the situation is informal or they are answering a simple yes-no question, such as “Do you know Mr. Smith?” Especially in business they usually couch the concept in more subtle forms and try to avoid saying “no.”
Here are some commonly used verbs, presented first in the dictionary form (i.e. the plain non-past affirmative form, which you can find in a dictionary), then in the stem form, the te-form (a sort of present participle), and the nai-form (i.e. the plain non-past negative form). There are two tenses in Japanese, namely, the non-past tense, which corresponds to the English present and future tenses, and the past tense. The following table shows how to conjugate verbs:
For example,
| buy | kau (kah-uu) かう, kai (kie) かい,katte (kot-tay) かって, |
| kawanai (kah-wah-nie) かわない, | |
| kaimasu (kie-mahss) かいます “buy / will buy.” | |
| kaimasen (kie-mah-sen) かいません “do not buy / will not buy.” | |
| kaimashita (kie-mah-sshtah) かいました “bought.” | |
| kaimasendeshita (kie-mah-sen desh-tah) かいませんでした “did not buy.” | |
| kaitai-desu (kie-tie dess) かいたいです “want to buy.” | |
| kaitakunai-desu かいたくないです (kie-tah-kuu-nie dess) “do not want to buy.” | |
| katte kudasai かってください (kot-tay kuu-dah-sie) “please buy.” | |
| kawanaide kudasai かわないでください (kah-wah-nie day kuu-dah-sie) “please do not buy.” |
Note that the subject (I, you, he, she, we or they) is usually omitted when it is easily understood from the context.
To change them to the interrogative form, simply add ka (kah) (か question marker) to the end (e.g. kaimasu-ka (kiemahss kah) かいますか “buy?”, kaimashita-ka (kie-mahsshtah kah) かいましたか “bought?”).
| come | kuru (kuu-rue) くる, ki (kee) き,kite (kee-tay) きて, konai (koe-nie) こない. |
| drink | nomu (no-muu) のむ, nomi (no-me) のみ,nonde (noan-day) のんで,nomanai
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