Here are some important characteristics of Japanese
language:
a) in a sentence, the predicate is always placed at the end
b) the verbs have no special ending to mark the person and
the number
c) there is no article
d) the nouns have the same form for the singular and the
plural
e) the case of a pronoun or a noun is marked by different
particles placed after
f) the subject and the complement can be omitted, if they
can be inferred from the context
The first fundamental type of Japanese sentence:
A はB です – A wa B desu – As for A, it
is B
Ex: わたし は がくせい です / Watashi wa gakusei desu. / I am a student.
Particles:
·
は- wa -
it may appear after a noun or a pronoun and it usually indicates the subject of
the sentence
- Particle of topicalisation, it can be
translated: “as to/for, regarding, concerning”
Ex: マリアさん は ルーマニアじん です
Maria san
wa rumania jin desu.
(As to/for)
Mary, she’s English.
·
か- ka – final interrogative particle (new
information)
Ex:
あなた は にほんじん ですか
Anata wa nihonjin jin desuka
Are you Japanese?
じん-jin
– suffix meaning “person/man from”
Ex: にほんじん –
Nihon jin – (person from Japan) Japanese
さん-
san – honorific suffix, placed after
the name of a person, profession or title
Ex: はやしさん- Hayashi san – Mister
Hayashi
|
Exercises:
Translate
the following sentences:
I’m English.
Mr Tanaka is Japanese.
You are an English teacher.
あなたは ルーマニアじん ですか
Anata wa Rumania jin desuka
かれは せんせい です
Kare wa sensei desu
わたしは がくせい です
Watashi wa gakusei desu