なん+これ、それ、あれ

Grammar Point：なに・なん

これ　は　なん　ですか
それ　は　なん　ですか
あれ　は　なん　ですか

これ、それ、あれ

Grammar Point

これ　=　this
それ　=　that
あれ　=　over there

Let's Play!

これ はほんです。　
それはえんぴつです。
あれはこくばんです。

~Happy, Happy Japanese Learning to You!~

Image Source 

Name-Ender Honorifics

How to politely address another person.

Name-Ender Honorifics

〜なん
〜くん
〜ちゃん
〜せんせい
〜せんばい

~Happy, Happy Japanese Learning to You!~

Attack of the Killer "You's"

Actually I should be nice. 'You' is like, only one of the most important (if not the) most important word in the Japanese language. Seriously. I should behave.

Ways to say 'You'

あなた
おまえ
きみ
てまえ
こいつ
〜さん

Thought of the day: Japanese is not for the faint of heart!

~Happy, Happy Japanese Learning to You!~

Soooo many 'I''s!

One thing I am definitely picking up with the Japanese language is that they like to have many ways to describe the same concept, and it is especially tied to the concept of politeness. I am floored at how many ways there are to say 'I'. I should have guessed that this would be the case with the Japanese language when I finally (thanks to TextFugu, yea!) figured out what the difference is between おんよみ and くんよみ.  (I'm still trying to get over おんよみ and くんよみ. It kinda of scares me, to be honest!)

Ways to say 'I'

わたし
わたくし
あたし
ぼく
おれ
じぶん

~Happy, Happy Japanese Learning to You!~

My Vocabulary Log

Words that I am currently practicing:

はる
なつ
あき
ふゆ

あめ
ゆき

きょうかしょ
じしょ
しゃしん
こども
せんせい
ともだち
つくえ

しごと
はこ
しんぶん

ちかてつ
でんしゃ
じてんしゃ
くるま

ねこ
いぬ

くすり
びょういん

こうえん

おてありい

しお
さとう
みず
りんご

~Happy, Happy Japanese Learning to You!~

The Particle は

The particle は is pronounced ’わ’。

I love particles. I was teaching a lesson on English phrasal verbs a few weeks back and I gave the 'official' explanation which was met with blank stares from my students. Then I told them that particles are essentially the 'garbage can' of grammar. Anything that does not fit into another part of speech like nouns, adjectives, etc. are particles. I told them all they have to remember is that particles are 'thing-a-ma-jigs.' They liked that!

I think TextFugu did a particularly nice job of explaining Japanese particles.

However, unlike the particles in English phrasal verbs, は actually serves a grammatical purpose.

は in Action

AはBです

は means 'A is B.'

AはBじゃありません

 は means 'A is not B.'

 AはBでした

 は means 'A was B.'

AはBじゃありませんでした

 は means 'A was not B.'

~Happy, Happy Japanese Learning to You!~