Ham-Ham Town
Version 9.0: Christmas time!
Learn
Here is lesson 1
There are 5 vowels in the Japanese language. (a), pronounced "ahh", (i), pronounced like "e" in "eat", (u), pronounced like "oo" in "soon", (e), pronounced like "e" in "elk", and (o), pronounced "oh". All Hiragana characters end with one of these vowels, with the exception of (n). The only "consonant" that does not resemble that of English is the Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it were a combination of a "d", "r", and "l".
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Combinations
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Lesson 2
Now that you've got the Japanese alphabets down, let's learn some vocabulary words and simple phrases. I will list the Kanji, Hiragana, Romaji (the word sounded out using English letters), and the English meaning for each word or phrase. Most words have Kanji for them but I will only include the Kanji if the word is regularly written that way.
Keep in mind that the Japanese language has different levels of politeness that change based on who you are talking to. I will refer to these as "ultra-formal", "formal" (or "polite form"), "normal" (or "plain form"), "informal", and "rude" (we won't be covering too much of the rude form, however).
| 漢字 - Kanji | ひらがな - Hiragana | Romaji |
| 私 | わたし | watashi |
| 僕 | ぼく | boku |
| 彼 | かれ | kare |
| 彼女 | かのじょ | kanojo |
| あなた | あなた | anata |
| これ | これ | kore |
| ここ | ここ | koko |
| この | この | kono |
| それ | それ | sore |
| そこ | そこ | soko |
| その | その | sono |
| 人 | ひと | hito |
| 犬 | いぬ | inu |
| 猫 | ねこ | neko |
| 家 | いえ | ie |
| ありがとう | ありがとう | arigatou |
| ありがとう | ありがとう | arigatou gozaimasu |
| どういたしまして | どういたしまして | douitashimashite |
| おはよう | おはよう | ohayou |
| おはようございます | おはようございます | ohayou gozaimasu |
| こんにちは | こんにちは | konnichiwa |
| こんばんは | こんばんは | konbanwa |
| さよなら | さよなら | sayonara |
Lesson 3
Before we get too much further into grammar and verb conjugation, I thought it would be a good idea to teach numbers, time, days of the week, etc.
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Numbers after 10 are a piece of cake once you know 1 through 10. 11 is simply ten with a one after it, 十一 (じゅういち, juuichi), 12 - juuni, 13 - juusan, 14 - juuyon, etc. 20 is simply 二十 (にじゅう, nijuu), 21 - nijuuichi, and so forth.
Put these numbers in front of the character for time 時 and you've got the time of the day.
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Now just put the character for moon 月 after a number and you've got a month.
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Days of the week don't follow such an easy pattern but here they are anyway along with some other time-related words.
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Lesson 4
Godan Verbs - 五段動詞
Now, before you can start making up sentences of your own, you need to learn how to conjugate verbs. Verbs are the most important part of the Japanese sentence. Often times Japanese people will leave out everything but the verb.
They are very big on leaving out the obvious and sometimes not so obvious which can get confusing at times. There are only 3 types of verbs in the Japanese language and they each follow a pattern that is very simple and very rarely has any exceptions. Most Japanese verbs fall into the first group, the Godan (五段) verbs. These verbs always conjugate the same way with only one exception. These verbs have five changes that follow the order of the Japanese vowels, hence the name Godan (meaning 5 levels or steps), and then the "te" and "ta" forms that are common to all verbs. Here's an example:
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Base 1: Base 1 can not be used by itself but becomes the plain form negative simply by adding -nai. (ex. hanasanai - I won't say anything.) If the verb ends in う (u) then the end for Base 1 becomes わ (wa). (ex. au (Base 1) -> awa)
(Plain form is what people use when talking to a friend. It would not be proper to use in a business environment. We will go over the polite form in lesson 8.)
Base 2: Base 2 is, in most cases, a noun when used by itself but is primarily used with the formal form of the verb.
Base 3: Base 3 is the main form (the one that would be found in the dictionary) and is also the plain form present/future tense.
Base 4: Base 4 is most often used as "if verb" by adding -ba. (ex. hanaseba - If he'd just say something.) It can also be used by itself as a command form but it is extremely rude and I recommend not using it at all.
Base 5: Base 5 is used by itself as the "let's" form. (ex. hanasou - Let's talk.) We will get into other ways it's used in later lessons.
Base "te": Base "te" can be used by itself as a plain form command. It is not rude but should only be used with close friends and children. By adding kudasai it becomes the polite form command. Base "te" can also be used in other ways that we will get into in later lessons.
Base "ta": Base "ta" is merely Base "te" with an "a" sound on the end instead of an "e" sound. It is mainly used by itself as the plain form past tense. (ex. hanashita - I talked.) We will get into other ways it's used in later lessons.
Notice: There is one thing that you'll need to learn in order to conjugate the "te" and "ta" forms correctly. Basically, for all Godan verbs ending in う (u), つ (tsu), or る (ru); the う (u), つ (tsu), or る (ru) becomes って (tte) in the "te" form and った (tta) in the "ta" form. (ex. katsu (to win) -> katte (Win!), katta (We won!))
For all Godan verbs ending in ぶ (bu), む (mu), or ぬ (nu); the ぶ (bu), む (mu), or ぬ (nu) becomes んで (nde) in the "te" form and んだ (nda) in the "ta" form. (ex. yomu (to read -> yonde (Read it.), yonda (I read it.))
For all Godan verbs ending in く (ku), the く (ku) becomes いて (ite) in the "te" form and いた (ita) in the "ta" form. (ex. aruku (to walk) -> aruite (Walk!), aruita (I walked here.)) The only exception to this rule is for the verb iku (to go) which becomes いって, いった (itte/itta).
For all Godan verbs ending in ぐ (gu), the ぐ (gu) becomes いで (ide) in the "te" form and いだ (ida) in the "ta" form. (ex. oyogu (to swim) -> oyoide (Swim!), oyoida (I swam.))
For all Godan verbs ending in す (su), the す (su) becomes して (shite) in the "te" form and した (shita) in the "ta" form. (ex. hanasu (to talk) -> hanashite (Say something!), hanashita (I talked (to him).))
Here are some Godan verbs. Try conjugating them on a piece of paper using what you have just learned.
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Lesson 5
Adjectives and Adverbs
There are two different types of words that can be used to modify nouns and verbs. One group is much like what we would call an adjective but they can also modify verbs as well. We will refer to these as "dv". The other group can, in most cases, stand alone like a noun but can also be used to modify nouns and verbs. We will refer to these as "dn". All words in the "dv" group always end with い (i). No exceptions. This is placed in front of a noun in order to modify it. For example:
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These words can be conjugated to form different tenses, modify verbs, etc. Here is how that is done:
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It's not as easy to recognize a "dn" but I will tell you that's what they are in the vocabulary lists. Sometimes you'll even find a "dn" that ends in い (i) (ex. kirei - pretty). As mentioned before, these words can, in most cases, be used by themselves like a noun (ex. shizen - nature). By adding a な (na) to the end of these words they can be used to modify a noun (ex. shizen na kankyou -> a natural envionment). And by adding a に (ni) to the end of these words they can be used to modify a verb as an adverb (ex. shizen ni aruku -> to walk naturally).
Here's a list of some commonly used "dv" and "dn":
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Lesson 6
Ichidan Verbs - 一段動詞
The second group of verbs are called Ichidan (一段) verbs. It is usually an Ichidan verb if it ends with the sound "iru" or "eru". Ichidan verbs also follow a simple conjugation pattern that is somewhat similar to that of the Godan verbs. Here's an example:
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Base 1 and Base 2: As you can see, Base 1 and 2 are the same. Just like with the Godan verbs, a negative can be made by adding -nai (ex. tabenai - I will not eat.) and this base, or root form, is also used for the formal form of the verb.
Base 3: Base 3 is the same as with Godan verbs.
Base 4: Base 4, however, can not be used by itself like with Godan verbs. It is only used for "if verb" by adding -ba. (ex. tabereba - If I eat it...) It is not the low command form for Ichidan verbs. The low command form for Ichidan verbs is Base 1 + ろ (ro).
Base 5: Base 5 is the same as with Godan verbs.
Base "te" and Base "ta": The Base "te" and "ta" forms for Ichidan verbs are a lot easier than with Godan verbs. Simply take off the "ru" and add a "te" for Base "te" and a "ta" for Base "ta". These have the same functions as with Godan verbs.
Here are some Ichidan verbs. Try conjugating them on a piece of paper using what you have just learned. Click here for the answers.
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Irregular Verbs
The last type of verbs are the Irregular verbs but there are only 2 of them in the entire language so just memorize their charts below. The first one is suru (to do something). Many nouns can be used as a verb simply by putting "suru" right after them. It is probably the most used of all Japanese verbs. The second Irregular verb is kuru (to come).
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The functions for these bases are the same as for the Godan verbs except that Base 4 can only be used as the "if verb".
The rude command form is "Shiro".
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The functions for these bases are the same as for the Godan verbs except that Base 4 can only be used as the "if verb".
The rude command form is "Koi" and really should only be used on animals.
lesson 7
Adjectives and Adverbs
There are two different types of words that can be used to modify nouns and verbs. One group is much like what we would call an adjective but they can also modify verbs as well. We will refer to these as "dv". The other group can, in most cases, stand alone like a noun but can also be used to modify nouns and verbs. We will refer to these as "dn". All words in the "dv" group always end with い (i). No exceptions. This is placed in front of a noun in order to modify it. For example:
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These words can be conjugated to form different tenses, modify verbs, etc. Here is how that is done:
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It's not as easy to recognize a "dn" but I will tell you that's what they are in the vocabulary lists. Sometimes you'll even find a "dn" that ends in い (i) (ex. kirei - pretty). As mentioned before, these words can, in most cases, be used by themselves like a noun (ex. shizen - nature). By adding a な (na) to the end of these words they can be used to modify a noun (ex. shizen na kankyou -> a natural envionment). And by adding a に (ni) to the end of these words they can be used to modify a verb as an adverb (ex. shizen ni aruku -> to walk naturally).
Here's a list of some commonly used "dv" and "dn":
| 漢字 - Kanji | ひらがな - Hiragana | Romaji (English Letters) | English Meaning |
| 赤い | あかい | akai (dv) | red |
| 黄色い | きいろい | kiiroi (dv) | yellow |
| 青い | あおい | aoi (dv) | blue |
| 黒い | くろい | kuroi (dv) | black |
| 白い | しろい | shiroi (dv) | white |
| 面白い | おもしろい | omoshiroi (dv) | interesting, funny |
| 暑い | あつい | atsui (dv) | hot |
| 寒い | さむい | samui (dv) | cold |
| 大きい | おおきい | ookii (dv) | big |
| 小さい | ちいさい | chiisai (dv) | small |
| 自然 | しぜん | shizen (dn) | nature |
| 綺麗 | きれい | kirei (dn) | pretty, clean |
| 失礼 | しつれい | shitsurei (dn) | rude |
| 静か | しずか | shizuka (dn) | quiet |
| 特別 | とくべつ | tokubetsu (dn) | special |
| 元気 | げんき | genki (dn) | in good spirits |
| 変 | へん | hen (dn) | weird, strange |
| 上手 | じょうず | jouzu (dn) | skillful |
| 親切 | しんせつ | shinsetsu (dn) | kind |
| 素敵 | すてき | suteki (dn) | "cool", good looking |
lessons 8 9 10 coming soon
