Learn Japanese 日本語

Simple Sentence Structures

Hi! So in this topic, we will tackle about the basic sentence structure in Nihongo.

A(noun) は B(noun) です。

Example:
Ana wa firipinjin desu (アナはフィリピン人です) Ana is a Filipino.

Watashi no namae wa John desu (わたしのなまえはジョンです)
= (私の名前はジョンです)

Nica wa Sakura no koukou-sei desu (ニカはさくらのこうこうせいです) Nica is a student of Sakura High School.
= (ニカは桜の高校生です)

Anohito wa juugo-sai desu (あのひとはじゅうごさいです) That person is 15 years old. (Anohito- "a-no-sh-to")
= (あの人は十五歳です)

Nouns that can be used:
Watashi(私)- I, myself
Anata(あなた)- you
Watashitachi(私達)- We
Anatatachi(あなた達)- They
Anohito- That person
Kanojo- She
Kare- He

When you are referring to nationality, just add -jin at the end.

Firipinjin- Filipino
Amerikajin- American
Kankokujin- Korean

Sore wa pen desu (それはペンです) That is a pen.

Kono mise wa watashi no desu (このみせはわたしのです) This shop is mine.
= (この店は私のです)

Kore- This (near the speaker)
Sore- That (far from the speaker)
Are- There (far from the two)

Kono- This
Sono- That
Ano- There

Kono pen wa watashi no desu = this pen is mine

Kore wa nandesu ka? = what is this? (nani kore!? - informal)

Seito(生徒)- student
Gakkou(学校)-school
Koukou(高校)-highschool
Daigaku(大学)- University

Koukou-sei(高校生)-highschool student

Some Nouns:
Ichigo- strawberry
Hon- book
Kaban/baggu- bag
fish- sakana
budou- grapes
suika- watermelon
yakyuu- baseball
tsukue- desk
pasokon- computer
obentou- lunchbox
music- ongaku
senpuki- electricfan
mizu- water
pen- pen
enpitsu- pencil