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Pronouns & Sentence Structure
Personal references, SOV word order, です/だ and question particle か
わたし / ぼく / あなた
I (neutral/male), you
watashi / boku / anata
boku = male casual; anata = you (used sparingly)
彼 / 彼女
he / she
kare / kanojo
kare = he; kanojo = she (also boyfriend/girlfriend)
SOV 語順
Subject-Object-Verb word order
S-O-V
Japanese verb always comes at the end
わたしはパンを食べます
I eat bread
watashi wa pan o tabemasu
Topic + object + verb (verb last)
です / だ
desu / da (polite vs plain 'to be')
desu / da
です = polite; だ = plain/casual
か — question particle
ka — question particle
ka
Add か at the end to make a question
学生ですか
Are you a student?
gakusei desu ka
です + か = polite yes/no question
はい / いいえ
yes / no
hai / iie
Basic affirmative and negative answers
お名前は何ですか
What is your name?
onamae wa nan desu ka
何 (nani/nan) = what
わたしは...です
I am ... (introduction)
watashi wa ... desu
Introducing yourself