Japanese Grammar N5 - Part 1: Introduction

Welcome to the series of Japanese grammar JLPT N5! This is the first part, we will learn the most basic concepts together.

1. Basic sentence structure: N1 は N2 です

This is the simplest sentence structure in Japanese, used to introduce or describe something.

• N1: Subject (usually a person, object, place)
• は (wa): Auxiliary verb indicating the subject of the sentence
• N2: Verb (usually a noun or adjective)
• です (desu): Verb indicating the end of a sentence

Example:

• わたしはがくせいです。 (Watashi wa gakusei desu.) - I am a student.
• かれはにほんじんです。 (Kare wa Nihonjin desu.) - He is Japanese.

2. Negative sentence: N1 は N2 ではありません / じゃありません

To negate a sentence, we replace です with ではありません (de wa arimasen) or じゃありません (ja arimasen). じゃありません is often used in spoken language.

Ví dụ:

• わたしはがくせいではありません。 (Watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen.) - I am not a student.
• かれはにほんじんじゃありません。 (Kare wa Nihonjin ja arimasen.) - He is not Japanese.

3. Interrogative sentence: N1 は N2 ですか

To ask a question, we add the auxiliary verb か (ka) to the end of the affirmative sentence.

Ví dụ:

• あなたはがくせいですか。 (Anata wa gakusei desu ka.) - Are you a student?
• かれはにほんじんですか。 (Kare wa Nihonjin desu ka.) - Is he Japanese?

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Practice:

1. Fill in the blank with the appropriate word:

   • わたし ( ) いしゃ ( )
   • あなた ( ) せんせい ( )

2. Convert the following sentences into negative and interrogative forms:

   • これはペンです。
   • あれはほんではありません。

Good luck!