LESSON 1: How do you do? I'm Smith. Greetings

Level 1

How do you do? I'm Smith.

Greetings

LESSON 1 1

Objectives

1. Hajimemashite.

How do you do?

2. Watashi wa Smith desu.

I'm Smith.

3. Watashi wa Amerika-jin desu.

I'm an American.

4. Tanaka : Susan-san wa gakusei desu ka?

Susan

: Hai. Watashi wa gakusei desu.

Tanaka : Are you a student? : Yes, I'm a student. Susan

5. Yamada : Susan-san wa Amerika-jin desu ka?

Tanaka : Iie, Susan-san wa Amerika-jin janai desu.

Susan-san wa Kanada-jin desu.

Yamada : Is Susan an American? Tanaka : No, she is not an American. She is a Canadian.

2 LESSON 1

Opening Dialogue

Susan

: Hajimemashite. Susan desu. Doozo yoroshiku.

Tanaka : Hajimemashite. Tanaka desu. Doozo yoroshiku.

Susan-san wa gakusei desu ka?

Susan

: Hai, soo desu.

Tanaka : Okuni wa dochira desu ka?

Susan

: Kanada desu.

Tanaka : Soo desu ka.

: How do you do? I'm Susan. Nice to meet you. Susan Tanaka : How do you do? I'm Tanaka. I'm glad to meet you. Are you a student? : Yes, I am. (lit. That's right).

: I'm from Canada. (lit. It's Canada.) Susan Tanaka : Where are you from? (lit. Where is your country?) Susan Tanaka : I see.

Tanaka : Konnichiwa.

Yamada : Konnichiwa. Atsui desu ne.

Tanaka : Ee, atsui desu ne.

Tanaka : Hello. Yamada : Hello. It's hot, isn't it? Tanaka : Yes, it is.

LESSON 1 3

Objectives

1. はじめまして。

2. わたしはスミスです。

How do you do?

3. わたしはアメリカじんです。

I'm Smith.

4. たなか：スーザンさんはがくせいですか。

スーザン：はい。わたしはがくせいです。

I'm an American.

5. やまだ：スーザンさんはアメリカじんですか。

たなか：いいえ、スーザンさんはアメリカじんじゃないです。

スーザンさんはカナダじんです。

Tanaka : Are you a student? : Yes, I'm a student. Susan

Yamada : Is Susan an American? Tanaka : No, she is not an American. She is a Canadian.

4 LESSON 1

Opening Dialogue

スーザン：はじめまして。スーザンです。どうぞよろしく。

たなか

：はじめまして。たなかです。どうぞよろしく。

スーザンさんはがくせいですか。

スーザン：はい、そうです。

たなか

：おくにはどちらですか。

スーザン：カナダです。

たなか

：そうですか。

: How do you do? I'm Susan. Nice to meet you. Susan Tanaka : How do you do? I'm Tanaka. I'm glad to meet you. Are you a student? : Yes, I am. (lit. That's right).

たなか：こんにちは。

やまだ：こんにちは。あついですね。

たなか：ええ、あついですね。

: I'm from Canada. (lit. It's Canada.) Susan Tanaka : Where are you from? (lit. Where is your country?) Susan Tanaka : I see.

Tanaka : Hello. Yamada : Hello. It's hot, isn't it? Tanaka : Yes, it is.

LESSON 1 5

(cid:122) [A] wa [B] desu

Noun A Noun B

wa

desu

This means "Noun A is noun B". Wa is a particle and a topic marker. The noun followed by a particle wa is the topic of a statement or a question. The topic often refers to the same thing as the subject, but not necessarily. Desu identifies a person or a thing. It can be translated into "is/are/am" in English. Desu is not affected by gender or number. The negative form and the past tense of desu are as followings respectively: Ja arimasen and ja arimasendeshita are more formal. Affirmative

desu

Non-past tense (Present / Future)

Past tense

deshita

Negative janai desu ja arimasen janakatta desu ja arimasendeshita

1. Watashi wa Chris Norman desu.

I am Chris Norman.

2. Satoo-san wa sensei janai desu.

(Mr./Ms.) Satoo is not a teacher.

3. Kimura-san wa sensei deshita. (Mr./Ms.) Kimura was a teacher.

(cid:122) Question marker ka?

Ka is a question marker. Ka added to the end of a sentence makes it into a question. The word order does not change. Hai means "yes" and iie means "no". Ee is also commonly used for "yes" in casual situation.

: Smith-san wa Amerika-jin desu ka?

Satoo Smith1 : Hai, watashi wa Amerika-jin desu. Smith2 : Iie, watashi wa Amerika-jin janai desu.

: (Mr. Smith,) Are you an American?

Satoo Smith1 : Yes, I'm an American. Smith2 : No, I'm not an American.

6 LESSON 1

(cid:122) -Honorific title -san

-san is a honorific title like "Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms.". This can be added to either a surname or a first name, of a male or a female. San shows respect to the person, so it should not be used with one's own name and one's family.

(cid:50) How to say "You" "You" is anata. In English, "you" is commonly used in any situation. However, in Japanese, Anata is sometimes regarded as a sign of "disagreement", "criticism" or "dissatisfaction". In Japanese conversation we usually call one's name instead of using anata.

× Norman : Anata wa tsuuyaku desu ka? ○ Norman : Yoshida-san wa tsuuyaku desu ka? Yoshida : Hai, watashi wa tsuuyaku desu.

(cid:122) Omission of the subject

Norman : Are you an interpreter? Yoshida : Yes, I am.

In Japanese, the subject is often omitted when it is clearly understood by the speakers from the context of the sentence.

Yamada : Norman-san wa puroguramaa desu ka? Norman : Hai, (watashi wa) puroguramaa desu. Yamada : Are you a computer programmer? Norman : Yes, I'm a computer programmer.

(cid:122) Hajimemashite "How do you do?"

Hajimemashite "How do you do" and Doozo yoroshiku "It's nice to meet you" are greeting expressions. They are used when meeting someone for the first time. "Name" is namae. "My name is Smith" is Watashi no namae wa Smith desu, however, this expression is rarely used for greetings. When you introduce your name, you should say Watashi wa Smith desu "I'm Smith".

: Hajimemashite. Katoo desu. Doozo yoroshiku. Katoo Norman : Hajimemashite. ABC no Norman desu. Doozo yoroshiku. : How do you do? I'm Katoo. It's nice to meet you.

Katoo Norman : How do you do? I'm Norman from ABC. I'm glad to meet you.

ABC no Norman means "Norman of/from ABC". No is a particle indicating an attribution or belonging. When a noun modifies another noun, no comes between them. See Lesson 2 for more about no.

LESSON 1 7

(cid:122) How are you?

English speaking people naturally want to know how to say "How are you?" because it is used as a daily greeting in English. An exact translation is O-genki desu ka? "Are you well?", however, the usage is quite different from the English phrase "How are you?". O-genki desu ka? is used to inquire about the health of someone you haven't seen in a long time. Therefore it is not used as a general greeting like the English phrase "How are you?". Japanese people usually say just Ohayoo gozaimasu "good morning", Konnichiwa "good afternoon" or Konbanwa "good evening" to someone they often see.

1. Ohayoo gozaimasu Good morning

2. Konnichiwa

Good afternoon

3. Konbanwa

(cid:122) Atsui desu ne "It's hot, isn't it?"

Good evening

Atsui means "hot" and desu ne is the tag question asking an agreement. Phrases about weather such as atsui desu ne "It's hot, isn't it?" or samui desu ne "It's cold, isn't it?" are common greeting phrases among friends and colleagues. Atsui, samui and ii are adjectives. Adjectives are introduced in Lesson 8.

1. Atsui desu ne. It's hot, isn't it?

2. Samui desu ne. It's cold, isn't it?

3. Ii tenki desu ne.

It's a fine day, isn't it? (lit. Nice weather, isn't it?)

4. Ame desu ne.

It's raining, isn't it?

8 LESSON 1

(cid:122) Soo desu "Yes, it is" vs. Soo desu ka "I see"

Soo desu means "Yes, it is" or "That's right". Soo desu ka with the lower-ending is not a question, but it means "I see".

Katoo : Susan-san wa gakusei desu ka? Susan : Hai, soo desu. Katoo : Okuni wa dochira desu ka? Susan : Kanada desu. Katoo : Soo desu ka.

(cid:122) Okuni wa dochira desu ka? "Where are you from?"

: I'm from Canada. (lit. It's Canada.) Katoo : Are you a student? Susan : Yes, I am. Katoo : Where are you from? (lit. where is your country?) Susan Katoo : I see.

Countries

People (Nationalities)

Langauges

Japan

America

Canada

United Kingdom

France

Germany

Spain

Italy

Netherlands

Denmark

China

Korea

India

Australia

Brazil

Mexico

You may be often asked about where you are from by a Japanese. The common phrase for this question is Okuni wa dochira desu ka? which literally means "What is your country?". Kuni means "country" and o-kuni is the respectful form. Dochira means "which", but this is often used as "where" in formal speech. One's nationality such as a Japanese or an American is made by adding -jin to a country name.