English Japanese

One Ichi
Two Ni
Three San
Four Yon, Yo, Shi
Five Go
Six Roku
Seven Nana, Shichi
Eight Hachi
Nine Kyuu, Ku
Ten Juu

Yes, if you want to learn numbers in Japanese, the first thing you
must do is to familiarize yourself with the numbers one (1) to ten (10).
For this lesson, though, we shall focus first on the two-digit numbers.
That is, the numbers eleven (11) up to ninety-nine (99).
To do that, just follow / do the following techniques:
The numbers 11 to 19 start with a 10 (JUU) and followed by the number at
the right. Hence, 11 is a 10 and a 1 (JUUICHI), 12 is a 10 and a 2 (JUUNI)
so forth and so on.
To say in Japanese the numbers 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90, begin
with the first number (that is, the number at the left. In the case of 20, it is 2
while in the case of 30, it is 3.) After this, add a 10 (JUU). Hence, 20 is a 2
and 10 (NIJUU), 30 is a 3 and a 10 (SANJUU) etc.
Finally, for two-digit numbers such as 21 to 29, 31 to 39 etc., insert a 10
(JUU) between the numbers. Hence, 21 is a 2, a 10 and a 1
(NIJUUICHI), 24 is a 2, a 10 and a 4 (NIJUUYON )
etc.
 JAPANESE TRANSLATION IN
ENGLISH
RO-MAJI
I WATASHI
We WATASHITACHI
You ANATA
He, She, That Person ANO HITO
Teacher SENSEI
Student GAKUSEI
Company Employee KAISHAIN
Bank Employee GINKOUIN
Medical Doctor ISHA
Researcher KENKYUUSHA
Engineer ENJINIA
University DAIGAKU
Yes HAI
No IIE
USA AMERIKA
UK IGIRISU
India INDO
Indonesia INDONESHIA
South Korea KANKOKU
Thailand TAI
China CHUUGOKU
Germany DOITSU
Japan NIHON
France FURANSU
Brazil BURAJIRU
Philippines FIRIPIN
1. Subject wa N desu.
In this sentence pattern, the subject of the sentence is a
person (noun or pronoun). The subject is followed by the subject marker
particle “wa”.
“Desu”, the copula, functions as the verb in the sentence and
is equivalent to Am, IS or ARE, depending on the subject of the sentence.
The use of “desu” makes the sentence complete, hence, polite.
N tells something about the subject. In this module, the N
may be the subject’s name, age, nationality or profession.

Example: 1.1 Watashi wa Grace desu. (I am Grace.)

SUBJECT N (name of SUBJECT)

1.2 Satou san wa kenkyuusha desu. (Mr. Satou is a researcher.)

SUBJECT N (profession of
SUBJECT)
1.3 Yamada san wa Nihonjin desu.(Ms. Yamada is Japanese. )
SUBJECT N (nationality of SUBJECT)

Again, SAN is equivalent to or Ms. It is added after a name of a person.

Thus, Mr. Tanaka in English is Tanakasan in Japanese.
However, different suffixes are added when addressing young boys and
girls. These suffixes are KUN for boys and CHAN for girls.
JIN is another suffix added after the name of a country to mean
“national of”. Thus, American in English is Amerikajin in Japanese.
SAI, also a suffix, refers to age. It is added after the number that
represents the age of a person. Thus, if a person is 17 years old, say 17 in
Japanese and add SAI. 17 years old is JUUNANASAI.
If one’s age is 8 or ends in 8 (18 years, 28 years old etc), this is an
exception. Instead of saying HACHISAI, 8 years old is HASSAI, 28 years
old is NIJUUHASSAI etc.
20 years old = Hatachi
1 year old = Issai

To ask for one’s age, “NANSAI DESU KA.” is used.

Example: Anata wa nansai desu ka. (How old are you?)
Watashi wa juunanasai desu. (I am 17 years old.)

2.Subject wa N ja arimasen.
JA ARIMASEN is the present/ future negative form of “desu”. Thus, it is
equivalent to “am not”, “is not”, “are not” and “will not be”.

JA ARIMASEN is the form used in daily conversation.

It may be DEWA ARIMASEN in formal speech or writing.

Example: Watashi wa isha ja arimasen. (I am not a doctor.)

3. Subject wa N desu ka.

KA is a question marker. It is added at the end of a declarative sentence
to form a question. Thus, KA after Subject wa N desu forms an
interrogative statement.

Example: Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu. (Ms. Yamada is Japanese.)

Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu ka. (Is Ms. Yamada Japanese?)

“Subject wa N desu ka” is answerable by either a YES (HAI) or a

NO (IIE). Here are several ways of constructing your answer.
Example: Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu ka. (Is Ms. Yamada Japanese?)
Answer: If YES, say (write): Hai, + Subject wa N desu.
(Hai, Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu.)
Or Hai, + N desu.
(Hai, Nihonjin desu.)

IMPORTANT: Both answers mean “Yes, Ms. Yamada is

Japanese.

If your answer is NO, say (write): Iie, + Subject wa N ja arimasen.

(Iie, Yamadasan wa Nihonjin ja arimasen.)
Or Iie, + N ja arimasen.
(Iie, Nihonjin ja arimasen.)
IMPORTANT: Both answers mean “No, Ms. Yamada is not Japanese.

4.The Particle MO
The particle MO is added after a topic / subject instead of (read as wa)
when the statement (predicate) about the topic is the same as the predicate
in the previous statement.

The particle MO is equivalent to “too” or “also”.

Example: Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu. (Ms. Yamada is Japanese.)

Satousan mo Nihonjin desu. (Ms. Satou is also Japanese.)

If the particle MO () is used to ask a question, the following answer patterns

are observed:
Example: Yamadasan wa Nihonjin desu. (Ms. Yamada is Japanese.)
 Satousan mo Nihonjin desu ka. (Is Ms. Satou Japanese too?)
If YES: Hai, Satousan mo Nihonjin desu.
If NO: Iie, Satousan wa Nihonjin ja arimasen.

5. N1 (no) N2
NO is a particle. It is used to connect two words to form the possessive.

Hence, if “Yamada san” is Mr. or Ms. Yamada,

“Yamada san no “is /Ms. Yamada’s.

Example: IMC shain (employee of IMC or IMC’s employee)

Batangasu Daigaku gakusei ( student of UB or UB’s student)