日本語の L2 文法

は/の
Both は and の are particles in 日本語。Particles are words that connect one part of a sentence to
another part of the sentence, or that show the role of the words in a sentence.

は is a particle that shows that the word before is the subject of the sentence. To use this type of
particle, you must use the formula subject は verb/main idea . For example, one could
say 私 は がくせい です。 The sentence translates to ‘I am a student’.

の is a particle that shows possession. To use this type of particle, you must use the formula
noun 1 の noun 2 . Noun 2 is the general noun, and noun 1 is a specific noun.

For example, one could say 私のともだちはりゅうがくせいです。The sentence translates to ‘My

friend is an international student’.

Noun 2 is ‘friend’, and noun 1 adds the further restriction of ‘my friend’. If the sentence were
just ともだちはりゅうがくせいです, the sentence could read ‘A/their/my/his/etc. friend is an
international student’.

Not all sentences in 日本語 will include a subject like ‘it’, ‘I’, or ‘my major’, unlike their 英語
(えいご) counterparts.

Examples:
1. かうせいです。/ 私はがくせいです。
2. せんこうは日本語です。/ 私のせんこうは日本語です。
3. やましたさんはせんせいです。/ やましたさんはわたしのせんせいです。

Note that nouns like がくせい and せんせい in the above examples stand alone, unlike their 英語
(えいご) translations ‘student’ and ‘teacher’, which are proceeded by articles like ‘a’ and ‘the’. In
日本語, there is no item that corresponds to ‘a’, nor is there an item that corresponds to the
plural ‘-s’ at the end of a noun. Without background situations, a sentence like がくせいです is
ambiguous between the singular and the plural interpretations; it may mean ‘we are/you are/they
are students’ as well as ‘I am/she is/you are a student’.
 ~か

It is very easy to form a question in 日本語。Basically, all you need to do is add ~か at the end of
a statements. Question sentences may also contain a question word like なん/なに。

Examples:
1. りゅうがくせいです。/ りゅうがくせいですか。
2. せんこうは英語 (えいご) です。/ せんこうは英語ですか。
3. せんこうはなんですか。
4. いまなんじですか。

あの

あの indicates that you have some reservations about saying what you are going to say next. You
may be worried about interrupting something someone is currently doing, or sounding rude and
impolite for asking personal questions, for example.

はい/ええ/うん

Both はい and ええ mean ‘yes’ in response to a yes-no question. Compared to はい, ええ is more
relaxed and conversational. In more informal conversations, うん is used.

はい is also used to respond to a knock at the door or to the calling of one’s name, meaning
‘here’. ええ cannot be used in these cases.

そうですか

そうですか acknowledges that you have understood what was just said. ‘I see’ or ‘Is that so?’.

Pronunciation of は

The particle は is pronounced ‘wa’, not ‘ha’. It should be written with は when referring to the
subject of a sentence. In all other instances, ‘wa’ is written with わ。

Example:
私のでんわばんごうは 59-3876 です。
 でんわばんごう

The particle の is usually placed in between the local exchange code and the last four digits.
Therefore, the number 012-345-6789 is れいいちに、さんよんごの、ろくななはちきゅう。

せんせい

The word せんせい is usually reserved for describing somebody else’s occupation. 私はせんせいで
す makes sense, but may sound slightly arrogant, because the word せんせい means ‘an honorable
master’. If you (or a member of your family) are a teacher, and if you want to be really modest,
you can use the word きょおし instead.

さん

さん is placed after a name as a generic title. It goes both with a given name (first name) and a
family name (last name). Children are referred to as ちゃん (and boys in particular as くん), rather
than さん。Professors and doctors are usually referred to with the title せんせい。さん and other
title words are never used in reference to yourself.

あなた

The word for ‘you’ in 日本語 is あなた. It is not commonly used in 日本語。Instead, we use the
name and title like さん and せんせい to refer to the person you are talking to.
 Minutes in 日本語

0 分 （〇分） rē-fun / zero-fun 0 minute

1 分 （一分） ip-pun 1 minute past

2 分 （二分） ni-fun 2 minutes past

3 分 （三分） san-pun 3 minutes past

4 分 （四分） yon-pun 4 minutes past

5 分 （五分） go-fun 5 minutes past

6 分 （六分） rop-pun 6 minutes past

7 分 （七分） nana-fun 7 minutes past

8 分 （八分） hap-pun 8 minutes past

9 分 （九分） kyū-fun 9 minutes past

10 分 （一〇分） jup-pun 10 minutes past

11 分 （一一分） jūip-pun 11 minutes past

20 分 （二〇分） nijup-pun 20 minutes past

23 分 （二三分） ni jūsan-pun 23 minutes past

30 分 （三〇分） sanjup-pun 30 minutes past

35 分 （三五分） sanjūgo-fun 35 minutes past

40 分 （四〇分） yonjup-pun 40 minutes past

47 分 （四七分） yonjūnana-fun 47 minutes past

50 分 （五〇分） gojup-pun 50 minutes past

59 分 （五九分） gojūkyū-fun 59 minutes past

半 han half past

何分 nan-pun ?
 ばんごう

（ゼロ／零）ぜろ/れい 0 （十五）じゅうご 15

（一）いち 1 （十六）じゅうろく 16

（二）に 2 （十七）じゅうなな 17

（三）さん 3 （十八）じゅうはち 18

（四）し/よん/よ 4 （十九）じゅうきゅう 19

（五）ご 5 （二十）にじゅう 20

（六）ろく 6 （三十）さんじゅう 30

（七）なな/しち 7 （四十）よんじゅう 40

（八）はち 8 （五十）ごじゅう 50

（九）きゅう/く 9 （六十）ろくじゅう 60

（十）じゅう 10 （七十）ななじゅう 70

（十一）じゅういち 11 （八十）はちじゅう 80

（十二）じゅうに 12 （九十）きゅうじゅう 90

（十三）じゅうさん 13 （百）ひゃく 100

（十四）じゅうよん 14

じかん

Read the following times aloud. Remember to use the ending ～じ when referring to the hour.

4:00 p.m. 2:45 p.m.

9:30 a.m. 8:39 a.m.
7:00 p.m. 5:17 a.m.
1:30 p.m. 6:51 p.m.
12:00 a.m. 11:28 a.m.
3:30 p.m. 10:03 p.m.
 練習 L2

Read the following telephone numbers.

だいがく – 951-0326 メアリー – 020-6921-4236

せんせい – 362-4519 たけし – 0308522-1032

Read the dialogues below.

メアリー：すみません。いまなんじですか。
(Sumimasen. Ima nanji desu ka.)
Mary: Excuse me. What time is it now?
たけし：じゅうにじはんです。(Juuniji han Takeshi: It’s half past twelve.
desu.) Mary: Thank you.
メアリー：ありがとうございます。(Arigatou Takeshi: You’re welcome.
gozaimasu.)
たけし：いいえ。(Iie.)

たけし：あの、りゅうがくせいですか。(Ano,
ryuugakusei desu ka.)
メアリー：ええ、アリゾナだいがくのがくせいで
す。(Ee, Arizona daigaku no gakusei desu.)
Takeshi: Um…are you an international
たけし：そうですか。せんこうはなんですか。 student?
(Sou desu ka. Senkou wa nan desu ka.) Mary: Yes, I am a student at the University
メアリー：日本語です。いまにねんせいです。 of Arizona.
Takeshi: I see. What is your major?
(Nihongo desu. Ima ninensei desu.)
Mary: Japanese. I am a sophomore now.

Translate the following phrases into 日本語 using の.

Example: student of the Japanese language → 日本語のがくせい
1. My teacher 5. Mary’s friend
2. My telephone number 6. Student of the University of London
3. My name 7. Teacher of the Japanese language
4. Takeshi’s mother 8. High school teacher
 日本語のクイズ

単語 L2

Write the following words in Japanese

Telephone:
Friend:
a.m.:
Half:
International student:
University:
…people:
That’s right:
O’Clock:
Major:
p.m.:
Student:
Yes:
Now:
I:
Number:
Professor:
Is that so:
What:
Mr./Mrs.:
…years old:
High school:
…language:
Um…:
Telephone:
Japan: