Curriculum
Japanese for Beginners 1: PRACTICAL
Welcome๐
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Japanese Alphabets
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Week1
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Week2
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Week3
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Week4
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Week5
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Week6
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Week7
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Week8
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Week9
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Week10
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Week11
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Week12
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Day 1
๐ธ Welcome to Your First Japanese Grammar Lesson ๐ธ
Hi! Konnichiwa ๐
Welcome to your first Japanese grammar lesson! I’m so glad to learn Japanese with you.
In the very first week of this 12-week Japanese course, we’re going to learn three small grammar points that you’ll see almost everywhere in Japanese:
โจ Pronouns
โจ WA๏ผใฏ๏ผ
โจ DESU๏ผใงใ๏ผ
Don’t worry if you’ve never studied Japanese before or if you’re a complete beginner.
We’ll learn everything step by step, and by the end of this course, you’ll be able to have simple conversations in Japanese.
๐ At the end of this lesson, you can download the Grammar Overview PDF for a quick review and the Worksheet to practice today’s grammar.
1๏ธโฃ Pronouns
Pronouns are words we use to refer to people.
| English | Japanese | Romaji | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | ใใใ | Watashi | Common and polite |
| We | ใใใใใก | Watashi-tachi | “I” + group |
| You | ใใชใ | Anata | Rarely used in real conversation. |
| You all | ใใชใใใก ใฟใชใใ |
Anata-tachi Mina-san |
Use ใฟใชใใ instead. It means “everyone.” |
| He | ใใ | Kare | Can also mean “boyfriend” |
| She | ใใฎใใ | Kanojo | Can also mean “girlfriend” |
| They | ใใใ | Karera | Not used as often as English “they” |
Japanese speakers often don’t use pronouns when it’s already clear who they are talking about.
ANATA (ใใชใ) means “you,” but Japanese people don’t use it very often. Instead, they usually call people by their name.
2๏ธโฃ What is “WA๏ผใฏ๏ผ”?
WA is a small word that marks the topic of the sentence in Japanese.
๐ Basic Pattern
Examples
ENG I am Japanese.
ENG: Sushi is delicious.
ENG: Summer is hot.
Ask yourself: “What am I talking about?”
That is your topic. Then add WA.
3๏ธโฃ DESU๏ผใงใ๏ผ
DESU is a polite sentence ending.
It makes your sentence sound polite, natural, and complete.
๐ Basic Pattern
๐ก Think of DESU like “please” in English
Imagine someone asks you:
Would you like some coffee?
You could answer:
- Yes. โ Correct
- Yes, please. โ More polite
The word “please” doesn’t change the meaning of your answer. It simply makes it sound more polite.
Examples
โ Use DESU when…
- You are describing something
- You are saying what something is
- You are saying how something is
โ Don’t use DESU with actions
Wrong: I eat Sushi โ Watashi WA Sushi DESU.
This sentence needs a verb (eat), not DESU.
Summary
-
WA is a topic marker. It shows what the sentence is about.
→WA tells the listener: “This is the thing I’m talking about now.” -
DESU is a polite ending in Japanese.
→You can use DESU when you want to describe about topic but not action.
Example Sentences:
- Sushi wa takai desu.→Sushi is expensive.
- Watashi wa sensei desu.→I am a teacher.
- Tomodachi wa yasashii desu.→(My) friend is kind/Nice.
