Building Up Japanese Conversation (2024)

[A] wa [B] desu

This means "Noun A is noun B". Wa is a particle and a topic marker.
The noun followed by a particle wa is the topic of a statement or a question. The topic often refers to the same thing as the subject, but not necessarily.

Desu identifies a person or a thing.
It can be translated into "is/are/am" in English. Desu is not affected by gender or number. The negative form and the past tense of desu are as followings respectively: Ja arimasen and ja arimasendesh*ta are more formal.

I am Chris Norman.

(Mr./Ms.) Satoo is not a teacher.

(Mr./Ms.) Kimura was a teacher.

Question marker "ka?"

Ka is a question marker.
Ka added to the end of a sentence makes it into a question. The word order does not change.
Hai means "yes" and iie means "no". Ee is also commonly used for "yes" in casual situation.

Honorific title "-san"

-san is a honorific title like "Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms.".
This can be added to either a surname or a first name, of a male or a female.
San shows respect to the person, so it should not be used with one's own name and one's family.

How to say "You"

"You" is anata. In English, "you" is commonly used in any situation.
However, in Japanese, Anata is sometimes regarded as a sign of "disagreement", "criticism" or "dissatisfaction".
In Japanese conversation we usually call one's name instead of using anata.

	Norman	:	Anata wa tsuuyaku desu ka?
	Norman	:	Yoshida-san wa tsuuyaku desu ka?
	Yoshida	:	Hai, watashi wa tsuuyaku desu.

Omission of the subject

In Japanese, the subject is often omitted when it is clearly understood by the speakers from the context of the sentence.

Hajimemash*te "How do you do?"

Hajimemash*te "How do you do" and Doozo yoroshiku "It's nice to meet you" are greeting expressions.
They are used when meeting someone for the first time.
"Name" is namae. "My name is Smith" is Watashi no namae wa Smith desu, however, this expression is rarely used for greetings.
When you introduce your name, you should say Watashi wa Smith desu "I'm Smith".

Particle no

ABC no Norman means "Norman of/from ABC". No is a particle indicating an attribution or belonging.
When a noun modifies another noun, no comes between them.
See Lesson 2 for more about no.

How are you?

English speaking people naturally want to know how to say "How are you?" because it is used as a daily greeting in English.
An exact translation is O-genki desu ka? "Are you well?", however, the usage is quite different from the English phrase "How are you?".
O-genki desu ka? is used to inquire about the health of someone you haven't seen in a long time. Therefore it is not used as a general greeting like the English phrase "How are you?".

Japanese people usually say just Ohayoo gozaimasu "good morning", Konnichiwa "good afternoon" or Konbanwa "good evening" to someone they often see.

Good morning

Good afternoon

Good evening

Atsui desu ne "It's hot, isn't it?"

Atsui means "hot" and desu ne is the tag question asking an agreement.
Phrases about weather such as atsui desu ne "It's hot, isn't it?" or samui desu ne "It's cold, isn't it?" are common greeting phrases among friends and colleagues.
Atsui, samui and ii are adjectives. Adjectives are introduced in Lesson 8.

It's hot, isn't it?

It's cold, isn't it?

It's a fine day, isn't it? (lit. Nice weather, isn't it?)

It's raining, isn't it?

Soo desu "Yes, it is" vs. Soo desu ka "I see"

Soo desu means "Yes, it is" or "That's right". Soo desu ka with the lower-ending is not a question, but it means "I see".

Okuni wa dochira desu ka? "Where are you from?"

You may be often asked about where you are from by a Japanese. The common phrase for this question is Okuni wa dochira desu ka? which literally means "What is your country?".

Kuni means "country" and o-kuni is the respectful form. Dochira means "which", but this is often used as "where" in formal speech.

One's nationality such as a Japanese or an American is made by adding -jin to a country name.