User:Elaeum/Testbed/Japanese/Retropunk/Lesson1

Lesson 1 (第一課): Looking for someone

Overview

Mr. Smith is looking for Mr. Yamada. In this lesson questions, honorifics, and the copula です are covered.

Conversation (会話):

日本語:

スミスさん: あの, やまださん です　か。

男: いいえ、じゃ　ありません。.

スミスさん: すみません。

...

スミスさん: あの, やまださん です　か?

やまださん: はい、 やまだです. スミスさん です か。

スミスさん: 　はい、スミス　です。 はじめまして。 よろしくおねがいします。

やまださん: はじめまして。 よろしくおねがいします。

English (英語):

Mr. Smith: Um, are you Mr. Yamada?

A man: No, I'm not.

Mr. Smith: Oh, I'm sorry.

...

Mr. Smith: Um, are you Mr. Yamada?

Mr. Yamada: Yes、 I am. Are you Mr. Smith?

Mr. Smith: 　Yes, I am. Nice to meet you.

Mr. Yamada: Nice to meet you, too.

Vocabulary (単語):

Japanese	English	Reading	Notes
あの	Umm, excuse me	ano
さん	Mr, Mrs	san	A type of honorific.
です	to be	desu (des)	The polite Japanese copula.
いいえ	no	iie (eeay)
はい	yes	hai
じゃ ありません	am not	ja arimasen	The polite negative form of です.
おはよう　ございます	Good Morning!	ohayō gozaimasu
こんにちは	Hello! / Good afternoon!	konnichiwa
こんばんは	Good evening!	konbanwa
はじめまして	nice to meet you, or how do you do	hajimemashite
よろしくおねがいします	Please favor me with your friendship	yoroshiku onegaishimasu
さよなら	Good bye.	sayonara
か	(question particle)	ka

Expressions

はじめまして:

This expression is only used when you first meet someone and has the same meaning as "Nice to meet you" or "How do you do?"

よろしくおねがいします:

This expression is difficult to translate into English. It's a greeting statement that's common after 「はじめまして」. In this context, it's like asking "Please favor me with your friendship" or "I'm looking forward to working with you." There are many different levels of politeness for this expression. From most polite to casual, we have

どうぞよろしくおねがいします

よろしくおねがいします

どうぞよろしく

よろしく

The decision to which to use depends on the listener. 「よろしくおねがいします」 is polite enough for most circumstances, and should probably be used if the speaker is unsure what is correct.

Grammar (文法):

Asking Questions

The particle 「か」 is used at the end of the sentence to indicate that the sentence is a question. The use of a question mark is optional, and most of the time a 「。」 is used. Some people must substitute the 「か」 with the question marker, but even in these cases the sound is still spoken.「か」 may be appended at the end of any sentence to turn it into a question.

Example:

	Japanese	Pronounced	Meaning
Statement	スミス　さん　です。	Smith-san desu.	That is Smith.
Question	スミス　さん　ですか。	Smith-san desu ka.	Is that Smith?

Honorifics

• 〜さん (-san) is an honorific suffix denoting Mr., Miss, Mrs., or Ms.

Example:

Japanese	English	Meaning
すずき さん	Mr. / Ms. Suzuki.	Suzuki-san
たなか さん	Mr. / Ms. Tanaka.	Tanaka-san

This should be used when speaking to someone of higher status (e.g., your boss) or out of respect to another individual. There are many more honorifics that may be used. You do not attach an honorific to your own name, as it is considered very rude in Japan to refer to yourself honorably.

Common honorifics

Honorific	Usage
san	most common honorific
chan	informal version of san
kun	mainly used for younger males
sensei	used for teachers/doctors

What is a copula?

In English, the verb 'to be' serves two purposes: It acts as the copula, and it acts as the verb for existence. However, in many languages, including Japanese, these two verbs are separate—so it helps to have an understanding of the difference between the two usages.

A copula can be thought of as an equals sign: it equates two things to each other. In the sentence "That is a dog," 'is' is the copula. In the sentence "The dog is inside," you don't mean that 'the dog' and 'inside' are the same thing; you mean that the dog exists inside.

These two usages have different verbs in Japanese, so it'd be good to get used to it now. Here are some examples:

Using 'to be' as a copula:

• That man is the president.
• Joe is a salesman.
• The dog is a golden retriever.
• This paper is my report.

Using 'to be' to mean existence:

• Sara is outside.
• The plate is on the table.
• The watch is on my wrist
• They are at the mall.
• There is John.

In Japanese, です is the copula. It is used to equate two things, but not used for existence of an item. Wikipedia has a detail entry on the copula, its basic use, and its use in various languages. The negative form of です is じゃ ありません, so where です equates two things, じゃ ありません specifically states that they are different. This is an example of verb conjugation.

Conjugation: です Present Tense

Type of speech	Copula
Affirmative	です
Negative	じゃ ありません

Examples:¹

Japanese	Translation
pencil です	(This) is a pencil.
dictionary じゃ ありません.	(This) is not a dictionary.
John です	I'm John.
John-san じゃ ありません	(That) is not John.

¹ Note, these are loose translations because there is no topic described. These examples are meant to illustrate the use of the copula.

Quick explanations

• 〜さん (-san) is an honorific suffix denoting Mr., Miss, Mrs., or Ms.

すずき さん

Suzuki-san

Mr/Ms Suzuki.

• The easiest Japanese sentence contains just one word followed by です. です is the Japanese Copula, linking two words much like the English word "to be". For example: そうです - soo desu, meaning "it is so". Note that very often the subject will be implied in Japanese, and です doesn't change for different people, so if you see ぐみです that could mean "I am Gumi" or "He is Gumi" (or even "you are Gumi" or "they are Gumi" or anything "be Gumi") depending on the context.
• To turn any sentence into a yes/no question, add the particle か : そうですか? - Is that so? か is used at the end of the sentence, after a verb, to the point that it has become synonymous with a question mark. Some people don't write か anymore and just write ? (still pronouncing the "ka" though). But in most cases you will see "か。" at the end of a question - the "?" is optional as か is marker enough.
• When meeting somebody for the first time, say "はじめまして" (nice to meet you). Don't say this when you've met them before. Also don't forget the phrase "よろしくおねがいします" (please be kind to me). In Japanese, being polite is extremly important, and Japanese people will be very impressed if you correctly use these phrases