Learn the key pattern to ask for a word in Japanese
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| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Ben asks, |
| "How do you say 'textbook' in Japanese?" |
| Textbookγ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ(Textbook wa, Nihon-go de nan to iimasu ka.) |
| First is the English word, "textbook." |
| Next is γ― (wa), the topic-marking particle. γ―. γ―. |
| Here, γ― (wa) marks "textbook" as the topic of the sentence. Think of it as "as for," like in "As for the 'Textbook'." |
| After this is γ«γ»γγ (Nihon-go), "Japanese," as in "the Japanese language." γ«-γ»-γ-γ. γ«γ»γγ. |
| Next is the particle γ§ (de), which marks the thing you use to do something γ§. γ§. |
| In this sentence, γ§ marks γ«γ»γγ, "Japanese," as the language used to speak. |
| Together, γ«γ»γγγ§ (Nihon-go de) translates as "in Japanese." γ«γ»γγγ§. |
| Note, when the context is clear, you may omit γ«γ»γγγ§. |
| Next is the phrase, γͺγγ¨γγγΎγγγ(nan to iimasu ka) "How [do you] say?" γͺγγ¨γγγΎγγγ |
| First is γͺγγ¨γγγΎγ (nan to iimasu) "How [do you] sayβ¦" γͺγγ¨γγγΎγγ |
| At this point in your language learning journey, remember this as a set phrase. |
| Last is the particle, γ, the question-marking particle. γ. γ. |
| This particle turns the sentence into a question. |
| Together, γͺγγ¨γγγΎγγγ"How do you sayβ¦?" γͺγγ¨γγγΎγγγ |
| All together, Textbookγ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ(Textbook wa, Nihon-go de nan to iimasu ka.) literally means, "As for textbook, in Japanese how [do you] say, " but translates as "How do you say 'textbook' in Japanese?" |
| Textbookγ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ |
| In many cases, you can omit γ«γ»γγγ§ from the question pattern. Since you're asking the question in Japanese, and it's about an English word, it's understood that you're asking for the Japanese word. |
| The simplified variation to ask about the Japanese word for "textbook" is, |
| Textbookγ―γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ |
| You should be aware of this shortcut, but for this lesson, we'll use the full sentence pattern. |
| Textbookγ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ(Textbook wa, Nihon-go de nan to iimasu ka.) |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Hana says, "It's 'textbook'." |
| γγγγγγγ§γγ(KyΕkasho desu.) |
| First is γγγγγγ (kyΕkasho), "textbook." γγ-γ-γ-γγγγγγγγγγ |
| After this is γ§γ (desu), in this case, it's like the "is" in "It is." It's a linking verb. γ§-γ. γ§γ. |
| Together, γγγγγγγ§γ (KyΕkasho desu.) literally means "textbook [it] is," but it translates as, |
| "It's 'textbook'." |
| γγγγγγγ§γγ |
| γγγγγγγ§γ is the shortened version of the sentence, Textbookγ― γγγγγγγ§γγ |
| The first part, "textbookγ―," meaning "As for textbook," is omitted since the context is clear, as Hana is responding to a question about the "textbook." |
| γγγγγγγ§γγ(KyΕkasho desu.) |
| The pattern is |
| {English word} γ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ |
| ({English word} wa, Nihon-go de nan to iimasu ka.) |
| How do you say {English word} in Japanese? |
| {English word} γ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ |
| To use this question pattern, simply replace the {English word} placeholder with the word you want to know. |
| Imagine you want to know the Japanese word for "pen." |
| Ask |
| "How do you say 'pen' in Japanese?" |
| Ready? |
| Penγ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ (Pen wa, Nihon-go de nan to iimasu ka.) |
| "How do you say 'pen' in Japanese?" |
| Penγ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ(Pen wa, Nihon-go de nan to iimasu ka.) |
| If you want to keep the conversation completely in Japanese, you can say, "How do you say this in Japanese?" Simply replace the English word with γγ (kore), "this." γ-γ. γγ. |
| γγγ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ(Kore wa, Nihon-go de nan to iimasu ka.) |
| "How do you say this in Japanese?" |
| If the thing is far away from you, you can use γγ (sore), that. γγ. γγγ―γγ«γ»γγγ§γγͺγγ¨γγγγΎγγγ(Sore wa, Nihon-go de nan to iimasu ka.) |
| "How do you say that in Japanese?" |
| Again, this is a very useful pattern for using Japanese to learn Japanese. |
| Keeping the conversation in Japanese as long as possible is a great tactic to learn a language. These questions will help with that. |
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