Pronunciation of Japanese



Pronunciation of Japanese

When you are reading Japanese as it is written in our alphabet, the sounds are similar but there are a few differences. These letters (a, i, u, e, o) have specific sounds that we are not always used to:

A - is pronounced as Audience

I – HAWAII

U – SUPERMAN

E – Egg

O – Olympics

• When a letter has a line over top of it (ō, ū, ē) the sound it makes is held for a moment.

Try pronouncing the following Japanese words:

enpitsu pen hon tsukue

gakkō sēto sensē isu

tabemono uchi boku watashi

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“Am, Are, Is a noun” Sentences (desu)

Simple sentences that are showing that a “noun” (person, place or thing) is, am or are will end in desu.

desu box

| |Positive |Negative |

|Present |desu | |

| |(am, is, are) | |

|Past | | |

Examples:

A pencil. Mr. Lowe.

Enpitsu desu. Lowe sensē desu.

A book. A student.

Hon desu. Sēto desu.

The particle “ka” is added to the end of a sentence to make it a question. No question marks are used.

Examples:

Enpitsu desu ka. Tokē desu ka.

Is it a pencil? Is it a book?

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Marking the Topic of a Sentence (topic wa desu)

The sentences we have been using so far have not formally identified what the topic is. Most of the time we just assume what the topic is.

Example:

“Hon desu.” This only says “is a book.” But if I said this to someone they would just assume I was talking about the book in my hands or on the table or wherever. The particle “wa” marks the topic.

Examples:

I am Mr. Lowe. * I (boku) is the topic.

Boku wa Lowe sensē desu.

This is a pencil. * This (kore) is the topic.

Kore wa enpitsu desu.

That is a book. * That (sore) is the topic.

Sore wa hon desu.

Is he Canadian? * He (kare) is the topic.

Kare wa Kanadajin desu ka.

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“Am, Are, Is Not a noun” Sentences (ja arimasen)

Simple sentences that are showing that a “noun” (person, place or thing) is not, am not or are not will end in ja arimasen.

desu box

| |Positive |Negative |

|Present |desu |ja arimasen (am not, is not, are not) |

| |(am, is, are) | |

|Past | | |

Examples:

This is not a school. That is not a book.

Kore wa gakkō ja arimasen. Sore wa hon ja arimasen.

Today is not Tueday. He is not a teacher.

Kyo wa kayōbi ja arimasen. Kare wa sensē ja arimasen.

Tomorrow is not Saturday. That is not an apple.

Ashita wa doyobi ja arimasen. Sore wa ringo ja arimasen.

• Do not ask if something is “not”. For example:

That isn’t a pen is it?

Sore wa pen ja arimasen ka.

• When you ask a question only use positive (desu).

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Possession Sentences (person no noun desu / ja arimasen)

The particle “no” is used to show possession. It is placed in between the person and the “thing” that is owned.

Examples:

The teacher’s book. My watch.

Sensē no hon desu. Watashi no tokē desu.

Jon’s watch. The CD is not mine.

JON no tokē desu. Boku no CD ja arimasen.

It’s not my pen. It’s not your school.

Watashi no pen ja arimasen. Anata no gakkō ja arimasen.

Is that your friend? Is that your teacher?

Anata no tomodachi desu ka. Anata no sensē desu ka.

Answering Noun Questions

You will only use the following responses when answering noun questions.

Is this your book? Anata no hon desu ka.

Yes it is. Hai, sō desu.

No it is not. Iie, sō ja arimasen.

Is that your bag? Anata no kaban desu ka.

Yes it is. Hai, sō desu.

No it is not. Iie, sō ja arimasen.

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“I like/don’t like nouns” (noun ga suki desu/ja arimasen)

The object that you or someone else likes or dislikes is marked with “ga”. If you like it you end the sentence with “suki desu”. If you dislike it you end the sentence with “suki ja arimasen”

Examples:

I like apples.

Boku wa ringo ga suki desu.

or

Ringo ga suki desu.

(it is assumed that you are talking about yourself)

I like water.

Watashi wa mizu ga suki desu.

or

Mizu ga suki desu.

I don’t like comic books

Manga ga suki ja arimasen.

I don’t like Tessa’s friend.

Tessa no tomodachi ga suki ja arimasen.

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“Was, Were a noun” Sentences (deshita)

Simple sentences that are showing that a “noun” (person, place or thing) was or were will end in deshita.

desu box

| |Positive |Negative |

|Present |desu |ja arimasen (am not, is not, are not) |

| |(am, is, are) | |

|Past |deshita | |

| |(was, were) | |

Examples:

Yesterday was Monday.

Kino wa getsuyōbi deshita.

That was an apple.

Sore wa ringo deshita.

Was that Jon’s book?

Sore wa Jon no hon deshita ka.

Was that Jon’s watch?

Sore wa Jon no tokē deshita ka.

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“Was or Were Not a noun” Sentences (ja arimasen deshita)

Simple sentences that are showing that a “noun” (person, place or thing) wasn’t or weren’t will end in ja arimasen deshita.

desu box

| |Positive |Negative |

|Present |desu |ja arimasen (am not, is not, are not) |

| |(am, is, are) | |

|Past |deshita |ja arimasen deshita |

| |(was, were) |(wasn’t / weren’t) |

Examples:

Yesterday wasn’t Monday.

Kino wa getsuyōbi ja arimasen deshita.

That wasn’t an apple.

Sore wa ringo ja arimasen deshita.

That wasn’t Jon’s book.

Sore wa Jon no hon ja arimasen deshita.

That wasn’t Jon’s watch.

Sore wa Jon no tokē ja arimasen deshita.

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Using Adjectives in a Sentence (topic wa adjective desu)

An adjective is placed in the sentence by itself just before the desu ending.

Examples:

The book is red. Is the pen black?

Hon wa akai desu. Pen wa kuroi desu ka.

Now lets make the sentence negative using the colour red (akai) for example.

“The book is not red.”

“Hon wa akakunai desu.”

To make the adjective negative you drop the “i” ending and replace it with “kunai”

adjective box

| |Positive |Negative |

|Present |adjective + desu |drop the “i” + kunai desu |

|Past | | |

Examples:

The house is not big. The pencil is not yellow.

Uchi wa okikunai desu. Enpitsu wa kirokunai desu.

Today is not cold. The class is not noisy.

Kyō wa samukunai desu. Kurasu wa urusakunai desu.

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