Nihongo o Narau - Lesson 2 Kana Version

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Lesson 2: Who is it?

First, we should establish who you are. If you want to say "I am Sally." You would say: わたしはサリです。わたし means 'I.' Wa (spelled with the character ha) is a particle which marks the subject of a sentence. It roughly means 'as for' so, the sentence translates to "As for me, I'm Sally." You can also just say "サリです。" which just means 'I am Sally.' Men and boys can also use the form "ぼくは ___ です。" ぼくalso means I, but is usually used by males. The word 'you' in Japanese is あなた, but be careful not to use it unless you're very familiar with someone as it is slightly personal. It's better to just use the person's name when referring to them.
わたしはハナです。わたしはスミスです。ハナです。スミスです。わたしはジョンです。ぼくはジョンです。	I am Hana. I am Mr./Ms Smith. I am Hana. I am Mr./Ms Smith. I am John. I am John.
If you want to ask someone's name, you say "おなまえはなんですか。" なまえ means 'name'. The 'お' is added to make it honorific (used only for other people, not yourself). Remember from lesson one that 'なんですか' means what is it?' So the sentence literally means "As for your honorific name, what is it?" To tell someone your name, you can use the above replies or you can say 'なまえはハナです。' or 'わたしのなまえはハナです。' (Assuming your name is Hana.) The shorter form is usually used in less formal situations. The particle 'の' in this case is similar to the English " 's ". It indicates ownership. わたしのなまえ means "my name". あなたのなまえ would be 'your name.'
Examples: おなまえはなんですか。わたしのなまえはヘザーです。なまえはジョンです。いぬのなまえはなんですか。いぬのなまえはスパイクです。	What's your name? My name is Heather. My name is John. What is the dog's name? The dog's name is Spike.
To ask "Who is it?" you say "だれですか。" だれ means 'who.' To ask "Whose is it?" you say "だれのですか。"
だれですか。だれのですか。	Who is it? Whose is it?
To indicate ownership of an object, the possessive 'の' particle is used.
Examples: だれのいぬですか。わたしのいぬです。だれのねこですか。わたしのです。だれのねこですか。スザンさんのねこです。あなたのですか。いいえ、マイクさんのです。	Whose dog is it? It's my dog. Whose cat is it? It's mine. Whose cat is it? It's Susan's cat. Is it yours? No, it's Mike's.
Lesson 2 Vocabulary: わたしぼくあなただれはのおなまえいぬねこ	I I (used by males only) you who subject marker particle (pronounced wa) possesive particle ('s) prefix added to some words to make them honoriffic name dog cat
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