Japanese Vocabulary, Phonetics, and the Particle も (mo)

Japanese Vocabulary: wago, kango, gairaigo

In the modern Japanese language, there are three layers of vocabulary:

• wago - native Japanese words,
• kango - Sino-Japanese words, and
• gairaigo - Western borrowings.

Words from each lexical layer can be divided into simple, affixed, and compound words.

Native Japanese words — wago (和語)

Wago - 和語 - are simple words denoting general concepts, such as country - KUNI, water - MIZU, etc. Affixed words are formed from simple ones using prefixes and suffixes, for example:

AKAMI - redness, where AKA (red) is the adjective root + MI is the suffix, etc.

Compound words are a combination of simple words or word stems, for example:

• NOMIMONO - drinks, where NOMI is the stem of the verb NOMU (to drink) + MONO - the noun for “thing”;
• HAYAMICHI - shortcut, where HAYA is the root of the adjective HAYAI (fast) + the noun MICHI (road), etc.

Sino-Japanese words — kango (漢語)

A significant place in modern Japanese vocabulary is occupied by kango (漢語, almost 60%) - words borrowed from the Chinese language or created by the Japanese themselves from previously adopted Chinese roots, phonetically transformed according to Japanese phonetics.

Kango are mostly compound root words, for example:

DAIGAKU - university, where DAI means “big”, and GAKU means “study”.

Only a few roots are used independently, for example: HON - book, KIN - gold, while the rest are part of compound words.

Borrowed words — gairaigo (外来語)

A significant part of the Japanese vocabulary consists of words borrowed from Western languages, especially English, for example:

SO:SU - sauce, OASISU - oasis.

Most of the borrowed words in Japanese - gairaigo 外来語 - are written using the katakana syllabary.

Phonetics: consonants p, b, f, h, dz, z, and others

The consonant [p]

- occurs in the syllables PA, PU, PE, PO. It corresponds to the English hard “p” (often unaspirated).

The soft consonant [p’]

- occurs only in the syllable PI and corresponds to the palatalized “p” in English, like the “p” in “pew”.

The sound [ñ] before consonants P, P’, B, B’, M, M’, N, N’

Attention! The sound [ñ] before these consonants turns into a bilabial nasal sound [m]. In transcription, it might be written with the letter “n” or “m”, for example: “newspaper” is written as shiNBUN in some textbooks and as shiMBUN in others. Both options are correct!

The consonant [n] in the NA row syllables

The consonant [n] in the NA row syllables - NA, NU, NE, NO - acoustically matches the English [n]. In the syllable NI, a palatalized [n’] is pronounced, like the “ny” in “canyon”.

The consonant [h] in the HA row syllables

The consonant [h] in the HA row syllables - HA, HE, HO - is a glottal sound. In Japanese, when pronouncing the sound [h], the air stream passes freely, creating a friction similar to an exhalation (like the English “h” in “home”). In the syllable HI, [h’] is pronounced, resembling the “h” in the English words “huge” or “human”.

The consonant [f] in the FU syllable

The consonant [f] in the syllable FU of the HA row differs from the English sound [f]. In Japanese, when pronouncing the [f] sound, the lower lip is slightly raised above the upper edge of the lower teeth, and the air stream passing between the lips creates a sound similar to blowing out a candle. The lips are by no means rounded or protruded. It is a bilabial fricative.

The [f] sound occurs before the [u] sound, but in borrowed words, it can also be used before other vowels.

The consonant [b] in the BA row syllables

The HA row syllables have corresponding BA, BI, BU, BE, BO syllables with the voiced consonant [b]. The consonant [b] in the syllables BA, BU, BE, BO is pronounced like the English [b]. In the syllable BI, it is pronounced as a palatalized [b’].

The consonant [p] in the PA row syllables

The HA row syllables also have corresponding PA, PI, PU, PE, PO syllables with the voiceless consonant [p]. The consonant [p] in the syllables PA, PU, PE, PO acoustically matches the English [p]. In the syllable PI, it is pronounced as a palatalized [p’].

The consonant sound dz

The consonant dz of the SA row occurs in the syllables ZA, ZU, ZE, ZO.

DZ is an alveolar voiced hard sound. The position of the speech organs is similar to that of pronouncing a hard “z”, but it starts with a slight “d” contact, similar to the “ds” in “pads”, but the vocal cords are tense.

Attention! The dz sound usually occurs at the beginning of a word, and in the middle of a word only after n.

The consonant [z]

The consonant z of the SA row occurs in the syllables ZA, ZU, ZE, ZO.

It fully corresponds to the English “z”.

Attention! The z sound occurs only in the middle of a word (between vowels).

(*) Both sounds - dz and z, regardless of whether they are at the beginning or in the middle of a word, are transcribed with the letter z in Romaji.

Palatalized vowels in the YA row syllables

There are three palatalized (y-glide) vowels: YA [ya], YU [yu], YO [yo].

The y sound is a palatal approximant. When pronouncing it, the middle part of the tongue rises to the hard palate, leaving a narrow slit. The Japanese y is pronounced like the English y in the word yes, and it occurs only before the vowels a, u, o, combining with them to form the so-called palatalized vowels.

Reduction of the vowels [i] and [u] in Japanese

The phenomenon of weakening a vowel sound down to its complete disappearance is called reduction.

Reduction of the vowel i most often takes place in the syllables SHI and HI.

In Japanese writing, reduction is not indicated in any way. In pronunciation guides, a special mark is placed over the reduced vowel, and in Japanese phonetic dictionaries, a syllable with such a vowel is circled. In these lessons, reduction is indicated in blue.

In Japanese, the vowel sounds [i] and [u] are usually reduced in the following positions:

1. Between the voiceless consonants K, S, T, H, F, P, TS, for example: SUKI, DESHITA, TSUKI, CHICHI, ASHITA;
2. After a voiceless consonant at the end of a word, when the last syllable is pronounced with a falling pitch, for example: DEsu, aRIMAsu.
3. In some words where the first syllable is the vowel u, and the second syllable begins with the consonant m - in this case, the sound m is doubled, for example:
   uma (horse) - mma,
   ume (plum) - mme,
   umareru (to be born) — mmareru

In syllables with a flat pitch, the final vowel is not reduced. In borrowed words, vowels can be reduced in any position. It is important to distinguish between mandatory reduction, as in the word TSUKI - moon, and optional reduction, for example: kiKU - chrysanthemum.

Doubling (gemination) of consonants K, S, T, TS, P, N, M, CH

In Japanese, a distinction is made between short and long (geminate) consonants. A long consonant is twice as long as a short consonant but has the same articulation. The length of a consonant, just like the length of a vowel, primarily has a meaning-distinguishing role, so one cannot replace a long sound with a short one and vice versa. Long consonants in Japanese are divided into three types:

1. Inherently long consonants. The length of consonants in these words has a meaning-distinguishing value, for example: JIKKI - true record/history, JIKI - time.
2. Doubled consonants. Long consonants of this type were formed as a result of the reduction of the vowels [u] and [i] between voiceless consonants, for example: KOKKI - national flag, where in the original KOKUKI, the reduction of [u] occurs between voiceless consonants.
3. Emphatic long consonants. Such long consonants were formed as a result of lengthening the sound to emphasize the word. Such lengthening of the sound does not have a meaning-distinguishing value, for example: PITATO and PITATTO - exactly/tightly.

Writing the SA, TA, NA, HA rows and their variants

This lesson is quite saturated with Japanese kana characters. If you didn’t learn them in the first lessons, you need to do so in this lesson and no later. To view the correct stroke order of a character, click/tap on it.

The SA row

English transcription - SA, SHI, SU, SE, SO.
Romaji transcription - sa, shi (si), su, se, so.
Hiragana - さ、し、す、せ、そ。
Katakana - サ、シ、ス、セ、ソ。

The ZA row

The SA row has a parallel row with the voiced [z]/[dz] - the ZA row.

English transcription - ZA, JI, ZU, ZE, ZO.
Romaji transcription - za, ji (zi), zu, ze, zo.
Hiragana - ざ、じ、ず、ぜ、ぞ。
Katakana - ザ、ジ、ズ、ゼ、ゾ。

Let us remind you that Nigori (Dakuten) ゛ - is used to write voiced sounds, and Hannigori (Handakuten) ゜ - for the voiceless [p] sounds.

The TA row

English transcription - TA, CHI, TSU, TE, TO.
Romaji transcription - ta, chi (ti), tsu (tu), te, to.
Hiragana - た、ち、つ、て、と。
Katakana - タ、チ、ツ、テ、ト。

The difference between the katakana characters SHI - シ and TSU - ツ lies in the way they are written. Imagine they are smileys. The SHI smiley is looking to the right, while the TSU smiley is looking right at you :)

The DA row

The TA row has a parallel row with the voiced [d] and [dz] - the DA row.

English transcription - DA, JI, ZU, DE, DO.
Romaji transcription - da, ji (di), zu (du), de, do.
Hiragana - だ、ぢ、づ、で、ど。
Katakana - ダ、ヂ、ヅ、デ、ド。

In modern orthography, the syllables JI and ZU are usually denoted by じ and ず.

The characters ぢ and づ are used in two cases:

1. if they are formed as a result of the voicing of CHI or TSU in compounds (rendaku), for example:
   いれ＋ちえ → いれぢえ、
   かた＋つく → かたづく；
2. if they are preceded by the syllable ち or つ respectively, for example: つづく

Writing the NA row

English transcription - NA, NI, NU, NE, NO.
Romaji transcription - nа, ni, nu, ne, no.
Hiragana - な、に、ぬ、ね、の。
Katakana - ナ、ニ、ヌ、ネ、ノ。

The HA row

English transcription - HA, HI, FU, HE, HO.
Romaji transcription - ha, hi, fu, he, ho.
Hiragana - は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ。
Katakana - ハ、ヒ、フ、ヘ、ホ。

The BA row

The HA row has parallel rows with the voiced [b] and voiceless [p] - the BA and PA rows.

English transcription - BA, BI, BU, BE, BO.
Romaji transcription - ba, bi, bu, be, bo.
Hiragana - ば、び、ぶ、べ、ぼ。
Katakana - バ、ビ、ブ、ベ、ボ。

The PA row

English transcription - PA, PI, PU, PE, PO.
Romaji transcription - pa, pi, pu, pe, po.
Hiragana - ぱ、ぴ、ぷ、ぺ、ぽ。
Katakana - パ、ピ、プ、ペ、ポ。

Indicating consonant length in writing

Consonant length is indicated in writing by the mark っ (small tsu), which is placed before the doubled consonant, for example: いったい (ITTAI).

The っ mark is written slightly smaller than the adjacent characters, and in vertical writing, it is placed slightly to the right.

In words where き or く is pronounced before a syllable from the KA row, doubling occurs due to the reduction of [i] or [u]. In modern orthography, when writing such words in hiragana, the doubling is denoted by the っ mark. For example, a word consisting of the two morphemes こく and か is written こっか (and not こくか); a word consisting of the two morphemes せき and か is written せっか.

In English practical transcription (Romaji), the doubled [ts] sound is usually written as TTS (e.g., BUTTSUBUTSU).

Keep in mind that the っ mark is also used to indicate an ultra-short (glottal stop) preceding vowel, often at the end of an exclamation, for example: あっ - “Ah!”.

Grammar: the particle も, nouns, and cases

The inclusive particle も (mo) - “also, too”

1. The subject in a sentence can be accompanied not only by the highlighting particle は, but also by the inclusive particle も (“also, too”), which sort of connects the given object or person to the object or person mentioned earlier.

The particle も is attached to the stem of a word taking the form of the basic, nominative, or accusative cases.

For example:

あなた は がくせい です、わたし も がくせい です。
- You are a student. I am also a student.

わたしたち は にほんじん では ありません。あのひとたち も では ありません。
- We are not Japanese. They are also not Japanese.

2. The particle も replaces the particle は and the nominative case marker GA, but is placed after the marker of an indirect case (we will talk about them later).

The particle も can also accompany homogeneous subjects. In this case, it translates as “both... and...” in an affirmative sentence and “neither... nor...” in a negative one.

SUBJECT MO SUBJECT MO ...SUBJECT MO + PREDICATE DESU (DE WA ARIMASEN)

For example:

あなた も あのひと も がくせい です。 - Both you and he are students.

あなた も あのひと も がくせい では ありません。 - Neither you nor he are students.

3. The particle も can also be used in the predicate:

SUBJECT WA + PREDICATE DE WA (MO) ARIMASEN

For example:

あのひと は チンさん では ありません。 ラタナーさん でも ありません。
He is not Chin. And he is not Ratana either.

4. The exact same thought can be expressed in a single sentence with two or more homogeneous predicates:

SUBJECT WA + PREDICATE DE MO PREDICATE DE MO ARIMASEN

For example:

あのひと は チンさん でも ラタナーさん でも ありません。アリさん です。
He is neither Chin nor Ratana. His name is Ari.

Attention! As can be seen from this example, the particle も has ousted the particle は (from DE WA) in the predicate.

The Noun in Japanese

Nouns in Japanese do not have categories of gender and number. For example:

ISU - “chair, chairs”,
MADO - “window, windows”.

However, when necessary, plurality can be indicated by suffixes, and for some animate and inanimate nouns - by doubling the word.

Thus, the suffixes -GATA and -TACHI, which you already know, can be applied to animate objects (people):

GAKUSEI - “student”; - GAKUSEITACHI - “students”;
SENSEI - “teacher”, - SENSEITACHI - “teachers”.

There is also a technique such as Reduplication:

Reduplication in writing is formatted with the mark - 々

YAMA - 山 - “mountain”, YAMАYAMА - 山々 - “mountains”;

KUNI - 国 - “country”, KUNIGUNI - 国々 - “countries”.

HITO - 人 - “person”; HITOBITO - 人々 - “people”.

In the last two cases, as a result of reduplication, the consonant in the middle of the word became voiced (rendaku).

The 11 cases of the Japanese language

Nouns decline by cases. In total, there are 11 cases in Japanese (by some grammatical frameworks):

• basic (suffixless/nominative theme)
• nominative (subject)
• genitive
• dative
• accusative
• instrumental
• ablative (origin)
• limitative (limit/destination)
• comitative
• comparative
• directional

Case forms are created by attaching postpositional particles (suffixes) to the stem of the word; one case - the basic one - has a suffixless form.

Don’t be intimidated. You don’t need to memorize them right now. If you continue studying, you will master all 11 cases over time.

Speech etiquette: introducing yourself in Japanese

When meeting someone, it is customary to utter certain phrases. When introduced to older people or superiors, a full set of standard expressions is used, such as when a student and a teacher meet:

がくせい：　はじめまして。わたしは　アンナです。よろしくおねがいします。
せんせい：　やまだです。よろしく。

Student: Nice to meet you. I am Anna. Please treat me well.
Teacher: I am Yamada. Nice to meet you.

When meeting peers, the number of remarks can be reduced, for example, a situation where students meet:

アンナ：　アリさん　ですね。はじめまして。
アリ：　あ、はじめまして。

Anna: You are Ari-san, aren’t you? Nice to meet you.
Ari: Ah, nice to meet you.

Tasks and Exercises

Reading (examples in Romaji and Cyrillic)

1. Pronounce these examples, paying attention to the P and B sounds:

pa, pi, pu, pe, po, poo;
ba, bi, bu, be, bo, boo;
kaBE, kuBI, SEtsubi, aBEKOBE, BEru, uRIBA, kiBOO, BOku, SUbete, eRABU, kaBUru, PAipu, PUuru.

2. Pronounce these examples, paying attention to the ñ (m) sounds before consonants:

haMBUN, shiMBUN, kaMPAI, gaMBAru, naMBAN, shiMPAI, SHImpo, saMPO, saMBUN.

3. Read the words aloud, paying attention to vowel reduction:

ASHITA, SHITA, DESU, TSUKI, UMA, UME, UMARERU, GAKUSEI, DOKUSAI, IKUSEI, ISHIKI, KAKUSHI, KAKUTOKU, KIKI, KISEI, KITASU, KUSA, KUSUKUSU, KUCHI, KUTSU, O:KIKU, OKUSOKU

4. Read the words aloud, paying attention to the pronunciation of long (geminate) consonants:

gakKO:, KOKka, feipPU, kopPU, ripPA, niKKI, seKKEN, haTTEN, oTTO, MOtto, MOttomo, ipPAI, motTEIKU, itTEKUru, shitTEIRU, NIMmu, seMMON, maNNAKA, koNNICHIWA.
ASSEI, BAKKA, BEKKO:, BIKKO, BUTTAI, DAKKAI, DASSHI, DOKKO:, FUKKATSU, FUTTO:, GASSO:, GEKKO:, GOTTAGAESU, HAKKI, HIKKOSHI, HOKKAI, HOSSA, IKKA, IPPO:, IPPUKU, JIKKI, KAKKO, KATTE, KESSATSU, KETTEI, KIKKAKE, KUTTAKU.

5. Write the words from exercise 4 in hiragana and katakana.

6. Pronounce these examples, paying attention to the Z and J (DZ) sounds:

NAze, TAezu, KAzoku, SHIzuka, kaZE, zaSHIKI, CHIzu, tsuZUKU, chiKAZUku, DOozo, zaNNEn, zaTTO, ZUibun, ZUtsu, zuTSU:, zeIKIN, ZEro, zoODAI.

7. Pronounce these examples, paying attention to the R sound:

riKU, oRIru, chiRI, moRI, maTSURI, uRIBA, riNGO, RIeki, aMARI, toNARI.

8. Pronounce these examples, paying attention to the palatalized (y-glide) sounds:

yaMA, YAku, yaRU, yuKI, yuKA, yuBI, heYA, iYA, YOmu, YOi, YOru, saYONARA, yuUBE, yuUBIN, yuKKURI.

9. Pronounce these examples, paying attention to the F sound:

fu, fuTATSU, FUru, FUne, FUben, yoOFUKU.

10. Write in hiragana, and then in katakana:

KAshi, saKU, Asa, KAesu, KAsa, aSHI, iSHI iKU, soKO, iSU, aSOKO, KEsa, KUzu, KAzoku, gaKUSEI, suKIGUSHI, geKISHI, suZUSHIi.

11. Practice reading words with different types of pitch accent:

a) rising:
SADO:, SAEKI, SAGASU, SAGI, SAIDAI. SAIKETSU, SAIKO:, SAISEI, SAISOKU, SAITEI, SAITAKU, SAKE, SAKIDAKA, SAKUSHI. SHIAI, SHIGUSA, SHIKO:, SHISAI, SHISATSU, SHITA, SHITAGAU. SHITETSU, SUEOKI, SUJIGAKI, SUKU, SUTEGO. SEKIGA, SEKISO:, SO:DATSU, SOEGAKI, SO:KATSU, SOKOSOKO, SOKUTO:, SOSAKU, SOSOGU, ZASETSU. ZATSUGAKU, JICHITAI, JIEI. JISEKI, JIKATSU, ZUIHISO:, ZUTAZUTA, ZESEI, ZO:DAI, DEO:KETSUZAI. TACHIAI, TADAGOTO, TADASHIGAKI, TAIGO:, TAIJI, TAIKO:, TADATSU, CHIGAU. CHIKOKU, TSU:CHI, TSU:DA, TSUGO:, TSUKAISAKI, TSU:KO:, TSUKAU, TEISHITSU, TEIKEI. TEKISETSU, TOCHI, TO:DO:. TOKAI, TOKEI, DAIGAKU, DAKETSU. DO:GA, DO:KAKU, DOSAKUSA, NAATE, NADAI, NAIDAKU. NATSU, NAZO, NEDAI, NEBO:, NEKKI, NESSUI. NISHI, NITO:, NO:GAKU, NO:HO:, NUKEANA, NUKU, HABA, HACHI, HAGAKI, HAIGO:, HAIDOKU. HAKOBU, HASU, HATAKE, HATTATSU, HEKIGA. HIGE, HIKKI, HIKKOSHI, HIKU, HISSHI, HIZA. HO:BO:, HO:KO:, HOKUSEI, HO:SAKU, HOSHI, HO:SEKI, FUTATSU, FUSETSU, FUZOKUGA, BAKUCHIKU, BASSAI. BAAI, BEKKAKU, BETSU, BIKO:. BO:AKU, BO:EI, BO:EKI, BO:GAI, BO:KA, BOKUSO:. BO:SHI, BO:TO:, BOTTO, BUDO:, BUSO:, BUSSHITSU, BUTANIKU, POCHIPOCHI:;

b) falling:
SAIGO, SAIKI, SHIGA, SHIJI, SHIKU, SETSU. SO:CHI, SOKUJI, ZAIAKU, JIGO:, JIKA, JIKOKU, ZUGAKU, ZUKAZUKA, ZUTSU:, ZO:CHI, ZOKUZOKU, TAJITSU, TATSU, CHIIKU, TSU:DA. TEATE, TEDASHI, TEGUCHI, TEIDO, TEIGI. TEKII, TEKO, TO:DAI, TO:GA, TO:GETSU, TOKI, DAIICHI, DAISUKI, DASU. DESU, DO:SHI, DO:ZO:, NAGU, NAI, NAIBU, NAKA, NANI, NEGI, NICHIBEI. NO:CHI, NO:FU, NO:HO:, NUGU, NUTTO. NUU, HA, HASHI, HIBANA, HINA, HO:JI, HO:SO. FUBO, FUDA, FU:FU, FUI, FUKU, FUZEI. BATABATA, BETTO, BIN, BOKO:, BOKOKU, BUGU, PAKKU, PAKUPAKU, PATTO, PETTO. POTTO;

c) falling-rising (hill-shaped):
SAE, SHICHI, SHIGOKU, SHISEIJI, SHITSUGI. SUDATSU, SUGOSU, JIDO:KI, JIDO:SHI, TAGAICHIGAI, TAKAI, TASU:, CHICHI, CHIKUJI, TSUGA, TOGE, TOKIDOKI, DAKE, DESHIGOTO, DOKU:NAGI, NETSU, NIAU, NIGAI, NITATSU, NOASOBI, NOBEBO:, NOBUDO NUGUU, NUKISASHI, HANASU, HATAKU, HIKO:KI. HIO:I, HITOATE, HOSHIYO HOSHIKUSA, HOSOI, FUCHIJI. FUKUSHI, FUSEGU, FUTSUGO, BISEIBUTSU BUSU:, PIBOTTO, NAGABANASHI, NAKIGOE. NO:GAKKO:, HATSUBUTAI, HIKAKI HIKIKUZU, HIKITATSU, HISASHII. HO:IKU, BESSEKAI, HABATOBI, HIPPATAKU, HITOKUCHIBANASHI.

12. Write the words from exercise 11 in hiragana and katakana.

13. Read the following words written in Romaji.
Abunai, baba, baiu, beni, bifu:, bo:to:, buttai, fuda, fukasu, haha, hana, hane, hifuku, hobo, hoshi, ine, jibutsu, kabu, kane, kino:, naka, niage, netsubo:, bebiki, nuu, nukege, onaji, paipu, pike, pe:ji, pea, poketto, po:ku.

Reading (examples in Hiragana and Katakana)

1. Read aloud several times:

A. すし、さけ、かさ、かし、せい、けしき。しお、

すき、うすい、すこし、けさ、すぐ、せかい、がくせい、あそこ、おそい、うそ、さそう。

B. さじ、じき、きじ、くず、しずか、かぜ、かぞく、あさ、あざ、いす、

いず、あし、あじ、かす、かず、ざあざあ、せいざい、すきずき。

C. スシ、サケ、カサ、カシ、サイ、ケシキ、シオ、スキ、

ウスイ、スコシ、ケサ、スグ、セカイ、ガクセイ、アソコ、オソイ、ウソ、サソウ。

D. サジ、ジキ、キジ、クズ、シズカ、カゼ、カゾク、アサ、アザ、イス、

イズ、アシ、アジ、カス、カズ、ザアザア、セイザイ、スキズキ。

2. Read aloud several times:

A. たつ、たかい、かたい、あした、うち、ちち、とかい、ちいさい、つくえ、つち、くつ、

くし、てつ、かてい、おと、あと、とおい、とけい。

B. だす、ただ、だいがく、だいじ、うで、ちづ、そで、どこ、かど、ときどき、

たす、だす、たけ、だけ、てき、でき、せいと、せいど。

C. タツ、タカイ、カタイ、アシタ、ウチ、チチ、チカイ、チイサイ、ツクエ、

ツチ、クツ、クシ、テツ、カテイ、オト、アト、トオイ、トケイ。

D. ダス、タダ、ダイガク、ダイジ、ウデ、チヅ、ソデ、ドコ、カド、トキドキ、

タス、ダス、タケ、ダケ、テキ、デキ、セイト、セイド。

3. Read aloud several times:

A. なに、かな、なか、ながい、どなた、なぜ、くに、にく、にあう、におい、

にかい、にがい、ぬく、ぬぐ、ぬう、ねこ、あね、おかね、おねがい、この、いぬ、

ねこ、あに、なおす、おに、さかな、かたかな、あなた、しぬ、ななつ、おとこのこ、おこなう。

B. ナニ、カナ、ナカ、ナガイ、ドナタ、ナゼ、クニ、ニク、ニアウ、ニオイ、

ニカイ、ニガイ、ヌク、ヌグ、ヌウ、ネコ、アネ、オカネ、オネガイ、コノ、イヌ、ネツ、アニ、

ナオス、オニ、サカナ、カタカナ、アナタ、シヌ、ナナツ、オトコノコ、オコナウ。

4. Read the words aloud, paying attention to the pronunciation of long (geminate) consonants.

ぶっか、ぶっし、ぐっと、どっち、ふっこう、はっこう、にっき、

ひっし、にってい、ぬっと、かっき、じっか、けっか、ずっと、

ねっとう、ぜったい、じっし、じったい、はったつ、

べっそう、がっか、がっき、そっぱ、だったい、ぶっそう、がっこ、

がっかい、ひっこし、ねったい、けっせき、こっこう、

せっけい、たっせい、とがった。

Grammar exercises

1. Form the name of the language from the name of the country.

Example: Nihon — nihongo

2. Fill in the blanks:

あなたは がくせい ですか。
いいえ、わたし ... がくせい では ありません。

Anata wa gakusei desu ka?
Iie, watashi gakusei de wa arimasen.

チンさん も ちゅうごくじん ですか。
はい、チンさん ... ちゅうごくじん です。

Chin-san mo chuugokujin desu ka?
Hai, Chin-san chuugokujin desu.

ラタナーさん も ちゅうごくじん ですか。
いいえ、 ラタナーさ ... ちゅうごくじん では ありません。

Ratanaa-san mo chuugokujin desu ka?
Iie, Ratanaa-san chuugokujin de wa arimasen.

3. Transform according to the example.

Example: わたしはせんせい です。 → わたしもせんせい です。

あなた は がくせい です。 →

あのひと は オーストラリアじん です。 →

わたし は ビジネスマン では ありません。 →

Lesson Vocabulary

* The name of a language, just like a nationality, is formed by attaching the morpheme ご to the name of the corresponding country.
Attention! eIGO - English language

Proper names

Reading and Translation

Read and translate the grammar patterns:

1. わたし は イギリスじん です。あなた も イギリスじん です。
2. わたし は がくせい です。 あなた も がくせい ですか。
3. あのひと は イギリスじん では ありません。
   あなた も イギリスじん では ありません。
4. あなた も わたし も インドネシアじん では ありません。
5. あなた も わたし も がくせい です。
6. あのかた は チンさん でも ラタナーさん でも ありません。
   ガロさん です。
7. あのひとたち も わたしたち も せんせい では ありません。
8. あなたがた も あのひとたち も スポーツマン です。
9. わたし は アメリカじん で も イギリスじん で も ありません。
   ロシアじん です。

Translate into Japanese:

1. I am a teacher. Are you also a teacher?
2. Is she also Indonesian? - Yes, she is also Indonesian.
3. Are you American? - No, I am not American.
   Is John also not American? - Yes, John is also not American.
4. Both you and I are Russian.
5. Neither you nor I are businessmen. And we are not engineers either.
6. We are not pilots and not athletes.
7. They are not Portuguese and not Spanish.
8. The teacher is Mr. Hayashi. Mr. Hashimoto is also a teacher.
9. The friend’s name is (lit.: the friend is...) Yamakawa Tetsuo

Texts for reading and translation

They are not difficult, and if you have consistently studied the material in the introductory lessons, you will have no problems translating from Japanese.

1. Read and translate:

わたしは　はやしです。
わたしは　にほんじんです。
わたしは　せんせいです。
- Watashi wa Hayashi desu.
- Watashi wa nihonjin desu.
- Watashi wa senseidesu.

こんにちは。
わたしは　はやしです。
はじめまして。
わたしは　ジョン　スミスです。
どうぞよろしく。
- Konnichi wa.
- Watashi wa Hayashi desu.
- Hajimemashite.
- Watashi wa Jon Sumisu desu.
- Do:zo yoroshiku.

あなたは　ジョンさんですか。
はい、わたしは　ジョンです。
あなたは　がくせいですか。
はい、わたしは　がくせいです。
あなたは　フランスじんですか。
いいえ、わたしは　フランスじんでは　ありません。アメリカじんです。
- Anata wa Jon-san desu ka?
- Hai, watashi wa Jon desu.
- Anata wa gakusee desu ka?
- Hai, watashi wa gakusee desu.
- Anata wa furansujin desu ka?
- Iie, watashi wa furansujin de wa arimasen. Amerikajin desu.

アリさんは　にほんじんですか。
いいえ、　アリさんは　にほんじんでは　ありません。アリさんは　インドネシアじんです。　
チンさんは　にほんじんですか。
いいえ、　チンさんも　にほんじんでは　ありません。チンさんは　ちゅうごくじんです。
ラタナーさんも　ちゅうごくじんですか。
いいえ、ラタナーさんは　ちゅうごくじんでは　ありません。ラタナさんは　タイじんです。
- Ari-san wa nihonjin desu ka?
- lie, Ari-san wa nihonjin de wa arimasen. Ari-san wa indoneshiajin desu.
- Chin-san wa nihonjin desu ka?
- Iie, Chin-san mo nihonjin de wa arimasen. Chin-san wa chuugokujin desu.
- Ratanaa-san mo chuugokujin desu ka?
- Iie, Ratanaa-san wa chuugokujin de wa arimasen. Ratanaa-san wa taijin desu.

あなたは　チンさんですか。
はい、

あなたは　アリさんですか。
いいえ、

ラタナーさんは　タイじんですか。
はい、

チンさんは　がくせいですか。
はい、

ジョンさんも　がくせいですか。
はい、

3. Read and translate:

わたしは　オーストラリアじんです。

わたしは　イギリスじんです。

わたしは　シンガポールじんです。

わたしは　インドじんです。

わたしは　フランスじんです。

わたしは　ちゅうごくじんです。

わたしは　マレーシアじんです。

わたしは　ドイツじんです。

わたしは　ロシアじんです。

わたしは　スペインじんです。

わたしは　ポルトガルじんです。

わたしは　イタリアじんです。

わたしは　スエーデンじんです。