Chinese, Mandarin

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Persian, Dari

Persian, Western

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek, Modern

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn the sentences in the table below.
	Above the <strong>kanji</strong> are some <strong>hiragana</strong> that show how the kanji is pronounced.
</p>

<p>
	Since you don't know all hiragana characters yet, you can also see a <strong>romanization</strong> below the Japanese sentences.
	When asked to translate an English sentence into Japanese while practicing, you can write in the latin alphabet using this romanization.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="24015"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25220"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25221"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h4>The verb "To be"</h4>

<p>
	The verb <strong>to be</strong> is <strong>です</strong> in Japanese.
	As you can see in the example sentences, verbs come at the end of the sentence.
	<strong>です</strong> is the neutral/formal form of <strong>to be</strong>.
	Later in this course, you will learn how to speak in a more casual way.
</p>

<h4>Omission of the subject</h4>

<p>
	In Japanese, the subject is often omitted.
	In the Japanese translations, the English word <strong>it</strong> cannot be found.
</p>

<h4>Articles</h4>

<p>
	Note that the word <strong>a</strong> is not translated into Japanese.
	Japanese does not have articles like <strong>the</strong>, <strong>a</strong> and <strong>an</strong> in English.
</p>

The verb to be

<p>
	The Japanese writing system consists of <strong>kana</strong> and <strong>kanji</strong>.
	The <strong>kana</strong> consist of characters that represent sounds.
	There are two <strong>kana</strong>, namely <strong>hiragana</strong> and <strong>katakana</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	Japanese uses <strong>morae</strong> instead of syllables as the basis of its sound system.
	Each character in <strong>hiragana</strong> and <strong>katakana</strong> represents one <strong>mora</strong>,
	and each mora lasts for approximately the same amount of time.
</p>

<p>
	<strong>Hiragana</strong> is used to represent the <strong>mora</strong> of originally Japanese and naturalized Japanese words.
	<strong>Katakana</strong> is used to represent the mora of foreign words and names, loanwords, onomatopoeia, scientific names, and to provide emphasis.
	For both kana you will need to learn <strong>46</strong> characters in order to be able to write all syllables.
</p>

<p>
	In this first lesson, you will learn to recognize some <strong>hiragana</strong> characters.
	In the second lesson, you will learn to recognize some <strong>kanji</strong>,
	which are Chinese characters that represent entire words or word parts.
	And then, in the third lesson, you will learn how to make your first sentences in Japanese.
</p>

<p>
	In the table below you can see the <strong>hiragana</strong> characters that you will learn in this lesson.
	You don't need to memorize them by looking at the table.
	To learn them just click the big button below.
</p>

<table class="celled fixed centered">
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="23948"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23949"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23950"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23940"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23942"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23943"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23953"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23954"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Hiragana 1

<p>
	<strong>Kanji</strong> are characters imported from China that have meaning.
	There are <strong>2,136</strong> kanji that all Japanese citizens learn in primary and secondary school.
	Understanding these will bring you a long way, but the average Japanese person knows more than 3,000 kanji.
	In this lesson you will learn your first <strong>kanji</strong>, which you will use in the next lesson to make sentences.
</p>

<table class="ui celled fixed table">
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="23941"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23951"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24870"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24651"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24652"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23939"></tr>
		<tr data-item="23952"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The characters with the word <strong>component</strong> behind it are actually not <strong>kanji</strong> at all.
	Components are symbols that can be found inside kanji, for example <strong>私</strong> is composed of <strong>禾</strong> and <strong>厶</strong>.
	Components by themselves don't have any meaning, but we give them names such that we can talk about them.
</p>

<p>
	Components make memorizing kanji easier, because they allow us to see kanji as a collection of a few components instead of as a lot of random strokes.
	Kanji themselves can also serve as components in other kanji.
</p>

<p>
	We won't teach the pronunciation of the kanji in the kanji lessons, as most kanji have multiple pronunciations.
	The ways in which the kanji can be pronounced will become clear once they are used inside words.
</p>

Kanji 1

<p>
	Writing lessons are <strong>optional</strong>.
	It is possible to skip all writing lessons and still understand the course, and you can always come back to do the writing lessons later.
</p>

<p>
	In this lesson you'll learn how to <strong>write</strong> the characters you've learned to recognize in the lesson <strong>Hiragana 1</strong>.
	You will first be asked to write a character, after that you will see an animation of how to write the character.
	Then you will need to tell us honestly whether you think you wrote the character correctly, including the right <strong>stroke order</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	If you use a desktop computer, or a phone with stylus, you can draw on the screen.
	Otherwise, get yourself a <strong>pen and some paper</strong>.
</p>

Writing hiragana 1

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn to write the kanji you've learned in the lesson <strong>Kanji 1</strong>.
	Remember that the writing lessons are optional, so you will be able to follow the rest of the course if you skip the writing lessons.
	You can also come back to the writing lessons at any time to do them later.
</p>

Writing kanji 1

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn to recognize the hiragana characters in the table below.
</p>

<table class="celled fixed centered">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Hiragana</th>
			<th>Romanization</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26406"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24046"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24847"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24045"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26080"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24041"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26081"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24042"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26082"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24043"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26083"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25637"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24047"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24044"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note that some characters look really similar to the characters above them.
	The two small strokes at the top right are called <strong>dakuten</strong>.
	The dakuten signifies that the consonant in the <strong>mora</strong> is <strong>voiced</strong>.
	Remember that a mora in Japanese is roughly equivalent to a syllable in English,
	and that a mora represents a single unit of time.
</p>

<p>
	A consonant is voiced when we vibrate our vocal chords while pronouncing it.
	So whereas we don't vibrate our vocal chords while pronouncing the <strong>t</strong>, we do so while pronouncing the <strong>d</strong>.
	Except for the vibration of the vocal chords, the production of the <strong>t</strong> and <strong>d</strong> sounds is the same.
</p>

<p>
	In the table below you can see all base hiragana characters.
	Once you know all of them, you will be able to write all hiragana sounds.
	We will show this table in all hiragana lessons and highlight the characters you have learned so far.
</p>

<table class="celled fixed definition centered">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Hiragana</th>
			<th>a</th>
			<th>i</th>
			<th>u</th>
			<th>e</th>
			<th>o</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>-</td>
			<td>あ</td>
			<td>い</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">う</td>
			<td>え</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">お</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>k</td>
			<td>か</td>
			<td>き</td>
			<td>く</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">け</td>
			<td>こ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>s</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">さ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">し</td>
			<td>す</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">せ</td>
			<td>そ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>t</td>
			<td>た</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ち</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">つ</td>
			<td>て</td>
			<td>と</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td>な</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">に</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ぬ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ね</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">の</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>h</td>
			<td>は</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ひ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ふ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">へ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ほ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>m</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ま</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">み</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">む</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">め</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">も</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>y</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">や</td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ゆ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">よ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>r</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ら</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">り</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">る</td>
			<td>れ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ろ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>w</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">わ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">を</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td colspan="5" style="color: #CCCCCC;">ん</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Hiragana 2

Kanji 2

<p>
	In Japanese, you can turn a sentence into a question by adding the question particle <strong>か</strong> to the end of the sentence.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="24560"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The word <strong>何</strong> is pronounced either as <strong>nan</strong> or as <strong>nani</strong> in Japanese.
	You will get a feeling for when to use which pronunciation soon, but in case you want to know, <strong>nan</strong> is used before <strong>desu</strong> and before <strong>counters</strong>, about which you will learn more later.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="24254"></tr>
		<tr data-item="31211"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The most common ways to say <strong>yes</strong> in Japanese are <strong>はい</strong> and <strong>ええ</strong>.
	<strong>はい</strong> is more formal than <strong>ええ</strong>, and can also be used in response to someone calling your name and in response to someone knocking on your door.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="24564"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24565"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

The question particle か

Writing hiragana 2

<p>
	We can use <strong>これ</strong>, <strong>それ</strong> and <strong>あれ</strong> to talk about things without naming them.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="24072"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24073"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24074"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	<strong>これ</strong> is used to refer to things close to the speaker.
	<strong>それ</strong> is used to refer to things close to the listener.
	<strong>あれ</strong> is used to refer to things that are neither close to the speaker nor to the listener.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="24067"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24068"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24069"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24070"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24071"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

This one and that one

Writing kanji 2

Reading exercise 1

Reading exercise 2

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn to recognize the hiragana characters in the table below.
</p>

<table class="ui celled table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Hiragana</th>
            <th>Romanization</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
		<tr data-item="24843"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25431"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25638"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24842"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24844"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25246"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24841"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24840"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25337"></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note the <strong>しゃ</strong> and <strong>じゃ</strong> in the table above.
	These are are called <strong>digraphs</strong> and consist of a combination of two characters.
	In a <strong>digraph</strong> the second character is smaller than normal.
</p>

<p>
	<strong>じゃ</strong> is one mora long and is romanized as <strong>zya</strong><sup>nihon-shiki</sup> or <strong>ja</strong><sup>hepburn</sup>,
	whereas <strong>じや</strong> is two mora long and is romanized as <strong>ziya</strong><sup>nihon-shiki</sup> or <strong>jiya</strong><sup>hepburn</sup>.
	While reading, be careful to look at the size of the second character to distinguish between these two readings.
</p>

<table class="celled fixed definition centered">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Hiragana</th>
			<th>a</th>
			<th>i</th>
			<th>u</th>
			<th>e</th>
			<th>o</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>-</td>
			<td>あ</td>
			<td>い</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">う</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">え</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">お</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>k</td>
			<td>か</td>
			<td>き</td>
			<td>く</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">け</td>
			<td>こ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>s</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">さ</td>
			<td>し</td>
			<td>す</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">せ</td>
			<td>そ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>t</td>
			<td>た</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ち</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">つ</td>
			<td>て</td>
			<td>と</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td>な</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">に</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ぬ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ね</td>
			<td>の</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>h</td>
			<td>は</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ひ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ふ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">へ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ほ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>m</td>
			<td>ま</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">み</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">む</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">め</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">も</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>y</td>
			<td>や</td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ゆ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">よ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>r</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ら</td>
			<td>り</td>
			<td>る</td>
			<td>れ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ろ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>w</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">わ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">を</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td colspan="5" style="color: #CCCCCC;">ん</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Hiragana 3

<p>
	There are multiple ways to make a sentence negative in Japanese, depending on the politeness of your speech.
	In the beginning of this course we will only focus on <strong>neutral</strong> speech, which is polite enough for most situations.
	This is more polite than <strong>casual</strong> speech, and less polite than <strong>formal</strong> speech.
	You will learn the other forms in later lessons.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="24845"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Study the table below.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="24846"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24854"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24855"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	In the question and the responses in the table, note that in the case of a negative question, Japanese speakers say <strong>yes</strong> to affirm that the situation in the question is the case, that it is indeed not a dog.
	By responding with <strong>no</strong>, you deny that the situation the question describes is the case.
</p>

<p>
	This is the opposite of how English speakers use <strong>yes</strong> and <strong>no</strong>, so it can be quite confusing.
	However, when you think about it, the Japanese way is actually more logical.
</p>

Negating nouns

Writing hiragana 3

<h4>The topic particle は</h4>

<p>
	The particle <strong>は</strong> signifies that the word or phrase before it is the topic of the sentence.
	Normally <strong>は</strong> is pronounced as <strong>ha</strong>, but when used as a topic particle it is pronounced as <strong>wa</strong>.
	In the first example sentence, <strong>は</strong> marks <strong><ruby>私watasi</ruby></strong> as the topic of the sentence.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="23947"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24014"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h4>Romanization</h4>

<p>
	There are different ways to write Japanese using the latin alphabet, called <strong>romanizations</strong>.
	In the west, the most commonly used romanization is the <strong>Hepburn</strong> romanization,
	which would romanize <strong><ruby>私watasi</ruby></strong> as <strong>watashi</strong> instead of <strong>watasi</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	We recommend using a romanization that is closer to the Japanese <strong>Nihon-shiki</strong> romanization system.
	The reason for this is that it is more regular and has a one-to-one relation to the kana systems.
	For example, using Hepburn, <strong>じ</strong> and <strong>ぢ</strong> are both romanized as <strong>ji</strong>,
	whereas with Nihon-shiki they are romanized as <strong>zi</strong> and <strong>di</strong> respectively,
	which makes it possible to differentiate between the two while romanized.
</p>

<h4>No conjugation for persons</h4>

<p>
	Note that <strong>です</strong> does not conjugate based on the subject.
	Whether we talk about I, you, he or she, <strong>です</strong> remains <strong>です</strong>.
</p>

The topic particle は

Kanji 3

<p>
	In Japanese, possession is expressed with the case particle <strong>の</strong>.
	The possessor comes left of the particle <strong>の</strong> and the thing that is possessed on the right side.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25273"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25279"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25275"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

The possession particle の

<p>
	There are two types of adjectives in Japanese, <strong>い-adjectives</strong> and <strong>な-adjectives</strong>.
	These adjectives behave in a different way.
</p>

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn two adjectives, <strong><ruby>大ooきい</ruby></strong>(ookii), which means <strong>big</strong>, and <strong>きれい</strong>, which means <strong>pretty</strong>.
	<strong><ruby>大ooきい</ruby></strong> is an い-adjective, and <strong>きれい</strong> is a な-adjective.
</p>

<h4>Using adjectives after a noun</h4>

<p>
	When used after a noun, there is no difference between these two kinds of adjectives, as you can see below.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25282"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25283"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	When used in front of a noun, な-adjectives end in <strong>な</strong>.
	This is why な-adjectives are called な-adjectives.
</p>

<h4>Using adjectives in front of a noun</h4>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25289"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25285"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	い-adjectives don't change when used in front of a noun.
	All い-adjectives end in <strong>い</strong>, but not all adjectives ending in <strong>い</strong> are い-adjectives.
	Otherwise <strong>きれい</strong> would also be an い-adjective, which it is not.
</p>

<p>
	You don't have to worry about remembering whether each adjective you learn is an い-adjective or a な-adjective.
	We will make sure to use each adjective we teach in a sentence in such a way that you will know and remember.
</p>

<h4>The nationality suffix</h4>

<p>
	As you can see in the table below,
	we can refer to a person from a specific country by placing the kanji <strong><ruby>人zin</ruby></strong> after the country name.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25287"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25288"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

い-adjectives and な-adjectives

<p>
	Until now, we have used the <strong>topic particle</strong> after the subject of the sentence.
	The subject was the <strong>topic</strong> of our sentences, because we wanted to say something about the subject.
</p>

<p>
	We did this because when talking about the subject, we assumed the subject was already known to the speaker and the reader, and the new piece of information was what came after the <strong>は</strong> particle.
	In fact, every time we say <strong>X は</strong>, the sentence keeps its meaning if we remove <strong>X は</strong> from the sentence.
</p>

<p>
	In case we want to introduce the subject, or the subject is the description instead of the thing we want to describe, we use <strong>が</strong> instead of <strong>は</strong> after the subject.
</p>

<p>
	Using <strong>が</strong> and <strong>は</strong> well is very complicated, and you don't need to understand their difference fully right now.
	We hope that during the course, it will become clearer to you when to use which.
</p>

<p>
	When the subject is a question word, we cannot use the topic particle <strong>は</strong>.
	We have to use <strong>が</strong> in this case, because the subject cannot be a topic already known to the speaker.
	If we remove <strong>どれが</strong> from the first sentence in the table below, its meaning will have changed.
	However, in a sentence like <strong>あれはきれいです</strong>, we can drop <strong>あれは</strong> and the meaning is still the same, if we assume the speaker is still speaking about the same object.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25316"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25329"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The response to a question with a question word will also use the <strong>が</strong> particle.
	In the second example, <strong>これ</strong> is a new piece of information, therefore we use <strong>が</strong>.
	Note also that we cannot drop the subject and just say <strong>あなたのです</strong>,
	as Person B would not be identifying specifically which object is Person A’s.
</p>

<p>
	TLDR: <strong>が</strong> is used when the focus is on the subject, and <strong>は</strong> is used when the focus is the comment on the subject.
</p>

The subject particle が

<p>
	We can use <strong>ここ</strong>, <strong>そこ</strong> and <strong>あそこ</strong> to talk about locations without naming them.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25317"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25318"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25319"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25320"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	<strong>ここ</strong> is used to refer to a location close to the speaker.
	<strong>そこ</strong> is used to refer to a location close to the listener.
	<strong>あそこ</strong> is used to refer to a location that is neither close to the speaker nor to the listener.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25326"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25325"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25327"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25323"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Here and there

<p>
	Japanese has two verbs to express the English phrase <strong>there is, there are</strong>.
	The verb <strong>ある</strong> is used for inanimate objects, and <strong>いる</strong> for living beings.
	The polite forms of these verbs are <strong>あります</strong> and <strong>います</strong> respectively.
	You will learn how to conjugate verbs later.
	The verbs <strong>ある</strong> and <strong>いる</strong> are used together with the particle <strong>が</strong> to express <strong>there is, there are</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25343"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25344"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	You can also use the verbs together with <strong>ni</strong> to indicate the location of things, without it being translated to <strong>there is, there are</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25341"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25342"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note that even though you can say <strong>ここです</strong> to indicate that you are here, you cannot say <strong><ruby>王ouの車kurumaです</ruby></strong> to indicate that you are inside the king's car, since this sentence means <strong>It is the king's car</strong>.
	You also cannot use <strong>です</strong> in combination with <strong>に</strong>, so <strong><ruby>王ouの車kurumaにです</ruby></strong> is ungrammatical.
</p>

There is, there are

Writing kanji 3

Kanji 4

<h4>Group 1 verbs</h4>

<p>
	In Japanese, all verbs end in an <strong>u</strong> sound.
	Most verbs can be divided into two groups, called <strong>Group 1</strong> and <strong>Group 2</strong>.
	In this lesson we will focus on <strong>Group 1</strong> verbs and in the next lesson we will look at <strong>Group 2</strong> verbs.
</p>

<p>
	In the table below you can see four verbs from Group 1, both in the form in which you will find them in the dictionary, and in their more polite <strong>long form</strong>.
	You will learn all verbs in their <strong>dictionary form</strong> first, since this will help you later on when you need to conjugate them in different ways.
	However, while making sentences we will start by using the long form, because you can more safely use neutral speech in a wide variety of circumstances.
</p>

<p>
	As you can see, converting verbs in Group 1 into the long form is easy and consists of two steps:	
</p>

<ol>
	<li>Replace the ending <strong>u</strong> sound with an <strong>i</strong> sound to obtain the <strong>stem</strong>.</li>
	<li>Add <strong>ます</strong> to the end.</li>
</ol>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Dictionary form (casual)</th>
			<th>Stem</th>
			<th>Long form (neutral/formal)</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>to buy</td>
			<td><ruby>買ka</ruby>う<br/>kau</td>
			<td><ruby>買ka</ruby>い<br/>kai</td>
			<td><ruby>買ka</ruby>います<br/>kaimasu</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>to drink</td>
			<td><ruby>飲no</ruby>む<br/>nomu</td>
			<td><ruby>飲no</ruby>み<br/>nomi</td>
			<td><ruby>飲no</ruby>みます<br/>nomimasu</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>to enter</td>
			<td><ruby>入hai</ruby>る<br/>hairu</td>
			<td><ruby>入hai</ruby>り<br/>hairi</td>
			<td><ruby>入hai</ruby>ります<br/>hairimasu</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>to meet, to see</td>
			<td><ruby>会a</ruby>う<br/>au</td>
			<td><ruby>会a</ruby>い<br/>ai</td>
			<td><ruby>会a</ruby>います<br/>aimasu</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The verbs in the table above are in the <strong>non-past tense</strong>.
	They refer to habitual actions or to actions that will happen in the future.
	You can compare this to a combination of the <strong>present simple</strong> and the <strong>future</strong> tense in English.
	Soon after this, you will learn about the <strong>past tense</strong>.
	Later in this course you will learn the <strong>progressive tense</strong> to talk about things that are happening right now, comparable to the English <strong>present continuous</strong>.
</p>

<h4>Direct and indirect objects</h4>

<p>
	The verbs <strong><ruby>買kaう</ruby></strong> and <strong><ruby>飲noむ</ruby></strong> go together with a <strong>direct object</strong>, whereas <strong><ruby>入haiる</ruby></strong> and <strong><ruby>会aう</ruby></strong> go together with an indirect object.
	<strong>Direct objects</strong> are often directly affected by an action in the sense that the action is <strong>performed on the direct object</strong>.
	<strong>Indirect objects</strong> are less directly affected, and there is often a sense of <strong>movement toward the indirect object</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	Direct objects are often followed by the direct object particle <strong>を</strong>, whereas indirect objects are often followed by the indirect object particle <strong>に</strong>.
	The particle <strong>を</strong> is pronounced as <strong>o</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25434"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25439"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25435"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25436"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Group 1 verbs, direct and indirect objects

<p>
	All verbs in <strong>Group 2</strong> end in <strong>る</strong>.
	Note that not all verbs ending in <strong>る</strong> are in Group  2; as we have seen <strong><ruby>入hai</ruby>る</strong> belongs in <strong>Group 1</strong> even though it ends in <strong>る</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	Verbs in Group 2 are easily transformed into their long form using the following two steps:
</p>

<ol>
	<li>Remove <strong>る</strong> from the end of the verb to obtain the <strong>stem</strong>.</li>
	<li>Attach the <strong>ます</strong> ending to the stem.</li>
</ol>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Dictionary form (casual)</th>
			<th>Stem</th>
			<th>Long form (neutral/formal)</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>to see; to look at, to watch</td>
			<td><ruby>見mi</ruby>る<br/>miru</td>
			<td><ruby>見mi</ruby><br/>mi</td>
			<td><ruby>見mi</ruby>ます<br/>mimasu</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>to eat</td>
			<td><ruby>食ta</ruby>べる<br/>taberu</td>
			<td><ruby>食ta</ruby>べ<br/>tabe</td>
			<td><ruby>食ta</ruby>べます<br/>tabemasu</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>to leave, to go out, to exit</td>
			<td><ruby>出de</ruby>る<br/>deru</td>
			<td><ruby>出de</ruby><br/>de</td>
			<td><ruby>出de</ruby>ます<br/>demasu</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The verbs <strong><ruby>見mi</ruby>る</strong> and <strong><ruby>食ta</ruby>べる</strong> take <strong>direct objects</strong>, and <strong><ruby>出de</ruby>る</strong> does not take an object.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25440"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25441"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25444"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25442"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Group 2 verbs

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn to recognize the hiragana characters in the table below.
</p>

<table class="ui celled table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Hiragana</th>
            <th>Romanization</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
		<tr data-item="25419"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26096"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26093"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26094"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25421"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25422"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26095"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26097"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25427"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25433"></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The Japanese sounds that begin with a <strong>h</strong> sound, can both receive a <strong>dakuten</strong> and a <strong>handakuten</strong>.
	With the dakuten, the <strong>h</strong> sound changes into a <strong>b</strong> sound.
	With the handakuten, the <strong>h</strong> sound chanes into a <strong>p</strong> sound.
</p>

<table class="celled fixed definition centered">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Hiragana</th>
			<th>a</th>
			<th>i</th>
			<th>u</th>
			<th>e</th>
			<th>o</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>-</td>
			<td>あ</td>
			<td>い</td>
			<td>う</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">え</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">お</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>k</td>
			<td>か</td>
			<td>き</td>
			<td>く</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">け</td>
			<td>こ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>s</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">さ</td>
			<td>し</td>
			<td>す</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">せ</td>
			<td>そ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>t</td>
			<td>た</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ち</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">つ</td>
			<td>て</td>
			<td>と</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td>な</td>
			<td>に</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ぬ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ね</td>
			<td>の</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>h</td>
			<td>は</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ひ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ふ</td>
			<td>へ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ほ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>m</td>
			<td>ま</td>
			<td>み</td>
			<td>む</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">め</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">も</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>y</td>
			<td>や</td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ゆ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">よ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>r</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ら</td>
			<td>り</td>
			<td>る</td>
			<td>れ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ろ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>w</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">わ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>を</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td colspan="5" style="color: #CCCCCC;">ん</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Hiragana 4

<p>
	Verbs in the <strong>long form</strong>, the ones ending in <strong>ます</strong>, are very easy to change to the past tense.
	The only thing we need to do is to change <strong>ます</strong> into <strong>ました</strong> and we're done.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25458"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25459"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25461"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Verbs in the past tense

<p>
	Negating verbs in the <strong>long form</strong> is just as easy as changing them into the past tense.
	The only thing we need to do is to change <strong>ます</strong> into <strong>ません</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25595"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25596"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25597"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25730"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Negating verbs

<p>
	The negative form is often used together with the question particle <strong>か</strong> to invite someone to do something in a polite way.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25598"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The particle <strong>と</strong> can be used to mean <strong>with</strong>.
	In later lessons you will learn more uses for the particle <strong>と</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25600"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25602"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note that after <strong><ruby>何nani</ruby>か</strong>, we don't use the object particle <strong>を</strong>.
</p>

<p>
    The verb <strong><ruby>会aう</ruby></strong> you've learned earlier can be used both with <strong>に</strong> and with <strong>と</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25436"></tr>
		<tr data-item="292387"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
    These sentences mean practically the same, but there is a slight difference in nuance,
    as the first sentence focuses more on the <strong>direction</strong> aspect of the action,
    whereas the second sentence has more focus on the <strong>mutual</strong> of <strong>shared</strong> aspect of the action.
</p>


Invitations and the particle と

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn how to negate verbs in the past tense in Japanese.
	Again, this is very easy to do, we just replace <strong>ます</strong> by <strong>ません　でした</strong>.
	<strong>でした</strong> is the past form of <strong>です</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="25631"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25630"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25635"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Just as with <strong><ruby>何nani</ruby>か</strong>, we don't use the object particle <strong>を</strong> after <strong><ruby>何nani</ruby>も</strong>.
</p>

Negating past verbs

Writing hiragana 4

Reading exercise 3

Writing kanji 4

Reading exercise 4

Kanji 5

<p>
	To make a positive statement in the past tense, we simply use <strong>でした</strong> instead of <strong>です</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26025"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	To make sentences that are both negative and in the past, we use <strong>じゃ　なかった　です</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26024"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26057"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Nouns and the past tense

<p>
	We have learned that <strong>これ</strong>, <strong>それ</strong> and <strong>あれ</strong> are respectively used to speak about things that are close to the speaker, close to the listener, or close to neither of them.
	<strong>この</strong>, <strong>その</strong> and <strong>あの</strong> have the same function.
	The difference is that whereas the first three words replace the noun, the latter three words are used in front of a noun.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26033"></tr>
		<tr data-item="291990"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26035"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26036"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note that with the question word <strong>どの</strong>, we have to use <strong>が</strong> instead of <strong>は</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	The word <strong>どなた</strong> is used to say <strong>who</strong> in a very polite way.
	In a later lesson you will learn a more common way to say <strong>who</strong> in Japanese.
</p>

This and that

<p>
	The verbs <strong>to come</strong> and <strong>to do</strong> are the only verbs that belong neither to <strong>Group 1</strong> nor to <strong>Group 2</strong>.
	Therefore, you'll need to memorize their long forms individually. Together, they form <strong>Group 3</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Dictionary form (casual)</th>
			<th>Long form (neutral/formal)</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>to come</td>
			<td><ruby>来ku</ruby>る</td>
			<td><ruby>来ki</ruby>ます</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>to do</td>
			<td>する</td>
			<td>します</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

The group 3 verbs する and 来る

<p>
	Japanese people like agreeing with each other.
	They often use the discourse particle <strong>ね</strong> at the end of a sentence to ask for confirmation, and also use this particle to show that they agree with each other.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26059"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26054"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	You will see the expression <strong>そう　です　ね</strong> very often, since Japanese speakers use this often to show their agreement.
</p>

<p>
	Another common discourse particle is <strong>よ</strong>.
	It is used to make assertions, statements that you are certain about and that you expect to be new information for the listener.
	It is also used when reminding someone of something he or she might have forgotten.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26056"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26061"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	<strong>そう　です　か</strong> is another commonly used expression.
	Even though it ends with the question particle, it is often not meant to be a question, but as an indication that you understood the other person and that the information was new for you.
	If the information was not new to you and if you agreed, you would say <strong>そう　です　ね</strong> instead.
</p>

The discourse particles ね and よ

<p>
	We use the particle <strong>に</strong> for saying that something is present at a certain location.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26066"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26067"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note how <strong>あります</strong> is translated with <strong>to have</strong> in the sentence above.
	<strong>To have</strong> is a second meaning of the verb <strong>ある</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	When an event or action is happening at a particular place, we use the particle <strong>で</strong> instead of <strong>に</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26068"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26070"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note the <strong>お</strong> in front of <strong><ruby>店mise</ruby></strong>.
	The <strong>お</strong> is an honorific prefix, showing respect to the person or object you are talking about.
	There are several words that commonly go together with this prefix.
	For example, it can also come in front of <strong><ruby>水mizu</ruby></strong> to make <strong>お<ruby>水mizu</ruby></strong>.
	Using <strong>お</strong> is polite, and in casual speech you would just say <strong><ruby>水mizu</ruby></strong> and <strong><ruby>店mise</ruby></strong>.
</p>

<p>
    Finally, the particle <strong>で</strong> can also be used to talk about the means/mode by which something is done.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="286682"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

The location particles に and で

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn to recognize the hiragana characters in the table below.
</p>

<table class="ui celled table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Hiragana</th>
            <th>Romanization</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
		<tr data-item="26126"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25462"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26090"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25454"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26091"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26127"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26128"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25731"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26092"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26130"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25455"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26129"></tr>
		<tr data-item="25463"></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The character <strong>ん</strong> is the only mora that consists of a single consonant.
	It is usually pronounced as the <strong>n</strong> in English.
	In front of <strong>m</strong>, <strong>p</strong> and <strong>b</strong> sounds, it sounds more like the English <strong>m</strong>.
	And finally, in front of a <strong>k</strong> or <strong>g</strong> sound, it sounds like the English <strong>ng</strong>.
</p>

<table class="celled fixed definition centered">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Hiragana</th>
			<th>a</th>
			<th>i</th>
			<th>u</th>
			<th>e</th>
			<th>o</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>-</td>
			<td>あ</td>
			<td>い</td>
			<td>う</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">え</td>
			<td>お</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>k</td>
			<td>か</td>
			<td>き</td>
			<td>く</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">け</td>
			<td>こ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>s</td>
			<td>さ</td>
			<td>し</td>
			<td>す</td>
			<td>せ</td>
			<td>そ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>t</td>
			<td>た</td>
			<td>ち</td>
			<td>つ</td>
			<td>て</td>
			<td>と</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td>な</td>
			<td>に</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ぬ</td>
			<td>ね</td>
			<td>の</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>h</td>
			<td>は</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ひ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ふ</td>
			<td>へ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ほ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>m</td>
			<td>ま</td>
			<td>み</td>
			<td>む</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">め</td>
			<td>も</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>y</td>
			<td>や</td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ゆ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>よ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>r</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ら</td>
			<td>り</td>
			<td>る</td>
			<td>れ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ろ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>w</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">わ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>を</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td colspan="5">ん</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Hiragana 5

Writing hiragana 5

Writing kanji 5

<p>
	The particles <strong>に</strong> and <strong>へ</strong> are used to indicate movement towards a destination.
	In the case of movement towards a destination, the particles can be used interchangeably.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26139"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26154"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26140"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26145"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	In Japanese, whether you use <strong>行く</strong> or <strong>来る</strong> depends on the viewpoint of the speaker.
	If there is movement towards the speaker, you use <strong>来る</strong> and if there is movement away from the speaker, you use <strong>行く</strong>.
	This explains the sentence below, which sounds unintuitive to English speakers.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="195491"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

The destination particles に and へ

Kanji 6

<p>
	In a previous lesson you learned the particles <strong>へ</strong> and <strong>に</strong> for indicating a destination in Japanese.
	In this lesson you will learn about the particle <strong>から</strong>, which is used to indicate the origin of a movement.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26273"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26274"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	To say that person X is from country Y, we can say <strong>XはYから<ruby>来ki</ruby>ました</strong>.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26270"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26272"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	The <strong>さん</strong> that you see after <strong><ruby>山yama下sita</ruby></strong> is the most common honorific, or title, used when talking about other people to show respect. It can be used with either a first or last name. 
	You should never use <strong>さん</strong> after your own name and you should almost never refer to someone else without using an honorific.
</p>

The origin particle から

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn to recognize the hiragana characters in the table below.
</p>

<table class="ui celled table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Hiragana</th>
            <th>Romanization</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
		<tr data-item="26329"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26330"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26306"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26307"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26308"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26309"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26276"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26278"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26305"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26275"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26277"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26310"></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Later on, you will encounter the small <strong>っ</strong>, which is also a hiragana character.
	This character does not represent a specific sound, but is used to create a double consonant.
	For example, the word <strong>やっぱり</strong> is written <strong>yappari</strong> and the word <strong>ほっこり</strong> is
	written <strong>hokkori</strong>. In the lesson about conjugating <strong>い-adjectives</strong> you will encounter the word <strong>なかった</strong>.
	This word is pronounced <strong>na + kat + ta</strong> with the <strong>か</strong> ending with a t-sound intead of the usual a-sound.
</p>

<table class="celled fixed definition centered">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Hiragana</th>
			<th>a</th>
			<th>i</th>
			<th>u</th>
			<th>e</th>
			<th>o</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>-</td>
			<td>あ</td>
			<td>い</td>
			<td>う</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">え</td>
			<td>お</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>k</td>
			<td>か</td>
			<td>き</td>
			<td>く</td>
			<td>け</td>
			<td>こ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>s</td>
			<td>さ</td>
			<td>し</td>
			<td>す</td>
			<td>せ</td>
			<td>そ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>t</td>
			<td>た</td>
			<td>ち</td>
			<td>つ</td>
			<td>て</td>
			<td>と</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td>な</td>
			<td>に</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ぬ</td>
			<td>ね</td>
			<td>の</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>h</td>
			<td>は</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ひ</td>
			<td>ふ</td>
			<td>へ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ほ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>m</td>
			<td>ま</td>
			<td>み</td>
			<td>む</td>
			<td>め</td>
			<td>も</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>y</td>
			<td>や</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>ゆ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>よ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>r</td>
			<td>ら</td>
			<td>り</td>
			<td>る</td>
			<td>れ</td>
			<td>ろ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>w</td>
			<td>わ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>を</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td colspan="5">ん</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Hiragana 6

<p>
	To tell that object A is in a certain position relative to object B, we can say <strong>ＡはＢの…です</strong>, as you can see in the table below.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26292"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26293"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26290"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26297"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26301"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26300"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26302"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Relative positions

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn how to conjugate <strong>い-adjectives</strong> into the past and the negative form in Japanese.
	The conjugations are made by replacing the final <strong>い</strong> with a different ending, as shown in the table below.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled definition table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th></th>
			<th>Positive</th>
			<th>Negative</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Present</td>
			<td>〜い</td>
			<td>〜く　ない　です</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Past</td>
			<td>〜かった　です</td>
			<td>〜く　なかった　です</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note the small <strong>っ</strong> in <strong>なかった</strong>, which represents a small pause to lengthen the <strong>t</strong> sound.
</p>

<p>
	Look at the sentences below to see these conjugations applied in sentences.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="292426"></tr>
		<tr data-item="292427"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26316"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26319"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26315"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26318"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Note that apart from its functions as indirect object marker, location marker and destination marker,
	the particle <strong>に</strong> can be used to mean <strong>for</strong> as in the last sentence in the table.
</p>

Conjugating い-adjectives

Writing hiragana 6

Writing kanji 6

<p>
	Congratulations, you've arrived at the last hiragana lesson in the course.
	After this lesson, you will know all hiragana characters.
</p>

<table class="ui celled table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Hiragana</th>
            <th>Romanization</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
		<tr data-item="26357"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26358"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26359"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26360"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26361"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26362"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26363"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26364"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26365"></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p>
	You now know all characters in the table below.
</p>

<table class="celled fixed definition centered">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Hiragana</th>
			<th>a</th>
			<th>i</th>
			<th>u</th>
			<th>e</th>
			<th>o</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>-</td>
			<td>あ</td>
			<td>い</td>
			<td>う</td>
			<td>え</td>
			<td>お</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>k</td>
			<td>か</td>
			<td>き</td>
			<td>く</td>
			<td>け</td>
			<td>こ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>s</td>
			<td>さ</td>
			<td>し</td>
			<td>す</td>
			<td>せ</td>
			<td>そ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>t</td>
			<td>た</td>
			<td>ち</td>
			<td>つ</td>
			<td>て</td>
			<td>と</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td>な</td>
			<td>に</td>
			<td>ぬ</td>
			<td>ね</td>
			<td>の</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>h</td>
			<td>は</td>
			<td>ひ</td>
			<td>ふ</td>
			<td>へ</td>
			<td>ほ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>m</td>
			<td>ま</td>
			<td>み</td>
			<td>む</td>
			<td>め</td>
			<td>も</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>y</td>
			<td>や</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>ゆ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>よ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>r</td>
			<td>ら</td>
			<td>り</td>
			<td>る</td>
			<td>れ</td>
			<td>ろ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>w</td>
			<td>わ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>を</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td colspan="5">ん</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	You have also seen some <strong>digraphs</strong> that begin with a character with an <strong>i</strong> sound and end with a small <strong>ゃ</strong>, <strong>ゅ</strong> or <strong>ょ</strong>.
	There are actually many more of these, which we won't teach you individually, because that would be boring and since you are already able to understand them when you see them.
	For the sake of completeness, these <strong>digraphs</strong> are displayed in the table below.
</p>

<table class="celled fixed definition centered">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Digraphs</th>
			<th>a</th>
			<th>u</th>
			<th>o</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>k</td>
			<td>きゃ</td>
			<td>きゅ</td>
			<td>きょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>g</td>
			<td>ぎゃ</td>
			<td>ぎゅ</td>
			<td>ぎょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>s</td>
			<td>しゃ</td>
			<td>しゅ</td>
			<td>しょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>z</td>
			<td>じゃ</td>
			<td>じゅ</td>
			<td>じょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>t</td>
			<td>ちゃ</td>
			<td>ちゅ</td>
			<td>ちょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>d</td>
			<td>ぢゃ</td>
			<td>ぢゅ</td>
			<td>ぢょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td>にゃ</td>
			<td>にゅ</td>
			<td>にょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>h</td>
			<td>ひゃ</td>
			<td>ひゅ</td>
			<td>ひょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>b</td>
			<td>びゃ</td>
			<td>びゅ</td>
			<td>びょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>p</td>
			<td>ぴゃ</td>
			<td>ぴゅ</td>
			<td>ぴょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>m</td>
			<td>みゃ</td>
			<td>みゅ</td>
			<td>みょ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>r</td>
			<td>りゃ</td>
			<td>りゅ</td>
			<td>りょ</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Hiragana 7

Writing hiragana 7

Kanji 7

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn how to conjugate <strong>な-adjectives</strong> into the past tense and the negative form in Japanese.
	In both cases the adjective itself is left unchanged while <strong>です</strong>, the <strong>to be</strong> verb, is modified, as shown in the below tables.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled definition table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th></th>
			<th>Positive</th>
			<th>Negative</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Present</td>
			<td><ruby>〜です</ruby></td>
			<td><ruby>〜じゃ　ない　です</ruby></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Past</td>
			<td><ruby>〜でした</ruby></td>
			<td><ruby>〜じゃ　なかった　です</ruby></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	Look at the sentences below to see these conjugations applied in sentences.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26419"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26422"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26421"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26888"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26930"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Conjugating な-adjectives

<p>
	In this lesson you will learn to ask how someone is, and how to reply that you are fine.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26423"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26425"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	There are many ways to say thank you in Japanese.
	In the table below you can see five ways, including their level of formality.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26426"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26424"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26427"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26443"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26444"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

How are you?

<p>
	The particle <strong>も</strong> means too or also. It always comes directly after the sentence topic or subject, replacing the <strong>は</strong> 
	or <strong>が</strong> particle. Be careful not to confuse <strong>も</strong> with <strong>もう</strong>, the word for already, which you learned earlier.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26931"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26934"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26937"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26939"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26942"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
<p>
	The word <strong>および</strong> is one of several words in Japanese that roughly translate to <strong>and</strong> or <strong>as well as</strong>. It is only used to link nouns together in the pattern <strong>AおよびB</strong>.
</p>
<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26937"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

The particle も

<p>
	<strong>ちょっと</strong> is one of the most commonly used words in the Japanese language.
	It essentially means <strong>a little bit</strong>;
	however, it is also regularly used to soften one's tone when making a request or to refuse a request in a polite manner. 
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="26944"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26946"></tr>
		<tr data-item="26948"></tr>
		<tr data-item="31210"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	In the last example, <strong>A</strong> proposes tomorrow to <strong>B</strong> (as a date to do something).
	<strong>B</strong> politely refuses by uttering the incomplete sentence <strong><ruby>明a日sitaはちょっと…</ruby></strong>
	The <strong>o</strong> sound at the end of <strong>ちょっと</strong> is a bit extended.
</p>

The word ちょっと

Reading exercise 7

<p>
	We are now ready to move on to <strong>katakana</strong>, which is used mainly for foreign words and names, and loanwords.
	For every <strong>hiragana</strong> character, there is an equivalent <strong>katakana</strong> character that is pronounced the same way. Therefore, anything 
	can technically be written in either <strong>kana</strong> and be understood. <strong>Katakana</strong> is used much less than
	<strong>hiragana</strong>; and unlike <strong>hiragana</strong>, <strong>katakana</strong> is not combined with <strong>kanji</strong> to make words.
</p>
<p>
	In this first lesson, you will learn to recognize the <strong>katakana</strong> characters listed in the table below. 
</p>

<table class="ui celled table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Katakana</th>
            <th>Romanization</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
		<tr data-item="27013"></tr>
		<tr data-item="27014"></tr>
		<tr data-item="27073"></tr>
		<tr data-item="27018"></tr>
		<tr data-item="27017"></tr>
		<tr data-item="27015"></tr>
		<tr data-item="27016"></tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

<p>
	There is one difference in <strong>katakana</strong>, which is using the <strong>ー</strong> dash to lengthen vowel sounds.
	For example, <strong>ヒー</strong> is transliterated to <strong>hii</strong>. 
</p>

<table class="celled fixed definition centered">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>Katakana</th>
			<th>a</th>
			<th>i</th>
			<th>u</th>
			<th>e</th>
			<th>o</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>-</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ア</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">イ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ウ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">エ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">オ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>k</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">カ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">キ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ク</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ケ</td>
			<td>コ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>s</td>
			<td>サ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">シ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ス</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">セ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ソ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>t</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">タ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">チ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ツ</td>
			<td>テ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ト</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ナ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ニ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ヌ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ネ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ノ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>h</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ハ</td>
			<td>ヒ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">フ</td>
			<td>ヘ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ホ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>m</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">マ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ミ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ム</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">メ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">モ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>y</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ヤ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;"></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ユ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;"></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ヨ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>r</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ラ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">リ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ル</td>
			<td>レ</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ロ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>w</td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ワ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td style="color: #CCCCCC;">ヲ</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>n</td>
			<td colspan="5">ン</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Katakana 1

Question	Answer
思	think If a rice paddy had a heart, it would be able to think.
考	consider
魚	fish
寝	lie down
疲	exhausted
己	itself
起	wake up
教	teach All old people still agree: nothing works better to teach a child than to strike it.
憂	melancholy
優	tenderness
夹	between Between all men, my husband stands out with his horns.
狭	narrow A narrow path forms between the animals.

Japanese 254 - Kanji 32

Contributors