Introductory lesson 010: “I am” sentences
Hello! Welcome to MEEK SPEEK introductory lesson 010.
In the previous lesson we had a look at some very basic conversations in
Japanese. Now let’s continue with that and learn how to introduce
oneself!
Introduce yourself
First off, take a look at some examples below.
わたしのなまえはアキコです。
(Watashi no namae wa Akiko desu.)
My name is Akiko.
In this simple sentence, the Japanese word order is the same as in English - the subject comes first followed by the
verb.
(私は)朝早く起きます。（わたしはあさはやくおきます。）
(watashi wa) asa hayaku okimasu.
I get up early in the morning.
In this case, the verb is located at the end of the Japanese sentence whilst it appears next to subject in English. Yes,
Japanese sentences always end with predicates (verbs etc). That’s one of the most important rules when it comes to
ordering of Japanese words.
The reason why 私は(watashi wa) in the example above is written in brackets is that the subject of a sentence can
often be omitted if we already know what it is.
For example:
頭が痛い （あたまがいたい）
Atama ga itai.
(I have a headache.)
眠い (眠たい) （ねむい（ねむたい））
Nemui. (Nemutai). ※眠い and 眠たい) are both exactly same.
(I'm sleepy.)
お腹が空いた
Onaka ga suita.
(I'm hungry.)
There are many instances in the Japanese language whereby it’s common to drop “I am….”. As illustrated above,
instead of saying “I’m hungry”, Japanese people would simply say “Hungry.”. When spoken, it’s clear that the person
speaking is referring to himself. Also, you can often turn these into questions by simply end the word on a high note,
like you would in English. Try saying “(I’m) sleepy” and “(Are you) sleepy?” and you get the idea!
Going back to the very first example in this lesson, I could also simplify that phrase by saying "アキコです。Akiko
desu."
I would actually recommend using this over the first example, as whenever you’re in a situation where you introduce
yourself, people are going to expect you’re referring to yourself and not somebody else. Furthermore, this makes the
introduction a lot more natural sounding, whereas “Watashi no namae wa Akiko desu” is a bit of a mouthful and
feels a bit textbook. It’s not too dissimilar to meeting someone in English where it’s also common to drop “My name
is….”. Often people simply state their name and shake hands, or follow up with a “nice to meet you” or “how are
you?”.
Here at MEEK SPEAK we believe sounding natural is not necessarily the same as being too informal or rude. 
Watashi no namae wa Daniel desu
My name is Daniel
[OK]
Daniel desu
I’m Daniel
[GOOD]
Ore wa Daniel!!
I’m Daniel!!
[BAD]
Another example:
アキコです。20 歳です。学生です。東京に住んでいます。etc...
(Akiko desu. 20 sai desu. Gakusei desu. Tokyo ni sunde imasu. etc...).
I'm Akiko. I'm 20 years old. I'm a student. I live in Tokyo. etc...
Short and sweet! Actually, sometimes Japanese sentences are so concise that it backfires in a way that Japanese
people are not so talkative. Though, shortening of words and phrases is also frequent in Italian….. Anyway…..
You might find that many textbooks often use examples that include "I am", but generally speaking, not many people
use this in their day-to-day lives. While it’s good to know the grammar behind it, I think it’s better to skip it in
practice. This is the type of language you will encounter when striking conversations with native Japanese people or
watching animé and Japanese drama.
Practise
Practise: Topic
 State your name and nationality!
For example :
(あきこ)です。 (にほん)じん です。
(Akiko) desu. (Nihon) jin desu.
I’m Akiko. I’m Japanese.
You can swap what’s in the brackets for your own name and nationality.
When you state your nationality, you can simply add “jin” (; means person) at the end of your country name (in
Japanese).
US ⇒ アメリカじん (Amerika jin) UK⇒ イギリスじん (Igirisu jin) etc.
 Tell me your occupation! You can choose word from the word bank.
For example :
( きょうし )です。
( kyoushi ) desu.
I’m a teacher.
Word bank: Occupation
1 かいしゃいん
2 がくせい
だいがくせい
3 きょうし
4 こうむいん
5 デザイナー
6 しゅふ
7 けいさつかん
8 いしゃ
9 パイロット
10 はいゆう・じょゆう
(kaishain)
office worker
(gakusei)
student
(daigakusei) - uni student, こうこうせい(koukousei) -high school student)
(kyoushi)
teacher
(koumuin)
public worker
(dezaina-)
designer
(shufu)
housewife
(keisatsukan)
police officer
(isha)
doctor
(pairotto)
pilot
(haiyuu,jyoyuu)
actor, actress
If you’re working in a shop. You can say:
(パンや) で はたらいて います。
(Panya de hataraite imasu.)
I work in a bakery.
Here are a few names of different types of shops. In some instances “ya” is added after the products sold.
1 はなや
(hanaya)
flower shop
2 スーパー
(su-pa-)
supermarket
3 ふくや
(fukuya)
boutique
4 やっきょく
(yakkyoku)
pharmacy
5 ほんや
(honya)
book shop
6 おもちゃや
(omochaya)
toy store
Column: Male and female words
I was very impressed when I saw female palace guards in Sweden… Unfortunately Japan hasn’t had such an equality
of the sexes in terms of occupation. We are, however, trying to say job titles neutrally, like how “fireman” have
evolved to “fire fighter” in English. For example, a hospital nurse is used to be かんごふ(kangofu) and a nurse at a
nursery is used to be ほぼさん(hobosan). Now we call them かんごし(kangoshi) and ほいくし(hoikushi). The names
were changed because the previous names had gender meanings attached to them and people wanted them to be
more equal. (However, most of the nurses in Japan are still women)
By the way, have you heard of “OL” or “Salary man”?? Many employed people in Japan would say either of these if
you ask about their job. These words simply mean “office worker”. “OL” is abbreviation of “Office Lady” and so it is
for women, whereas “Salary man” refers to male office workers. (He’s not a super hero, ne!)
These are words that don’t exist in any English dictionary; therefore they are called “Japanese English words”.
Anyway, they are very common, so it’s worth remembering!