Basic Japanese

Fuji-yama by Yamashita Kiyoshi

Taro is a salesperson

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Part 1 Taro is a salesperson

If you want to say someone's occupation, social status, nationality, or any other position, we say like this.

Examples:
statement Japanese pronunciation
Taro is a salesperson. 太郎さんはセールスマンです。

(たろうさんは せーるすまんです)

taro-san wa seerusuman desu.
Hanako is a teacher. 花子さんは先生です。

(はなこさんは せんせいです)

hanako-san wa sensei desu.
Tooru is a doctor. 徹さんは医者です。

(とおるさんは いしゃです)

tooru-san wa isha desu.
Masako is a nurse 昌子さんは看護士です。

(まさこさんは かんごしです)

masako-san wa kangoshi desu.
Teruo is a student. 輝雄さんは学生です。

(てるおさんは がくせいです)

teruo-san wa gakusei desu.

Do you see common features among the five examples? Why, yes, They all have "wa" and "desu" ! Let's extract a basic pattern from them when you say " A is B " in Japanese.

Note; " san ( meaning Mr. or Ms.) " should be added after someone's name, either first name or last name.

PATTERN (1)
.・・・は・・・です
< someone > wa < occuption, status, position etc. > desu

Remember that Japanese has no articles corresponding "the" or "a". Let's practice using those words which suggest someone and those words which suggest occupation, etc.

TABLE 1
someone Japanese pronunciation
pronoun
I

(わたし)

watashi
you あなた anata
he

(かれ)

kare
she 彼女

(かのじょ)

kanojo
human relation
my mother

(はは)

haha
someone's mother お母さん

(おかあさん)

okaa-san
my father

(ちち)

chichi
someone's father お父さん

(おとうさん)

otoo-san
a friend of mine 友だち

(ともだち)

tomodachi

Note; " watash wa, anataha wa, kare wa, kanojo wa " are often omitted when both parties know who it is.

TABLE 2
English Japanese pronunciation
occupation
driver 運転手

(うんてんしゅ)

untenshu
policeman 警官

(けいかん)

keikan
salaried man サラリーマン

(サラリーマン)

sararii-man
dentist 歯医者

(はいしゃ)

ha-isha
cook コック

(こっく)

kokku
waitress ウェイトレス

(うぇいとれす)

ueitoresu
nationality
a Japanese 日本人

(にほんじん)

nihon-jin
an American アメリカ人

(あめりかじん)

amerika-jin
a Chinese 中国人

(ちゅうごくじん)

chuugoku-jin
a Korean 韓国人

(かんこくじん)

kankoku-jin
last name
- 鈴木(すずき) suzuki
- 山田(やまだ) yamada
- 渡辺(わたなべ) watanabe
- 高橋(たかはし) takahashi
- 佐藤(さとう) satoo
first name

(のぼる)

太郎

(たろう)

(ひとし)

_

Part 2 Who is he ?

Making questions is very simple...just putting " ka " at the end of the sentence. If you want to ask someone what his name is, you can make a question, " Who is he ? " Let's make some other questions and answers in " yes " and " no ".

Examples:
conversations Japanese pronunciation
Who is he ?

He is Noboru.

誰ですか。

(だれですか。)

昇です。

(のぼるです。)

( kare wa ) dare desuka ?

( kare wa ) noboru desu.

Is he Taroo ?

Yes, he is.

太郎さんですか。

(たろうさんですか。)

はい、太郎さんです。

(はい、たろうさんです。)

( kare wa ) taroo-san desuka ?

hai, taroo-san desu.

Is he HItoshi ?

No, he is not.

仁さんですか。

(ひとしさんですか。)

いいえ、仁さんじゃありません。

(いいえ、ひとしさんじゃありません。)

( kare wa ) hitoshi-san desuka ?

iie, ( kare wa ) hitoshi-san jya arimasen.

When you make questions such as " Who are you ?, Who is he ?, Who is she ?, Who are they? ", you simply say as;

PATTERN (2)
だれですか。
dare desuka

Note; You are not necessarily supposed to put question marks at the end of the question. When you ask " donata desuka " instead of " dare desuka", it sounds much more courteous.

When you make questions asking yes or no, and you answer in the affirmative or negative, you simply say like this;

PATTERN (3)
・・・ですか。
something or someone > desuka

***

PATTERN (4)
はい、・・・です。
hai, < something or someone > desu

***

PATTERN (5)
いいえ、・・・じゃありません。
iie, < something or someone > jya arimasen

Let's paractice using words from TABLE 1and 2.

_

Part 3 She is Kai from China

When you want to tell someone about where they belong ( nationality, club, corporation, school, etc. ), we say like this;

Examples:
statement Japanese pronunciation
She is Kai from China 中国のカイさんです。

(ちゅうごくの かいさんです)

chuugoku no kai-san desu
He is Mike, who belongs to a soccur club. マイクさんです。サッカークラブのマイクさんです。

(まいくさんです。さっかーくらぶの まいくさんです)

maiku-san desu. sakkaa kurabu no maiku-san desu.
He is Tooru, who works for Matsuyama electrtonics. 徹さんです。松山電気の徹さんです。

(とおるさんです。まつやまでんきの とおるさんです)

tooru-san desu. matsuyama-denki no tooru-san desu.
Masako is a student.

She is a student of Hokusan university.

昌子さんは学生です。北山大学の学生です。

(まさこさんは がくせいです。ほくさんだいがくの がくせいです)

masako-san wa gakusei desu. hokusan-daigaku no gakusei desu.
Jane is a teacher.

She teaches at Kita elementary school.

ジェーンさんは先生です。北小学校の先生です。

(じぇーんさんは せんせいです。きたしょうがっこうの せんせいです)

jeen-san wa sensei desu. kita-shoo-gakkoo no sensei desu.

" no " is a very convenient and versatile word. As you see these five examples, you simply put " no " just behind the words, which suggest a group or an organaization to which someone belongs.

PATTERN (6)
・・・の・・・です
< organization, goup, etc. > no < someone or their status > desu

Notes; There are many other ways of using " no ". I will tell you later.

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