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Common Terms - Beginner

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15 views

Common Terms - Beginner

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quintinchavez8562
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Deerfield Beach High School Instructor: William Collazo

Japanese Language & Culture Program

COMMON TERMS DEFINED – BEGINNER LEVEL

This mini-guide is intended to explain in basic terms the common terminology for
language and grammar that is used regularly in class. It would be to your advantage to
study these terms and know them well early in the year, so we have a common language
(in English) to use in discussing the meaning and use of Japanese words in context.

SUBJECT - The topic of the sentence; it is the noun that does something or is something.
In Japanese, the subject is usually indicated by adding the particle "wa" behind it.
Example: Watashi wa seito desu. [I am a student.] - "Watashi" is the subject of this
sentence.

PREDICATES - In Japanese, the simplest sentences; they are the essential words that
give the sentence its meaning. There are four kinds of predicates in Japanese,
including: ① nouns, ② verbs, ③ I- adjectives and ④ NA-adjectives. Examples:
Hon desu. [It is a book.] This expresses a complete thought (noun predicate). Also:
Wakarimasu. [I understand.] (verb predicate).

SET PHRASES or IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS - These are expressions that are used
with particular meaning in specific contexts. Examples: Konnichi wa (only use this in the
afternoon), Hajimemashite (only use this when you meet someone for the first time).
They often cannot, and should not, be translated literally.

NOUN - Person(s), place(s), thing(s), or idea(s). English examples: I, book, party;


Japanese examples: watashi, hon, paatii

VERB - A word or set of words that represents the action in a sentence. English
example: to go; Japanese example: ikimasu (verbs in polite Japanese end with -masu.)

ADJECTIVE - A word that describes a noun. English examples: hot, cold, sick, durable;
Japanese examples: atsui, samui (i-adjectives); byouki, joubu (na-adjective)

ADVERB - A word that modifies/clarifies/describes a verb. English examples: lively,


quickly, slowly; Japanese examples: genki ni, hayaku, yukkuri

MORA - Japanese "syllables"; represented by hiragana & katakana characters.

PARTICLES - In Japanese, they are mora which are added to a word or phrase to denote
its relationship to the predicate. Examples: "wa" which indicates the subject, or "ka"
which indicates that which comes before is a question.

PREPOSITIONS - In Japanese, words or word combinations that indicate the relationship


of the preceding word or phrase to the predicate. They are more often than not a particle
or collection of particles using a placement word. English examples: by, in, from, to,
with; Japanese examples: ni, kara, to, no ato de, no soba ni, etc.

CONJUNCTIONS - Words that are used to connect two complete ideas/sentences.


English examples: and, but, or; Japanese examples: soshite, de mo, sore to mo (the
conjunctions noted here are used at the beginning of the second sentence)

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