This chapter introduces basic vocabulary words and sentence structures that are needed for identifying people and things.
HajimemashiteWhen you want to introduce yourself to someone, approach to him/her and say 
Hajimemashite. This literally means Beginning, but its function is to clarify the fact that you are meeting the person for the very first time and are willing to get to know him/her. Then say your name and add 
desu and say 
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu, which literally means Please be nice to me but actually shows your modest attitude and your desire to have a good relationship with the person. If someone says this to you, you should respond with 
Kochira koso yoroshiku onegai shimasu, which means It’s me who should say that.
When addressing a non-family person, try to use his or her occupational title, such as 
sensei (teacher) or 
shach
(company president), after his or her family name. If an occupational title is not available, use a respectful title such as 
san after his or her family name or given name. There are additional respectful titles, but 
san is most neutral and versatile. Make sure not to use an occupational title or a respectful title after your name, even if other people keep addressing you with them. The following are some examples of occupational titles and their use with the family name Tanaka:
The following are some respectful titles:
Jane White introduces herself to Keiko Hayashi at a party. Complete their conversation.
Dochira kara desu ka (Where are you from?)After you introduce yourself to someone for the first time, you might next want to ask the person where he/she is from. Here you’ll learn how to do that.
dochira and the particle 
kara
dochira literally means which way but is also used as a polite version of 
doko (where). 
kara is the particle that means from. If you are from Boston, you can say 
Bosuton kara desu (I’m from Boston.). To find out where a person is from, you can ask 
Dochira kara desu ka (Where are you from?).
anata, 
watashi, and 
bokuWhen you are asking someone where he/she is from, you do not need to say 
anata (you) because it would be obvious, unnatural, and sound like translation. Instead, you can say the name of the person you are talking to. For example, if you are talking to Ms. Hayashi, you can ask her Hayashi-san wa dochira kara desu ka, which means Where are you from, Ms. Hayashi? It is fine to use 
watashi to refer to yourself. If you are a male, you may also use 
boku to refer to yourself.
If someone asks you where you are from, you can answer the question with the name of a country, a region, or a city, depending on the context. The following are names of some countries, regions, and cities:
Ms. White asks Ms. Hayashi where she is from. Complete their conversation.
Match the country names written in Japanese with their English equivalents.
Find nine country names in the puzzle, either vertically (top to bottom) or horizontally (left to right).
Translate the following sentences into Japanese.
1. Meilin (
Meirin) is from Beijing.
2. Yumiko (
Yumiko) is from Tokyo.
3. Thomas (
Tmasu) is from Canada (
Kanada).
4. Emily (
Emir
) is from England (
Igirisu).
State where you are from in Japanese.
Sometimes you want to be able to describe the nationality or language of another person. Here you will learn the proper form as well as the words for some nationalities and languages.
wa … 
desuWhen describing someone, the first step is to refer to that person and add the topic marker 
wa, as you have already done in this chapter. For example, if you are talking about Ken, you say 
Ken-san wa. Then you say Ken’s nationality—for example, 
Amerika-jin (American)—and add the copular verb 
desu. For example:
Ken-san wa Amerika-jin desu.
Ken is an American.
If you want say that someone is not a particular nationality, replace 
desu with 
ja arimasen or with 
ja nai desu. For example:
Ken-san wa Amerika-jin ja arimasen.
Ken-san wa Amerika-jin ja nai desu.
Ken is not an American.
In a formal speech context or in writing, replace 
ja in these negative copular verbs with 
de wa.
moIf the same situation applies to another person, just use 
mo to mark the additional person instead of using 
wa. For example, 
Biru-san mo Amerika-jin desu means Bill is also an American.
To refer to a person’s nationality, use the country name and add 
jin (person). The following are some examples:
To refer to a language, you add 
go (language) after the country name (or region name):
How do you say the following in Japanese?
1. an Italian (person) _________________________________________
2. a Canadian (person) _________________________________________
3. a Filipino (person) _________________________________________
4. an Indian (person) _________________________________________
Translate the following sentences into Japanese.
1. Takeshi (
Takeshi-san) is Japanese.
2. Heejeong (
Hjon-san) is Korean.
3. Professor Brown (
Buraun sensei) is a Canadian.
4. Mr. Chen (
Chen-san) is Chinese.
5. Meilin (
Meirin-san) is also Chinese.
6. George (
Jji-san) is not an American.
Describe yourself by stating where you are from and your nationality in Japanese.
ano …To refer to a person, the easiest way is to use the person’s name. However, if you don’t know the name of the person, but your conversational partner can actually see the person, you can use a demonstrative adjective and a common noun. For example, 
ano hito means that person over there.
anoTo refer to a person you and your conversational partner can see, use a demonstrative adjective like 
ano (that) and a common noun like 
hito (person) and 
gakusei (student). For example:
Ano hito wa Amerika-jin desu.
That person over there is an American.
Additional demonstrative adjectives are discussed later in this chapter.
It is useful to know a common noun like 
hito so you can refer to someone as that person, that man, or that girl. The following are some common nouns for people:
Translate the following sentences into Japanese.
1. That woman is Japanese.
2. That man is Chinese.
3. That person is Korean.
4. That child is French.
When you meet a person for the first time, you may want to talk about your job or where you work.
noTo tell someone you are a student, you can say 
gakusei (student). But if you want to add what kind of student, add a word before it and mark it with the particle 
no. For example, 
nihongo no gakusei means a student of Japanese.
The following are some nouns for occupation:
When you are describing yourself or your family, use 
kyshi instead of 
sensei.
Translate the following sentences into Japanese.
1. Mr. Mori (
Mori-san) is a lawyer.
2. That person is a Japanese student (a student who is studying the Japanese language).
3. That person is a Japanese student (a student whose nationality is Japanese).
4. That woman is a teacher.
5. That woman is a Japanese teacher (a teacher of the Japanese language).
When you describe a person’s occupation, you can say where the person works. For example, if someone is a high school teacher, you can say either 
Kk no sensei desu (He is a high school teacher) or 
Kk de hataraite imasu (He works at a high school). The following is a list of types of institutions:
Translate the following sentences into English.
1. 
Buraun-san wa kk no Nihongo no sensei desu.
2. 
Tanaka-san wa jidsha no kj de hataraite imasu.
(
jidsha means automobile)
3. 
Maiku-san wa dep
to no ten’in desu.
Translate the following sentences into Japanese.
1. Ms. Ishida (
Ishida-san) is a college student.
2. Mr. Tani (
Tani-san) works at a hospital.
3. Ms. Ueda (
Ueda-san) is an English teacher at a high school in Japan.
To refer to your own family members, use the plain forms. To refer to someone else’s family members, use the polite forms. You can also use the polite forms for addressing your own family members who are older than you. (See Chapter 1 for how to address one’s older family members.) The following table shows the plain forms and the polite forms you can use for referring to your close family members:
Read the following passage, written by Sachiko, and answer the questions that follow.
Watashi no chichi wa Ch
goku-jin desu. Haha wa Nihon-jin desu. Chichi wa Tky no gink de hataraite imasu. Haha wa Yokohama no kk no eigo no kyshi desu. Ani wa Amerika no daigaku no keizaigaku no gakusei desu.
(
keizaigaku means economics)
1. What is the nationality of Sachiko’s father?
2. What is the nationality of Sachiko’s mother?
3. What does her father do for living?
4. What does her mother do for living?
5. What does her brother do now?
For each of the following, choose the appropriate answer from the options in parentheses.
1. 
Yamada-san no (ane, on
san) wa kangoshi desu.
2. 
Watashi no (chichi, otsan) wa Amerika-jin desu.
3. 
Ano hito wa (Nihon-go, Nihon-jin) desu.
4. 
Ani wa (Nihon-go no gakusei, gakusei no Nihon-go) desu.
5. 
Watashi wa (Ken, Ken-san) desu.
When asking a question in Japanese, you do not need to invert the subject and the verb. Here you learn how to ask and answer simple questions.
To ask a yes/no question, just add the question particle 
ka at the end of the statement sentence. For example:
Ken-san wa Amerika-jin desu ka.Is Ken an American?
You don’t need a question mark (?) in Japanese, although it is very frequently used.
The answer to a yes/no question usually starts with 
hai or 
e. 
hai means correct or right, so if the question is an affirmative question, it means yes. 
e means wrong, so if the question is an affirmative question, it means no. Their meanings are reversed in answering negative questions.
The following are possible replies to the affirmative question 
Ken-san wa Amerika-jin desu ka (Are you an American, Ken?):
Hai, Amerika-jin desu.
Yes, I’m an American.
e, Amerika-jin ja arimasen.
No, I’m not an American.
The following are possible replies to the negative question 
Kore wa irimasen ka (Don’t you need this?):
Hai, irimasen.
Right, I don’t need it. (No, I don’t need it.)
Wrong, I need it. (Yes, I need it.)
(See Chapter 4 for the verb ending
masu and
masen.)
As you can see, it is very common to omit understood phrases or pronouns in Japanese in replies.
To ask “who?” use the question word 
dare or its polite version, 
donata. For example:
Ano hito wa dare desu ka.
Who is that person?
The topic particle 
wa cannot be used for question words, so never say 
dare wa or 
donata wa.
Reorder the items in each set to form a grammatical sentence and then translate it.
1. 
desu, 
watashi, 
gakusei, 
wa
2. 
haha, 
kangoshi, 
wa, 
desu
3. 
Chūgoku-jin, 
wa, 
ja arimasen, 
Chen-san
4. 
Kankoku-jin, 
desu, 
wa, 
no, 
okāsan, 
Chen-san
5. 
hito, 
ano, 
desu, 
wa, 
ka, 
dare
6. 
Yamada-san, 
hito, 
ano, 
imōtosan, 
desu, 
wa, 
no
Read the following passage and state whether each of the sentences that follows is true or false.
Chen-san wa watashi no tomodachi desu. Chen-san wa Chgoku-jin desu. Nihon-go no gakusei desu. Chen-san no oksan wa kangoshi desu. Chen-san no otsan wa eigo no sensei desu. Chen-san no onsan wa Tky no kkoku no kaisha no shain desu.
(… 
kkoku means advertisement; 
no shain means company employee at …)
1. (True, False): Mr. Chen is a Chinese person.
2. (True, False): Mr. Chen’s father works for an automobile company.
3. (True, False): Mr. Chen’s mother is a nurse.
4. (True, False): Mr. Chen’s older brother is an English teacher.
Describe yourself and your family members as much as you can in Japanese.
Two girls, Mika and Alison, are talking. Complete their conversation with the appropriate words.
After you have already met someone for the first time, you use a different greeting than you used upon meeting. You use different forms for greetings depending on the time of day. What you say to a person in parting depends on a number of factors, such as time of day and whether you will see the person again soon.
To greet someone in the morning, say 
Ohay gozaimasu! (Good morning!). To a close friend or family member, you can just say 
Ohay! (Good morning!). If it’s in the afternoon, say 
Konnichi wa!, which means Good afternoon! or Hi! In the evening, say 
Konban wa! (Good evening!).
When you part, you can say 
J, mata! (See you later!). If you know that you’ll see the person again on the same day or soon, you can say the location and add the particle 
de, as in 
J, mata kurasu de! (I’ll see you later in class!). If it is later in the day and you are unlikely to see the person again on the same day, you may add 
Saynara! (Bye!). If you are parting from someone to whom you need to show your respect, you should say 
Shitsurei shimasu., which literally translates to I’ll be rude but actually means that you are leaving. The Japanese do not say 
Saynara to their family. When they leave home in the morning, they say 
Itte kimasu!, which literally means I’ll go and come back.
Write a Japanese sentence of greeting or parting for each of the following situations.
1. It’s 10 AM. You see your teacher at the library.
2. You’ve just woken up and seen your mother in the kitchen.
3. It’s 9 AM and you are about to leave your home for work. Your mother is sending you off.
4. It’s 5 PM. You talked with your teacher in her office for 15 minutes. You are ready to leave.
Jane Smith sees Professor Hayashi at the library in the morning. Complete their conversation with the appropriate words.
You commonly need to thank people and apologize to them—as well as respond to thanks and apologies. How you do it depends on your relationship.
To thank someone, say 
Arigat gozaimasu. To thank deeply, you can add the adverb 
dmo at the beginning, as in 
Dmo arigat gozaimasu. Never say the short version 
Arigat to anyone except your family, subordinate, or very close friends. On the other hand, you can always say just 
Dmo to thank anyone without sounding rude. In any case, it is a good idea to slightly bow as you say these phrases.
Common responses to such phrases of appreciation include 
e (No [problem]) and 
D itashimashite (You’re welcome).
To apologize, say 
Sumimasen or 
Dmo sumimasen. You can also say a slightly informal version, 
Gomennasai, to your family members or close friends.
To respond to apology, you can just respond with 
e, meaning no need to apologize, if the apology is for something not serious. If the apology is for something rather serious, you can respond to it with 
hai, meaning that you’ll accept his/her apology.
What would you say in Japanese in the following situations?
1. You accidentally pushed the person in front of you in a bus.
2. Your neighbor brought homemade cake to your house.
3. You are talking with your Japanese teacher and just realized that you forgot to do your homework that was due today.
4. Your friend just thanked you for helping her carry the big package.
5. Your friend just stepped on your foot and apologized to you.
George accidentally stepped on a woman’s foot in a bus. Read their dialog and choose the appropriate answer from the options in parentheses.
George forgot to do his homework and apologizes to his teacher. Read their dialog and choose the appropriate answer from the options in parentheses.
You can refer to things you and your conversation partner can see by using demonstrative adjectives along with a common noun such as 
hon (book) or by using a demonstrative pronoun such as 
kore (this one), 
sore (that one near you), or 
are (that one over there).
When referring to an item that is close to you, use 
kono, as in 
kono hon (this book). If it is not close to you but close to your conversation partner, use 
sono, as in 
sono hon (that book near you). If far from both you and your conversation partner, use 
ano, as in 
ano hon (that book over there).
The following are some common nouns for things around you:
kore, 
sore, and 
areWhen your conversation partner will know what noun you’re referring to, you don’t have to say the common noun but can use demonstrative pronouns, 
kore (this one), 
sore (that one near you), and 
are (that one over there) except when you’re referring to people.
When referring to people, do not use demonstrative pronouns but always use a demonstrative adjective along with a common noun—for example, 
ano hito (that person over there). To make it sound polite, you can use 
kata to mean person, after a demonstrative adjective. For example:
Ano kata wa Tanaka sensei desu.
That person over there is Professor Tanaka.
For each of the following, choose the correct answer from the options in parentheses.
1. 
(Are, Ano) wa Tani-san no kaban desu.
2. 
(Kore, Kono) kuruma wa Doitsu no kuruma desu.
3. 
Watashi no pasokon wa (sore, sono) desu.
4. 
(Ano hito, Are) wa Tanaka-san desu.
For each of the following, choose the correct answer from the options in parentheses.
Sometimes to determine what particular item someone is talking about, you need to ask questions using a question word like which item, what item, and whose item. Remember that question words cannot be marked by the topic particle 
wa.
dono or 
dore (which)When you want to ask which or which one, you can say 
dono or 
dore, as in:
Dono hon desu ka.
Which book is it?
Which one is it?
Like 
kono, 
sono, and 
ano, 
dono must be followed by a noun.
nani/nan (what)To ask what, use 
, which is read as nani by itself but as nan when followed by 
desu, as in 
nan desu ka. For example:
Kore wa nan desu ka.
What is this?
dare no (whose)To ask whose, say 
dare no, which is 
dare plus the particle 
no. After the particle 
no, you can drop the common noun if understood. For example:
Kore wa dare no hon desu ka.
Whose book is this?
Kore wa dare no desu ka.
Whose is this?
Translate the following short dialogs into English.
1. A: 
Kore wa dare no kasa desu ka.
B: 
Sore wa Ken-san no kasa desu.
2. A: 
Are wa dare no desu ka.
B: 
Are wa Jn-san no desu.
3. A: 
Ano kuruma wa dare no kuruma desu ka.
4. A: 
Sumisu-san no wa dore desu ka.
B: 
Are desu.
5. A: 
Ano kuruma wa nan desu ka.
B: 
Are wa Toyota no Karra desu.
For each of the following, choose the correct answer from the options in parentheses.
1. 
(Kore, Kono) kuruma wa Nihon no kuruma desu.
2. 
Watashi no wa (sore, sono) desu.
3. A: 
Sore wa nan desu ka.
B: 
(Kore, sore) wa kamera desu.
4. 
Ano hito wa (dare, nan) desu ka.
5. 
Kore wa (dare, nan) desu ka.
6. 
Sore wa (Yamada-san, Yamada-san no) desu ka.
Reorder the items in each set to create a grammatical sentence.
1. 
hon, 
chichi, 
are, 
no, 
wa, 
desu
2. 
kore, 
desu, 
watashi, 
wa, 
no
3. 
dare, 
ano, 
gakusei, 
ka, 
wa, 
desu
4. 
nan, 
sore, 
wa, 
desu, 
ka
5. 
Ken-san, 
dore, 
wa, 
desu, 
ka, 
no
One rainy day, many umbrellas are in the classroom. Yukiko and George are trying to figure out which one is whose. Complete their conversation as appropriate.
