Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese Workbook I (Japanese Edition)
2nd Edition
ISBN: 9784789014410
Textbook solutions
All Solutions
Page 19: Questions
Exercise 1
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
1 of 2
You may have seen the word ‘なまえ’ (‘name’) before, but it might be new to you to see it with the honorific prefix ‘お.’ Many Japanese words (though not all) can be made more polite by including the prefix ‘お.’ Not all words can be adapted this way, so be careful before adding the prefix ‘お’ to a word.
The question reads, 「おなまえは？」 (roughly translated as, ‘Your name is…?’). Even though the back half of the question, which would be ‘なんですか,’ is omitted, we can infer the meaning from context. Omission is a very common feature of Japanese, which can make Japanese seem very subtle or vague when first learning the language.
The question, 「おなまえは？」 is asking for your name. If you have a non-native Japanese name, you will probably spell your name in the katakana syllabary. If you haven’t learned that yet, go ahead and sound it out with hiragana. To express this, we write:
[your name here]です。
[your name here] desu.
The question reads, 「おなまえは？」 (roughly translated as, ‘Your name is…?’). Even though the back half of the question, which would be ‘なんですか,’ is omitted, we can infer the meaning from context. Omission is a very common feature of Japanese, which can make Japanese seem very subtle or vague when first learning the language.
The question, 「おなまえは？」 is asking for your name. If you have a non-native Japanese name, you will probably spell your name in the katakana syllabary. If you haven’t learned that yet, go ahead and sound it out with hiragana. To express this, we write:
[your name here]です。
[your name here] desu.
Result
2 of 2
The question, 「おなまえは？」 is asking for your name. If you have a non-native Japanese name, you will probably spell your name in the katakana syllabary. If you haven’t learned that yet, go ahead and sound it out with hiragana. To express this, we write:
[your name here]です。
[your name here] desu.
[your name here]です。
[your name here] desu.
Step 1
1 of 3
お名前は？
Given. TRANSLATION: What is your name?
Step 2
2 of 3
わたしはNAMEです。
My name is “NAME.”
Result
3 of 3
わたしはNAMEです。
Exercise 2
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
1 of 3
仕事はなんですか
Given. TRANSLATION: What is your occupation?
Step 2
2 of 3
OCCUPATIONです。(ex. かいしゃいんです)
My occupation is OCCUPATION (ex. I am an office worker).
Result
3 of 3
OCCUPATIONです。(ex. かいしゃいんです)
Result
1 of 1
The question, 「しごとはなんですか」is asking what your job is. To express this, we write:
[title of job here]です。
[title of job here] desu.
[title of job here]です。
[title of job here] desu.
Exercise 3
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
1 of 3
なんねんせいですか。
Given. TRANSLATION: What grade are you in?
Step 2
2 of 3
Xねんせいです
I am in Xth grade.
Result
3 of 3
Xねんせいです
Step 1
1 of 2
In Japanese, it is preferable to omit the subject of the sentence whenever possible. When answering a question like, ‘what color is the sky’ (‘そらはなんいろですか’) in Japanese, we do not need to repeat the word ‘sky’ or substitute it for the pronoun ‘it’ because the topic of conversation has already been established; instead, we would literally say ‘is blue’ (‘あおいです’). Many English speakers learning Japanese will include the subject even when it is not necessary—try to avoid this as you practice Japanese. If something isn’t clear, you can always specify or ask a follow-up question.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
The question, 「なんねんせいですか」is asking what year student you are. To express this, we write:
[your year here]-せいです。
[your year here]-sei desu.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
The question, 「なんねんせいですか」is asking what year student you are. To express this, we write:
[your year here]-せいです。
[your year here]-sei desu.
Result
2 of 2
The question, 「なんねんせいですか」is asking what year student you are. To express this, we write:
[your year here]-せいです。
[your year here]-sei desu.
[your year here]-せいです。
[your year here]-sei desu.
Exercise 4
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
1 of 3
なんさいですか。
Given. TRANSLATION: How old are you?
Step 2
2 of 3
Xさいです(exception: はたちです)
I am X years old (exception: in Japanese, twenty years old is ‘hatachi’).
Result
3 of 3
Xさいです(exception: はたちです)
Step 1
1 of 2
In Japanese, it is preferable to omit the subject of the sentence whenever possible. When answering a question like, ‘what color is the sky’ (‘そらはなんいろですか’) in Japanese, we do not need to repeat the word ‘sky’ or substitute it for the pronoun ‘it’ because the topic of conversation has already been established; instead, we would literally say ‘is blue’ (‘あおいです’). Many English speakers learning Japanese will include the subject even when it is not necessary—try to avoid this as you practice Japanese. If something isn’t clear, you can always specify or ask a follow-up question.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
The question, 「なんさいですか」is asking how old you are. To express this, we write:
[your age here]-さいです。[note that, if you are twenty, you will use the special word, ’はたち,’ instead of the ‘XX-さい’ construction]
[your age here]-sai desu.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
The question, 「なんさいですか」is asking how old you are. To express this, we write:
[your age here]-さいです。[note that, if you are twenty, you will use the special word, ’はたち,’ instead of the ‘XX-さい’ construction]
[your age here]-sai desu.
Result
2 of 2
The question, 「なんさいですか」is asking how old you are. To express this, we write:
[your age here]-さいです。[note that, if you are twenty, you will use the special word, ’はたち,’ instead of the ‘XX-さい’ construction]
[your age here]-sai desu.
[your age here]-さいです。[note that, if you are twenty, you will use the special word, ’はたち,’ instead of the ‘XX-さい’ construction]
[your age here]-sai desu.
Exercise 5
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
1 of 2
The question, 「せんこうはなんですか」is asking what your major is. To express this, we write:
[your major here]です。
[your age here] desu.
[your major here]です。
[your age here] desu.
Result
2 of 2
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
The question, 「せんこうはなんですか」is asking what your major is. To express this, we write:
[your major here]です。
[your age here] desu.
The question, 「せんこうはなんですか」is asking what your major is. To express this, we write:
[your major here]です。
[your age here] desu.
Step 1
1 of 3
せんこうはなんですか。
Given. TRANSLATION: What is your college major?
Step 2
2 of 3
せんこうはXです。(ex. せんこうはビジネスです)
My major is X. (ex. my major is business)
Result
3 of 3
せんこうはXです。(ex. せんこうはビジネスです)
Exercise 6
Solution 1
Solution 2
Step 1
1 of 2
The question, 「でんわばんごうはなんですか」is asking what your phone number is. To express this, we write:
[your phone number here]です。
[your phone number here] desu.
[your phone number here]です。
[your phone number here] desu.
Result
2 of 2
In Japanese, when we tell someone our phone number, we say the particle ‘の’ between numbers where we would place a dash or after the area code in English.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
The question, 「でんわばんごうはなんですか」is asking what your phone number is. To express this, we write:
[your phone number here]です。
[your phone number here] desu.
When followed by the copula (joining word) ‘です,’ or ‘だ,’ and in a few other instances, the word ‘なに’ is shortened to ‘なん.’
The question, 「でんわばんごうはなんですか」is asking what your phone number is. To express this, we write:
[your phone number here]です。
[your phone number here] desu.
Step 1
1 of 3
でんわばんごうはなんですか。
Given. TRANSLATION: What is your phone number?
Step 2
2 of 3
(XXX) XXX-XXXXです。
(XXX) XXX-XXXX is my phone number.
Result
3 of 3
(XXX) XXX-XXXXです。
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