Japanese Basics_语言知识_双语文档

Japanese Basics Japanese uses three different writing systems: Hiragana (平仮名), Katakana (片仮名), and Kanji (漢字). The gojūon (五十音) is a Japanese ordering of kana, which contains 46 common sounds. Following shows the gojūon graph (五十音図 - ごじゅうおんず) for both Hiragana and Katakana. Memorizing them is a key to learning Japanese.
Hiragana (平仮名) - Click each row to listen

Katakana (片仮名) - Click each row to listen

Kanji (漢字) Kanji (漢字) are Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system. Click to listen to the following examples: 英語えいご (English) \| 中国語ちゅうごくご (Chinese) \| アメリカ合衆国あめりかがっしゅうこく (The United States of America (USA)) ＝米国（べいこく） \| 月曜日げつようび (Monday) \| 火曜日かようび (Tuesday) \| 水曜日すいようび (Wednesday) \| 木曜日もくようび (Thursday) \| 金曜日きんようび (Friday) \| 土曜日どようび (Saturday) \| 日曜日にちようび (Sunday) \| 音楽おんがく (music) \| 黄金時代おうごんじだい (the golden age) \|

Japanese Grammar Japanese is very flexible, but generally has a "Subject-Object-Verb" structure. The grammatical functions of the words are usually marked by particles (postpositions). For example: 私はソーセージを食べる (I eat sausage) ソーセージを食べない (I do not eat sausage) [Note: From the context, it's clear it's about me, so the subject (私) can be omitted] Some useful particles: は (wa) - the topic of a sentence, e.g., こちらは松坂さんです (As for this person, (it) is Mr. Matsuzaka) が (ga) - the subject of a sentence, e.g., 象は鼻が長いです (As for an elephant, (its) nose is long) [Note: while 鼻 (nose) is the subject, 象 (elephant) is the topic.] を - the object of a sentence, e.g., ソーセージを食べる (I eat sausage) から - from, e.g., 東京から (from Tokyo) へ - to/in the direction of, e.g., 東京へ (towards Tokyo) まで - until, e.g., 東京まで (until Tokyo) で／に - at a place/time, e.g., 東京で会う (meet in Tokyo), 3時に会う (meet at 3 o'clock) の - possessive marker, e.g., 私のカメラ (my camera)