MODULE : SPEAKING BASIC JAPANESE (Grammar Module 1)

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of this module you should be able to:
LO1. Introduce yourself in simple Japanese
LO2. Translate simple greetings and useful daily expressions from English to Japanese or vice versa.
LO3. Translate vocabulary introduced in the module.
LO4. Count from 1 to 99 in Japanese.
LO5. Construct sentences following the basic sentence patterns and using the correct particles.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
1.1 Student is able to introduce himself in Japanese.
1.2 Greetings and other simple expressions are correctly translated.
1.3 Constructed sentences follow the correct pattern and use the correct particles.
1.4 Student is able to correctly count from 1 to 99.

INFORMATION SHEET #1
INTRODUCING ONESELF

 HAJIMEMASHITE, from the root verb ‘hajimeru’ which means to begin, starts the
introduction.
 The BOW (ojigi) , which is an essential part of Japanese daily life, is preferred to a
handshake.
 ‘WA’ is a particle. Particularly, it is a subject marker particle. ‘WA’ is always placed after the
subject of the sentence.
 ‘DESU’ is a copula. It is equivalent to the present tense form of the verb to be (am, is and
are) and to the future tense form (will be). The use of “DESU” makes the sentence complete
and polite, hence, formal.
 DOUZO YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU, which means “nice or pleased to meet you”, ends
the introduction.

Translation for the Dialogue

A san : Hajimemashite. A san : How do you do?

Watashi wa Maiku Mira- desu. I am Mike Miller.

Amerika kara kimashita. I came from the USA.

Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Pleased to meet you.

B san : Satou Keiko desu. B san : I am Satou Keiko.

Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Pleased to meet you too.

Useful Daily Expressions / Simple Greetings

2.1 Good Morning

Ohayou Gozaimasu

* used from sunrise until about 10 in the morning

2.2 Good Afternoon

Konnichiwa

* used from 10 in the morning until sundown ; also means “hello”

2.3 Good evening

Konbanwa.

2.4 Good night

Oyasumi Nasai.

2.5 Thank you very much

Doumo Arigatou Gozaimasu.

2.6 You are welcome.

Dou itashimashite.

2.7 How are you?

Ogenki desuka.

2.8 I’m fine.

Genki desu.

2.9 Excuse me.

Sumimasen.

2.10 Please wait for a while.

Chotto matte kudasai.

2.11 Sorry, I am late.

Osoku natte sumimasen.

2.12 Congratulations!
Omedetou Gozaimasu.

2.13Happy Birthday

Otanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu.

2.14 Goodbye.
Sayounara

* used when you will not see the other person for quite a while

2.15 See you again.

Mata aimashou.
2.16 Take care.

Ki wo tsukete.

2.17 What is your name?

Onamae wa nan desuka.

2.18 How old are you?

Nansai desuka.

2.19 What is it?

Nan desuka.

2.20 Where is it ?
Doko desuka.

2.21 Who is it?

Dare desuka.

2.22 When is it ?

Itsu desuka.

2.23 Why?
Doushite desuka.

2.24 How is it?

Dou desuka.

2.25 Do you understand?

Wakarimasu ka.

2.26 I don’t understand.

Wakarimasen.

2.27 I am sorry.
Gomen nasai.

INFORMATION SHEET #2

VOCABULARY

I watashi

We watashitachi

You anata

That person, he, she ano hito

Teacher sensei
 Student gakusei

Company employee kaishain

Bank employee ginkouin

Medical doctor isha

Researcher kenkyuusha

Engineer enjinia

University daigaku

Yes Hai

No Iie

USA Amerika

UK Igirisu

Indo Indo

Indonesia Indoneshia

South Korea Kankoku

Thailand Tai

China Chuugoku

Germany Doitsu

Japan Nihon

France Furansu

Brazil Burajiru

Philippines Firipin

INFORMATION SHEET #3

NUMBERS IN JAPANESE

Numbers are very important in the study of the Japanese language. They are used not only when you
count but also when you tell the time and the date as well as when you tell one’s age and a product’s price.

Below are the numbers one to ten and the Japanese translation for each.

One ichi
Two ni

Three san

Four yon, yo, shi

Five go

Six roku

Seven nana, shichi

Eight hachi

Nine kyuu, ku

Ten juu

INFORMATION SHEET #4

GRAMMAR NOTES

1. Subject wa N desu.
 In this sentence pattern, the subject of the sentence is a person (noun or pronoun).
 The subject is followed by the subject marker particle “wa”.
 “Desu”, the copula, functions as the verb in the sentence and is equivalent to Am, IS or
ARE, depending on the subject of the sentence. The use of “desu” makes the sentence
complete, hence, polite.
 N tells something about the subject. In this module, the N may be the subject’s name,
age, nationality or profession.

Example : Watashi wa Grace desu. (I am Grace.)

(This is the subject; (This is the N ;

this is a pronoun.) this tells the subject’s name.)

Satou san wa kenkyuusha desu. ( Mr. Satou is a researcher.)

(This is the subject; (This is the N;

this is a noun.) this tells the profession of the subject)

Yamada san wa Nihonjin desu. ( Ms. Yamada is Japanese. )

 (This is the subject; (This is the N;
this is a noun.) this tells the nationality of the subject.)

 SAN is equivalent to Mr. or Ms. It is added after a name of a person. Thus, Mr. Tanaka in
English is Tanakasan in Japanese.

However, different suffixes are added when addressing young boys and girls. These
suffixes are KUN for boys and CHAN for girls.

 JIN is another suffix added after the name of a country to mean “national of”. Thus,
American in English is Amerikajin in Japanese.

 SAI, also a suffix, refers to age. It is added after the number that represents the age
of a person. Thus, if a person is 17 years old, say 17 in Japanese (as learned in the previous lesson,
Information #3) and add SAI. 17 years old is JUUNANASAI.

 If one’s age is 8 or ends in 8 (18 years, 28 years old etc), this is an exception. Instead
of saying HACHISAI, 8 years old is HASSAI, 28 years old is NIJUUHASSAI etc.

 To ask for one’s age, “NANSAI DESU KA.” is used.

Example : Anata wa nansai desu ka. (How old are you?)

Watashi wa juunanasai desu. (I am 17 years old.)

2. N1 wa N2 ja arimasen.
 JA ARIMASEN is the present/ future negative form of “desu”. Thus, it is equivalent to
“am not”, “is not”, “are not” and “will not be”.
 JA ARIMASEN is the form used in daily conversation. It may be DEWA ARIMASEN
in formal speech or writing.

Example : Watashi wa isha ja arimasen. ( I am not a doctor.)

3. Subject wa N desu ka.

 KA is a question marker. It is added at the end of a declarative sentence to form a

question. Thus, KA after Subject wa N desu forms an interrogative statement.

Example : Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu.

( Ms. Yamada is Japanese.)

Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu ka.

( Is Ms. Yamada Japanese ? )

 “Subject wa N desu ka” is answerable by either a YES (HAI) or a NO (IIE). Here

are several ways of constructing your answer.

Question : Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu ka. (Is Ms. Yamada Japanese?)

Answer : If YES, say ( write ) : Hai, + Subject wa N desu.

(Hai, Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu.)

 Or Hai, + N desu.

(Hai, Nihonjin desu.)

IMPORTANT : Both answers mean “Yes, Ms. Yamada is Japanese.

If your answer is NO, say (write) : Iie, + Subject wa N ja arimasen.

(Iie, Yamadasan wa Nihonjin ja arimasen.)

or Iie, + N ja arimasen.

(Iie, Nihonjin ja arimasen.)

IMPORTANT : Both answers mean “No, Ms. Yamada is not Japanese.

4. The Particle MO ( )

 The particle MO ( ) is added after a topic / subject instead of (read as wa) when the
statement ( predicate) about the topic is the same as the predicate in the previous statement.
 The particle MO ( ) is equivalent to “too” or “also”.

Example : Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu. ( Ms. Yamada is Japanese.)

Satousan mo ( ) Nihonjin desu. ( Ms. Satou is also Japanese.)

 If the particle MO ( ) is used to ask a question, the following answer patterns are observed
:

Example : Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu. Satousan mo Nihonjin desu ka.

(Ms. Yamada is Japanese. Is Ms. Satou Japanese too? )

If YES : Hai, Satousan mo Nihonjin desu.

If NO : Iie, Satousan wa Nihonjin ja arimasen.

4. N1 N2

 NO ( ) is a particle. It is used to connect two words to form the possessive.

 Hence, if “Yamada san” is Mr. or Ms. Yamada, “Yamada san no “ is Mr./Ms. Yamada’s.

Example : IMC shain ( employee of IMC or IMC’s employee)

Batangasu Daigaku gakusei ( student of UB or UB’s student)

MODULE : READING AND WRITING HIRAGANA

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this module you should be able to:

LO1. Recognize each of the 104 Hiragana sounds and characters
LO2. Write words, phrases, simple sentences in Hiragana.
LO3. Read words, phrases and sentences written in Hiragana

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

1.5 Each Hiragana character is recognized.

1.6 In writing each Hiragana character, stroke order is correctly followed.
1.7 Given words, phrases or sentences are correctly written in Hiragana.
1.8 Sample words, phrases and sentences written in Hiragana are correctly read.

INFORMATION SHEET #1

Hiragana - ひらがな

The characters in the chart below are called Hiragana. Hiragana is the main alphabet or character set
for Japanese. There are 46 Basic Hiragana characters for 46 different sounds.
Hiragana characters are used for writing “grammatical” elements such as particles and endings of
adjectives and verbs. They are also used to write words that are of Japanese origin such as OHAYOU and
ARIGATOU.
There are 5 vowels in Japanese. (a), pronounced "ahh", (i), pronounced like "e" in "eat", (u),
pronounced like "oo" in "soon", (e), pronounced like "e" in "elk", and (o), pronounced "oh". All Hiragana
characters end with one of these vowels, with the exception of (n). The only "consonant" that does not
resemble that of English is the Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it were a combination of a "d", "r", and
"l". (http://www.freejapaneselessons.com/lesson01.cfm)

Chart 1. Basic Hiragana Chart

(http://www.textfugu.com/resources/hiragana-chart/)
 Two small strokes or dashes called “ten ten” ( “ ) when added to twenty (20) Hiragana characters give
the characters voiced sounds. These “dashes” are placed top right of the character. For example, adding “ten

ten” to any of the K characters changes the K to G.

A maru or small circle is added to . These characters become

, read as pa, pi, pu, pe, and po, respectively.

Chart 2 Additional Hiragana Sounds with Ten Ten or Maru

Source : http://japanese.about.com
 Aside from changes created with the use of Ten Ten or Maru, three (3) Hiragana characters - YA, YU,

and YO - may be combined with characters from the i – row except for the vowel itself.
The combination produces additional sounds.

Also, it is important to note that when combined, YA, YU or YO is written smaller than the other

character. For example, KI + YA = KYA .

Chart 3 Contracted Hiragana Chart ( with YA, YU, YO )

 Source : http://japanese.about.com

HIRAGANA TSU

The small Hiragana tsu is used to create “double consonants”, this means two non-vowels put

together, like tt or kk or pp).

Let’s take for instance いぷん. In romaji, this would be spelled “ipun.” But, there is no Japanese word

as “ipun”. The correct word is actually “ippun”, a Japanese word which has two p’s. In order to write said word

in Hiragana, you add the small っ right before the consonant you want to double up. Hence, write “ippun” as

いっぷん.

INFORMATION SHEET #2
 HIRAGANA STROKE ORDER
When you practice writing Hiragana by hand, you should remember that the stroke order and
direction of the strokes make a difference. This means, follow the stroke order. The chart below, taken from
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/hiragana-chart/ , shows how each Hiragana character is written.

HIRAGANA STROKE ORDER

Directions : On the free boxes, draw the Hiragana character. (Practice sheets are from
http://www.japanese.about.com
\
MODULE : SPEAKING BASIC JAPANESE (Grammar Module 2)

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this module you should be able to:

LO1. Translate vocabulary introduced in the module
LO2. Construct sentences following the patterns discussed and using the vocabulary introduced in the
module.
LO3. Tell prices in Japanese.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

1.9 Student is able to translate vocabulary.

1.10 Constructed sentences follow the correct pattern and use the correct particles.
1.11 Student is able to correctly tell prices in Japanese.

INFORMATION SHEET #1

VOCABULARY

This (thing here) kore

That (thing near you) sore
That (thing over there) are
Here, this place koko
There, that place near you soko
That place over there asoko
Where, what place doko
This way kochira
That way sochira
That way over there achira
Which way dochira
Book hon
Dictionary jisho
Magazine zasshi
Newspaper shinbun
Notebook no-to
Pocket Notebook techou
Business Card meishi
Card ka-do
Telephone Card terehon ka-do
Pencil empitsu
Ballpen bo-rupen
Mechanical Pencil sha-pu penshiru
Key kagi
Watch, clock tokei
Umbrella kasa
Bag kaban
Cassette tape kasetto te-pu
Tape recorder te-pu reko-da-
Television terebi
Radio rajio
Camera kamera
Computer kompyu-ta-
Car jidousha
Desk tsukue
Chair isu
Chocolate chokore-to
Coffee ko-hi-
Wallet saifu
What nan
Classroom kyoushitsu
Dining hall, canteen shokudou
Office jimusho
Conference room kaigishitsu
Reception desk uketsuke
Lobby robi-
Room heya
 Toilet, Restroom toire(otearai)
Staircase kaidan
Elevator erebe-ta-
Escalator esukare-ta-
Church kyoukai
Country okuni
Company kaisha
House, home uchi
Telephone, telephone call denwa
Shoes kutsu
Necktie nekutai
Wine wain

Tobacco, cigarette tabako

Counter (in a department store) uriba

Basement chika

What floor ~kai(~gai)

Yen ~en

How much ikura

Hundred hyaku

Thousand sen

Ten thousand man

Italy Itaria

Switzerland Suisu

GRAMMAR POINTS

1. Use of KORE, SORE , ARE

  Kore ( ) Sore ( ) and Are ( ) are demonstrative pronounss. They are
used to point at things. Specifically, KORE is used to refer to a thing near the speaker,
SORE to a thing near the listener and ARE to a thing far from both the speaker and
listener.
 Kore, Sore and Are may be used as subjects of sentences.
 Thus, in the pattern “Subject wa N desu”, Subject is Kore, Sore or Are while N is the
object referred to.
Example : Kore wa hon desu. ( This is a book.)

Sore wa hon desu. (That is a book.)

Are wa hon desu. (That over there is a book.)

2. Use of KOKO, SOKO and ASOKO / KOCHIRA, SOCHIRA and ACHIRA

 Similar to Kore, Sore and Are, Koko, Soko and Asoko as well as Kochira, Sochira and
Achira are also demonstratives.

 But, unlike Kore, Sore and Are, Koko, Soko and Asoko are used when referring to places
while Kochira, Sochira and Achira are used when referring to directions.

Example: Koko wa kyoushitsu desu. (This is the classroom.)

Kyoushitsu wa koko desu. (The classroom is this place.)

Erebe-ta wa sochira desu. (The elevator is that way.)

 Koko, Soko and Asoko may also be used to tell where a person or an object is.

Example : Tanaka san wa asoko desu. (Mr. Tanaka is over there.)

 In the sentence pattern, “Subject wa N desu.”, the subject may be a person or object
while the N tells where the subject is.

Example : Tanaka san wa kyoushitsu desu, (Mr. Tanaka is in the classroom.)

Denwa wa jimusho desu. (The telephone is in the office.)

3. Use of KONO, SONO, ANO

 Kono, Sono and Ano are also demonstratives, specifically demonstrative adjectives.
 Unlike Kore, Sore and Are, Kono, Sono and Ano cannot be used alone as subjects of
sentences.
 When Kono, Sono or Ano is used in the sentence, it has to be immediately followed by a
noun, i.e. the name of the thing or object referred to.

Example : Kono hon wa watashi no desu. ( This book is mine.)

4.Sou desu / Sou ja arimasen

  The word may be used to answer a question requiring an affirmative or negative
answer. Thus, “ ” is the affirmative response while
is the negative answer.

Example :

Kore wa kagi desu ka.

…Hai, kagi desu.

Or

…Hai, sou desu.

Kore wa bo-rupen desu ka.

… Iie, bo-rupen ja arimasen.

Or

… Iie, sou ja arimasen.

5. /

 and are both interrogative words. (DOKO) means “where” while

(DOCHIRA) means “which direction”.

 However, can also mean “where” thus, it is more polite than .

Example : Otearai wa doko desu ka. (Where is the restroom?)

. . . Otearai wa asoko desu. (The restroom is over there.)

Erebe-ta- wa dochira desu ka. (Which way to the elevator?)

. . . Erebe-ta- wa achira desu. (The elevator is that way over there.)
  or is also used to ask the name of a country, company, school or any
place or organization a person belongs to. (what) cannot be used.

Example : Anata no gakkou wa doko desu ka. (What is the name of your school?)

. . . Watashi no gakkou wa Batangasu Daigaku desu.

(My school is University of Batangas.)

Okuni wa dochira desu ka. (What country are you from?)

. . . Okuni wa Firipin desu. (My country is Philippines.)

6. N1 N2

 When N1 is the name of a country and N2 is a product, it means that N2 is made in that
country. When N1 is the name of a company and N2 is a product, it means that N2 is made
by that company.

( Kore wa Nihon no jidousha desu.)

( This is a Japan’s car. In other words, This is a car made in Japan.)

 To ask where or by whom N2 ( the product) is made, is used.

(Kore wa doko no konpyu-ta desu ka.)

( . . . Sore wa Nihon no konpyu-ta desu.)

(Where is this computer made?)

(… It’s made in Japan.)

INFORMATION SHEET #3
 TELLING PRICES IN JAPANESE

 (Ikura desu ka.) is asked to know the price of

something.

Example : Kaban wa ikura desu ka. (How much is the bag?)

Kore wa ikura desu ka. (How much is this?)

 If the price is from to 99, say the number in Japanese just how we learned it in Grammar
Module 1. After the number that tells the price, add the currency.

Example : Enpitsu wa ikura desu ka. (How much is the pencil?)

Enpitsu wa gojuu en desu. (The pencil is 50 yen.)

 To tell prices (and numbers) higher than 99 ( 100 – 999),

o add HYAKU, the suffix for hundred, after saying in Japanese the number that
occupies the hundred place

Example : 200 (2 + hundred) NIHYAKU

220 (2 + hundred + 2+10) NIHYAKU NIJUU

o Numbers in the hundred place with irregular or special readings are :

100 HYAKU (NOT ichihyaku)

300 SAMBYAKU (NOT sanhyaku)
600 ROPPYAKU (NOT rokuhyaku)
800 HAPPPYAKU (NOT hachihyaku)

 To tell prices (and numbers) higher than 999 (1,000 – 9,999),

o add SEN, the suffix for thousand, after saying in Japanese the number that
occupies the thousand place

Example : 2,000 (2 + thousand) NISEN

2, 200 (2 +thousand + 2 + hundred) NISEN NIHYAKU

 numbers in the thousand place with irregular or special readings are :

1,000 SEN (NOT ichisen)

3,000 SANZEN (NOT sansen)
8,000 HASSEN NOT hachisen)

 To tell prices (and numbers) higher than 9,999 (10,000 -99,999),

o add MAN, the suffix for ten thousand, after saying in Japanese the number that
occupies the ten thousand place.

Example : 20,000 (2 + ten thousand) NIMAN

 22,000 (2 + ten thousand +2 + thousand) NIMAN NISEN

 To tell prices (and numbers) higher than 99,999 (100,000 – 999,999) ,

o add MAN after saying in Japanese the number in the hundred thousand and ten
thousand places.

i.e. 1 0 0 , 0 0 0

10 + man (JUUMAN)

110,000

11 + man (JUUICHIMAN)

 To tell prices (and numbers) higher than 999,999 (1,000,000 – 9, 999,999),

o say in Japanese the number that occupies the 1 million place just like how
you read it in the hundred place, then add MAN.

i.e. 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0

hundred + man (HYAKUMAN)

MODULE : READING AND WRITING KATAKANA

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this module you should be able to:

LO1. Write in Katakana .

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

1.1 Each student is able to write his/her complete name in Katakana

INFORMATION SHEET #1

KATAKANA

Another writing system the Japanese make use of is Katakana.

Katakana, which means “fragmentary kana” ,is characterized by short, straight strokes and angular
corners. It is used when writing down names of people, and things that are not of Japanese origin. That is, if
your name is not a Japanese name, use Katakana.

The Long Vowel Sound

Long vowels have been radically simplified in Katakana. Instead of having to think about vowel sounds, all
long vowel sounds are denoted by a simple dash ( ー ).

1. メール (me-ru) - email

2. ケーキ (ke-ki) - cake
 Chart 1. Basic Katakana and Additional Katakana Sounds
(https://www.tsunagujapan.com)

Chart 2. Contracted Katakana Sounds

kya kyu kyo

sha shu sho

cha chu cho

nya nyu nyo

hya hyu hyo

mya myu myo

rya ryu ryo

 gya gyu gyo

ja ju jo

bya byu byo

pya pyu pyo

Additi onal Lett ers

These additional letters are invented in modern era to describe the sound of foreign languages.
Examples

ファ[fa]　ティ[ti]　ドゥ[du]　ウェ[we]　フォ[fo]

ァ, ィ, ゥ, ェ and ォ(small ア[a]　イ[i]　ウ[u]　エ[e]　オ[o]) are attached after particular letters.

Examples

ヴァ[va]　ヴィ[vi]　ヴ[vu]　ヴェ[ve]　ヴォ[vo]

ヴ is used for [v] sound.

INFORMATION SHEET #2
KATAKANA STROKE ORDER
When you practice writing Katakana by hand, you should remember that the stroke order and
direction of the strokes make a difference. This means, follow the stroke order. The chart below, taken from
http://www.crapulescorp.net/japonais/syllabaires/trace_katakana.gif , shows how each Katakana character
is written.
MODULE : SPEAKING BASIC JAPANESE (Grammar Module 3)

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this module you should be able to:

LO1. Translate vocabulary introduced in the module
LO2. Tell time in Japanese.
LO3. Tell the day of the week in Japanese.
LO4. Conjugate verbs in the ~MASU form
LO5. Construct sentences following the patterns discussed and using the vocabulary introduced in the
module.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
1.2 Student is able to translate vocabulary.
1.3 Student is able to tell time in Japanese.
1.4 Student is able to tell the day of the week in Japanese.
1.5 Verbs in the ~MASU form are conjugated correctly.
1.6 Constructed sentences follow the correct pattern and use the correct particles.
 INFORMATION SHEET #1

VOCABULARY

Get up, wake up okimasu

Sleep, go to bed nemasu
Work hatarakimasu
Take a rest yasumimasu
Study benkyoushimasu
Finish owarimasu
Department Store depa-to
Bank ginkou
Post Office yuubinkyoku
Library toshokan

Art museum bijutsukan

Now ima
~o’clock ~ji
~minute ~fun (~pun)
Half han
What time nanji
What minute nanpun
A.M., morning gozen
P.M., afternoon gogo
Morning asa
Daytime, noon hiru
Night, Evening ban (yoru)
Day before yesterday ototoi
Yesterday kinou
Today kyou
Tomorrow ashita
Day after tomorrow asatte
This morning kesa
This evening, tonight konban
Rest, holiday yasumi
Lunchtime hiruyasumi
Every morning maiasa
Every night maiban
Everyday mainichi
Number bangou
What number nanban
From ~ ~kara
Up to~, until~ ~made
And ~ to ~
INFORMATION SHEET #2

TELLING TIME

To tell time, the suffixes ( o’clock) , read Ji and / (minutes), READ Fun / Pun, are
used. Gozen (A.M.) and Gogo (P.M.) are placed before the numbers that tell the time.

Specifically, to tell the hour, just say in Japanese the number that tells the hour and add JI.

Example : 1:00 A.M. gozen ichiji

10:00 P.M. gogo juuji

Hour with special readings are :

4 o’clock yoji
7 o’clock shichiji
9 o’clock kuji

To tell the minute hand, the suffix FUN or PUN is used. Specifically, FUN ( ) is used if the
minute hand ends in 2,5,7 or 9.
Example : 1 : 02 A.M. gozen ichiji nifun
1 : 15 P.M. gogo ichiji juugofun
2
The minute hand is read as PUN ( ) if it ends in 1,3,4,6,8 or 10. However, minutes ending in
1,6,8 and 10 are read as ( ippun ) , ( roppun ), ( happun ) and
( juppun ), respectively. 30 minutes or half an hour is HAN.
Example : 1 : 01 A.M. gozen ichiji ippun
1 : 13 P.M. gogo ichiji juusanpun
1: 20 A.M. gozen ichiji nijuppun
1 : 30 P.M. gogo ichiji han
 To ask the time, “NANJI DESU KA.” ( ) is used.

(Ima, nanji desu ka.)

(What time is it now?)

( Ima, shichiji juugofun desu.)

(It is 7 : 15 now.)

ちゅうごく は いま なんじ です か。
(Chuugoku wa ima nanji desu ka.)

(What time is it in China now?)

。。。ちゅうごく は いま ごご くじ はん です。
(Chuugoku wa ima gogo kuji han desu.)

(It is 9 P.M. in China now.)

INFORMATION SHEET #3

TELLING THE DAY OF THE WEEK

To ask what day of the week it is, なんようび です か。 (Nanyoubi desu ka.) is used.

Example : Kyou wa nanyoubi desu ka. (Today is what day? Or What day is it today?)

. . .KYou wa Getsuyoubi desu. (Today is Monday.)

To ask for a day of the week in the past, use DESHITA instead of DESU. Deshita, the past-positive form
of DESU is equivalent to was or were.

The days of the week in Japanese are :

Monday Getsuyoubi
Tuesday Kayoubi
Wednesday Suiyoubi
Thursday Mokuyoubi
Friday Kinyoubi
Saturday Doyoubi
Sunday Nichiyoubi
 What day of the week nanyoubi

INFORMATION SHEET #4

VERBS IN THE ~MASU FORM

Verbs not only make sentences complete but also polite. Without them, the ideas conveyed
by sentences will not understood.

In Japanese language, the first form of verbs introduced to Japanese language learners is the
~MASU form. In this module, specifically in Information Sheet # 1, you have been introduced to six
( 6 ) examples of such verbs. Obviously, these verbs are known as such because they all end in
~MASU.

Just like in English, verbs in the Japanese language also take different tense and form. That is,
verbs in the Japanese language may be in present, past or future tense and may be either in the
positive form or in the negative form. It is important to note that the form of the verb in the present
and futre is the SAME.

To conjugate verbs in the Japanese language, drop ~MASU and change with ~MASEN
(present-negative form), ~MASHITA (past-positive form) or ~MASENDESHITA (past-negative form).
That is,

VERB TENSE POSITIVE FORM NEGATIVE FORM

PRESENT / FUTURE hatarakiMASU hatarakiMASEN

PAST hatarakiMASHITA hatarakiMASENDESHITA
For the copula DESU, its different forms are :

VERB TENSE POSITIVE FORM NEGATIVE FORM

PRESENT / FUTURE Desu ja arimasen

PAST Deshita ja arimasen deshita

INFORMATION SHEET # 5

GRAMMAR NOTES

1. Subject wa Verb.

 In this declarative sentence pattern, the subject is a person (noun or pronoun). The verb, on
the other hand, is one of the six verbs in the ~MASU form introduced in the module.
  In this sentence pattern, you will be able to tell what the subject does, did or will do.

Example : Mainichi, Yamada san wa hatarakimasu. (Every day, Ms. Yamada works.)

Ashita, Yamada san wa hatarakimasu. (Tomorrow, Ms. Yamada will work.)

Yamada san wa hatarakimasen. (Ms. Yamada does not or will not work.)

Kinou, Yamada san wa hatarakimashita. ( Yesterday. Ms. Yamada worked.)

Kinou, Yamada san wa hatarakimasendeshita. (Yesterday. Ms. Yamada did not work.)

2. Subject wa Verb ka.

 When added with the particle KA, the first sentence pattern becomes a question.
Specifically, the question pattern ”Subject wa Verb ka“ is answerable either by a yes (Hai)
or a no (Iie).

 The answer patterns are

o (If yes) – Hai, subject wa Verb-positive form.

o (If no) – Iie, subject wa Verb-negative form.

Example : Mainichi, Yamada san wa hatarakimasu ka.

(Does Ms. Yamada work everyday?)

(YES)... Hai, mainichi Yamada san wa hatarakimasu.

(Yes, Ms. Yamada works everyday.)

(NO) ... Iie, maininchi Yamada san wa hatarakimasen.

(No, Ms. Yamada does not work everyday.)

Kinou, Yamada san wa hatarakimashita ka.

(Did Ms. Yamada work yesterday?)

(YES) . . . Hai, Kinou Yamada san wa hatarakimashita.

(Yes, MS. Yamada worked yesterday.)

(NO)... Iie, Yamada san wa hatarakimasendeshita.

(No, Ms. Yamada didnot work yesterday.)

3. Subject wa nanji ni verb ka.

  This is another question. Again, we know it’s a question because of the particle KA at the
end of the sentence.

 This question uses the interrogative word NANJI which in English is “What time“.

 Take note that after nanji, the particle NI is used.

 To answer, replace NANJI with the specific time a particular action happens, happened or
will happen.

Example : Anata wa nanji ni okimasu ka. (What time do you get up / wake up?)

. . . Watashi wa gozen goji ni okimasu. (I get up/wake up at 5 a.m.)

Kinou no ban, anata wa nanji ni nemashita ka.

(Last night, what time did you go to bed?)

. . . Kinou no ban, watashi wa gogo juuji ni nemashita.

(Last night, I went to bed at 10p.m.)

 Take note, that after the specific time which answers NANJI, the particle NI is also
used.

4. Subject wa nanji (or nanyoubi) kara nanji (or nanyoubi) made Verb ka.

 In this question pattern, NANJI is used twice. Each NANJI is followed by a different
particle,

KARA (from) follows the first while MADE (up to / until ) follows the second.

 In this question, we ask FROM WHAT TIME UNTIL WHAT TIME an action takes place.

Example : Anata wa nanji kara nanji made benkyoushimasu ka.

(From what time until what time do you / wii you study?)

 To answer the question, just replace NANJI with time.

Example : Watashi wa gogo shichiji kara gogo kuji made benkyoushimasu.

( I study /will study from 7P.M. until 9 P.M. )

 ”Nanji kara nanji made“ may also be used combined with the copula DESU while the subject
is a place or a establishment. In that case, the hours of operation of the subject is asked for.

Example : De-pato wa nanji kara nanji made desu ka.

(From what time until what time is the department store open?)

. . .De-pato wa gozen juuji kara gogo kuji made desu.

 (The department store is (open) from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. )

 KARA and MADE do not always go together.

Example : Konban, anata wa nanji kara benkyoushimasu ka.

(Tonight, from what time will you study?)

. . . Konban, watashi wa gogo hachiji kara benkyoushimasu.

(I will study from 8 p.m. tonight.)

 Aside from NANJI, we may also use NANYOUBI (what day of the week) in this question
pattern. In that case, the day of the week will replace NANYOUBI.

Example : Anata wa nanyoubi kara nanyoubi made hatarakimasu ka.

(From what day until what day do you work?)

. . . Watashi wa Getsuyoubi kara Doyoubi made hatarakimasu.

(I work from Monday until Saturday.)

5. The particle TO

 The particle TO is equivalent to ”and“. It is used to connect words.

Example : Yamada san no yasumi wa Kayoubi to Suiyobi desu.

(Ms. Yamda’s rest days are Tuesday and Wednesday.)