Some Basic Expressions in Japanese and How To Use Them

 

Learning the basic expressions of the language that we are trying to learn is definitely one of the most important things to do. Learning the basic expressions can be the start of our pathway to learn a new language. Here in this post, we will discuss some basic expressions such as self introduction, describing what is something, and possession.

Self Introduction

There are several expressions that we can use to introduce ourselves in Japanese. Before we start introducing ourselves, we should start the introduction with the phrase はじめまして / hajimemashite and end our introduction with the phrase よろしくお願いします / yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Below are some of the introductions that we can use when introducing ourselves.

Watashi wa (name) desu. 私はOOOです

This one can literally be translated as "I am (name)".

Watashi no namae wa (name) desu. 私の名前はOOOです

This one literally means "My name is (name)".

(name) to moushimasu. OOOともうします

This one is the introduction you can use in formal or polite situations.

(name) desu. OOO です

This one has similar meaning to the first one. You can use this one in casual situations.

Describing What is Something

To show or describe what is something in Japanese we can simply use the particle wa combined with the word desu at the end of the sentence. In some cases, we can simply just use desu at the end of the sentence.

OOO wa OOO desu. OOOはOOOです

This pattern is similar to the english subject-to be-object. This pattern is the positive one.

Example:
ワワンは大学生です。
Wawan wa daigakusei desu.
Wawan is a university student.

You can also change です/desu to でした/deshita to make it into a past sentence.

Example:
ワワンは高校生でした。
Wawan wa koukousei deshita
Wawan was a senior high school student.

OOO wa OOO dewa arimasen. OOOはOOOではありません

This pattern is similar to the English subject-to be-not-object. This pattern is the negative version of the pattern above.

Example:
ワワンは日本人ではありません。
Wawan wa nihonjin dewa arimasen.
Wawan is not a Japanese.

You can also add でした/deshita at the end of the sentence to make it into a past sentence.

Example:
ワワンは日本人ではありませんでした。
Wawan wa nihonjin dewa arimasen deshita.
Wawan was not a Japanese.

OOO wa OOO desuka. OOOはOOOですか

This pattern is similar to the English to be-subject-object?. This pattern is the interrogative version of the first pattern.

Example:
ワワンは日本人ですか。
Wawan wa nihonjin desuka?
Is wawan a Japanese?

You can also change ですか/desuka to でしたか/deshitaka to make it into a past sentence.

Example:
ワワンは日本人でしたか。
Wawan wa nihonjin deshitaka?
Was wawan a Japanese?

Expressing Possession

Showing possession in Japanese is pretty simple. To express possession in a Japanese sentence, we can use the particle [の]/no after the subject and before the object. In this case, the particle [の]/no is behaving similarly to ['s] in English. Bellow are some of the examples of using the particle [の]/no to express a possession.

Example:
ワワンの本。
Wawan no hon.
Wawan's book.

私の本。
Watashi no hon.
My book.

この本は私のです。
Kono hon wa watashi no desu.
This book is mine.

That is all for our discussion in this blog. There are still some other basic expressions that I have not mentioned here and will be discussed in other blogs. To make you remember all of the sentence patterns above, you should try it yourselves in your own sentences!

Source of the Pictures:

https://www.irasutoya.com/