Monday, February 21, 2011

Lesson 5

Today's lesson is going to be pretty easy - how to ask yes/no questions in Japanese.

Let's take a sentence from the previous lesson:

Sumisu-san wa bengoshi desu.
Mr. Smith is an attorney.

Now how do we turn this sentence into a question? Pretty simple - just add "ka" .

Sumisu-san wa bengoshi desu ka?

Is Mr. Smith is an attorney?

To answer a yes/no question in Japanese, use hai (yes), or iie (no).

Sumisu-san wa bengoshi desu ka?
Hai, bengoshi desu.
Is Mr. Smith is an attorney?
Yes, he is.

Sumisu-san wa bengoshi desu ka?
Iie, bengoshi dewa arimasen.
Is Mr. Smith is an attorney?
No, he isn't.

In the second answer we see a new word - "dewa arimasen". This is the negative form of desu, meaning "is not".

That's all there is to asking a yes/no question in Japanese - as you can see not everything in this language is hard.

Even though there were no kana in the last couple of lessons, don't forget to practice them. In a few lessons, there will be a test ;)

New vocabulary in today's lesson:
hai - yes
iie - no
dewa arimasen - is not

13 comments:

  1. awesome lessons! i learn and more each one

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  2. Thanks for the lesson, it's really cool that I learn a little bit but it's still helpful :)

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  3. Definitely following, I think Im going to Japan this summer.

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  4. nice lesson this time, not that hard

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  5. That was easier from some other times. I'm looking forward to read your next post.

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  6. wow, that's pretty neat! adding just a word it turns it into a question?

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  7. great lesson... i will try some here in Japan.

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  8. Why can't we all just speak english like God intended.

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