Module 2.1 – My father is a teacher

In Lesson 1, we learned わたしwatashi はwa [your name] ですdesu。 This sentence use the structure of:

[A] はwa [B] ですdesu。

and it is one of the most basic sentence, meaning “A = B.” Please watch this video.

Talking about your family member

In the previous lesson, we learned words for family members. We use them to talk to our own family. However, when we talk about our own family to other people, we use a shorter term for each member of our family. They are the humble form and by using a humble word for our own family, we show respect to others. Young children in Japan are NOT expected to be able to differentiate between the two forms but by the time they go to high school, most of them can use the correct term in each occasion.

Male	Relationship	Female
	family かぞくkazoku
Chichi ちち	parents りょうしんryoushin for the pair	Haha はは
Sohu そふ	grand -parents そふぼsohubo for the pair	Sobo そぼ
Ani あに	older sibling	Ane あね
Otouto おとうと	younger sibling	Imouto いもうと
きょうだいkyoudai (brothers only or mixed)	siblings as a group	きょうだいkyoudai (mixed) or しまいshimai (sisters only)
Oji おじ	parent’s sibling (uncle/aunt)	Oba おば
Shujin しゅじん (literally “master”)	Spouse (Older generation, a bit controversial these days)	Kanai かない (literally “inside the house”)
Otto おっと	Spouse (Younger generation, more neutral)	Tsuma つま
Musuko むすこ	Child こどもkodomo for a child (gender neutral)	Musume むすめ
Oi おい	Your Sibling’s child	Mei めい

Words that can be used to describe people

Today’s post is about adjectives that can be used to describe people. Please watch the video below. (If not showing below, please click the link.)

Here is the list of adjectives I was talking about in the video.

いadjectives

These adjectives are called いadjectives as they all end in い. These adjectives do not need anything when they are used in front of a noun but it can change its form depending on how they are used – we will talk about this later.

おおきい	ookii	big, older
ちいさい	chiisai	small, young
わかい	wakai	young, youthful
せがたかい	segatakai	tall
せがひくい	segahikui	short (in height)
かわいい	kawaii	cute, adorable
うるさい	urusai	annoying, noisy
あかるい	akarui	cheerful, bright, happy
やさしい	yasashii	sweet, gentle, affectionate
こわい	kowai	scary, tough
きびしい	kibishii	strict
おとなしい	otonashii	quiet, subdued
おもしろい	omoshiroi	funny, amusing
いそがしい	isogashii	busy, hectic

なadjectives

These adjectives are called なadjectives because they need な when they are used in front of a noun. Some なadjectives end in い, but they are still なadjectives.

きれい	kirei	pretty
げんき	genki	healthy, lively spirited
にぎやか	nigiyaka	lively cheerful, vivacious
しずか	shizuka	quiet, calm, graceful
まじめ	majime	serious, honest, steady
しょうじき	shoujiki	honest
しんせつ	shinsetsu	kind, hospitable, obliging
ゆうめい	yuumei	famous, well-known
りっぱ	rippa	respectable, outstanding

Other Vocabulary

いつも	itsumo	adv	always
ちゅうがくせい	chuu_gaku_sei	noun	a junior high school student (Years 7 to 9)
ちょっと	chotto	adv	a little, somewhat
はいゆう	haiyuu	noun	an actor

Examples

あにani はwa がくせいgakusei ですdesu。ちょっとchotto にぎやかnigiyaka ですdesu。
My older brother is a student. He is rather loud.

いもうとimouto はwa ちゅうがくせいchuu_gaku_sei ですdesu。かわいいkawaii ですdesu。
My younger sister is a junior high school student. She is cute.

ちちchichi はwa けいさつかんkeisatsukan ですdesu。まじめmajime ですdesu。
My father is a policeman.

ははhahaはwa かんごしkangoshi ですdesu。いつもitsumo いそがしいisogashii ですdesu。
My mother is a nurse. She is always busy.

そふsohu はwa げんきgenki ですdesu。
My grandfather is healthy.

そぼsobo はwa やさしいyasashii ですdesu。
My grandmother is nice.

As you can see, we don’t use pronouns like “he” or “she” in Japanese. Instead of using them, we usually skip ～はwa (the topic of the sentence) part.

Suggested activities

• Make 5 sentences each to describe family members.
• Describe 5 of your friends in Japanese. Don’t forget to put –さんsan after their name.

Describing other people’s family

In Japanese, while we use humble terms to refer to our own family, other people’s family are referred to using honorific terms, which are almost the same words as we talk to our family members.

Male	Relationship	Female
	family ごかぞくgo_kazoku/ごかていgo_katei
Otou_san おとうさん	parents ごgoりょうしんryoushin for the pair	Okaa_san おかあさん
Ojii_san おじいさん	grand-parents	obaa_san おばあさん
Onii_san おにいさん	older sibling ごgoきょうだいkyoudai is gender/age neutral	Onee_san おねえさん
Otouto_san おとうとさん	younger sibling ごgoきょうだいkyoudai is gender/age neutral	Imouto_san いもうとさん
ojisan おじさん	parent’s sibling	oba_san おばさん
Goshujin ごしゅじん	Spouse	Oku_san おくさん
Musuko_san むすこさん	Child おこさんoko_san is gender neutral	Ojou_san おじょうさん
Oigo_san おいごさん	Your Sibling’s child	Meigo_san めいごさん

If these terms are used on their own, that suggests the family member of the person you are talking to (i.e. “your xxx”). Otherwise, you need to add the person’s name in the form of “Johnさんsan のno おかあokaaさんsan (John’s mother)” or “Maryさんsan のno むすこmusukoさんsan (Mary’s son).”

Examples

ジョンさんsan のno おかあokaaさんsan はwa やさしいyasashii ですdesu。
John’s mother is nice.

Maryさんsan のno むすこmusukoさんsan はwa はいゆうhaiyuu ですdesu。ゆうめいyuumei ですdesu。
Mary’s son is lively.

おくさまoku_sama はwa おoげんきgenki ですdesuかka。
Is your wife well?
The suffix –さまsama is used to make it more polite.
Sometimes the prefix おo is added to make it sound even more polite.
The ending かka is a question mark.

Suggested activities

• Make 5 sentences each to describe 5 of somebody else’s family.