NCEA L1 Japanese flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Particle は

Topic marker, written は but pronounced わ. It introduces what the sentence is about, as in わたしは学生です (as for me, I am a student).

Particle が

Marks the grammatical subject or new/emphasised information. Used with あります／います for existence and with すき、わかります、ほしい, e.g. ねこがいます.

Particle を

Object marker, pronounced お. It follows the direct object of a transitive verb, as in パンを食べます (eat bread) or 本を読みます.

Particle に

Marks a point in time, a destination, or an indirect target: 七時に (at seven), 学校に行きます (go to school), 先生に聞きます (ask the teacher).

Particle で

Marks the location where an action happens or the means used: 図書館で勉強します (study at the library), バスで行きます (go by bus). Contrasts with に for destination.

です／ます register

The polite style used with strangers, teachers, and in class. Verbs end in ます (行きます), adjectives and nouns take です. Plain forms are for friends and embedded clauses.

い-adjective past tense

Drop い and add かった: おいしい → おいしかった, polite おいしかったです. Negative is おいしくない, past negative おいしくなかった.

な-adjective forms

Keep な before a noun (しずかな町) and use です directly as predicate (しずかです). Plain past is しずかだった, negative しずかじゃない.

て-form request

〜てください means please do something: 見てください (please look), 待ってください (please wait). Negative request is 〜ないでください.

ましょう／ませんか

〜ましょう = let's do (行きましょう). 〜ませんか = invitation, won't you do (食べませんか). 〜ましょうか offers to do something for the listener.

Counters 人 枚 本

〜人 counts people (三人 さんにん), 〜枚 counts flat things (二枚 にまい), 〜本 counts long thin objects (五本 ごほん). Counter choice depends on object shape.

Katakana long vowel ー

In katakana a long vowel is written with ー, as in コーヒー, ケーキ, スーパー. Hiragana instead repeats the matching vowel, as in おかあさん and おにいさん.

Small っ gemination

Small っ doubles the following consonant and adds one mora beat: きって (stamp), がっこう (school), ちょっと (a little). It never appears at the start of a word.

Kanji on'yomi vs kun'yomi

On'yomi is the Chinese-derived reading, common in compounds such as 電車 (でんしゃ). Kun'yomi is the native reading, often alone with okurigana such as 食べる (たべる).

〜ています meaning

Shows an action in progress or a resulting habitual state: 今、食べています (am eating now); 東京に住んでいます (live in Tokyo). Context decides which reading applies.

Question word どうして

Means why. The answer commonly ends in から (because): どうして休みましたか。びょうきでしたから。Related words: いつ when, どこ where, だれ who.

Self-introduction formula

はじめまして。〜です。〜から来ました。〜に住んでいます。〜がすきです。どうぞよろしくおねがいします。Each part gives name, origin, residence, interest, and closing greeting.

Turn-taking fillers

ええと, あのう, そうですね buy planning time without switching to English. すみませんが politely opens a request and sounds natural in role-plays.

Mora timing

Each kana is one beat, including ん and small っ. きって has three morae, しんぶん has four. Keeping even timing matters more than pitch accent.

Katakana loanwords

Katakana approximates foreign words: パン (bread), アルバイト (part-time job), コンビニ, パソコン, スマホ. Long vowels and consonant clusters are reshaped to fit Japanese sounds.

Connectors でも だから

でも = but, だから = so/therefore, それから = and then, しかし = however, つまり = in other words. These signal contrast or consequence and often decide comprehension answers.

〜てから and 〜ながら

〜てから = after doing (食べてから行きます). 〜ながら = while doing, with the verb stem (音楽を聞きながら勉強します). Both link two actions in one sentence.

Counting dates

First ten dates are irregular: ついたち, ふつか, みっか, よっか, いつか, むいか, なのか, ようか, ここのか, とおか. From the eleventh, number + にち (じゅういちにち).

Minutes ふん vs ぷん

Use ぷん after 1, 6, 8, 10 (いっぷん, ろっぷん, はっぷん, じゅっぷん) and ふん elsewhere (にふん, さんぷん, よんぷん).

Stroke order principles

Top to bottom, left to right; horizontal before vertical; centre before symmetrical sides; enclosure before contents; small strokes and dots last. These rules predict most kanji order.

Kana confusions シ ツ ソ ン

シ and ソ sweep upward from a low start; ツ and ン start high and sweep down. The long stroke direction, not size alone, distinguishes these pairs in handwriting.

Japanese punctuation

。 ends a sentence, 、 separates clauses, 「 」 marks quoted speech, ・ separates listed items. There are no spaces between words; characters sit evenly in a grid.

Plain past 〜た

Diary and informal writing uses plain past: 行った, 食べた, 読んだ. Polite equivalent is 〜ました. Choose one style and keep it consistent across the piece.

Topic は vs subject が

Use は for a topic already known or being contrasted; use が for new information or focus. わたしはコーヒーがすきです marks me as topic and coffee as the liked thing.

〜てもいいですか

Asks permission: 写真をとってもいいですか (may I take a photo). Refusal is 〜てはいけません or すみません、ちょっと. Granting is はい、いいですよ.

Giving and receiving

あげます = I give (to someone), もらいます = I receive, くれます = someone gives to me. 友だちに本をあげました; 友だちに本をもらいました.

Reading task scanning

Find the question word first (いつ, どこ, いくら), then locate the matching particle phrase in the text. Dates, prices, and times usually appear as kanji numerals or digits.