Japanese Grammar Lesson-1
The particle は indicates that the words before it is the topic of the sentence. You select a noun you want to talk about, add は to show that it is the topic and give a statement about the topic.
[Note] The particle は is read わ.
Nouns used with です work as predicates.
です indicates judgement or assertion.
です also conveys that the speaker is being polite towards the listener.
です inflects when the sentence is negative (see 2. below) or in the past tense (see Lesson 2)
じゃ ありません is the negative form of です. It is the form used in daily conversation. For a formal speech or writting, では ありません is used instead.
サントスさんは 学生 ( がくせい）じゃ ありません。
Mr.Santos is not a student.
[Note] は in では is read わ.
The particle か is used o express the speaker’s doubt, question, uncertainty, etc. A question is formed by simply adding か to the end of the sentence. A question ends with a rising intonation.
2) Questions asking whether a statement is correct or not
As mentioned above, a sentence becomes a question when か is added to the end. The word order does not change. The question thus made asks whether a statement is correct or not. Depending on whether you agree with the statement or not, your answer to such a question begins with はい or いいえ.
Is Mr.Miller an American?
3) Question with interrogatives
An interrogative replaces the part of the sentence that covers what you want to ask about. The word order does not change, and か is added at the end.
も is added after a topic instead of は when the statement about the topic is the same as the previous topic.
Mr.Miller is a company employee.
Mr.Gupta is also a company employee.
の is used to connect two nouns. N1 modifies N2 . In Lesson 1, N1 is an organization or some kind of group to which N2 belongs.
Mr.Miller is an IMC employee.
さん is added to the name of the listener or a third person to show the speaker’s respect to the person. It should never be used with the speaker’s own name.
When referring directly to the listener’s name. The listener’s family name followed by さん is usually used.
鈴木 ( すずき): ミラーさんは 学生 (がくせい) ですか。
Suzuki : Are you a student?
Miller : No, I’m a company employee.
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