Learn how to create simple sentences that you can use to introduce yourself (A wa B desu, "A is B"), and
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| Welcome to learn Japanese grammar, absolute beginner. In this video series, you learn basic Japanese grammar patterns and phrases through easy to follow audio and visual cues. Here is what we will cover in this lesson. |
| Ready? |
| Let’s get started. |
| はじめまして。 (Hajimemashite.) |
| Naomi: はじめまして。 (Hajimemashite.) |
| Jessi: はじめまして。 (Hajimemashite.). Can we hear a little bit slower? |
| Naomi: は、じ、め、ま、し、て。 (Ha, ji, me, ma, shi, te.) |
| Jessi: Great! And one more time at natural speed? |
| Naomi: はじめまして。 (Hajimemashite.) |
| Jessi: And this means nice to meet you. |
| Naomi: Right. You can use this with anyone you meet for the first time. |
| Jessi: Right, and that would be the first thing you say. |
| はじめまして。 (Hajimemashite.) |
| わたしはかおりです。 (Watashi wa Kaori desu.) |
| Jessi: In this lesson, you will learn a very important sentence pattern. Your first sentence pattern in Japanese. |
| Naomi: Yes. Okay, so the pattern is, |
| Jessi: A is B. That is the meaning in English. For example, I am Jessi, you are Naomi, she is Jennifer. |
| We have A which is the item being talked about and then we have B which is what we identify it as. |
| So in Japanese, how would we say A is B? |
| Naomi : A は B です。 (A wa B desu.) |
| Jessi : One more time |
| Naomi : A は B です。 (A, wa, B, desu.) |
| Jessi : Let’s break it down. So we have |
| A, followed by |
| Naomi: は (wa) |
| Jessi : And then |
| B, followed by |
| Naomi: です (desu) . |
| Jessi: Okay, so the pattern one more time? |
| Naomi: A は B です。 (A wa B desu.) |
| Jessi:So where we have A and B, we can start inserting different words to make sentences. |
| Naomi: Yes, 私はかおりです。 (Watashi wa Kaori desu.) |
| Jessi :わたし (watashi) means I, and かおり (Kaori) is her name, かおり (Kaori) . So we just put of those into the A is B structure. A は B です。 (A wa B desu.) And we get? |
| Naomi: 私はかおりです。 (Watashi wa Kaori desu.) |
| Jessi: I am かおり (Kaori). Or, my name is かおり (Kaori) . |
| Naomi: You can leave off わたしは (watashi wa) and simply say your name plus です (desu) . |
| Jessi: So for example, if your name is Ken, you can say either, |
| Naomi: 私はケンです。 (Watashi wa Ken desu.) |
| Jessi: Or simply |
| Naomi: ケンです。 (Ken desu.) |
| Jessi: To say I am Ken. |
| Okay, so up until now, we can use names to complete this A は B です (A wa B desu) pattern. But we can insert other nouns, right? |
| Naomi: Yes. For example, in place of B, you can also say your job. 私はパイロットです。 (Watashi wa pairotto desu.) |
| Jessi : Which means I'm a pilot. Can we hear the same phrase a little more slowly? |
| Naomi : 私、は、パイロット、です。 (Watashi wa pairotto desu.) |
| Jessi : And once again at natural speed? |
| Naomi : 私はパイロットです。 (Watashi wa pairotto desu.) . |
| Jessi : Okay, great! |
| わたしはかおりです。 (Watashi wa Kaori desu.) |
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Comments
HidePractice making your own sentences here, and let us know if you have any questions! :)
さらさん
Thank you so much for your comment😄
I feel you!! It can be overwhelming in the beginning to have both hiragana and katakana, right😅
I recommend you learn katakana at first in this case so that you can start studying grammar more easily😉
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
Hi
Just wanted to say why it's written in katakana 😭
Hiragana is easier and i wanted to learn the grammar in hiragana
Sarahさん
こんにちは！
Thank you for your comments.
The particle は marks the topic in a sentence.
So it follows after a topic, like noun or pronoun😊
And これ is a pronoun, meaning "this."
なに is an interrogative pronoun, meaning "what."
Please let us know if you have any further question:)
Sincerely,
Miho
Team JapanesePod101.com
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for leaving the comment!😄
Your name in Katakana is Sarah＝サラ(Sara), Terese＝テリース(Terīsu). Both of your names sound beautiful!❤️
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Cheers,
Yoshimi
Team JapanesePod101.com
今日は 皆さん
And annnnooottthhheeeerr question;
is there a difference between これ and なに?
今日は 皆さん 😄
Another question! 😅
Would the は particle be used with all pronouns? 😮
Like あなたは パイロットです
今日は 皆さん
Am I right in thinking that the closest katakana for my name Sarah Terese is: セーラ テレス?
My second name is pretty odd in English originally 😅
Rushiiさん
はじめまして！
Thank you so much for your comment😄
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
Hajimemashite! Watashi wa Rushii desu.
Watashi wa gakusei desu.
はじめまして
私はホサモです。
marizさん
質問（しつもん）ありがとうございます😄
Maria = マリア (ma ri a)
Theresa = テレサ (te re sa)
Mariz = マリス (ma ri su)
You can say マリス と よんでください😇
ジェイダさん
はじめまして！
コメントありがとうございます😄
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
はじめまして！わたしはジェイダです。ダンサーです。
まじめまして。私まMaria Theresa です。よろしくおねがいします。
can I please know the katakana of my name MariaTheresa . And how do I say ,you can also call me mariz.
Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your comment!
はじめまして、ダリアさん、Laurentさん！😉
Marcelinaさん、
はじめまして！It depends on Original pronunciation. But it should be マルセリナ（Maruserina in Roma-ji)
Keep up the good work and Feel free to ask us any questions.
Sono
Team JapanesePod101.com
はじめまして。私はローレンです。
はじめまして。
私はダリアです。
はじめまして。
私は Marcelina です。
How to write my name in katakana?
Hi Charles,
Thanks for your comment!
Charlesさん、はじめまして！
Thank you for studying with us!
Erica
Team JapanesePod101.com
はじめまして。
Nice to meet you.
わたしはちゃるずです。
My name is Charles.
Hi Ashwini,
Thanks for the question.
Please see this page for details:
https://www.japanesepod101.com/helpcenter/faqandsupport/faq#5
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Sincerely,
Miki H
Team JapanesePod101.com