Japanese 1 Chapter 0: An Introduction August 18, 2014

Self Introductions
Japanese Expression
English Equivalent Expression Literal Translation

ha ji me ma shi te


d e s u

do u zo yo ro shi ku

o n e g a i s h i m a s u
)
How do you do?
I am name.
Its a pleasure to meet you.
for the first time
I am name.
Please be kind to me.

wa ta shi

W A

d e s u

I am . As for me, I am .

wa ta shi

W A

GA

su ki

d e s u


d a i su k i

d e s u


k i r a i d e s u


d a i k i r a i d e s u

I like .
I love .
I dislike .
I hate .
(As for me,) is liked.
(As for me,) is loved.
(As for me,) is disliked.
(As for me,) is hated.

Furigana is the term for the small text that appears above characters to help you read them. Its usually used for kanji characters, but Im using it
here to give the romaji reading for the hiragana. Characters that are acting as particles have furigana in ALL CAPS. Remember, when a character
is used as a particle, it sometimes gets a different sound: for example, is usually read ha, but when its a particle, it is pronounced wa.

Even if you can read all the characters, remember that pronunciation isnt as simple as saying them one-by-one in a sequence. Certain sounds
combine and shorten when you speak aloud. For example, desu usually sounds like dess, and suki comes out sounding like skii.

(Words in parentheses) are optional. You can omit them, and the phrase will still carry the same meaning. Sometimes they are just there to
show you how to make a sentence more polite, like onegaishimasu. In Japanese, once youve established the topic, (what or whom you are
talking about), it becomes unnecessary to repeat it. Try to use watashi wa only once when youre giving a short self introduction.

Japanese 1 Chapter 0: An Introduction August 18, 2014

Greetings
Japanese Expression English Equivalent Expression Literal Translation

o h a y o u g o z a i m a s u

ko n ni chi WA

k o n b a n W A

Good morning.
Hello. / Good day.
Good evening.
It is early. (polite)
as for this day
as for this evening

o g e n k i d e s u K A


h a i

g e n k i d e s u


i i e

g e n k i d e W A a r i m a s e n

How are you?
Im doing well.
Im not doing well.
Are you energetic?
Yes, Im energetic.
No, Im not energetic.

s a y o u n a r a

Farewell. / Goodbye.
(parting for a long time)
if this is how it is

j y a m a t a

d e W A

m a t a

ma ta a shi ta

See you later.
See you later. (slightly more formal)
See you tomorrow.
Well, later.
In that case, later.
later tomorrow

o y a s u m i n a s a i

Good night. Please rest. (polite)

The at the beginning of many of these phrases is not actually a part of the words in the sentence. Its being used by the speaker to show
respect to the listener. We call sounds used for this purpose honorifics. Because respect is so integral to Japanese society, the honorific is
now a set part of some phrases, while in others, it is optional depending upon the relationship between the speaker and the listener. For
example, when friends meet, they often drop the and ask genki desu ka?, but they would still use the for ohayou and oyasumi.