Japanese Skill:Intro 2

Intro 2 is the ninth skill (assuming read left to right) in the Japanese language course. It has five lessons and teaches how to do questions, introduce the subject and some other basic phrases in Japanese.

Grammar Notes[]

Where's the subject?[]

Japanese doesn't require the subject in the sentence. It's generally assumed that if there's no subject indicated, a statement is about the speaker and a question is directed at the person you're speaking to!

Pronouns[]

But if you do want to include the pronouns in, you put them at the beginning of the sentence, followed by は!

私は英語が話せます = I can speak English.

Questions, anyone?[]

If you want to turn a statement into a question, simply add か to the end!

イタリア語が話せますか? = Do you speak Italian?

[Advanced Lesson] Summary of all variants of これ throughout the course[]

Please skip this section if this is the first time you are learning this page. I did not know where else to put this and decided it be here until further decision.

Kanji/Character	Rōmaji	Translation
これ／此れそれ／其れあれ／彼どれ／何れ	Kore Sore Are Dore	This (close to me) That (far from me but close to you) That (far from both of us) Which (questions the designation)
この／此のその／其のあの／彼のどの／何の	Kono (obj.) Sono (obj.) Ano (obj.) Dono (obj.)	This (object) That (object) That (object) Which (object) The same as those above in meanings, この are used right before an object in a sentence, to designate the object rather than its location as you would with これ.「これです」means ‘it's this’, while「このひとです」means ‘it's this man’.
ここ／此処そこ／其処あそこ／彼処どこ／何処	Koko Soko Asoko Doko	Here (close to me) There (far from me but close to you) There (far from both of us) Where (questions the location)
こちら／此方そちら／其方あちら／彼方どちら／何方	Kochira Sochira Achira Dochira	This way (close to me) That way (far from me but close to you) That way (far from both of us) Which way (questions the direction)
こっちそっちあっちどっち	Kotch-chi Sotch-chi Atch-chi Dotch-chi	This way (close to me) That way (far from me but close to you) That way (far from both of us) Which way (questions the direction) They have the same meanings as those right above them. Because these are the slang versions of their above. The reason why they have no Kanji, because Kanji are the formal way of representing language.
これら／此れ等 (rare) それら／それ等あれら／彼等 (rare) ~~どれら~~	Korera Sorera Arera ~~Dorera~~	These (close to me) Those (far from me but close to you) Those (far from both of us) Which ones (questions the designation)
こんなそんなあんなどんな	Konna (obj. plural) Sonna (obj. plural) Anna (obj. plural) Donna (obj. plural)	(objects) like this (objects) like that (objects) like that what kind of (objects) (questions the categorisation)
こうゆう／こう言うそうゆう／そう言うああゆう／ああ言うどうゆうふうに／どういう風に	Kōyū Sōyū Āyū Dōyūfūni	(objects) like this (objects) like this
こうやってそうやってああやってどうやって	Kōyatte Sōyatte Āyatte Dōyatte	は (ha) → ば (ba)
こうして／斯うして(rare) そうして／然うして(rare) ああしてどうして／如何して	Kōshite /kosh-te/ Sōshite /shosh-te/ Āshite /ash-te/ Dōshite /dosh-te/	は (ha) → ば (ba)

kore,kono,koko,kochira,kochchi,korera,konna,kouyuu,kouyatte,koushite...koitsu, kou/koukashira

Lessons[]

Lesson 1[]

私 (watashi) = I (わたし)
いいえ (iie) = no
も (mo) = also/as well/and
ではありません (dewa arimasen) = not

Lesson 2[]

話す (hanase) = to be able to speak (はなせ)
話せます (hanasemasu) = I can speak (はなせます)
話せますか？(hanasemasu ka) = can you speak? (はなせますか)
語 (go) = language (ご)
日本語 (nihongo) = Japanese (language) (にほんご)
英語 (eigo) = English (language) (えいご)
が (ga) = indicates the subject, subject marker - used for adjectives and some nouns
ます (masu) = polite form

Lesson 3[]

気 (ki) = spirit, feeling (き)
元気 (genki) = fine/well (casual) (げんき)
お (o) = formal, polite form
お元気 (ogenki) = fine/well (formal) (おげんき)
お元気ですか？(ogenkidesu ka) = how are you? (おげんきですか)
元気です (genkidesu) = I am well/I am fine (げんきです)
ええ (ee) = yes
と (to) = and (only for nouns)
もちろん (mochiron) = of course
もちろんです (mochirondesu) = of course
田中先生 (tanaka-sensei) = Professor Tanaka (たなかせんせい)

Lesson 4[]

名 (na) = name (な)
名前 (namae) = name (なまえ)
お名前 (onamae) = name (formal) (おなまえ)
あの (ano) = ah, um
イタリア語 (itariago) = Italian (language) (イタリアご)
フランス語 (furansugo) = French (language) (フランスご)
スペイン語 (supeingo) = Spanish (language) (スペインご)
何 (nan/nani) = what (なん/なに) - nani is used if the next word begins with 't' 'd' or 'n'.
何人 (nanijin) = how many people (なにじん)
それ (sore) = that/it (can be used as a pronoun, so don't need to specify the object referred to)

Lesson 5[]

僕 (boku) = I/me (casual) (ぼく)
の (no) = of
僕の (boku no) = my/mine (casual) (ぼくの)
私の (watashi-no) = my/mine (polite) (わたしの)
茂 (shigeru) = Shigeru (male name) (しげる)
さくら (sakura) = Sakura (female name)

References[]

Duolingo Lesson: www.duolingo.com/skill/ja/Introduction-2