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NIHONGO NO KOTOBA (Japanese words)
Lesson 1: Saying You and I
Watashi (wah-tah-shee)= I. This is pretty simple.
Boku (boh-koo)= A way to say "I" for men.
Atashi (ah-tah-shee) = A way to say"I" for women.
Sessha (seh-shh-ah)= A old way for samurai to say "I". I don`t advise you to say this unless you want to look silly.
Anata (ah-nah-tah) = Polite way of saying "you".
Omae (oh-ma-eh) = Just another way to say you. Not very polite though, but not mean.
Kisama (k-ee-sah-mah) = Ha! This is a very very mean and rude way of saying "you". The "ee" part is sort of whispered. But thats mostly becuase of an angry tone when it is used.
Kimi (kee-mee) = This is an average way of saying "you". It`s not an insult so don`t worry.
Lesson 2: Greetings and Sentence structure
Ooi! (O-ee) = This means "hey!". It is not polite, but it is not necessarily mean.
Konnichiwa (kohn-nee-chee-wah) = This means "hello" or "good afternoon".
Ohayo Gozoimasu(o-ha-yoh goh-zoh-ee-mahs)=
This means Good Morning. The "u" in gozoimasu is not pronounced. Just get used to that becuase alot of proper verbs end the same way.
Oyasuminasai (o-yah-soo-mee-nah-sahee) This means "good night".
Hajimemashte (ha-jee-me-mah-sh-teh)
This means nice to meet you. There is supposed to be an i between the h and t but it is silent. Also Asian Avenue wont let me have an sh an i, then a t. Even if it is in a foreign word.
Yoroshiku (Yo-rdoh-sh-koo) This is what you would say back to hajimemashite.
It means the same thing. But, notice this. In Japanese, the r is rolled. It sounds similar to an "rd" sound.
There are more greetings, but I will make another section for that later.
Now lets cover sentence structure.
The Sentence Structure is very very simple.
Subject wa object ga verb. The subject is always followed by wa (wah), but is sometimes ommitted. Ga (gah) always follows objects, unless the speaker ommits it too. Speakers can ommit grammer particles, but if they do, they are not speaking formally and polite.
This is not a crime or insult, it just means they are not speaking formal(like yes sir, or no sir).
Lesson 3: Saying Simple Things
Hai (Ha-ee) = this means yes.
Ie (ee-eh) = this means no.
Arigato Gozoimasu (ah-rd-ee-gah-toh) This means thank you.
Dou Itashimashte (Doh ee-tah-sh-mah-sh-teh) This is your welcome. Once again, the i is missing.
Sumimasen (Soo-mee-mah-sehn) Excuse or pardon me.
Juubun Itadakimashita (Joo-boon- ee-tah-dah-kee-mah-sh-tah) This is a polite way of saying thank you, or thats enough, or showing gratitude.
Lesson 4: Expressing Confusion or Misunderstanding
Japanese can be very fast and sometimes you will need to ask the speaker to slow down. Or You might need him to explain.
Yukkuri hanashte kudosai (yoo--koo-rdee ha-na-sh-teh koo-doh-sahee) = This means could you please speak slowly. Yukkuri means slowly. Hanashte is the -te form ofspeak, and kudosai means please.
Mo ichido itte kudosai (Moh- eech-ee-doh ee-teh koo-doh-sahee) = Please repeat what you have said. Or please say it one more time. Mo ichido means once more, itte is the -te form of say, and kudosai means please.
Wakarimasen (wah-kardee-mah-sehn) = This means I do not understand. Notice something different? Yes, I ommited the word "I". Sometimes you can omit "I" if you are saying something simple. Roughly translated wakarimasen means, dont understand. -Masen is the negative proper verb form conjugation. Wakanai is the plain way to say I dont understand. (wah-kah-nahee). The -nai is the plain negative verb conjugation.
Shirimasen (Shee-rdee-mah-sehn) This means I don`t know.
Eigo hanashimasu ka (eh-ee-goh- ha-nah-shee-mahs kah) Translation : "Do you speak english?". This is what you ask when you are completely lost and need to resort back to english. Eigo is english. Hanashimasu is the proper conjugation for speak. ka is a particle for questions. Almost all Japanese questions end in ka. Unless of course, it is ommitted.
Lesson 4 under construction
