X is NOT Y! (~じゃありません)

We learned how to say "X is Y" by using "X は Y です" but what if we wanted to say that X isn't Y? It's simple. You simply replace です with じゃありません (jya arimasen)

わたしはがくせいです。 (watashi wa gakusei desu)
I am a student.

わたしはがくせいじゃありません。 (watashi wa gakusei jya arimasen)
I am not a student.

For now, keep in mind that じゃありません is used for nouns, so Y has to be a noun. In the case that Y is an adjective (such as 'X is fast'), we will learn about this later. Remember, there are い-adjectives and な-adjectives and they are different in conjugation. じゃありません is used for な-adjectives, but I don't want to start confusing you so don't worry about it until later.

~よ (I Tell You)

Like ね (ne), you can add よ (yo) to the end of a statement, but よ makes your statement sound assuring. It gives your statement a sense of authority. You can think of よ roughly meaning "I tell you" or something along those lines.

わたしのせんもんはにほんごですよ。 (watashi no senmon wa nihongo desu yo)
My major is Japanese (I tell you).

ほんださんのねこはちいさいですよ。 (Honda-san no neko wa chiisai desu yo)
(I assure you) Honda-san's cat is small.

That's all there is to ~よ. かんたんですよ。(It's easy, I tell you!)

~ね (Right?)

At the end of a statement, you can add ね (ne) to make it sound as if you are asking for confirmation, or are suggesting agreement. Its translation is something along the meaning of "right?" or "isn't it?".

いいおてんきですね。 (ii otenki desu ne)
It's good weather, isn't it?

これはさかなですね。 (kore wa sakana desu ne)
This is fish, right?

And that's all there is to this lesson. かんたんですね。 (Easy, right?)

The Particle も (mo) and Another Function of は

To understand the function of the particle も (mo), let's first take a look at these two sentences.

あきとさんはにねんせいです。(akito-san wa ni nensei desu)
Akito-san is a second year (student).

さくらさんもにねんせいです。 (sakura-san mo ni nensei desu)
Sakura-san is also a second year (student).

The first sentence establishes にねんせい (second year) as a characteristic or property. Now, if you were to use "X も Y です," it relates back to the previously established characteristic. The particle も comes after a noun and replaces は  to give the meaning of "Noun is also..." instead of simply restating "Noun is..." (this is what は does).

However! Take a look at these three sentences:


あきとさんはにねんせいです。(akito-san wa ni nensei desu)
Akito-san is a second year (student).

さくらさんもにねんせいです。 (sakura-san mo ni nensei desu)
Sakura-san is also a second year (student).

ゆかりさんはさんねんせいです。 (Yukari-san wa san nensei desu)
Yukari-san is a third year (student).

There is another function to the particle は, and that is to show contrast. The first two sentences is establishing にねんせい (second year) as a characteristic, but the third sentence changes it to さんねんせい (third year). In this case, the は in "X は Y です" isn't necessarily the topic marker, but one that indicates a contrast to the the previous sentence.

That's pretty much it to the particle も. Hopefully, all of these particles aren't confusing yet.

"This Noun" and "That Noun" (この, その, あの, どの)

The last set of ko-so-a-do words are この (kono), その (sono), あの (ano), and どの (dono). These words also mean "this" and "that," like これ, それ, あれ, and どれ. However, これ, それ, あれ, and どれ refers to an object as "this thing" and "that thing" whereas この, その, あの, and どのare followed by a noun to mean "this (noun)" and "that (noun)." Just remember: the -れ words are always by themselves and the -の words always have a noun.

これはえんぴつです。 (kore wa enpitsu desu)
This is a pencil.

このえんぴつは。。。 (kono enpitsu wa)
This pencil is...

This is the difference between これ and この. この is followed by a noun to make it specific (this pencil), and これ by itself refers to an object (this object near me).

So following the ko-so-a-do pattern we've learned before, here are the definitions of この, その, あの, and どの:

この + NOUN = this NOUN (NOUN is near the speaker)

その + NOUN = that NOUN (NOUN is near the listener)

あの + NOUN = that NOUN (NOUN far from both speaker and listener)

どの + NOUN = which NOUN (question word)

Like どれ, どの also means "which," the difference being that どの needs a noun after it. Also, どの + NOUN cannot have the particle は after it and must use が.

どのえんぴつがやすいですか。 (dono enpitsu ga takai desu ka)
Which pencil is cheap?

どれがやすいですか。 (dore ga yasui desu ka)
Which one is cheap?

And with this, we are done with our ko-so-a-do words!

Here and There (ここ, そこ, あそこ, どこ)

 Here are another set of ko-so-a-do words. Like これ, それ, あれ, and どれ, which corresponds to objects of relative distances, these words correspond to relative locations.

ここ (koko) = here (near me, the speaker)

そこ (soko) = there (near you, the person being spoken to)

あそこ (asoko) = over there (far from both the speaker and listener)

どこ (doko) = where (question word)

As you can see, these words are very similar to the other ones because of ko-so-a-do. The good thing though is that the overall meaning hasn't really changed, and you probably noticed that.

こ: close to you
そ: close to listener
あ: far from both speaker and listener
ど: question word

I hope things are beginning to make sense with ko-so-a-do. It's very simple once it's understood.

This and That (これ, それ, あれ)

これ (kore) means "this." It refers to an object that is close to the speaker. If you're the speaker talking about an object near you, you would use これ.

それ (sore) means "that," but you use it when the object is close to the person you are talking to. Imagine if you were buying something and the object was behind the counter near the cashier. If you were to point out something that you wanted that was near the cashier, you would use それ (and they would use これ because it is near them).

あれ (are) refers to an object that is far from you and the person you are talking to. So if you pointed to something out at night in the sky and told someone to look at it, you would use あれ. If the person you were talking to is speaking about that same thing, they would use あれ also.

Another word that can be related to these words is どれ (dore), meaning "which." It is a question word. You use どれ to specify an object. Some question words like どれ and なに cannot be followed by the particle は, and must use the particle が (ga). We'll learn more about that later.

どれがやすいですか。 (dore ga yasui desu ka?)
Which one is cheap?

Together, these set of words are called "ko-so-a-do." Take the first characters of これ, それ, あれ, and どれ, and you get こそあど (ko-so-a-do). There are more words similar to these that are in the set of ko-so-a-do, and we'll learn them next.

Asking a Question

Asking questions in Japanese is not difficult at all. You simply add か (ka) to the end of a sentence. Take for example the X は Y です format.

せんせいはきびしいです。(sensei wa kibishii desu)

The teach is strict.

Add か to the end of the sentence and you get:

せんせいはきびしいですか。(sensei wa kibishii desu ka)

Is the teacher strict?

That's pretty much all there is to it. Here are a few question words:

なに, なん (nani, nan) = what

どこ (doko) = where

いつ (itsu) = when

どうして (doushite) = why

There are two forms of "what," なに and なん. You use なに when it comes before a particle, and you use なん when it comes before a counter*, or です.

なに

なにがおかしいですか。 (nani ga okashii desu ka)

What is (so) funny?

なん

せんせいはなんさいですか。 (sensei wa nansai desu ka)

How old is (the) teacher?

なっとうはなんですか。 (nattou wa nan desu ka)

What is nattō?

*counters are used for when numbering things. The counter for age is -さい

That's all there really is to なに and なん. Make sure that when you ask a question in Japanese, you pronounce か with a rising tone, otherwise you'll sound monotone.