The adjective comes before the noun = な
The adjective comes after the noun = no な

Also, to like and to hate are adjectives. O_O

この, その, and あの are used when you need to describe something about a noun (presumably with adjectives, but I suppose I'll find out for sure with further study).

そうです

よ is used to make assertions.
ね is used for reflection and agreement. Can be used by itself occasionally to get someone's attention.
よね can be combined.

If I use male gendered language, I'll sound like a tomboy. Need to try to learn the female versions, but it isn't a gigantic deal if I mess one up.

Feminine:
の- downward tone means emphasis, upward tone means question (a question without か!)
のよ- adds emphasis and makes it an assertion
のね- adds emphasis and agreement
わ- softens/feminizes the sentence
わよ- a soft assertion!
わね- adds softness and agreement or reflection
かしら- adds a sense of wonder, sort of like asking yourself a question

Masculine:
ぞ- indicates assertion, fairly casual
ぜ- also indicates assertion, but less politely
かい- indicates a question
かな／かなぁ- masculine version of かしら

Particle を shows the direct object.
に shows the indirect object (who, what, or where the object is directed to). Usually involved with movement of some kind.

Verb conjugations, oh my! I've actually been looking forward to these, because that was the only part of high school Spanish I remember enjoying (except for our final exam being to order in Spanish at a Mexican restaurant... that was pretty nice too).

ます- present tense
ました- past tense
ません- negative
ませんでした- past negative

Lots of lots of vocab to memorize, and I'm a bit behind on Kanji Koohi from being out of town. Oh well, a little at a time!

は emphasizes what comes after it.

が emphasizes what comes before it.


は talks about something.

が identifies something.

だれ - Who
なに／なん - What

Doing the review then I'll be done with Season 1 of TextFugu! :)

Particles and Other Notes

Latest lessons have been focused on learning how to use the particle は. Not quite as scary as I had imagined.

Also, I've started All Japanese All The Time's SilverSpoon program. I'm on Day 15 or so, and I'm enjoying all the material. Found a copy of Remember the Kanji and started with the lessons there too, though pretty slowly (a lesson every couple days).

Current lesson:
これ- This (things in possession of the speaker)
それ- That (things in possession of the person you are talking to)
あれ- That (Over There) (not in the possession of the speaker or the person you are talking to)
なに and なん- What

Note of Reminder

わたし- standard way to say "I"
あなた- standard way to say "you"

I actually really like all the different ways to say "I" and "you". I like options. :)