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JAPN 1411 GRAMMAR (VERBS)

I. Be-verb (is/are/am)

= isKorewameshi desu. This is a name card.

Watashi wasensee desu. I am a teacher.

Arewa nihon ryoori desu. That one is Japanese food.

Paatiiwa hachi-ji desu. Party is 8:00.

Americawa asadesu. Its morning in the U.S. (America is morning)

=

is

?

Kore wanan desu ka. What is this?Arewadare desu ka. Who is that?

Honwadoko desu ka. Where is the book?

A: Are wa nan desu ka? What is that?

B: Are wa supagettii desu. That is spaghetti.

A: Nihon ryoori desu ka? Is (spaghetti) Japanese food?

B: Iie, chigaimasu. No, thats not right.

Itaria ryoori desu. (Spaghetti) is Italian food.

Topic particle (As for.) ---- > WA

Use to write the topic particle WA.

NAN

WHAT

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II. Verb

A.

___Object particle ---- > O

Useto write the object particle O.

(Watashi wa) terebi o mimasu. (I) watch TV.

(Anata wa) jazu o kikimasu ka. (Do you) listen to jazz?

Sensee wa hon o yomimasu. The teacher reads a bo

*** In conversation, Japanese speakers often drop the object marker O

IF the verb is DO

B.

Destination particle ---- > E

Use to write the destination particle E.

(Watashi wa) nihon e ikimasu. (I) will go to Japan.

(Anata wa) UT e ikimasu ka. (Are you going to) go to UT?

Gakusee wa ACC e kaerimasu. The student will go back to ACC.

go

come

go back

O tional

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Adding time expressions / frequency words

Preferred word order

VERB

TIME / FREQUENCY

1) Time expression without on in at etc. in English

e.g. Mainichi = every day Maiasa= every morning (NOparticle )

A: (Anata wa) mainichi sushi o tabemasu ka. Do you eat sushi every day?B: Hai, tabemasu / Iie, tabemasen. Yes, I do / No, I dont.

2) Time expression used with on in at etc. in English

e.g. at 9:00 a.m. / in 2016 / on Monday

Time expression particle ---- > NI

A: (Anata wa) nan-ji ni sushi o tabemasu ka. At what time (do you) eat sushi?

B: (Watashi wa) ku-ji ni tabemasu. (I) eat (sushi) at 9:00.

3) Frequency words

e.g. yoku = often tokidoki = sometimes zenzen + .masen = not at all

A: (Anata wa) yokukoohii o nomimasu ka. Do you drink coffee often?B: (Watashi wa) zenzen(koohii o) nomimasen. (I) dont drink (coffee) at all.

Omitting shared information

Since Japanese speakers usually drop the subject, you usually hear the time expression/

frequency word at the beginning of a sentence. When you respond to a Japanese question, it i

better to drop the shared information. e.g. Hai, (sushi o) tabemasu. Iie, (UT e) ikimasen.

TIME / FREQUECY

TIME EXPRESSION

TOPIC