Survival Japanese. Boye Lafayette De Mente
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 shookai-shimashita (wah-tah-she oh show-kie she-mah-sshtah) わたしを しょうかいしました “(Someone) introduced me (to someone else).”
watashi-ni shookai-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 (boekuu 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-desu-ka (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, also dooshite (doe-ssh-tay) どうして
how doo (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 (kie-tah-kuu-nie dess) かいたくないです “do not want to buy.”
katte kudasai (kot-tay kuu-dah-sie) かってください “please buy.”
kawanaide kudasai (kah-wah-nie day kuu-dah-sie) かわないでください “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 (no-mah-nie) のまない.
eat taberu (tah-bay-rue) たべる, tabe (tah-bay) たべ, tabete (tah-bay-tay) たべて, tabenai (tah-bay-nie) たべない.
forget wasureru (wah-sue-ray-rue) わすれる, wasure (wah-sue-ray) わすれ, wasurete (wah-sue-ray-tay) わすれて, wasurenai (wah-sue-ray-nie) わすれない.
give (to someone)
ageru (ah-gay-rue) あげる, age (ah-gay) あげ, agete (ah-gay-tay) あげて, agenai (ah-gay-nie) あげない.
give (to me)
kureru (kuu-ray-rue) くれる,