じゃありません (ja arimasen)

noun (Y) + じゃありません= it is not Y

X　は　Y　です。        X is Y.
X　は　Y　じゃありません。    X is not Y.

- じゃありません (ja arimasen) can ONLY be used with a noun.
- じゃありません (ja arimasen) is a contraction of でわありません (dewa arimasen)

Example:
トムさんはがいこくじんです。 (Tomu-san wa gaikoku-jin desu)
Tom is a foreigner.
トムさんはがいこくじんじゃありません。 (Tomu-san wa gaikoku-jin ja arimasen)
Tom is not a foreigner.

それはざっしです。 (sore wa zasshi desu)
That is a magazine.
ぞれはざっしじゃありません。 (sore wa zasshi ja arimasen)
That is not a magazine.


BUT take this for example:

このとんかつはおいしいです。 (kono tonkatsu wa oishii desu)
This pork cutlet is delicious.

このとんかつはおいしいじゃありません。 (kono tonkatsu wa oishii ja arimasen)
>> This sentence is grammatically wrong, because おいしい (oishii) is not a noun but an adjective.
>> It should be このとんかつはおいしくない。(oshikunai) or おいしくありません。(oishiku arimasen). We will review this later.

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Vocabulary たんご 

外国人	がいこくじん	gaikokujin	foreigner
雑誌	ざっし	zasshi	maganize
	とんかつ	tonkatsu	pork cutlet

Ko-So-A-Do （こそあど）

Kosoado （こそあど） is actually a mnemonic for this topic.
I have also include this drawing to represent the Kosoado, hopefully you find it useful.

これ ・ それ ・ あれ ・ どれ (kore - sore - are - dore)

>> We use these when talking/referring to an item which name we are not sure of.

kosoado + re （こそあど ＋れ）

これ (kore) - this, close to you (speaker)
それ (sore) - that, close to listener
あれ (are) - that over there (far from both)
どれ (dore) - which?

Example:
これはいくらですか。(kore wa ikura desu ka)
 How much is this?

それは三千円です。(sore wa sanzen en desu)
 That is 3000 yen.

どれが田中さんのけいたいでんわですか。(dore ga Nakata-san no keitai denwa desu ka)
 Which is Nakata's cellphone?

あれです。 (are desu)
 It is that (one).

Note: As どれ (dore) is a question word, it CANNOT be followed by は (wa), so instead it uses が (ga). You may notice the same happened with なに(nani) back in the previous post

この ・ その ・ あの ・ どの (kono - sono - ano - dono)

>> To be more specific than kore, sore, are and dore; we can use the following with a noun.

kosoado + no （こそあど ＋の） + NOUN

この... (kono) - this... , close to you (speaker)
その... (sono) - that... , close to listener
あの... (ano) - that... over there, (far from both)
どの... (dono) - which...?

Example:

このかさはいくらですか。(kono kasa wa ikura desu ka)
 How much is this umbrella?

そのかさは三千円です。(sono kasa wa sanzen en desu)
 That umbrella is 3000 yen.

あのときはほんとうにうれしかったです。(ano toki wa hontouni ureshikatta desu)
 (I) was really happy that time.

どのかさが三千円ですか。(dono kasa ga sanzen en desu ka)
 Which umbrella is 3000 yen?

Note: The same happens to どの (doko) which is also a question word, and as such its followed by が (ga).

ここ ・ そこ ・ あそこ ・ どこ (koko - soko - asoko - doko)

>> The following are used when referring to place/location

kosoado + ko （こそあど ＋こ）

ここ (koko) - here , close to you (speaker)
そこ (soko) - there , close to listener
あそこ (asoko) - over there, (far from both)
どこ (doko) - where?
  
Note:There is a small exception for asoko which is instead of ako

Example:
私はここにいる。(watashi wa koko ni iru)
 I am here.

そこはさむいです。(soko wa samui desu)
 It is cold there.

すみません、上野駅はどこですか。(sumimasen, Ueno-eki wa doko desu ka)
 Excuse me, where is Ueno Station?

あそこです。(asoko desu)
 It is over there.


This topic covers on 3 uses with kosoado, however there are still a few other uses of kosoado which will be covered in later posts.

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Vocabulary たんご 

	いくら	ikura	How much?
けいたい電話	けいたいでんわ	keitai denwa	Cellphone
傘	かさ	kasa	Umbrella
本当に	ほんとうに	hontouni	Really
車	くるま	kuruma	Car
嬉しい	うれしい	ureshii	Happy
駅	えき	eki	Train station

noun1 の noun2

Today's topic is another easy one, the particle の (no). It is one of the most basic and common particle.

noun1 の noun2

- connects two nouns
- acts like a possessive in English ('s)
- main idea is always express at the back (noun2) while the noun1 acts more like a description.
- の (no) can also be used multiple times in a sentence

Let's see some examples to understand:

Example:
やましたせんせいのくるま。（Yamashita-sensei no kuruma)
 Professor Yamashita's car / A car of Professor Yamashita.
>> Here の (no) acts like a possessive. A car belonging to Professor Yamashita.

日本のだいがく。(Nihon no daigaku)
 A college in Japan.
>> The main idea is always placed at the back. "College" is the main idea, while Japan acts as a description for the college.

日本のじょせい。(Nihon no josei)
 A Japanese woman.
>> Similar with last example, the main idea is about the woman. 
Note: that in English the main idea can be either in front or back while in Japanese it's consistently at the back.

わたしのせんせいのなまえ。(Watashi no sensei no namae)
 My teacher's name.
>> In this example, の (no) is used multiple times. The main idea here is "name" which is at the back.

トムさんのかのじょはわたしのせんぱいです。(Tomu-san no kanojo wa watashi no senpai desu)
 Tom's girlfriend is my senior.
>> Here noun1 の noun2 actually acts like a big noun itself.


Note: What is "Main idea"?
Take for example やまださんのへや (Yamada-san no heya) which means "Yamada's room".
Yamada-san no heya
   : is a room (so its the main idea)
   : is NOT Yamada (thus Yamada is not the main idea)

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Vocabulary たんご 

車	くるま	kuruma	car
女性	じょせい	josei	woman, female
名前	なまえ	namae	name
先輩	せんぱい	senpai	honorific senior, superior
部屋	へや	heya	room

Open & Close Questions

Like most languages, Japanese has open and close questions as well.

i) Closed Questions

regular sentence + か =  CLOSED question sentence

• Closed questions are answered with either YES or NO answer.

What we have seen in the last blog post are examples of closed questions.

Example:
ロバートさんはアメリカじんですか。(Robaato-san wa Amerika-jin desu ka)
 Is Robert an American?
はい/いいえ。 (Hai/Iie)
 Yes/No

ii) Opened Questions

• Opened questions are mainly "What","Why", "Where", "Why" and "How".
• We will concentrate on "What" for now. This involve using なに (nani) and なん (nan)

 

a) なに (nani)

> > Use before a particle

Example:
なにが好きですか。(Nani ga suki desu ka)
 What do you like?

なにがだいきらいですか。 (Nani ga daikirai desu ka)
 What do you hate the most?

> > Use in combination with other words

Example: 
なにいろが好きですか。(Nani iro ga suki desu ka)
 What colour do you like?

ロバートさんはなにじんですか。(Robaato-san wa nanijin desu ka)
 What is Robert's nationality?
Note:  なにじん (nanijin) is often used to ask the nationality of a person.

b) なん (nan)

>> Immediately before です(desu)

Example:
せんもんはなんですか。(Senmon wa nan desu ka)
 What is your major?

これはなんですか。(Kore wa nan desu ka)
 What is this?

>> Before the particulars の (no) and で (de)
Note: we will explore further on these particle in the coming blog post. But for now, just read on.

Example:
今日はなんの日ですか。(Kyou wa nan no hi desu ka)
 What day is today?

なんで日本語をべんきょうしますか。 (Nan de nihongo wo benkyou shimasu ka)
How do you study Japanese language?

>> Before a counter

Example:
今はなんじですか。(Ima wa nan-ji desu ka)
 What time is it now?

あなたはなんさいですか。(Anata wa nansai desu ka)
 What is your age?

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Vocabulary たんご 

はい		hai	yes
いいえ		iie	no
アメリカ		Amerika	United States of America
好き	すき	suki	like
嫌い	きらい	kirai	hate
色	いろ	iro	colour
専門	せんもん	senmon	major, specialty
日本語	にほんご	nihongo	Japanese language
勉強	べんきょう	benkyou	to study
あなた		anata	you
～歳	～さい	~sai	~years old, age

～か (ka)

This is one of the easiest Japanese grammar I have learned.

• Just by adding a か to the end of any sentence will make it into a question sentence.
• And there is no need for a question mark (?) after か

regular sentence + か = question sentence

Examples:
トムさんは大学生です。(Tomu-san wa daigakusei desu)
 Tom is a high school student.
トムさんは大学生ですか。(Tomu-san wa daigakusei desu ka)
 (Is) Tom a high school student?

あしたはやすみです。(ashita wa yasumi desu)
 Tomorrow is a holiday.
あしたはやすみですか。(ashita wa yasumi desu ka)
 (Is) Tomorrow a holiday?

メリーはトムさんのかのじょです。(Merii-san wa Tomu-san no kanojo desu)
 Mary is Tom's girlfriend.
メリーはトムさんのかのじょですか。(Merii-san wa Tomu-san no kanojo desu ka)
 (Is) Mary Tom's girlfriend?

８００円です。(800en desu)
 It is 800 yen.
８００円ですか。(800en desu ka)
 (Is) it 800 yen?

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Vocabulary たんご 

大学	だいがく	daigaku	university or college
大学生	だいがくせい	daigakusei	university or college student
明日	あした	ashita	tomorrow
彼女	かのじょ	kanojo	her, she, girlfriend
休み	やすみ	yasumi	recess, rest, holiday, vacation

X はY です (X wa Y desu)

This is the very basic form of Japanese sentence.

• to identify a subject (X) as noun (Y)
• the subject (X) may often be omitted (we will look into this below)
• the noun (Y) does not have plural or singular. It can be either.
• take note that the particle は (ha) is actually pronounced as "wa" in this context.

Examples:
私はトムです。(watashi wa Tomu desu)
 I am Tom.

せんせいは日本人です。(sensei wa nihonjin desu)
 Teacher is a Japanese person.

きょうはいい天気です。 (kyou wa ii tenki desu)
 As for today, it is a fine weather.

これはにもつです。(kore wa nimotsu desu)
 This is a luggage.

• The subject (X) is often omitted and it is very common among Japanese. 
• It is omitted when it is obvious to the listener what or who they are referring to.

Example:
がくせいです。(gakusei desu)
 (I) am a student.

８００円です。(800en desu)
 (It /The watch) is 800 yen.

たのしいです。(tanoshii desu)
 (It) is fun.

おもしろいです。(omoshiroi desu)
 (The Japanese class) is fun.

• Also take note that the subject (Y) can be either plural or singular.
• Thus with a sentence like 日本人です(nihonjin desu) it can mean any of these:

We are Japanese people.
You are a Japanese person.
They are Japanese people.
I am a Japanese.
She is a Japanese.
Tom is a Japanese.

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Vocabulary たんご 

先生	せんせい	sensei	honorific for teacher, professor, doctor
今日	きょう	kyou	today
私	わたし	watashi	I
日本人	にほんじん	nihonjin	Japanese person
天気	てんき	tenki	weather
荷物	にもつ	nimotsu	luggage
学生	がくせい	gakusei	student
円	えん	en	Yen, Japanese currency
楽しい	たのしい	tanoshii	fun, enjoyable (i-adjective)
面白い	おもしろい	omoshiroi	interesting (i-adjective)