Displaying posts filed under

Japanese Language

Mar
20
2010

First and Second Person Pronouns

In Japanese, first and second pronouns are frequently omitted, but just for review, here are some of the most common first and second person pronouns : (Note: because of the complexity of the Japanese language, i.e. politeness, gender, context etc. not all of the possible pronouns are listed below. However, this is a pretty comprehensive list)
わたし/私 = [...]

Mar
20
2010

Shunbun no hi – Vernal Equinox Day

March 21st is “Shunbun no hi (Vernal Equinox Day).” It is designated as a national holiday in Japan. Since spring break starts around this time, I wasn’t as excited about this holiday as other holidays when I was at school. “Shunbun” is written with a combination of the kanji characters for “spring” and “to divide“. [...]

Mar
14
2010

More Quantifiers

Continuing from the previous post, here are some more quantifiers:
余り/あまり = not often, not much
うどんは余り好きじゃありません = I don’t like udon that much.
(うどん = udon. は = subject marking particle. あまり/余り = that much/not much. すきじゃありません/好きじゃありません = don’t like)
時々/ときどき = sometimes, from time to time.
私は時々公園で遊びます = I play at the park from time to time.
(わたし/私 = I. [...]

Mar
10
2010

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are words that express how often you do/don’t do things and how much you like/dislike certain things.
Here is an example of a common quantifier よく:
よく勉強します = I study often. (よく = often. 勉強します = べんきょうします/study)
Another common one is とても:
それはとても便利ですね = That’s very convenient, isn’t it?
(それ = that. は = subject marking particle. とても = [...]

Mar
10
2010

Learning Kanji

Have you started learning kanji? I recently created the, “Most Frequently Used Kanji” page, which lists 50 of the most frequently used kanji in Japanese newspapers. Clicking the link of each kanji character will take you to a page where you can learn how to read and write it. If you want to learn more, [...]