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Gengo Japanese #3 - Do People Understand Where You're Coming From?

スマップの歌です。アシュリーさんの出身はニューヨークですか。

Sumappu no uta desu. Ashurī-san no shusshin wa Nyū Yōku desu ka.

"It's a song by SMAP. Are you from New York?"

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In this lesson, you will:

●  Learn how to talk about things that belong to you or other people

●  Learn how to ask "Where are you from?" and how to answer the same question

Talking About Possession

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We use the possessive particle no (の) between two nouns, indicating that the first noun possesses the second noun or that the first noun is modifying the second.

|Noun 1  |Possessive  Particle |Noun 2  |Translation |

| アシュリーさん   |の (no) |出身 (shusshin) |"Ashley's hometown" |

|(Ashurī-san) | | | |

| わたし (Watashi) |の (no) |名前 (namae) |"My name" |

| ぼく  (Boku) |の (no) |名前(namae) |"My name" (masculine) |

Sample Sentences

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1. アシュリーさんの出身はニューヨークです。

Ashurī-san no shusshin wa Nyū Yōku desu.

"Ashley is from New York." (literally, "Ashley's hometown is New York.")

2. 私の名前はサラです。

Watashi no namae wa Sara desu.

"My name is Sarah."

3. 僕の名前はリックです。

Boku no namae wa Rikku desu.

"My name is Rick."

"Where are you from? I'm from..."

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The keyword we use when talking about where you (or someone else) is from is shusshin (出身), which refers to the place where one originally came from (this can refer to a town, city, country, etc.).

★ Asking where one is from

To ask where someone is from, we start out with the keyword shusshin (出身). To this we add the topic marking particle wa (は), the word doko (どこ) which means, "where," and the copula desu (です) topped off with the question particle ka (か).

|Japanese |Romaji |English |

|出身はどこですか。 |Shusshin wa doko desu ka? |"Where are you from?" |

(あなたの)出身はどこですか ([Anata no] shusshin wa doko desu ka) is the original sentence, but since using anata ("you") is considered too direct in Japanese culture, we usually omit anata no ("your").

To be more specific, you can add the person's name plus no (の) before shusshin (出身).

Example:

1. アシュリーさんの出身はどこですか？

Ashurī-san no shusshin wa doko desu ka?

"Where are you from, Ashley?"

★ Answering

When we answer this question, we use the possessive particle no (の) that we just learned above. Watashi no shusshin (私の出身) means, "my hometown."

|My Hometown |(place) |copula |English |

|私の出身は |(place) |です。 |"I'm from (place)." |

|(Watashi no shusshin wa) | |(desu.) | |

Examples:

1. 私の出身はアメリカです。

Watashi no shusshin wa Amerika desu.

"I'm from America."

2. 私の出身はオーストラリアです。

Watashi no shusshin wa Ōsutoraria desu.

"I'm from Australia."

3. 僕の出身はイギリスです。

Boku no shusshin wa Igirisu desu.

"I'm from England."

Lastly, let's compare side-by-side the three phrases using shusshin (出身):

Affirmative: "Ashley is from New York."

|Japanese |アシュリーさんの |出身は |ニューヨーク |です。 |

|Romaji |Ashurī-san no |shusshin wa |Nyū Yōku |desu. |

Yes/No Question: "Is Ashley from New York?"

All you have to do is add the question marking particle ka (か) to the end of the affirmative sentence.

|Japanese |アシュリーさんの |出身は |ニューヨーク |です |か？ |

|Romaji |Ashurī-san no |shusshin wa |Nyū Yōku |desu |ka? |

WH-question ("where"): "Where is Ashley from?"

Use the question word doko (どこ), meaning "where," instead of New York.

|Japanese |アシュリーさんの |出身は |どこ |です |か？ |

|Romaji |Ashurī-san no |shusshin wa |doko |desu |ka? |

 

Vocabulary Usage: Ko-so-a-do Words

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Demonstrative words are words used to specify what you are talking about. In Japanese, there are three main categories ("this," "that," and "that over there") and one category for questions. We refer to these as ko-so-a-do words.

 

The prefix tells us a location:

| Prefix |"Location" |

| こ |"here, near" |

| ko | |

| そ |"there, not far off" |

| so | |

| あ |"there, at a distance" |

| a | |

| ど |(not location but question |

| do |marker) |

In the dialog, we saw the word sore (それ), which means "that" or "that one". Let's take a look at the other Ko-so-a-do words in this series:

|Japanese |Romaji |English |

|これ |kore |"this one" |

|それ |sore |"that one" |

|あれ |are |"that one" (over there) |

|どれ |dore |"which one" |

In the Appendix

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In this lesson, we introduced one set of Ko-so-a-do phrases as well as the question word "where" (doko, どこ). For more detailed information on other Ko-so-a-do phrases and question words, please check the following Appendix lessons: Ko-so-a-do Words (Appendix #9) and Question Words (Appendix #10).

Which Name Should You Use?

In the dialogue, Ichiro laughed when Ashley called him by his full name. This is because, in Japanese, calling someone by their full name is not that common and can sound a little strange. When addressing someone you don't know very well, it is best to address them with their last name plus the polite suffix -san (さん), which was discussed in the last lesson. It is likely that if someone wants you to call them by a different name (for example, their first name, or a nickname) they will let you know.

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