MODULE 1- The Basics of Nihongo

Overview: Module 1, The Basics of Nihongo, intends to provide students the

basic Japanese vocabulary they need in order to converse in different
contexts. Since learning a foreign language is a must in developing
globally competitive students, this module also includes lessons on Self
Introduction, Japanese Vocabulary Words and Sentence Construction.
Each lesson in this module composed of lectures and examples to
give students model sentences to serve as guide in allowing them
construct sentences in Nihongo.

Objectives:
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. be familiarized with the basic Japanese vocabulary;
2. introduce themselves in Japanese;
3. negate positive sentences;
4. convert present tense sentences into past tense;
5. write declarative and interrogative sentences in Nihongo;
6. translate words and sentences from English to Nihongo and Nihongo
to English; and
7. display courtesy and respect in conversing using Nihongo

Discussion:

A. Self-Introduction

Jiko Shokai (self-introduction)

Hajimemashite
(How do you do?)
Watashi wa ____ desu
(I am [name])
Watashi wa _____ kara desu
(I am from [place])
Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu
(I am pleased to meet you)

Hajimemashite
(How do you do?)
Anata wa ____ desu
(You are [name])
Anata wa _____ kara desu
(You are from [place])
Yoroshi onegaishimasu
(Nice to meet you)

*desu (des)- is, am, are

**wa- particle that introduces

Example:

Hajimemashite
Watashi wa Sharina Carla desu
Watashi wa CLSU, Nueva Ecija kara desu
Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu

How do you do?

I am Sharina Carla
I am from CLSU, Nueva Ecija
I am pleased to meet you

B. Japanese Vocabulary

Watashi I toire toilet,restroom

Watashi tachi we uchi house,home
Anata tachi you (2nd person) toshokan library
Ano hito you ( 3rd person) gakkou school
Sensei teacher Daigaku university
Gakusei chokore-to chocolate
tomodachi student ko-hi coffee
boyiforendo friend kyoushitsu classroom
garufurendo boyfriend shokudou canteen
kazoku girlfriend heya room
chichi family tatemono building
haha (my) father tanjobi birthday
(my) mother kyo today
musuko son kino yesterday
musume daughter ashita tomorrow
itoko cousin kutsu shoes
sofu grandfather basu bus
sobo grandmother hon book
mago grandson no-to notebook
otto husband enpitsu pencil
tsuma wife bo-rupen ballpen
atama head kasa umbrella
me eye juice
mimi ear ju-su homework
hana nose shukudai scissors
kuchi mouth hasami paper
nodo throat kami bag
ude arm kaban television
te hand terebi radio
onaka stomach rajio computer
ashi leg konpyu-ta chair
karada body isu eraser
namae name keshi gomu flower/blosso
juusho address hana m
nenrei age okane money
shokogyou occupation te-buru table
noka farmer mado door
bengoshi lawyer doa window
isha doctor shaken examination
kare he gogo afternoon
kanojo she gosen morning
san connotes
respect to a
name of a
person

Country Nationality (jin) Language (go)

Philippines Firipin Firipinjin Firipingo
Japan Hihon/Nipon Hihonjin/Niponjin Hihongo/Nipongo
Korea Kankoku Kankokujin/kanjin Kankokugo
Spain Supein Supeinjin Supeingo
China Chugoku Chugokujin Chugokugo
Germany Doitsu Doitsujin Doitsugo
England Igiritsu Igiritsujin Igiritsugo
India Indo Indojin Indogo
Thailand Tai Taijin Taigo
Foreign country Gaikoku Gaijin Gaikokugo

Example:
Hajimemashite
Watashi wa Sharina Carla desu
Watashi wa CLSU, Nueva Ecija kara desu
Watashi wa Firipinjin desu
Watashi wa Nihongo sensei desu
Anata no gagusei desu
Yoroshi onegaishimasu
How do you do?
I am Sharina Carla
I am from CLSU, Nueva Ecija
I am a Filipino
I am a Nihongo teacher
You are my students
Nice to meet you

Regular Counters

0-rei 10-ju
1-ichi 11-juichi 100-hyaku
2-ni 12-ju-ni 20-ni-ju 200-ni-hyaku
3-san 13-ju-san 30-san-ju 300-san-hyaku
4-yong 14-ju-yong 40-yong-ju 400-yong-hyaku
5-go 15-ju-go 50-go-ju 500-go-hyaku
6-roku 16-ju-roku 60-roku-ju 600-rop-hyaku
7-sichi/nana 17-ju-nana 70-nana-ju 700-nana-hyaku
8-hachi 18-ju-hachi 80-hachi-ju 800-happyaku
9-ku/kyu 19-ju-kyu 90-kyu-ju 900-kyu-hyaku
1000-sen

Months and Days

Month Days
January- Ichi-gatsu 1- tsuitachi 11- ju ichi-nichi 21- ni-ju ichi-nichi
February- Ni-gatsu (First day of the 12- ju ni-nichi 22- ni-ju ni-nichi
March- San-gatsu month) 13 -ju san-nichi 23- ni-ju san-nichi
April- Shi-gatsu 2-futsuka 14 -ju yokka 24- ni-ju yokka
May- Go-gatsu 3-mikka 15- ju go-nichi 25 -ni-ju go-nichi
June- Roku-gatsu 4- yokka 16- ju roku-nichi 26- ni-ju roku-nichi
July- Shichi-gatsu 5- itsuka 17- ju shichi-nichi 27- ni-ju shichi-nichi
August- Hachi-gatsu 6- muika 18- ju hachi-nichi 28- ni-ju hachi-nichi
September- Ku-gatsu 7- nanoka 19- ju ku-nichi 29- ni-ju ku-nichi
October- Ju-gatsu 8- yoka 20- hatsuka 30- san-ju-nichi
November- Ju-ichi-gatsu 9- kokonoka 31- san-ju ichi-nichi
December- Ju-ni-gatsu 10- toka

Days of the Week

Sunday- Nichi yobi

Monday- Getsu yobi
Tuesday- Ka yobi
Wednesday- Sui yobi
Thursday- Moku yobi
Friday- Kin yobi
Saturday- Do yobi

Examples:
Watashi tanjobi wa hachi-gatsu nanoka desu
Watashi wa san-ju-san des

My birthday is August 7
I am 33

Kyowa ju-gatsu itsuka desu

Today is October 5

Kinowa nichi yobi deshita

Yesterday was Sunday

Itsu
When?

Time
O’clock (ji) Minute (fun/pun)
1- ichi-ji 1- ip-pun
2- ni-ji 2- ni-fun
3- san-ji 3- san-pun
4- yo-ji 4- yon-pun
5- go-ji 5- go-fun
6- roju-ji 6- rop-pun
7- shichi-ji 7- nana-fun/shichi-fun
8- hachi-ji 8- hap-pun
9- ku-ji 9- kyu-fun
10- ju-ji 10- jup-pun/jip-pun
11- ju-ichi-ji
12- ju-ni-ji 15- ju-go-fun
30- san-jip-pun

Jikan- hour
gogo- P.M.
gosen- A.M.
asa- morning
hiru- afternoon
yuugata- evening
yoru-night

nanji- What time?

Examples:
5:00 A.M.- gosen go-ji
3:14 P.M.- gogo san-ji ju yon-pun

Colors (Iro)
Kuro- black
Shiroi – white
Aka – red
Ao- blue
Midori – green
Ki-iro – yellow
Orenji – orange
Baioretto – violet
Hai-iro – gray ( gure)
Cha-iro – brown (kasshoku)
Murasaki – purple
Pinku – pink

Example:

Watashi no kaban wa shiroi

I have a white bag/ My bag is white

Nani iro
What color?

Grammatical Elements

wa- particle that introduces

desu- (des)- is, am, are
deshita- denotes past tense, was, were
dewa arimasen- is not, are not
dewa arimasen deshita- was not, were not
mo- also, too
no- my, mine
ka-denotes a question
Examples:

Watashi mo Eigo no sensei desu

I am an English teacher too

Merculio san mo Tgasa san mo Eigo no sensei desu

Mrs. Merculio and Ms. Tagasa are English teachers too

Watashi wa gakusei deshita

I was a student

Anata wa gakusei
You are a student

Anata wa gakusei deshita

You were a student

Anata wa gakusei dewa arimasen

You are not a student

Anata wa gakusei dewa arimasen deshita

You were not a student

Kare wa donate duse ka

Who is he?

Kanojo wa donate desu ka

Who is she?

Ima nanji desu ka

What time is it?

Anna no boyifurendo desu

This is Anna’s boyfriend

Nyuumon 1 (Sentence Pattern 1): Watashi/Anata wa…

Sensei: Watashi wa Sharina desu. I am Sharina.

Watashi wa Firipinjin desu. I am a Filipino (person).
Watashi wa Nihongo sensei desu. I am Nihongo teacher.
Anata wa Santos san desu ka. Are you Mr. Santos?

Mr. Santos: Hai, watashi wa Santos desu. Yes, I am Mr. Santos.

Sensei: Anatawa gakusei desu ka. Are you a student?

Mr. Santos: Iie, watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen. No, I am not a student. I am a
Firipingo sensei desu. Filipino (language) teacher.

Sensei: Chan san wa Taijin desu ka. Is Ms. Chan a Thai?

Mr. Santos: Hai, Chan san wa Taijin desu. Yes, Ms. Chan is a Thai.

Sensei: Kare wa donata desu ka. Who is he?

Mr. Santos: Kare wa Saplaco san desu. He is Mr. Saplaco.

Sensei: Kanojo wa donata desu ka. Who is she?

Mr. Santos: Kanojo wa Garcia san desu. She is Ms. Garcia.

Sensei: Ano kata wa donate desu ka. Who is that person?

Mr. Santos: Dono kata desu ka. Who among them?

Sensei: Ano onna no kata desu ka. Who is the woman?

Mr. Santos: Ano onna no kata wa Marie san desu. That woman is Ms. Marie.
Ano otoko no kata wa Supein no Dela Cruz That man is Mr. Dela Cruz from
san desu. Spain.

Note:
ano- that
onna- female/woman
otoko- male/man
dono-which
donata-who

 Nihongo does not use question mark in expressing questions

 Past tense is expressed by changing “desu” with “deshita” at the end of

the sentence
Example: Watashi wa gakusei desu (I am a student)
Watashi wa gakusei deshita (I was a student)

 Negation is expressed by changing “desu” with “dewa arimasen” at the

end of the sentence
Example: Watashi wa gakusie desu (I am a student)
Watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen (I am not a
student)
Watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen deshita (I was
not a student)

Nyuumon 2 (Sentence Pattern 2): Ko-So-A-Do

Demonstrative Pronouns
Kore wa enpitsu desu. This is (a) pencil.
Sore wa hon desu. That (near you) is (a) book.
Are wa isu desu. That (over there) is (a) chair.
Mado dore desu ka Which door?

Modifier/Pre-noun
Kono kasa wa Santos san no kasa desu. This umbrella is Mr. Santos’ umbrella.
Sono hana wa Takeshi san no hana dewa arimasen. That flower (near you) is not Ms. Takeshi’s flower.
Ano uchi wa Santos san no uchi deshita. That (over there) was Mr. Santos’ house.
Dono kaban wa Jaedden san no kabani desu ka Which bag is Jaedden’s bag?

Direction
Santos san, kochira wa Dela Cruz san desu. Mr. Santos, this is Ms. Dela Cruz.
Sochira wa Jaedden san. That (near you) is Jaedden.
Achira wa watasi no gakkuo desu. That (over there) is my school.
Toshokan wa dochira desu ka Which way is the library?
Achira desu. That way.

Place
Koko ni wa toshokan desu. Here is (the) library.
Soko ni wa uchi watashi no uchi desu There (near you) is my house.
Asoko ni wa kyoushitsu desu. There is (the) classroom.
Watashi no kaban wa doko desu ka. Where is my bag?
Koko desu. Here.

Demonstrative Pronouns
Kore
Sore
Are
____dore desu ka

Modifier/Pre-noun
Kono
Sono
Ano
Dono ____________

Direction
Kochira- over there
Sochira- over there near you
Achira- over there (far from the speaker and listener)
Dochira desu ka- in what direction?

Location
Koko- here (near the speaker)
Soko- there (near the listener)
Asoko- There (far from the speaker and listener)
Doko desu ka- Where?
__________doko desu ka- where is?

Ko words (near So words (near A words (far Do words (for

the speaker) the listener) from both the asking)
speaker and
listener)
Thing Kore wa Sore wa Are wa Dore
This is… That (near That (over Which one
you) is… there) is…
Modifying/pre- Kono N Sono N Ano N Dono N
noun This N… That N… That N (over Which of them
there)
Direction Kochira Sochira Achira Dochira
This way/ this That way/ that That way, that Which way
person person person
Place Koko ni Soko Asoko Doko
Here There There Where

Other examples:
Kore wa Merculio san desu
This is Mrs. Merculio

Sore wa Anna san

That near you is (Ms.) Anna
Kono hon wa watashi no (hon) desu
This book is my book/mine

Evaluation:

Activity 1. Turn in a video of you introducing yourself in Japanese. Your

self-introduction must contain your name, where you are from, your age, birthday
and your FL teacher. Then, repeat your self-introduction but this time, in English.
The video must not be longer than 1 minute (to be credited as quiz).

Activity 2. Convert Nyuumon 1 into past tense. Provide also the English
Translation. Follow the same table format as used in Nyuumon 1.

Activity 3. Make/draw a comic strip with at least 6 frames (six

conversation exchanges in Nihongo). Turn in a picture of the comic strip (to be
credited as project). The comic strips you will make should be in classroom
setting, with two to four characters, they will talk about a subject, a person or a
thing, one will ask question and others will answer. Put a title to your comic stip.
You will be graded based on the following criteria:

Originality and Creativity (your project should be unique) 20%

Aesthetics or Beauty (your project should be appealing) 30%
Weight of intellect (conversation should be correct and sensible) 50%
Total 100%

Example:

The example above contains 7 frames. However, the conversations

are in English. The one you are required to make, should be in Nihongo.
Activity 4. Honyaku (translation)- Translate words and sentences from
English to Nihongo and from Nihongo to English.

Activity 5. First Term Exam

Reference:

Chino, N. 1991. All about particles. Tokyo: Kodansha International.

Hiroo Japanese Center. 1989. The complete Japanese verb guide.

Hokkaido Daigaku. 1993. Elementary Japanese grammatical notes.

Mine, M. 1994. Nihongo kiso (Basic Japanese for foreign students). Hiroshima:
Hiroshima University.