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Lesson 5

Introducing yourself: name and nationality

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名^な前^まえ　・　Name

As Japanese has varying degrees of politeness, this course will be dealing primarily in the polite form. Note that "desu" is usually pronounced with an almost silent u as, "dess".

例^れい一

• お名前は何ですか？
  • 私^わたしはトマスブラウンです。

Translation:

• Question: O-namae wa nan desu ka? (What is your name?)
  • Answer: Watashi wa (name) desu. (My name is...)

watashi (私) is one of the many ways in which you can say the word "I" in Japanese. It can be used in polite and informal situations. watakushi (私) is the formal version of watashi.

語^ご彙^い　・　Vocab

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	Formality
私	わたし	watashi	polite/casual
私	わたくし	watakushi	formal
僕	ぼく	boku	casual, usually used by males
俺	おれ	ore	casually used by men, can be rude
私	あたし	atashi	used by women/indicates femininity
私	あたくし	atakushi	used by women/formal/indicates femininity
わし	わし	washi	casually used by old people
おいら	おいら	oira	used by the homeless. Rude, impolite
あなた	あなた	anata	you1/may sound impolite
名前	なまえ	namae	name

^１　Japanese regularly omit the subject from sentences when they are obvious from context. Hence, pronouns are hardly used. Whenever forced to use a pronoun, it is better to refer to someone by their proper name or title. あなた, may give the impression of a news anchor speaking at them or some unfamiliar person. It also can used in place of a name for one's own girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, or wife, much like "darling" or "honey" in English.

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Nationality

例二

• お国^くにはどちらですか？
  • イギリスです。

Translation

• O-kuni wa dochira desu ka? (What country are you from?)
  • (country name) desu. (I am from (country name))

例三

• アメリカ人^じんですか？
  • はい、アメリカ人です

Translation:

• Amerika jin desu ka? (Are you an American?)
  • Hai/Iie, (country name) jin desu. (Yes/No I am (nationality))

In Japanese, nationalities are formed by adding adding the word for person, "jin" - ruby|人|じん| - after the name of a country.

E.g.:

• (country name) jin desu. ((国)　人です。)

A few examples of countries

Kana	Romaji	English
イギリス	Igirisu	Britain
アメリカ	Amerika	America
にほん１	Nihon	Japan
かんこく2	Kankoku	Korea
ちゅうごく3	Chuugoku	China
タイ	Tai	Thailand
ベトナム	Betonam	Vietnam
ブラジル	Burajiru	Brazil
メキシコ	Mekishiko	Mexico
カナダ	Kanada	Canada
ドイツ	Doitsu	Germany
フランス	Furansu	France
オーストラリア	oosutoraria	Australia
ネザーランド	nezaarando	Netherlands

^１日^に本^ほん・にほん・Nihon

²韓^かん国^こく・かんこく・Kankoku

³中^ちゅう国^ごく・ちゅうごく・Chuugoku

The continents

Kana	Romaji	English
アメリカ	amerika	America
ヨロッパ	yoroppa	Europe
アジア	ajia	Asia
アフリカ	afurika	Africa
オセアニア	oseania	Oceania

For learning Japanese Category Uncategorized Level Unspecified Second language English Created Apr 08, 2008 11:12 Views 2645 Share:

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• 
  Lenka Sinoptik 6 month(s) ago

  watashi wa roshiajin desu :)

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• 
  André 6 month(s) ago

  Boku wa burajiro jin desu

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• 
  Nia 6 month(s) ago

  Watashi wa Mareishia jin desu ^^

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• 
  Katerina 6 month(s) ago

  私のなまえはkaterina です・
  ロシアしんです。

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• 
  レイ 6 month(s) ago

  私は中国人です。
  watashiwa chuugokujin desu.

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