Learn Japanese - Lesson 2: I Am...

Objective: To learn to read, write and speak "I Am" sentences.

Key Words

わたし = I, me

[watashi]

= (subject marker)*

[wa]*

です = (sentence marker)*

[desu]

*Note: When は appears after a subject, it is pronounced "wa".

*Note: Usually です is pronounced "dess", rhyming with the English word "less".

Grammar

わたし は _____ です。= I am _____ .

[watashi wa (adj./noun) desu.]

New Vocabulary

Japanese Adjectives 1

しあわせ = happy

[shiawase]

さびしい = lonely

[sabishii]

ねむい= sleepy

[nemui]

かなしい = sad

[kanashii]

うれしい= glad

[ureshii]

Japanese Nouns 1

アメリカじん= American

[amerikajin]

カナダじん= Canadian

[kanadajin]

イギリスじん= British

[igirisujin]

アイルランドじん= Irish

[airurandojin]

スコットランドじん= Scottish

[sukottorandojin]

オーストラリアじん= Australian

[oosutorariajin]

ニュージーランドじん= New Zealander

[nyuujiirandojin]

Examples

わたしはしあわせです。 = I am happy.

[watashi wa shiawase desu]

わたしはオーストラリアじんです。 = I am Australian.

[watashi wa oosutorariajin desu]

Practice

Write the following sentences in Japanese using Hiragana and Katakana.

  1. I am sleepy.
  2. I am an American.
  3. I'm happy.
  4. I'm Irish.
  5. I am sad.

Translate the following Japanese sentences to English.

  1. わたしはオーストラリアじんです。
  2. わたしはさびしいです。
  3. わたしはイギリスじんです。
  4. わたしはうれしいです。
  5. わたしはカナダじんです。

Review

Write the following sets of Hiragana characters

  1. ta, chi, tsu, te, to
  2. ma, mi, mu, me, mo
  3. sa, shi, su, se, so
  4. pa, pi, pu, pe, po
  5. na, ni, nu, ne, no

Write the following greetings in Hiragana

  1. Good Morning
  2. Hello
  3. How do you do?
  4. My name is Akira.