Beginners Japanese Thread!

[mamadoom]

One thing about Japanese (Nihongo) that varies from English (Eigo) is the fact that Eigo is a subject-verb-object language whereas Nihongo is a subject-object-verb language.

For instance in eigo:

Mother bought bread.

In Nihongo:

Okasan pan o kaimashita.
(mother) (bread) (bought)

Also Japanese sentences may have a subject or topic bt they must have a predicate. (The subject is followed by the particle ga, and topic followed by particle wa.) The predicate is the core of the nihongoga sentence. It comes at the end and it must be a verb or verbal form. (a verbal form can be like eigo is or are, or a verbal adjective.)

In the sentence:

Haruko san wa Nihongo o hanashimas.
(Topic) (Predicate)

Hanashimas is the predicate of our sentence, and it means "SPEAKS", Haruko speaks Japanese. This is an example of: verb.

In the sentence:

Haruko san wa Nihonjin desu.
(Topic) (predicate)

Haruko is Japanese. "des" meaning "is" and "Nihonjin des" is a noun+copula.

In the sentence:

Kudamono wa takai des.
(Topic) (predicate)

The fruit is expensive. "Takai des" "is expensive" is the verbal adjective.

Besides the subject/topic + predicate there are other parts that may be in the sentence, like object, indirect object, adverb and so forth. They come before the predicate and are not a part of it.

The two things that hold true in a nihongoga sentence are:

1. The predicate must be at the end of the sentence.
2. A particle must directly follows the word or words it marks.

Other than this the word order is not rigid. The subject/topic generally comes first. Expressions of time usually precede place. Most modifiers precede the words they modify.

Kare wa mainichi uchi de shinbun o
(he) (topic marker) (every day) (home) (at)(newspapers)(object marker)

takusan yomimas.
(many) (reads)

*Hope this helps..

[CrimsonNataku]

mamadoom, you have a very well written explanation here, but maybe you should be adding "u" to all your romaji that ends in "s." There are no single consonants in the Japanese language except for "n." In other words, "des" should be spelled "desu," "hanashimas" should be "hanashimasu," and so on. I know it seems a little nitpicky, but getting into the habit of remembering/typing Japanese in that way will be very beneficial in the long run.

[mamadoom]

Originally Posted by CrimsonNataku

mamadoom, you have a very well written explanation here, but maybe you should be adding "u" to all your romaji that ends in "s." There are no single consonants in the Japanese language except for "n." In other words, "des" should be spelled "desu," "hanashimas" should be "hanashimasu," and so on. I know it seems a little nitpicky, but getting into the habit of remembering/typing Japanese in that way will be very beneficial in the long run.

Thank you very much for your advice. I will remember this. I am just beginning to learn Japanese, so I am very happy to have any advice at all.

Thank you!

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by mamadoom

Thank you very much for your advice. I will remember this. I am just beginning to learn Japanese, so I am very happy to have any advice at all.

Thank you!

You're most welcome ^_^

[mamadoom]

"To teach is to learn." That is so true. An inescapable truth. A beautiful truth.

[Kira_2009]

I'm so jealsous I dont even know any Japanese but I REALLY REALLY wanna learn and so I have no clue what ur talkin about I mean thre are some words I can reconize but thats about it.

[Pink_Knight]

Howdy im new to this place i stumbled upon it but im learning to speak Japanese

boku wa john desu, boku wa juu nana sai


well i think i did that right i said im john and im 17 years old

[CrimsonNataku]

Originally Posted by mamadoom

"To teach is to learn." That is so true. An inescapable truth. A beautiful truth.

It is, isn't it? It's my favorite proverb ^_^

Kira_2009: With that kind of enthusiasm, you're already halfway there. If you really want to learn something, it will come to you much easier. Shinpai shinaide (Don't worry). Ganbatte!

Pink_Knight: You have the first part right (boku wa john desu). The second part is missing a verb (boku wa juu nana sai desu). Also, you can make this easier by just saying: "Boku wa John desu. Juu nana sai desu."

[Pink_Knight]

Arigato Crimson-san i thought i should have added desu but was not sure. hmm lets see if i can remember any thing else. Crimson san doko kara kimashitaka ?

[Kira_2009]

Where did yall learn all this? Or can yall tell me if there is a place i can go and lean this.