The Learn Japanese Thread =O

[Tifa-chan]

copy past study!

[Spec Highwind]

Ohhh... I want to know all that O.O

*Opens Microsoft Word*

[Fawkes Lament]

*Opens Notepad* See why I said it wouldn't work?

[Tifa-chan]

*studies* okay! I think I am starting to understand!

[Spec Highwind]

Using wikipedia, I joined some hiragana characters, and got this:

はじめまして

Is it correct?

[Vincent]

eheh ^^

One Question, how do we answer to Arigatou? like You're Welcome, or sumthin

[Max the Man]

Yes, Spec's says Hajimemashite.... and I don't know how to answer...

[darkshadow2247]

Hime.

[Spec Highwind]

Doesn't "Hime" mean "Princess"?

[Zeromus_X]

Hime (姫, or O-Hime お姫 ) is princess.

Dou Itashimashite (どういたしまして ) is 'you're welcome'.

[Max the Man]

*nodnod* Now... particles <3

This is a bit complicated, so please remember to study this part HARD. This and verbs Dx;;

Japanese grammar is quite simple and straight forward but very different from English grammar so most English speakers find it rather confusing. For instance, the verb always comes at the end. The best thing you can do when learning Japanese grammar is to learn it from the bottom up and not compare it to English grammar.

Japanese grammar uses what we will refer to as particles to mark the various parts of the sentence. The main particles are: (These particles will be described in more detail below)


は wa
(as mentioned in lesson 1, the Hiragana "ha" is pronounced "wa" when it immediately follows the subject) subject marker
が ga topic marker
を wo
(pronounced "o") direct object marker
に ni direction/time marker, indirect object marker
へ e
(as mentioned in lesson 1, the Hiragana "he" is pronounced "e" when it immediately follows a place or direction) direction marker

The particles "wa" ( は ) and "ga" ( が ) : The particle "wa" marks the subject of the sentence and the particle "ga" marks the topic of the sentence. In the example, "I know where you live" (watashi wa anata ga doko ni sunde iru ka shitte iru), "I" would be the subject while "you" would be the topic.

Not all sentences have both a subject and topic and, in many cases, the subject is implied in Japanese (for example, the "I" (watashi wa) would be left out of this sentence because it is implied that since I am talking I am the one that knows where you live). Many Japanese books and teachers teach that "wa" and "ga" are the same thing and it doesn't matter which you use when. This is not the case but I wouldn't worry too much about keeping them straight at first.

The particle "wo" ( を ) : The particle "wo" (or "o") marks the direct object of the sentence. In the example, "I'm going to take her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni okuru), "her" would be the direct object.

The particle "ni" ( に ) : The particle "ni" can be used to mark the direction, time, or the indirect object of a sentence.

An example of a direction marker can be seen in the previous example "I'm going to take her home" (watashi wa kanojo wo ie ni okuru). In this case, the "ni" acts like a "to" - "I'm going to take her 'to' home". The particle "e" ( へ ) can be used in this as well but usually implies more of a general direction as opposed to a specific places.

The particle "ni" is also used to mark time in a sentence. For example, "I'm leaving at 3 o'clock" (watashi wa sanji ni hanareru).

The final use for the particle "ni" is that of indirect object marker. In the example, "I was taken home by him" (watashi wa kare ni ie made okurareta), "him" is the indirect object.

(lesson Copyright freejapaneselessons.com <3)

[Spec Highwind]

Question - How is it possible to write "Ganbatte" in hiragana?

I can't find any characters that can match the "atte" part

[Max the Man]

it would be がんばって

It uses a smaller version of the symbol for "tsu"

[Tifa-chan]

O_O okay now I am lost...man I need more time to study! DAMN YOU WORK

[Gackt Camui]

How does that have nething to do with learning Japanese Tifa?