Particles

In addition to my previous post on particles, below are another two more.

The particle mo means also/too & placed after the word to which it refers.
If mo refers to a subject, it replaces wa or ga.
I read a book
Watashi wa hon o yomimasu わたしはほんをよみます

Mother also reads a book
Okaasan mo hon o yomimasu　おかあさんもほんをよみます

If mo refers to a direct object, it replaces o.
I read newspapers　
Watashi wa shinbun o yomimasu　わたしはしんぶんをよみます

I read a magazine also
Watashi wa zasshi mo yomimasu　わたしはざつしもよみます

Another one is kara & made. Kara means from & made means until.
From 9 o'clock till 10 o'clock
ku-ji kara juu-ji made　くじからじゅうじまで

From Monday to Friday
Getsu-youbi kara kin-youbi made　げつようびからきんようびまで

Note : In the example above for the word magazine ~ zasshi is a double consonant & thus written as ざつし. つ should be written as a small character about a quarter of the size of the other characters.

Posted By :　Jasvale

Labels: Introduction

Particles

Japanese has little words called particles, usually made up of one or two syllables (such as wa, ga, o etc). Particles , not word order indicate subjects & objects in sentences.

For eg, o is placed after direct objects and wa/ga is placed after subjects.

Regardless of word order, it is always clear in a Japanese sentence which word is the subject & which word is the direct object. Only verbs have fixed location ~ the verb comes at the end of the sentence or just before if ka / ne/ yo follows the verb.

Particles can be very confusing & I'm also one of them getting confused over it.
Below is what I've read from references & hopefully you'll find it a little useful.

Wa is the main topic particle of the conversation
Ga is the subject particle of the conversation

Eg Watashi wa Tom desu (I am Tom)
[Tom is the topic and now this is known, it won't be repeated unless the topic changes]

Neko ga suki desu. (I) like cats
["Cats" are actually the 'subject' here]

Ga with Question Words :
Question words always use ga. When a question word such as "who" and "what" is the subject of a sentence, it is always followed by "ga," never by "wa." To answer the question, it also has to be followed by "ga."

Dare ga kimasu ka - Who is coming?
Yoko ga kimasu - Yoko is coming.
Nani ga oishii - What tastes good?

O is the direct object particle
Hon o yomimashita - (I) read a book
[The book is the object]

Ni is a multipurpose marker. Can be used in the following :

Shows movement (to)
Nihon ni ikimashou - Let's go to Japan!
[There is movement going to Japan]

Shows time (at)
Roku ji ni ikimashou - Let's go at 6!

In/at a place
Tokyo ni sundeimasu - (I) live in Tokyo

Purpose (to)
Koohii ni shimashou - Let's have coffee.

The particle de following a noun has two uses. One is to indicate "how" or "with what instrument" something is done.
Watashi wa inu o mizu de araimasu - I wash a dog with water
Otosan wa tegami o pen de kakimasu - Father writes a letter with a pen

The second use of de is to express "action in a place". It can mean in/at/on

Nihon de asobimashou - Let's play (have fun) in Japan!
Watashi wa zasshi o basu de yomimasu - I read a magazine on a bus
Watashi wa e o yama de kakimasu - I draw a picture at a mountain

The particle ne at the end of a sentence solicits agreement from the listener.
It can mean "Isn't it?", "Don't you?", "Won't you?" etc
Ara wa hon desu ne - That is a book, isn't it?
Anata wa ringo o tabemasu ne - You'll eat an apple, wont you?

When the particle to follows a person, it means together/along with.
Watashi we eiga o Hanako san to mimasu - I watch a movie with Hanako
Ranchi o watashi to tabemasen ka - Would you like to eat lunch with me?

Yo at the end of a sentence highlights what the speaker is saying. It is similar to an exclamation mark in English.
Are wa watashi-tachi no basu desu yo - That is our bus!

The particle to when used between nouns is translated as and or both __ and __.
An apple and a tangerine - Ringo to Mikan

The particle ka when used between nouns is translated as or either __ or __.
An apple or an orange - Ringo ka Orenji

Particles may be separated into three categories depending on where they appear in sentences.

1. Ka, ne, yo : placed at the end of a sentence, after the verb meaning ?, Isn't it?, !
2. To, ka, no : put between words meaning and, or & posessive s ('s)
3. Wa, o de, to : describe & follow nouns/pronouns

Note that ka appears in two different locations for two different purposes in sentences.
One is for questions at the end of sentences & another to mean or between words.
To also appears in two different locations ~ One between nouns/pronouns meaning and & another after nouns/pronouns meaning with.

Oh-oh, reading back at what i've written, this is a rather lengthy post, haha! Hopefully after reading it through, it can help you shed some light over the use of different particles & not see stars instead *-*

Posted By : Jasvale

Labels: Introduction

Introduction to Japanese

Japanese sentences are written with a combination of characters called Kanji, Hiragana & Katakana. Kanji consists of old chinese characters & each Kanji symbol represents a full word, phrase or idea.
Hiragana & Katakana are two "alphabets". Each alphabet represents a syllable without any individual meaning, just like English letters.
Romaji is a way of writing Japanese using the English alphabet. Romaji is primarily used for the convenience of foreigners. With Romaji, one can read Japanese without knowing any Japanese writing system

Characteristics of Japanese
The Japanese language has only 5 vowels : A, I, U, E, O
Japanese nouns do not have special forms to show whether they are singular or plural & there are no articles (the, a, an). Ringo means an apple, apples, the apple or the apples. The same for pronouns ~hence this & these have the same word, Kore in Japanese

How To Read A Japanese Word
The easiest way to pronounce a Japanese word is to break it up using a slash(/) after every vowel (a, i, u, e, o) & to read each syllable separately

Good night is read as O/ya/su/mi/na/sa/i/

I am back now is read as Ta/da/i/ma

Word Order
English is a subject-verb-object language. Japanese is a subject-object-verb language.
Generally the subject comes first, then the object and the verb comes at the end of the sentence.

Subject ffffffffffff Object ffffffffffVerb
Tom-san wa ffff Ringo o fffffffTabemasu (Tom eats apple)

Posted By : Jasvale

Labels: Introduction