By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
- Say your age, name of school, grade
- Introduce your family members (number of people, age, grade, job, nationality)
- Ask about someone else's family (number of people, age, grade, job, nationality)
- Introduce your friend and their family
3-1 My Family
"In-group" vs. "Out-group": In Japanese culture, there is the concept of "in-group" vs. "out-group". Your family would be a part of your "in-group", and those outside of your family are part of the "out-group". When you talk about members of your "in-group", you must talk about them in a humble way and not be boastful. When you talk about those in the "out-group", you use more respectful language. So, in Japanese, there is a separate set of vocabulary that you use when you talk about your own family and another when you talk about someone else's family. For example, when I talk about my own father, I will use the word ちち [chichi] as in 「ちちは いちごが すきです。」[chichi-wa ichigo-ga suki desu] "My father likes strawberries", but use the word おとうさん [otoosan] as in 「ジョンさんの おとうさんは いちごが すきです。」[Jon-san no otoosan-wa ichigo-ga suki desu] "Jon's father likes strawberries".
Particle の [no]: This particle attaches to a noun and shows that it describes another noun. It shows possession or description. In English, it translates to the possessive 's or the descriptive of, as in ジョンの くるま [jon-no kuruma] "Jon's car" and にほんの くるま [nihon-no kuruma] "car of Japan (in other words, a Japanese car)".
Counters for people and age: The suffix for counting people is 〜にん [~nin] but the words for "one person" and "two people" are the exception and just have to be memorised. The suffix for age is 〜さい [~sai] and is just attached to the number, but pay attention to some of the ages as the number part changes in pronunciation.
Particle の [no]: This particle attaches to a noun and shows that it describes another noun. It shows possession or description. In English, it translates to the possessive 's or the descriptive of, as in ジョンの くるま [jon-no kuruma] "Jon's car" and にほんの くるま [nihon-no kuruma] "car of Japan (in other words, a Japanese car)".
Counters for people and age: The suffix for counting people is 〜にん [~nin] but the words for "one person" and "two people" are the exception and just have to be memorised. The suffix for age is 〜さい [~sai] and is just attached to the number, but pay attention to some of the ages as the number part changes in pronunciation.
3-2 Friend's Family
As was described in the previous section, there is another set of vocabulary for talking about another person's family. You may notice that the words are longer and most of them have さん [san] in the word.
Particle と [to] and connecting word そして [soshite]: This particle comes between two nouns and means "and". It can only join two nouns; you cannot use it to join two separate sentences. To create "and" between sentences, place the word そして [soshite] at the start of the second sentence. わたしは じゅうななさいです。そして、ちちは ごじゅっさいです。"I am 17 years old. And, my father is 50 years old."
〜は。[~wa?]: When the predicate (verb) of a question is understood, you can shorten your question to just the noun plus this topic particle and it means "How about...?". For example, わたしは じゅうななさいです。あなたは。"I am 17 years old. How about you?"
Particle と [to] and connecting word そして [soshite]: This particle comes between two nouns and means "and". It can only join two nouns; you cannot use it to join two separate sentences. To create "and" between sentences, place the word そして [soshite] at the start of the second sentence. わたしは じゅうななさいです。そして、ちちは ごじゅっさいです。"I am 17 years old. And, my father is 50 years old."
〜は。[~wa?]: When the predicate (verb) of a question is understood, you can shorten your question to just the noun plus this topic particle and it means "How about...?". For example, わたしは じゅうななさいです。あなたは。"I am 17 years old. How about you?"
3-3 Grade
In Japan, the schools are divided in this way: Elementary, grades 1 - 6; Junior High School, grades 7 - 9; Senior High School, grades 10 - 12. In the high schools, students are put in homerooms and stay together as a group for each of the three years at the each level. They also have the same homeroom teacher for all those years, so the students and the homeroom teacher develop close bond. The subject teachers move from room to room, rather than the students. So the students stay in the same room and do their studies in all the subject areas in that homeroom.
There are after school club activities that a vast majority of students participate in. They range from sports (baseball, kendo, judo, soccer, etc) to cultural (calligraphy, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, etc) to arts (music).
Negative form of です: The negative form of this verb is では ありません which means "is not". This is the most polite form. There are other forms that are more informal: じゃ ありません、では ないです、and じゃ ないです. The shorter the phrase, the more informal it is. The informal forms are best used in conversation, not in writing.
Particle も: This particle is attached to a noun to mean "also, too", as in わはしも 15さいです。"I am 15 years old too". It can replace the particles は and を (and also particle が, which we will learn about later). If there are two words with も in the sentence, it means "both" as in わたしも いちろうも 15さいです "Both Ichiro and I are 15 years old". If the verb is negative, it means "neither" as in わたしも いちろうも 15さいでは ありません "Neither Ichiro and I are 15 years old".
There are after school club activities that a vast majority of students participate in. They range from sports (baseball, kendo, judo, soccer, etc) to cultural (calligraphy, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, etc) to arts (music).
Negative form of です: The negative form of this verb is では ありません which means "is not". This is the most polite form. There are other forms that are more informal: じゃ ありません、では ないです、and じゃ ないです. The shorter the phrase, the more informal it is. The informal forms are best used in conversation, not in writing.
Particle も: This particle is attached to a noun to mean "also, too", as in わはしも 15さいです。"I am 15 years old too". It can replace the particles は and を (and also particle が, which we will learn about later). If there are two words with も in the sentence, it means "both" as in わたしも いちろうも 15さいです "Both Ichiro and I are 15 years old". If the verb is negative, it means "neither" as in わたしも いちろうも 15さいでは ありません "Neither Ichiro and I are 15 years old".
3-4 Nationality
You can state your nationality by saying the country and adding 〜じん.
For birth month, say the month (January is "1st month" and December is "12th month", etc) and add 〜うまれ. So if you were born in February, you would say, わたしは にがつうまれです "I was born in February" (or translated exactly, "I am February born").
For birth month, say the month (January is "1st month" and December is "12th month", etc) and add 〜うまれ. So if you were born in February, you would say, わたしは にがつうまれです "I was born in February" (or translated exactly, "I am February born").
3-5 Job
Often, Japanese children don't really know what their father's occupation is. The mother typically is a stay-at-home mother who does not work outside the home. They may only know that he's a かいしゃいん "company employee" or a サラリーマン "salary man" (a salaried company employee). It is rare to find the roles reversed, with a stay-at-home father and a mother who works outside the home.
Past tense of です: To state the past tense of "is, am, are", change です to でした. The past tense of the negative ではありません is では ありませんでした (and the more informal past tense negative forms are じゃありませんでした、ではなかったです、and じゃなかったです).
Past tense of です: To state the past tense of "is, am, are", change です to でした. The past tense of the negative ではありません is では ありませんでした (and the more informal past tense negative forms are じゃありませんでした、ではなかったです、and じゃなかったです).
Vocabulary Review
Click here to access Yamazaki-sensei's Quizlet flashcards for chapter 3.