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Japanese · JLPT Band 1 (N5) · Chapter 5

にほんじんですか Are you Japanese?

Nihonjin desu ka

Questions and negation! Add か at the end of a sentence to make a question — word order does not change. "N janai desu" means "is not". Use 〜jin for nationality. Kana: long vowels. Culture: bowing and the meishi (business card).

Dialogue

にほんじんですか — Are You Japanese?

Yuki マイクさんはにほんじんですか。 Mike, are you Japanese?
Mike いいえ、にほんじんじゃないです。 No, I'm not Japanese.
Yuki わたしはにほんじんです。 I'm Japanese.

Dialogue

げんきですか — How Are You?

Ken ゆきさん、げんきですか。 Yuki, how are you?
Yuki はい、げんきです! けんさんもげんきですか。 Yes, I'm well! Ken, are you well too?
Ken はい、げんきです。 Yes, I'm well.

Vocabulary

汉字	Pinyin	POS	Meaning
か	ka	part.	(question particle)
じん	-jin	suf.	(nationality suffix)
にほんじん	nihonjin	n.	Japanese (person)
おとこ	otoko	n.	man
おんな	onna	n.	woman
いい	ii	adj.	good
げんき	genki	adj.	well, healthy
あたらしい	atarashii	adj.	new
おおきい	ōkii	adj.	big
ちいさい	chiisai	adj.	small

Grammar

か — しつもんのじょしか — the question particle

ぶんのさいごに「か」をつけるだけで、はい/いいえのしつもんになります。えいごとちがって、ごじゅんはかわりません: 「がくせいです」→「がくせいですか」。こたえは「はい、〜です」か「いいえ、〜じゃないです」。はなしことばではぎもんふはいらず、「か」とあがるイントネーションでしめします。

Just add か to the end of a sentence and it becomes a yes/no question. Unlike English, the word order does not change: "gakusei desu" → "gakusei desu ka". Answer with "hai, ... desu" or "iie, ... janai desu". In speech no question mark is needed — か plus a rising tone marks it.

にほんじんですか。— はい、にほんじんです。 Nihonjin desu ka. — Hai, nihonjin desu. Are you Japanese? — Yes, I am.
がくせいですか。— いいえ。 Gakusei desu ka. — Iie. Are you a student? — No.
げんきですか。— はい、げんきです。 Genki desu ka. — Hai, genki desu. How are you? — Yes, I'm well.

Grammar

ひてい: N じゃないです Negation: N janai desu

「です」のひていは「じゃないです」(はなしことば) または「ではありません」(かたい)。「N じゃないです」=「N ではない」。「じゃ」は「では」のくだけたかたちです。しつもんの「か」とあわせて、はい/いいえのこたえができます。

The negative of です is じゃないです (spoken) or ではありません (formal). "N janai desu" = "is not N". じゃ is the casual form of では. Together with か, you can give yes/no answers.

にほんじんじゃないです。 Nihonjin janai desu. I'm not Japanese.
がくせいじゃないです。せんせいです。 Gakusei janai desu. Sensei desu. I'm not a student. I'm a teacher.
わたしのともだちじゃないです。 Watashi no tomodachi janai desu. It's not my friend.

Culture

おじぎとめいし Bowing & the meishi (business card)

First contact in Japan is built on the bow and, in any semi-formal setting, the exchange of name cards (meishi). Both are easy to get slightly wrong, so let's get the key points down.

The bow

A small nod for casual greetings; a deeper, slower bow shows more respect. You bow on meeting, thanking, and apologising. When unsure, match the other person's depth and hold it a beat.

No handshake by default

Japanese greetings lean on the bow, not touching. A foreigner offering a hand is understood, but don't expect it back. There's no need to force a handshake.

The meishi

In work settings, cards are exchanged at the very first meeting. Offer and receive with both hands, the card facing the other person. Read it — don't pocket it instantly — which signals respect for the person.

When unsure: bow a little, use both hands for anything handed over, and say "dōzo yoroshiku" — that covers almost any first meeting.

kana