Level: N5

Game Location: ハコタテ お皿 Ward

Explanation:

The main point:

お・ご is a prefix put in front of some nouns to make them seem more formal or important.

In-depth:

• Some words only get the prefix in certain formal settings.
• 確認　(かくにん、confirmation) becomes ご確認 in formal situations
• お・ご is often only used in these situations when referring to a noun that relates to someone else.
• If you are confirming something, just use 確認
• If someone else is confirming something, use ご確認
• The self vs. others difference in grammar is an important distinction in formal Japanese that we...

Level: N5

Game Location: ハコタテ あなた Ward

Explanation:

The main point:

でした・だった is the past tense of です・だ

Example Sentences:

果物じゃない。(こどもでした、(It was) a child.)

大丈夫だった。(だいじょうぶだった、(It was) okay).

Formality:

Level: N5

Game Location: ハコダテ

Origins of Kanji

A long time ago, Japanese had no writing system, and only a spoken language. Instead of creating a new writing system from scratch, the Japanese decided to use the Chinese writing system and apply it to the spoken Japanese language. This became what we call "Kanji" today.

As you can imagine, there were a few complications that came about when trying to do this.

Kanji readings

One thing that makes Kanji particularly tricky in Japanese is that one Kanji can have multiple pronunciations. 

Let's use 食 as an example. 

In the word

Level: N5

Game Location: ハコダテ

Explanation:

The main point:

Counting from 1-10 in Japanese is relatively simple. The only thing to watch out for are 4 and 7, which have two pronunciations.

The longer explanation:

Here is how you count from 1-10.

Read the article

Japanese N5 Grammar- です・だ

Read the article

• Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
• Press the space key then arrow keys to make a selection.