Grammar Notes 3

1: Self Introduction

はじめまして (How do you do?) and どうぞよろしく (Nice to meet you.) are typical introductory phrases used when you meet someone for the first time. You start with はじめまして followed by your name and other information you would like to add. どうぞよろしく completes your introduction.

1.	はじめまして。 How do you do?
2.	おの けいこです。 I am Keiko Ono.
3.	どうぞ、よろしく。 Nice to see you.

2: Apology 1--

In Japanese, すみません is a versatile "social lubricant" that goes beyond a simple apology. It is an essential phrase used to navigate social boundaries, acknowledge others' efforts, and ensure smooth daily interactions. Depending on the context, すみません primarily performs these three functions:

3:

To reply affirmatively, use はい or ええ. Both mean “yes” and are polite responses. However, はい has additional uses, such as when handing something to someone (“Here you go”), while ええ is only used to express agreement and can never be used when handing over an object. The response そうです (“That’s right.”) is a noun-sentence reply. In this expression, そう functions as a pronoun meaning “that,” and it can be replaced by the actual noun, as shown below. The use of そうです is limited to responding to noun-sentence questions that require a yes/no answer.

ええ or はい	Nounです。
はい、	そうです。	Yes, that's right.
ええ、	けいこです。	Yes, I'm Keiko.

4: Nationality

にほん means Japan.にほんじん means Japanese person/people. The suffix じん (person or people) attached to a country name changes the country name into the nationality.

にほん じん	Japanese person/people	ドイツ じん	German person/people
アメリカ じん	American person/people	フランス じん	French person/people
ちゅうごく じん	Chinese person/people	イギリス じん	British person/people
かんこく じん	South Korean person/people	メキシコ じん	Mexican person/people
ロシア じん	Russian person/people	スペイン じん	Spain person/people

5:

To reply negatively to a Yes-No question, いいえ (No) can be used. ちがいます can follow いいえ. ちがいます means That's incorrect or That's different. It is used to point out an error.

A:	スミスさんですか。	Are you Mr./Mrs. Smith?
B:	いいえ、ちがいます。	No, I'm not. (Lit. That's incorrect.)

6: Apology 2

しつれいしました is a more formal and apologetic way to say I'm sorry than すみません. It literally means I committed a rudeness. You can replace this with すみません.

7:

8: Topic Particle

When we ask someone's name, we can use the /おなまえ (your name) + は？/ pattern with a rising intonation to indicate that it is a question. The hiragana はわ is a particle (pronounced as “wa”わ), and it functions as the topic marker. The particle はわ is never written in hiragana わ. A normal answer to this question is to say name + です without the subject/topic (e.g., I or My name).

	Nounは？
A:	おなまえは?	Your name?
	Nounです
B:	スミスです。	(I) am Smith.

FYI: おなまえ consists of the honorific prefix お and the noun なまえ (name). Even without saying your, there is no ambiguity about whose name is being referred to. In Japanese, the honorific prefix お signals politeness and is socially understood to refer to something belonging to the listener (or a third party), not the speaker. As a result, おなまえ is naturally interpreted as your name in polite conversation.

9: Origin Particle

The particle から follows a place name and means from (a location), as in アメリカから (from America). When から is used with the verb きました, the expression Place から + きました means (I) came from [place]. We will introduce the verb form きました in detail later. To ask about someone’s hometown or place of origin, you can use どこ (“where”) or its more polite equivalent どちら, as shown below. We will study additional uses of から later.

Q:	どこ or どちら	から	きましたか。	Where did you come from?
A:	アメリカ	から	きました。	I came from America.
Q:	どこ or どちら	から	ですか。	Where are you from?
A:	アメリカ	から	です。	I'm from America.

10: Pronoun

わたし is a pronoun meaning I or me. In this sentence, it functions as the subject, but it is often omitted in Japanese when the subject is clear from context. In fact, the subject I is frequently dropped in Japanese sentences and does not need to be stated every time. When the speaker chooses to state the subject explicitly, わたし is commonly followed by the topic particle はわ, as in わたしは りゅうがくせいです (I am a foreign student.).

11: Modifying Particle

To introduce yourself by stating your affiliation, say:

[Institution]	の	[last name]です
ダートンカレッジ	の	きたむらです。	I am Kitamura of Darton College.
ジョージアテック	の	きくちです。	I am Kikuchi of Georgia Tech.

In general, a noun phrase XのY combines two nouns with the particle の in between and creates a /modifying Nounの + modified Noun/ pattern (e.g., X's Y; Y of X; Y at X; Y from X; Y about X; Y written in X, etc.).

Modifying Noun	の	Modified Noun
ソニー	の	たなか	Sony's Tanaka, Tanaka of Sony
わたし	の	なまえ せんこう ともだち	my name my major my friend
すずきさん	の	ともだち	Ms. Suzuki's friend
ともだち	の	すずきさん	My friend, Ms. Suzuki
たなかさん	の	めいし	Mr/s. Tanaka's business card
だいがく	の	せんせい	a university/college teacher; professor
にほん	の	せんせい	a teacher in Japan
にほんじん	の	せんせい	a Japanese teacher (nationality)
にほんご	の	せんせい	a Japanese-language teacher
おとこ	の	ひと	man
おんな	の	ひと	woman
アメリカ	の	くるま	American cars, cars in America
すずきさん	の	せんこう	Ms. Suzuki's major
せんこう	の	けいざいがく	My major, economics

The modifier-noun の phrase can be repeated.

● アメリカの にほんの くるま (Japanese cars in America)

● スミスさんの にほんごの せんせい (Mr. Smith's Japanese-language teacher)

In general, Japanese particles function in ways similar to English prepositions, but with an important difference: they come after the noun they relate to. For this reason, they are sometimes described as postpositions rather than prepositions.

12: Question Particle

When we ask for information, we often use the following topic-comment pattern: Xは + なんですか. The word なん is a question word (noun) meaning what.

	Nounはわ	Nounです	(か)
A:	せんこうは	なんです	か。	What is your major?
B:		けいざいがくです。		(It) is Economics.

The topic part represents familiar/known information, and it is made of a noun and the topic particle は. The comment part represents new/unknown information about the topic, and it can be a noun sentence as shown above or other types of sentences to be introduced later.

Topic	Comment
わたしは	がくせいです。	I am a college student.
すずきさんは	りゅうがくせいです。	Ms. Suzuki is a foreign student.

13: Negative Statement

The negative forms of Noun です is /Noun + じゃありません/ or /Noun + じゃないです/ as shown below. Both ～じゃありません and ～じゃないです can be used only as a reply to a noun sentence question that requires a Yes-No answer.　(The symbol ～ means so-and-so often pronounced as なになに.)

		Noun Noun	じゃありません じゃないです
A:	けいこさんは	がくせい	ですか。	Is Keiko a college student?
B:	いいえ、	そう	じゃありません。 じゃないです。	No, she is not.
	いいえ、	がくせい	じゃありません。 じゃないです。	No, she is not a college student.

14: Particles

When two topics are presented to emphasize the differences between them, the particle はわis used in both sentences. はわ functions not only to introduce a topic, but it functions to contrast what is different about them. We call it the contrastive use of はわ.

Topic	Comment
アリスさんは	アメリカじんです。	Alice is American.
リーさんは	かんこくじんです。	Lee, in contrast, is Korean.

When the two topics share the same comment, the second sentence uses the particle も instead of はわ to emphasize the similarities. も adds the meaning of also, in addition, too as shown below.

Topic	Comment
アリスさんは	だいがくせいです。	Alice is a college student.
リーさんも	だいがくせいです。	Lee is also a college student.
アリスさんは	アメリカから きました。	Alice came from America.
リーさんも	アメリカから きました。	Lee also came from America.

15: Noun

The particle と can be used to combine two nouns: /Nounと Noun/ (Nount and Noun) or more than two nouns as in Nounと Nounと Nounと..., etc. (Caution: The Japanese と (and) combines only nouns. It cannot be used to combine adjectives and verbs.)

Topic	Comment
アリスさんは	だいがくせいです。	Alice is a college student.
リーさんも	だいがくせいです。	Lee is also a college student.
アリスさんと リーさんは	だいがくせいです。	Alice and Lee are college students.

16:

When two similar sentences are presented one after another, the connective そして (and) can be used to relate the sentences. そして is placed at the beginning of the second sentence. (Note that the particle と can never be used for relating sentences this way.)

スミスさんは アメリカじんです。 ブラウンさんも アメリカじんです。	Smith is American. Brown is also American.
↓
スミスさんは アメリカじんです。 そして、ブラウンさんも アメリカじんです。	Smith is American, and Brown is also American.

17: Number

ねんせい is the counter for the year/grade in school. We will learn how to count in Japanese later.

いちねんせい	Freshman (first-year student)
にねんせい	Sophomore (second-year student)
さんねんせい	Junior (third-year student)
よねんせい	Senior (fourth-year student)