Vocabulary
English
Osaka
word
this (something)
this morning
something
anything (neg.)
to arrive at
masu (formal)
dict (casual)
-te (imperative)
romaji
oo-saka
kotoba
kono
kesa
nani-ka
nani-mo (neg.)
tsukimasu
tsuku
tsuite
kana
おおさか
ことば
この
けさ
なにか
なにも
つきます
つく
ついて
kanji
大さか
何か
何も
- ‘oo-saka’ means ‘big-hill’. That is why its first kanji is 大.
Sample sentences
Eng: how do you say ‘today’ in Japanese.
lit: ‘today’? by the means of Japanese how that is said?
romaji: ‘today’ wa nihon-go de nan to ii-masuka
kana: 「today」は にほんごで なんと いいますか？
kanji: 「today」は 日本ごで 何と いいますか？
Comments
The following comments explain some of the grammar in more detail.
Pronouns
kono (この)
‘kono’ is part of another ‘ko-so-a-do’ family: ‘kono…/sono…/ano…/dono…’, which mean ‘this…/that…/that … over there/which …’. This is the same meaning as ‘kore/sore/are/dore’ except that now we have to specify what we are talking about, i.e., they have to be followed by a noun:
English
This one is expensive.
This car is expensive.
That one is inexpensive.
That car is inexpensive.
How much is that one over there?
How much is that car over there?
which one?
which car?
romaji
kore wa taka-i desu.
kono kuruma wa taka-i desu.
sore wa yasu-i desu.
sono kuruma wa yasu-i desu.
are wa ikura desu ka?
ano kuruma wa ikura desu ka?
dare?
dono kuruma?
Adverbs
nani-mo (なにも, 何も)
‘nani-mo’ means ‘nothing’ when it is paired with a negative verb, i.e., ‘anything’ + neg. verb = ‘nothing’.
English
I want something.
I don’t want anything.
I ate something.
I didn’t eat anything.
formal
nani-ka hoshi-i desu.
nani-mo hoshi-ku ari-masen.
nani-ka tabe-mashita.
nani-mo tabemasen deshita.
casual
nanika hoshi-i.
nanimo hoshi-ku nai.
nani-ka tabe-ta.
nani-mo tabe-nakatta.