Japanese Lesson 1: Basic Structure of Japanese Sentences

Ohayō! (also Ohayou gozaimasu, means "Good morning!")

Let's formally begin our lesson for today - an introduction to Japanese Grammar. I've learned a lot of Japanese expressions already but we will start with the basics which is the structure of Japanese sentences covering sentences, omission, word order, desu and particles.

Sentences
1. A sentence usually consists of (1) noun phrase, (2) a verb phrase, (3) an adjective phrase.
(1) Getsuyōbi desu. (It is Monday)
(2) Tabemashita. (I/You/He/She/It/We/They ate.)
(3) Chiisai desu. (It is/They are small.)

2. When the subject needs to be mentioned, the particle ga is added to the noun or pronoun.
Hattori san ga tabemashita. (Mr./Mrs. Hattori ate.)

3. When the topic needs to be mentioned, the particle wa is added to the noun or pronoun
Kyō  wa  Getsuyōbi desu. (Today is Monday.)
Sono hana wa akai desu. (That flower is red.)

Remember: Wa is used to indicate a subject while placing the emphasis on the predicate and Ga is used to emphasize the subject.

4. A verb phrase is often preceded by (1) an object or (2) an adverbial phrase.
(1) Tegami o kakimashita. (I/You/He/She/It/We/They wrote a letter.)
(2) Sanji ni kite kudasai. (Please come at three o'clock.)

Omission
Any of (1) the topic, (2) a verb phrase, (3) an object, and (4) an adverbial phrase are left out when they can be understood from the context when having conversion.
(1) Lizzy: Kyō wa naniyōbi desu ka? ( What day of the week is it today?
     Babu: Nichiyōbi desu. (It is Sunday.)
(2) Lizzy: Nanji goro ikimasu ka? (What time are you going)
     Babu: Sanji goro. (At around three.)
(3) Lizzy: Ano empitsu o kaimasu ka? (Are you going to buy that pencil?)
     Babu: Ee, kaimasu. (Yes, I'm going to buy it.)

Note: ō can be written as "oo"  since it is read as long "o" (e.g. Nichiyōbi as Nichiyoobi)


Word Order
1. Modifiers precede what is modified.
nagai empitsu (a long pencil, long pencils)
saiteru hana (flowers in bloom)
watashi ga mita hana (flowers that I saw)

2. Particles are always added to other words and phrases.
ame ga (the rain)
sen'en shika (only a thousand yen)

3. Phrases can be reversed can have a reversed order in a conversation.
Kimashita yo, Hattori san ga. (Mr. Hattori came!)
Kirei desu ne, kono hana. (This flower is beautiful!)

Desu (the copula)
1. Desu, or the copula is used either to form a phrase or to make an adjective phrase more polite.
noun phrase:  Nichiyōbi desu. (It's Sunday.)
adjective phrase: Akai desu. (It's red.)

2. The negative from of desu is ja arimasen (informal).
Kyō  wa Nichiyōbi ja arimasen. (Today is not Sunday.)

3. The past from of the desu is deshita and the past negative form is ja arimasen deshita (informal).
Nichiyōbi deshita. (It was Sunday.)
Nichiyōbi ja arimasen deshita. (It wasn't Sunday.)

4. Deshō is used to mean "it probably it is" or "it probably will be".
Ashita wa ame-deshō. (Tromorrow will probably be rainy.)

The negative form of deshō is ja nai deshō (informal).
Ashita wa ame ja nai deshō . (Tromorrow will probably not be rainy.)

5. Da is used instead of desu in familiar speech, it has the following forms.
da (present affirmative) Nichiyōbi da. (It is Sunday.)
ja nai (present negative) Nichiyōbi ja nai. (It isn't Sunday.)
datta (past affirmative) Nichiyōbi datta. (It was Sunday.)
ja nakatta (past negative) Nichiyōbi ja nakatta. (It wasn't Sunday.)
darō (probability.) Nichiyōbi darō . (It will probably be Sunday.)

Particles

We'll be talking about different particles which would be a long discussion so let's save it for tomorrow instead.

P.S. The way fo Japanese writing used here is Romaji. But there's more to learn - Kanji. So at the end of every lesson or blog post, let's have "Kanji of The Day" or KOTD.

KOTD:

一 (kanji) イチ (Reading/Kana) ichi (Romaji) one (English)