Introduction to language
What there is to know :
of particles that you will find in the grammar section of the site.
These are small words that can have various meanings (they can serve as conjunctions, structure the sentence or even serve as a preposition, etc.). They are essential.
The second thing to know (and it's quite logical) is that the structure of sentences is completely different from that of French.
In French, a sentence is generally organized in the form, subject + verb + complement; however, in Japanese, a sentence is organized in the form, subject + complement + verb (yes roughly like Master Yoda) see even more often: complement + verb !
Third, as the previous point implies; in Japanese, it is not necessary (or even avoided) to place a subject in a sentence when it is obvious!
(this can make you seem like an overconfident person!)
If for example, a person asks you for your first name, in the answer sentence (my name is...) , you should therefore not put the subject which is "I" in this one, because it is sure that you will speak of your first name!
It would be like saying: ME, my name is...
This omission of the subject can be a real time saver, especially when a sentence is already very long!
The fourth thing to know is that in Japanese, common nouns are invariable ! There are no articles, genders or numbers.
The word 馬 (uma) which means "horse", can mean:
- a horse, the horse,
- a mare, the mare
- horses, mares
These variations are then specified by words indicating the plurality, demonstrative determiners, other words (woman (女) for example) or quite simply by the context.
The fifth thing to know, deals with writing. The Japanese language uses four writing systems:
- hiraganas: syllabary alphabet representing the sounds of Japanese
- katakanas: syllabary alphabet used to write words of foreign origins
- kanji: symbols from Chinese ideograms (traditional in general)
- Arabic numerals: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Despite a rather simple grammar to acquire, the writing systems are an ordeal that discourages more than one.
The Japanese language is therefore an art that requires a lot of time, and whose mastery is the fruit of hard work.
You have two options:
* If you are completely new to the Japanese language,
just let yourself be guided by the buttons for optimal learning!
* If, on the other hand, you already know the basics (level A1), you do as you wish of course!
Now that you are ready ...