Time for a Japanese lesson, 行くぞ！

[geishaboy]

Right, I'm gonna teach you the most basic of basics.

That is "A is B" pattern.

Most of you probably allready know that "watashi wa Jane desu" means "I am Jane". Well this can be used with just about anything. So lets start with that.

Watashi 私　means "I" "me". Boys can use "boku" ぼく and girls can use "atashi" あたし. Guys can also use "ore" 俺　but it sounds kind of arrogant if used around people you don't know really well.

So "watashi wa" the "wa" here is indicating the topic of the sentance, its called a particle. There are lots ond lots of particles in the Japanese language.

"(watashi wa) Jane desu" the last part, Jane desu, means "Is Jane". Desu (pronouced dess normally) is a copula verb wich mean "is, am, are, ect.".

So a break down.

Watashi - I
wa - topic marker
Jane - Jane
Desu - am (in this case).

So the basic patter is " A wa B desu". "A is B". As you can imagine, you can put pretty much anything into this pattern.

Please note that the topic marker "wa" is written as "ha" は in Japanese script.

Questions?

[Sasami Jurai]

How do you say "I love you"?

[geishaboy]

How do you say "I love you"?

There are so many ways

First of, there is "suki desu" 好きです. Wich literally means "is like". It means I like you, but depending the circumstance, it can mean "I love you". The plain form of this is "suki da" 好きだ.This can also be used with objects, the other two cannot.

On from that, there is "koi wo shimasu" 恋をします. This means "to fall in love". So saying that is like saying "I'm falling in love". The plain form is "koi wo suru" 恋をする. The grammar for this one is a little more complicated, so I wont go into it too much just yet.

The last most common way is "ai shiteru" 愛してる. The grammar on this one also takes a while to explain, so I wont go into it just yet. But I will warn you that this is a really really strong way of saying it. If a guy says it to you he probably does not want a date, he wants to marry you and be the father of your children. It's strong in a way that does not have an english translation.

[hosoke]

I watch too much anime, they say. I want to take a Japanese class (or several, truth be known) but that is more because I love languages and not JUST anime (but Anime ranks WAY up there ) I've learned a few words just from constantly watching good subtitles and bad, and seeing similar words. Hell, I can tell a good translation from a bad now, without know many words

[Dark*Star]

Um..what about Hi or How are you? Konnichiwa?

[geishaboy]

Um..what about Hi or How are you? Konnichiwa?

Yeah, konnichiwa 今日は literally means "As for today" but it is how you say hello.

How are you can be "genki desu ka?" 元気ですか wich means "how are you". Also "daijoubu"　大丈夫か？each is like saying "are you all right?".

A simple Hi could be "Ya" or "Ne".

Grabbing someones attention, you could say "Anosa" あのさ to the effect of "Hey", and "anone" あのね to the effect of "guess what?".

[galfwend]

how do u say "can i [censored] u in japanesE?

[geishaboy]

how do u say "can i f*** u in japanesE?

I'm not going to teach you that. I think I might get banned if I do.

But something a little cleaner would be...

konban, watashi to isshouni ne temo ii?
今晩、私と一緒に寝てもいい？

Wich would mean, "Is it ok if/ can we sleep together tonight?"

Although I can't say %100 on that. Translations like your one don't come up much in exams.

[Dark*Star]

How do you say: ' I don't speak Japanese' in Japanese? You know- In case I ever go to Japan.

[geishaboy]

How do you say: ' I don't speak Japanese' in Japanese? You know- In case I ever go to Japan.

Good question!

The word for "Japanese" in Japanese is "nihongo"　日本語 and the verb for speak is "Hanashimasu"　話します, the plain form is "hanasu" 話す. So if you ever hear those words in a sentance you will know whats going on. Literally saying that you "don't" speak Japanese in Japanese is like saying that you have the ability to speak it, you just dont want to.

Back to your question, here are some ways of saying it;

(watashi wa)nihongo wo hanasemasen　(私は)日本語を話せません
"I can't speak Japanese"

(Watashi wa) nihongo ga wakarimasen (私は)日本語を分かりません
"I don't understand Japanese"

(watashi wa) nihongo ga jouzu janai (私は)日本語が上手じゃない
"My Japanese is not very good" or "I'm not very good at Japanese"

That should do for now.

[Dark*Star]

(私は)日本語が上手じゃない- lol

And..um....what do these boxes (じ) stand for?
Sorry if I asked too many questions. I'm just curious.

[geishaboy]

(私は)日本語が上手じゃない- lol

And..um....what do these boxes (じ) stand for?
Sorry if I asked too many questions. I'm just curious.

The two dashes indicate that the constanant is "voiced". It changes the pronouciation.

In that case, what would normally be "shi" し is changed to "ji" じ because there are the two dashes put into place.

H sounds, when they have dashes added go to a B sound
Ha - ba は　－　ば

K sounds go to G sounds
Ka - Ga か　ー　が

T sounds go to D sounds
Ta - Da た　－　だ

S sounds go to Z sounds
Sa - Za さ　－　ざ

Shi is an exception as it makes a "ji" sound when the dashes are used.

[gothkitty]

How do you say little asian kitty????

[geishaboy]

How do you say little asian kitty????

Ciisai ajiano nekono ko

小さいアジアの猫の子

[Motoko Chan]

Doomo Arigatou Gozaimasu!!!I never thought that there would be a threat for the japanese language.

[OniKira]

Eeto...Watashi wa OniRuroKen desu. Konichiwa! Watashi wa chotto Nihongo o hanashimasu. Watashi wa supeingo to eigo o hanashimasu.

I'm taking lessons. Were just getting into kanji now and learning about existence and location.

Toshokan wa doko desu ka?
Where is the library?

It may sound like some see spot run stuff, but I'm really enoying the classes. ^_^