過去形 (Past tense)

Past tense of:

Verbs:
～ます becomes ～ました
E.g. 読みます becomes 読みました

Adjectives:
い-adjectives
い becomes かった
E.g.  強いです。 becomes 強かったです。

な-adjectives
～です becomes ～でした
E.g. きれいです。 becomes きれいでした。

Particles 助詞

In Japanese, there are quite a few particles; I shall list some for you.

は：　(when it is used as a particle it is pronounced as わ)
E.g.　私は…　(I am...)
E.g.　これは…　(This is...)
E.g.　あなたは…　(You are...)
It is placed after the subject of the sentence.

の：
E.g.　これは私のです。　(This is mine/belongs to me)
E.g.　数学の課。　(Mathematics lesson)
It indicates possession or sense of belonging.

も：
Indicates emphasis or addition. Also used as "also" or "too".
E.g.
田中さん：私は中学校の一年生です。 (I am in Secondary 1)
小野さん：私も中学校の一年生です。 (I am also in Secondary 1)

を：　(pronounced as お)
E.g.　晩ご飯を食べます。　(To eat dinner)
E.g.　牛乳を飲みます。　(To drink milk)
E.g.　仕事をします。　(To work)
It indicates the direct object (before the を) of the verb (which is after the を).

Introducing oneself 自己紹介

I am _______.
I am ___ years old.
I am a (e.g.) Grade ___ student from XX Secondary/Institution/High School.
Thank you very much.

私は＿＿＿＿です。
＿＿＿歳・才　です。
＿＿＿中学校・インスティチューション・ハイスクール　の　＿＿＿　年生です。
どうぞ　よろしくお願いします。

Common phrases 2 慣用表現二

Please...:　…ください。

Excuse me:　すみません。

Sorry:　ごめんなさい。

(What to say before having a meal):　いただきます。

(What to say after finishing a meal):　ごうぞうさま。

Please go ahead/carry on:　どうぞ、…

Moon and the days

Moon = 月= つき

Month = 月= がつ

Moon stuff: つきつきつきつき… (from YOSF, it's a song)

Month stuff: いちがつ、にがつ、さんがつ… (counting months, but the correct way to write it - in Kanji - is the same as in Chinese - 一月、二月、三月…)

Common phrases 慣用表現

Good morning (used to about 11 am):
おはようございます。

Good afternoon (used from about 11 am to 6 pm):
こんにちは。　（Note that the は is pronounced as わ。）

Good evening:
こんばんは。　（Note that the は is pronounced as わ。）

Good night:
おやすみなさい。

Goodbye:
さようなら。

The Japanese script

The Japanese characters contain Hiragana　（ひらがな）, Katakana　（カタカナ） and Kanji　（漢字）.

Below is a list of hiragana and katakana characters.

Hiragana is used in normal writing. These are syllabic symbols, which are derived from Kanji by simplifying them. Japanese words are written either in Hiragana or Kanji, or both.

Katakana, also syllabic symbols, are derived from Kanji by using one side of a character. Katakana is used for:

• Words of foreign origin other than Chinese.
• Foreign names and other proper nouns.
• Names of originally foreign plants and animals.
• Onomatopoeia (and sometimes mimesis).
• Telegrams.

For example, restaurant is written as レストラン, not れすとらん as there are no restaurants (not exactly) in Japan traditionally.

Kanji are originally Chinese words. Most kanji have more than two readings, which are used in different contexts.
E.g. 日 can be read as にち or び (there are more).

Introduction （紹介）

皆さん、こんにちは！
Hello everyone!

私は世府です。
I am YOSF.

I shall be teaching you Japanese through this blog.

Hope you like it!