Lesson 1
Watashi wa Mari desu.

Ohayoo gozai-masu.			
Konnichiwa.						Konbanwa.						Oyasuminasai.						Sorejaa.						I’m Mari.

: Good morning.
: Hello.
: Good evening.
: Good night.
: See you.

Dialogue
Mari is a Japanese lady. John is an Australian man. They are just getting to know each other.
MariJonMari

Jon: ♣Konnichiwa.
: Konnichiwa.
: ♣Hajimemashite.
Tanaka Mari desu.
♣Doozo yoroshiku.
: Hajimemashite.
Jon Sumisu desu.
Doozo yoroshiku.
♣Mari-san wa Nihon-jin desu ka.

MariJon2: Hai, Nihon-jin desu.
Jon-san wa Amerika-jin desu ka.
: Iie, Amerika-jin dewa ari-masen.
Oosutoraria-jin desu.

Lesson 1

Mari : Hello.
John : Hello.
Mari : How do you do?
I’m Mari Tanaka.
Nice to meet you.
John : How do you do?
I’m John Smith.
Nice to meet you.
Are you Japanese, Mari ?
Mari : Yes, I am.
Are you American, John ?
John : No, I’m not.
I’m Australian.

New Vocabulary
Hajimemashite				TanakaMari				wa				desu				Doozo yoroshiku 		
Jon Sumisu			
Nihon-jin			ka				hai				
sanAmerika-jin			iie				dewa ari-masen		
Oosutoraria-jin		: How do you do?
: Tanaka (surname): Mari (girl’s name): as for: am, are, is (to be): Nice to meet you.
: John Smith: Japanese person: question marker: yes  : Mr. Mrs. Miss Ms. etc. (honorific title): American person: no: negative form of desu
: Australian person3♣ Explanations
1. Konnichiwa
In Japanese conversation, Konnichiwa is used for ‘Hello’, ‘Good afternoon’, but it includes‘How are you?’. You may say O-genki desu ka which means ‘How are you?’. However, it is
not so popular in Japanese. It is just a Japanese form of the English expression.
e.g. A: Konnichiwa. O-genki desu ka. 		
B: Hai, genki desu. 			

: Hello. How are you?
: Yes, I’m fine.

2. Hajimemashite
Literally it means ‘I’m meeting you for the first time’, so it can be used for ‘How do you do?’.
3. Doozo yoroshiku
Originally it means ‘Please do me a favour’. It is used for ‘I’m glad to meet you’. It is often
used with Hajimemashite.
e.g. Hajimemashite.				
Doozo yoroshiku.				

: How do you do?
: Nice to meet you.

4. SanThe suffix san is usually put after the name, and is similar to ‘Mr., Miss, Ms., Mrs.’. It is used
not only after family names, but also first names and full names for politeness. San can not beused when talking about yourself.
e.g. Tanaka-san
Mari-sanTanaka Mari-san
Sumisu-san
Jon-san
Jon Sumisu-san

4: Miss Tanaka: Mari: Miss Mari Tanaka: Mr. Smith: John: Mr. John Smith

Lesson 1♠ Grammar
1. Word order ( I )In the Japanese language, sentences end in their predicates (verbs etc.).
e.g. Watashi wa Mari desu.			: I am Mari.
: John is Australian.
Jon-san wa Oosutoraria-jin desu.		
The subject of a sentence can often be omitted if we already know what it is.
e.g. A: /Anata wa/ Nihon-jin desu ka.		
B: Hai, /watashi wa/ Nihon-jin desu.

: Are /you/Japanese ?
: Yes, /I/ am Japanese.

Note: Anata (you) is not often used in Japanese. When we know the name, it isusually used.
e.g. A: Mari-san wa Nihon-jin desu ka.		
B: Hai,Nihon-jin desu.			

: Are /you/Japanese, Mari?
: Yes, /I/ am Japanese.

In addition, verbs are not changed between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person, or in plurals.
e.g. Watashi wa Tanaka Mari desu.		
Anata wa Amerika-jin desu.		
Jon-san wa Oosutoraria-jin desu.		
Watashi-tachi wa Nihon-jin desu.		

: I am Mari Tanaka.
: You are American.
: John is Australian.
: We are Japanese.

2. Particle Wa
In Japanese sentences, particles are used to indicate the function of the preceding words.
The particle wa indicates the topic. Therefore, the word preceding wa often becomes a subject.
Wa is translated into English as ‘as for...’, ‘talking about...’ etc.
e.g. Watashi wa Jon desu.			
Mari-san wa Nihon-jin desu.		

: Talking about me /I/ am John.
: As for Mari /she/ is Japanese.

3. Negative form dewa ari-masen
Dewa ari-masen is used for the negative form of desu. Ja ari-masen which is a colloquial
form of dewa ari-masen is also used.
e.g. Watashi wa Nihon-jin dewa ari-masen.
: I’m not Japanese.
Jon-san wa Amerika-jin dewa ari-masen. : John is not American.
: I’m not American.
Watashi wa Amerika-jin ja ari-masen.
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4. Particle Ka
When the particle ka is put at the end of a sentence, it becomes a question.
e.g. Jon-san wa Oosutoraria-jin desu ka.		
Tanaka-san wa Nihon-jin desu ka.			

: Are you Australian, John?
: Is Tanaka Japanese?

♥ Exercises
1. Substitute the following words for the ones underlined. Students should not look at theirtextbooks.
(1) Watashi wa Mari desu.
JonNihon-jin
Amerika-jin
Oosutoraria-jin
Chuugoku-jin*
your nameMari

JonNihon-jin(2) Watashi wa Nihon-jin desu.
watashi-tachi		anata 			you (plural) *anata-tachi*		
kare*			he*kanojo*		 she*Note: Tachi is a plural sign for people only.

6Chinese*

Amerika-jin

Oosutoraria-jin

Chuugoku-jin

Lesson 1(3) Watashi wa Mari dewa ari-masen.
Substitute as in (1).
(4) Watashi wa Nihon-jin dewa ari-masen.
Substitute as in (2).
(5) Mari-san desu ka.
Substitute as in (1).
2. Answer Exercise 1-(5) both in the positive and negative forms as follows.
e.g. T*: Mari-san desu ka.
S*: Hai, Mari desu.
Iie, Mari dewa ari-masen.

teacher*
student*

3. Repeat the following sentences after the teacher. Students should not look at their
textbooks.
(1) Watashi wa Nihon-jin desu.
(2) Mari-san wa Amerika-jin dewa ari-masen.
(3) Jon-san wa Oosutoraria-jin desu.
(4) Anata-tachi wa Chuugoku-jin desu ka.
(5) Watashi-tachi wa Nihon-jin dewa ari-masen.
(6) Kanojo wa Mari-san desu.
(7) Kare wa Amerika-jin dewa ari-masen.
(8) Anata wa Oosutoraria-jin desu ka.
(9) Watashi wa Chuugoku-jin dewa ari-masen.
(10) Kazuo-san wa Nihon-jin desu ka.

4. Substitute the given words into the following sentence patterns.
e.g. Watashi wa Nihon-jin desu.
T: Watashi-tachi
S: Watashi-tachi wa Nihon-jin desu.
T:
Oosutoraria-jin
S: Watashi-tachi wa Oosutoraria-jin desu.

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(1)

Jon-sanSumisu-san

wa

Oosutoraria-jin desu.
Amerika-jin

watashi-tachi
Igirisu-jin*

British person*

anata-tachi
Nihon-jin
Tanaka-san(2)

Jon-sanwa

Amerika-jin desu ka.

anata-tachi
Nihon-jin
Mari-sanChuugoku-jin
Ryuu-san*Kankoku-jin*
Kimu-san*(3)

Watashiwa

Chinese name*
Korean*Korean name*

Chuugoku-jin dewa ari-masen.

watashi-tachi
Indo-jin*

Indian*kareAmerika-jin
kanojoNihon-jinanata-tachi(4)

Watashiwa

Chuugoku-jin desu.

anata-tachi
Amerika-jin desu ka
Satoo-san*Japanese family name*Indo-jin dewa ari-masen

watashi-tachi
Nihon-jin desu
Mari-san8

Lesson 1

5. Introduce yourself as follows and substitute the words given for the ones underlined.
e.g. Konnichiwa.
Hajimemashite.
Watashi wa（your name） desu.
Doozo yoroshiku.
(1) ohayoo gozai-masu(2) konbanwa♦ Pronunciation Drill
Pronounce the following, paying attention to the accents.
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A. 1. oha yo o go za i-masu 		
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2. kon ni chi wa		
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4. oya su mi na sa i			
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5. sore ja a●○

9. Mari- sa n

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8. Jon- sa n

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3. kon ba n wa 		
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7. watashi-tachi

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10. Niho n- ji n
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B. 1. Watashi wa Nihon- ji n de su.
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2. Jon-sa n wa O o su to ra ri a- ji n de su.
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3. Kimu-sa n wa Niho n- ji n de wa a ri-ma se n.
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4. Mari-sa n wa Niho n- ji n de suka.
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5. Sumisu-sa n wa Ame ri ka-ji n de suka.

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★ Extra Study10juu
20
ni-juu30
san-juu
40
yon-juu
50
go-juu60
roku-juu
70
nana-juu
80hachi-juu
90kyuu-juu

Numbers ( I )

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

ichi

ni

sanshiyongo

roku

shichi
nana

hachi

kyu
ku

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

21

22

23

24

25

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27

28

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98

99

100
hyaku

0: ree, zero
11(juu-ichi) = 10(juu)+1(ichi)
20(ni-juu) = 2(ni)×10(juu)
21(ni-juu-ichi) = 2(ni)×10(juu)+1(ichi)

Note: Both shi and yon, shichi and nana, kyuu and ku can be used for 4, 7, 9 respectively.

10Lesson 1		
MonthsJanuaryichi-gatsu
Februaryni-gatsu
March		san-gatsu
April		shi-gatsu
May		go-gatsu
June		
roku-gatsu
July 		shichi-gatsu
August		hachi-gatsu
Septemberku-gatsu
October		
juu-gatsu
juu-ichi-gatsu
November
December
juu-ni-gatsu				Timeichi-ji
ni-ji
san-jiyo-ji
go-ji
roku-jishichi-ji
hachi-ji
ku-ji
juu-ji
juu-ichi-ji
juu-ni-ji

1 o’clock
2 o’clock
3 o’clock4 o’clock
5 o’clock
6 o’clock
7 o’clock
8 o’clock
9 o’clock
10 o’clock
11 o’clock
12 o’clock♥ Exercises

1. Say the following numbers in Japanese.
e.g. 11 juu-ichi
12---23---34---45---56---67---78---89---99---91---82---73---64---55---47---38---29---100

2. Say the following months in Japanese.
e.g. January ichi-gatsu
April---December---July---February---November---October---May--August---June--September---March
3. Each student should say the months from January to December in Japanese without looking
at the textbook.
4. Each student should say the times from 1 o’clock to 12 o’clock in Japanese
without looking at the textbook.

About Japan

Bow
Whenever they are in a formal situation, such as when meeting or leaving people,
saying thank you etc., Japanese people bow to each other. There are different types of bows,from a deep to a slight bow. If you bow deeply, it shows deep respect or gratitude. Therefore
whenever you are in Japan, it is better to bow as Japanese do.

O - j i g i11