Page 3

  1. Affirmative (yes) and negative (no) sentences

    You have already learned how to make a sentence with desu (to be):

    Watashi wa Lucy Kent desu.     		I am Lucy Kent.

    But the negative form of desu is a little different from the negative verbs you learned in Lesson 4. Let's take a look at how to make the negative form of the sentence, "I am 13 years old":

    Jusansai desu.     		[I] am 13 years old.

    Jusansai dewa arimasen.     		[I] am not 13 years old.


    Here are some more examples of sentences that use desu, and their negative forms:

    Kyo wa getsuyobi desu.    		 Today is Monday.

    Kayobi dewa arimasen.    		 [It] is not Tuesday.

    Ashita wa kinyobi desu ka.    		 Is tomorrow Friday?

    Iie, kayobi desu.    		 No, [it] is Tuesday.

    Kyo wa yasumi desu.    		 Today is a holiday.


  2. Days and dates

    Saying a date in Japanese is much like saying it in English: You just put the day of the month after the month itself. For instance, if today's date were November 11, you would say:

    Kyo wa juichigatsu juichinichi desu.


    As you have already learned, it's easy to make a question out of the sentence by adding a :

    Kyo wa juichigatsu juichinichi desu ka?

    If you want to ask today's date, or what day of the week it is, you use the word [nan, the alternate form of the word "what"] and add either [nichi], if you want to know the date, or [yobi] if you would like to find the day of the week:
    Kyo wa nannichi desu ka.
    Kyo wa nanyobi desu ka.

  3. Asking people's ages

    [sai] is a counter for age-you add it to a number to express how many years old someone is. Like the words in 3-2, you can add "what" to this word to ask how old a person is: [nansai].

    Nansai desu ka.    		 How old are you?

    Lucy wa jusansai desu.    		 Lucy is 13 years old.


  4. When?

    In Lesson 2 you learned how to ask someone's name: Namae wa nan desu ka. Now let's take a look at how to ask someone's birthday using the word [itsu], "when":

    Tanjobi wa itsu desu ka?    		 When is [your] birthday?

    Hachigatsu yokka desu.    		 August fourth.


  5. time particle [ni]

    [ni ] has a function similar to in, on, or at in English. If you do something at a certain time, or on a certain day, you put [ni] after the time or day to express that.

    Nichiyobi ni tenisu o shimashita.    		 I played tennis on Sunday.