Lesson 2
Grammar- Identifying a Thing -§1 kore wa hon desu. (This is a book.)'kore' shows a thing close to the speaker, 'sore' shows a thing close to the listener and 'are' shows athing away from both the speaker and the listener. 'kore', 'sore' and 'are' are equivalent to "this" and"that" in English respectively. (See the pictures below.)

Examples:1 sore wa kaban desu. (That is a bag.)2 sore wa tokei desu. (That is a clock.)
3 Q: kore wa enpitsu desu ka? (Is this a pencil?)
A1: hai, [sore wa] enpitsu desu. (Yes, it is a pencil.)hai, sou desu. (Yes, it is.)A2: iie, [sore wa enpitsu dewa arimasen.][sore wa] mannenhitsu desu. (No, it is not a pencil. It is a fountain pen.)
4 Q: sore wa jisho desu ka? (Is that a dictionary?)
A1: hai, [kore wa] jisho desu. (Yes, it is a dictionary.) /hai, sou desu. (Yes, it is.)A2: iie, [kore wa jisho ja arimasen.][kore wa] hon desu. (No, it is not a dictionary. It is a book.)
New Question-Word:
5 Q: kore wa nan desu ka. (What is this?)
A: [sore wa] jisho desu. (It is a dictionary.)
6 Q: are wa nan desu ka. (What is that?)
A: [are wa] tokei desu. (It is a clock.)Notes for 5:-5. 'nan' is a question-word for asking what it is.
・・・・・§2 kore wa watashi no enpitsu desu. (This is my pencil.)
Basically, the particle 'no' is used to modify a noun with another noun. In the phrase of '(A) no (B)',"(B) modifies (A)". The meaning of 'no' depends on the context. In §2, '(A) no (B)' means "(A)'s(B) / (B) which belongs to (A)". 'no' shows the possessor.
Examples:1 sore wa anata no tabako desu. (That is your cigarette.)
2 are wa Tanaka-san no nouto desu. (That is Mr Tanaka's notebook.)
3 sore wa kare no desu. (That is his.)
4 are wa gakkou no desu. (That is school's.)
5 Q: kore wa Tanaka-san no kagi desu ka? (Is this Mr Tanaka's key?)
A1: hai, [sore wa] Tanaka-san no [kagi] desu. / sou desu. (Yes, it is.)A2: iie, [sore wa] Kimura-san no [kagi] desu. (No, it is Mr Kimura's.)
6 Q: sore wa Suzuki-san no desu ka? (Is this Mr Suzuki's?)A1: hai, [kore wa] Suzuki-san no desu. / sou desu. (Yes, it is.)A2: iie, [kore wa] Tanaka-san no desu. (No, it is Mr Tanaka's.)
Notes for 5:-5. We can leave out the word after 'no' when it is understandable from the context.
New Question-Word:
7 Q: kore wa dare no monosashi desu ka. (Whose ruler is this?)
A: [sore wa] Kimura-san no [monosashi] desu. (It is Mr Kimura's.)
8 Q: sore wa dare no keshigomu desu ka. (Whose eraser is this?)
A: [kore wa] Suzuki-san no [keshigomu] desu. (It is Mr Suzuki's.)
Notes for 7:-7. 'dare no' is a question-word for asking the unknown possessor and its meaning is "whose".
'donata no' can be used when you would like to speak more politely.
・・・・・§3 kore wa Nihon-go no kyoukasho desu.
(This is a textbook on the Japanese language. / This is a Japanese textbook.)In §3, '(A) no (B)' means "(B) about (A) / (B) on (A) / (B) which has the contents of (A)". We candescribe the language by adding '-go' to the name of country except 'Ei-go (English)'.
Examples:1 sore wa neko no hon desu. (That is a book on cats.)

2 are wa Ei-go no zasshi desu.
(That is a magazine on English / a magazine written in English / an English magazine.)
3 kore wa Chuugoku-go no jisho desu. (This is a Chinese dictionary.)
New Question-Word:
4 Q: kore wa nan no hon desu ka. (What is this book about?)
A: [sore wa] ongaku no hon desu. (It is a book about music.)
5 Q: sore wa nan no jisho desu ka. (What dictionary is that?)
A: [kore wa] Marei-go no jisho desu. (This is a Malay dictionary.)
Notes for 4:-4. 'nan no' is a question-word for asking what it is about and its meaning is "about what / on what /what ---". When 'no' in '(A) no (B)' shows the possessor, we can leave out '(B)', otherwise wecannot leave out '(B)'.
・・・・・§4 kono kasa wa watashi no desu. (This umbrella is mine.)'kono', 'sono' and 'ano' are used to modify a noun. When we say "this (A = noun), that (A)" inJapanese, we should say 'kono (A)', 'sono (A)' or 'ano (A)', not 'kore (A)', 'sore (A)' or 'are (A)'.
Examples:1 sono kamera wa kare no [kamera] desu. (That camera is his.)
2 sono hako wa kanojo no [hako] desu. (That box is hers.)
3 ano hito wa Tanaka san desu. (That person is Mr Tanaka.)
4 kono tokei wa Suisu no tokei desu. (This watch is made in Swaziland.)5 kono jisho wa Nihon-go no jisho desu. (This dictionary is on the Japanese language.)
Notes:
When the meaning of '(A) no (B)' is "(B) on / about (A) / (B) which has the contents of (A)" or "(B)from / made in (A)" (We will study this expression at the next lesson), we cannot leave out (B) rightafter 'no' even if you mention (B) in a topic and a subject position. This rule also applies to thequestion with a Question-Word.
Question-Word:
6 Q: kono kasa wa dare no [kasa] desu ka. (Whose umbrella is this?)
A: [sono kasa wa] Kimura-san no [kasa] desu. (It is Mr Kimura's.)
7 Q: kono keitai denwa wa dare no [keitai denwa] desu ka. (Whose hand phone is this?)
A: [sono keitai denwa wa] Suzuki-san no [keitai denwa] desu. (It is Mr Suzuki's.)
10 Q: kono hon wa nan no hon desu ka. (What is this book about?)
A: [sono hon wa] rekishi no hon desu. (It is about history.)
11 Q: sono jisho wa nan no jisho desu ka. (What dictionary is that?)
A: [kono jisho wa] Furansu-go no jisho desu. (It is a French dictionary.)