Archive for 'Grammar'
Simple Japanese Sentences Posted by Ginny on Feb 11, 2009
This is going to be a great post for beginners of Japanese. Today I’m going to show you how to construct simple sentences. Let’s start with a simple sentece such as, “I am Takeshi”. To say “I” you would use the word “watashi” (わたし). For the verb “am” you would use “des” (です). In Japanese…
Japanese Writing System Posted by Ginny on Dec 12, 2008
For those of you who are completely new to the Japanese language, this post might be interesting to you. The Japanese language consists of three different writing systems. Learning all three writing systems is one of the challenges that Japanese learners face. Let’s start with the most common writing system, the hiragana (ひらがな). Hiragana (ひらがな)…
Japanese Numbers: Suuji (すうじ) Posted by Ginny on Dec 11, 2008
Learning Japanese suuji (すうじ) or numerals can be confusing and daunting at the same time. In particular, the number four can pose some tricky problems. Do not fear, I’m here to save the day! Aren’t you glad I’m here! Haha, just kidding. Let’s go on with our discussion of numbers. For starters, the numeral four…
Japanese Language: Pronunciation Posted by Ginny on Nov 11, 2008
The Japanese language is called a “shallow” language. (At least that’s what the linguists call it.) It’s labeled as “shallow” because words and letters are pronounced as how they are written. If we compare the way Japanese words are pronounced to the way English words are pronounced, you’ll find that English is a “deep” language. …