Warm-Up: Practice Sentences
Translate the following sentences into Japanese using what you learned in Lesson 1:
- I’m American. → わたしはアメリカじんです。
- Donald Trump is 77 years old. → Donald Trump は77さいです。
- Is it cold in Italy right now? → いまイタリアはさむいですか？
- My mum is really strong. → わたしの母(はは)は とてもつよいです。
- My cat isn’t very kind. → わたしのねこはあまりやさしくないです。
Vocabulary: One Piece Theme 🏴☠️
| Japanese | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
| にほん | nihon | Japan |
| あくま | akuma | devil |
| くろひげ | kurohige | Blackbeard |
| いのち | inochi | life |
| かいぞく | kaizoku | pirate |
| ぱしり | pashiri | errand boy / lackey |
Dakuten and Handakuten — Voiced and Semi-Voiced Sounds
Japanese has a system of diacritic marks that modify the pronunciation of certain consonants. These small marks are added to the upper-right corner of a kana character and change the base sound entirely.
- Dakuten (濁点) — two small diagonal strokes (゛) that voice a consonant (making it harder and fuller in the throat)
- Handakuten (半濁点) — a small circle (゜) that converts h sounds into p sounds
Voiced Consonant Pairs
K → G
| Base | Reading | Voiced | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| か | ka | が | ga |
| き | ki | ぎ | gi |
| く | ku | ぐ | gu |
| け | ke | げ | ge |
| こ | ko | ご | go |
S → Z
| Base | Reading | Voiced | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| さ | sa | ざ | za |
| し | shi | じ | ji |
| す | su | ず | zu |
| せ | se | ぜ | ze |
| そ | so | ぞ | zo |
T → D
| Base | Reading | Voiced | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| た | ta | だ | da |
| ち | chi | ぢ | (ji) |
| つ | tsu | づ | (zu) |
| て | te | で | de |
| と | to | ど | do |
💡 Note: ぢ and づ are rarely used in modern Japanese. In practice, じ and ず are used instead in almost all cases. You may encounter ぢ and づ in a small number of specific words.
H → B
| Base | Reading | Voiced | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| は | ha | ば | ba |
| ひ | hi | び | bi |
| ふ | fu | ぶ | bu |
| へ | he | べ | be |
| ほ | ho | ぼ | bo |
H → P (handakuten)
| ぱ | ぴ | ぷ | ぺ | ぽ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pa | pi | pu | pe | po |
💡 P-sounds are relatively uncommon in native Japanese words but appear frequently in loanwords: パン (pan = bread), ピアノ (piano).
Contracted Sounds — 拗音（ようおん）
As covered in Lesson 0, 拗音 are formed by combining an い-row kana with a small ゃ, ゅ, or ょ to produce a single blended syllable. Here is the complete reference chart including voiced and semi-voiced variants:
| Base | ＋ゃ | ＋ゅ | ＋ょ |
|---|---|---|---|
| き | きゃ kya | きゅ kyu | きょ kyo |
| ぎ | ぎゃ gya | ぎゅ gyu | ぎょ gyo |
| し | しゃ sha | しゅ shu | しょ sho |
| じ | じゃ ja | じゅ ju | じょ jo |
| ち | ちゃ cha | ちゅ chu | ちょ cho |
| に | にゃ nya | にゅ nyu | にょ nyo |
| ひ | ひゃ hya | ひゅ hyu | ひょ hyo |
| び | びゃ bya | びゅ byu | びょ byo |
| ぴ | ぴゃ pya | ぴゅ pyu | ぴょ pyo |
| み | みゃ mya | みゅ myu | みょ myo |
| り | りゃ rya | りゅ ryu | りょ ryo |
“I Like You” — Unpacking 好き (すき)
The phrase “I like you” in Japanese is a great window into how Japanese grammar works differently from English.
私はあなたが好きです。 Watashi wa anata ga suki desu.
Breaking It Down
① 私は (わたしは)
- 私 (わたし) = “I / me”
- は = topic particle — sets “I” as the topic of the sentence
- Reading: “As for me…”
② あなたが
- あなた = “you”
- が = subject particle — marks “you” as the grammatical subject of what follows
- Reading: “you (are the one who)…”
③ 好き (すき)
- 好き is not a verb. It is a な-adjective meaning “likeable” or “pleasing.”
- It describes the object of affection, not the act of feeling.
The Key Difference from English
In English: “I” like “you” — the speaker is the subject, and “like” is the verb.
In Japanese: “As for me, you are likeable.” — the thing being liked (you) is the grammatical subject. The speaker is only the topic.
| Japanese | Grammatical Role | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 私は | Topic (は) | As for me |
| あなたが | Subject (が) | you |
| 好き(です) | Predicate (な-adj.) | are likeable |
💡 This は vs が distinction is one of the most important — and most nuanced — aspects of Japanese grammar. For now, simply note that は marks the topic (what the sentence is about) while が marks the grammatical subject (who or what performs or experiences the predicate).
Days of the Week
Time Words
| Japanese | Romaji | English |
|---|---|---|
| きょう | kyou | today |
| きのう | kinou | yesterday |
| あした | ashita | tomorrow |
Asking and Answering
- きょうはなんようびですか？ → What day of the week is it today?
- きょうは＿＿＿です。 → Today is ___.
The Days
| Japanese | Romaji | Day |
|---|---|---|
| げつようび | Getsuyoubi | Monday |
| かようび | Kayoubi | Tuesday |
| すいようび | Suiyoubi | Wednesday |
| もくようび | Mokuyoubi | Thursday |
| きんようび | Kin’youbi | Friday |
| どようび | Doyoubi | Saturday |
| にちようび | Nichiyoubi | Sunday |
💡 Memory tip: Each day contains a kanji representing a natural element — 月 (moon/Monday), 火 (fire/Tuesday), 水 (water/Wednesday), 木 (wood/Thursday), 金 (gold/Friday), 土 (earth/Saturday), 日 (sun/Sunday).
Practice pattern:
- わたしは＿＿＿ようびがすきです。→ I like ___days.
Months and Dates
Asking and Answering
- きょうはなんがつですか？ → What month is it?
- きょうは＿＿＿がつです。 → It is ___ month.
Months
Japanese months are straightforward: simply attach がつ to the number.
| Japanese | Month |
|---|---|
| 1がつ | January |
| 2がつ | February |
| 3がつ | March |
| 4がつ | April |
| 5がつ | May |
| 6がつ | June |
| 7がつ | July |
| 8がつ | August |
| 9がつ | September |
| 10がつ | October |
| 11がつ | November |
| 12がつ | December |
Dates — Special Readings for the 1st–10th
The first ten days of the month use traditional Japanese number words and must be memorized individually.
| Date | Japanese | Date | Japanese |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ついたち | 6th | むいか |
| 2nd | ふつか | 7th | なのか |
| 3rd | みっか | 8th | ようか |
| 4th | よっか | 9th | ここのか |
| 5th | いつか | 10th | とおか |
From the 11th onward, the pattern becomes regular: number + にち.
| Date | Japanese | Date | Japanese |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11th | じゅういちにち | 15th | じゅうごにち |
| 12th | じゅうににち | 24th | にじゅうよっか |
| 13th | じゅうさんにち | 31st | さんじゅういちにち |
| 14th | じゅうよっか |
⚠️ Exceptions to watch: The 14th (じゅうよっか), 24th (にじゅうよっか), and 20th (はつか) use irregular readings. These are worth memorizing separately.
Vocabulary:
- たんじょうび = birthday
- わたしのおとうとのたんじょうびは＿＿＿です。→ My younger brother’s birthday is ___.
い-Adjectives
い-adjectives are adjectives that always end in い. They follow a consistent and logical pattern when changing tense or formality.
The core rule: Remove the final い and add the appropriate ending.
Conjugation Chart: かわいい (cute)
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Polite present | ナミはかわいいです | ナミはかわいくないです |
| Casual present | ナミはかわいい | ナミはかわいくない |
| Polite past | ナミはかわいかったです | ナミはかわいくなかったです |
| Casual past | ナミはかわいかった | ナミはかわいくなかった |
The Pattern at a Glance
| Form | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Polite present positive | い + です | かわいいです |
| Polite present negative | い → く + ないです | かわいくないです |
| Polite past positive | い → かった + です | かわいかったです |
| Polite past negative | い → く + なかったです | かわいくなかったです |
| Casual present positive | い (unchanged) | かわいい |
| Casual present negative | い → く + ない | かわいくない |
| Casual past positive | い → かった | かわいかった |
| Casual past negative | い → く + なかった | かわいくなかった |
Vocabulary: Common い-Adjectives
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| かわいい | kawaii | cute |
| つよい | tsuyoi | strong |
| よわい | yowai | weak |
| あつい | atsui | hot |
| さむい | samui | cold |
| やさしい | yasashii | kind |
| たかい | takai | expensive / tall |
⚠️ Important exception: The adjective いい (good) is irregular. In all conjugated forms, it becomes よ as the stem:
- Negative: よくない / よくないです
- Past positive: よかった / よかったです
- Past negative: よくなかった / よくなかったです
な-Adjectives
な-adjectives behave more like nouns than adjectives. On their own, they have no い ending. The な only appears when directly modifying a noun.
Modifying a noun directly:
- やさしいちち (kind dad) ← い-adjective, い stays
- てんさいなちち (genius dad) ← な-adjective, な is required
Conjugation Chart: きれいな (beautiful / pretty)
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 彼女はきれいです | 彼女はきれいではありません／ではないです |
| Casual present | 彼女はきれいだ | 彼女はきれいではない |
| Polite past | 彼女はきれいでした | 彼女はきれいではありませんでした／ではなかったです |
| Casual past | 彼女はきれいだった | 彼女はきれいではなかった |
The Pattern at a Glance
| Form | Ending |
|---|---|
| Polite present positive | ＋ です |
| Polite present negative | ＋ ではありません / ではないです |
| Polite past positive | ＋ でした |
| Polite past negative | ＋ ではありませんでした / ではなかったです |
| Casual present positive | ＋ だ |
| Casual present negative | ＋ ではない |
| Casual past positive | ＋ だった |
| Casual past negative | ＋ ではなかった |
Vocabulary: Common な-Adjectives
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| へんな | hen na | strange |
| てんさいな | tensai na | genius |
| べんりな | benri na | convenient / useful |
| ひまな | hima na | free (not busy) |
| きれいな | kirei na | beautiful / clean |
| すきな | suki na | liked / favourite |
💡 きれい ends in い but is not an い-adjective — it is a な-adjective and does not follow い-adjective conjugation rules. This is one of the most common early mistakes in Japanese.
Nouns + Copula (だ / です)
Japanese nouns cannot form a complete sentence on their own. They attach to the copula — だ in casual speech, です in polite speech — to function as a predicate.
Conjugation Chart: イタリアじん (Italian)
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Polite present | かれはイタリアじんです | かれはイタリアじんではありません／ではないです |
| Casual present | かれはイタリアじんだ | かれはイタリアじんではない |
| Polite past | かれはイタリアじんでした | かれはイタリアじんではありませんでした／ではなかったです |
| Casual past | かれはイタリアじんだった | かれはイタリアじんではなかった |
💡 Notice: The noun + copula conjugation pattern is identical to the な-adjective pattern. This makes sense — な-adjectives are essentially nouns that take な when placed before another noun.
Practice Example
Giorgiaはアメリカじんではないです。 でも、イタリアじんです。 (Giorgia isn’t American. But she is Italian.)
Summary: Conjugation Comparison
| Type | Casual Present | Polite Present | Casual Past | Polite Past |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| い-adj. | かわいい | かわいいです | かわいかった | かわいかったです |
| な-adj. | きれいだ | きれいです | きれいだった | きれいでした |
| Noun | イタリアじんだ | イタリアじんです | イタリアじんだった | イタリアじんでした |
💡 Notice that な-adjectives and nouns follow exactly the same pattern — the only difference is that な-adjectives add な when placed directly before a noun.