Contents

The following Help Topics are available:

Overview of Japanese

Pronunciation

Male Speech and Female Speech

Nouns and Pronouns

Particles

Adjectives

Adverbs

Verb

Politeness

Word Order

Interrogatives

Onomatopoeia

Numerals and Counters

Conjunctions

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Overview of Japanese

Japanese is not directly related to any other language or family of languages. The Japanese adopted Chinese characters in the 3rd century A.D., but there is no evidence of a linguistic relationship between the two languages. Japanese does share some grammatical similarities with Korean; however, no direct link has been discovered. Japanese is spoken by more than 125 million people in Japan.

Japanese is written in a mixture of Kanji (Chinese characters), Hiragana, and Katakana. Kanji is a writing system adapted from China;  kanji represent both meaning and sound. Often one kanji has more than one meaning and pronunciation. Hiragana and Katakana are both sets of 46 syllabic characters. These 46 characters represent 45 different sounds. Hiragana and Katakana represent the same corresponding sounds, but Hiragana is used to write native Japanese words and Katakana is used to write words of foreign origin (mainly European) and some onomatopoeia. Japanese sentences can be written both vertically and horizontally. When they are written vertically, you should read them from right to the left. When they are written horizontally (like English), you should read them from left to the right.

JapaneseNow! uses an approach that focuses on mastering basic conversational skills, and thus does not introduce Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. For your convenience, we will use the writing system called roma-ji. Roma-ji is a way of presenting Japanese sounds using the English alphabet. There are certain rules to describe some sounds such as long vowels.

See Also:

Pronunciation


Pronunciation

The smallest unit of Japanese sound is made of a (consonant + ) vowel. That is, when an English speaker sees the word "Me," for example, s/he perceives that the word is made of an "M" sound and an "E" sound. To Japanese speakers, however, "me" (pronounced as in "met") is one sound because there is no such sound as "M" itself in Japanese. That is why many Japanese people have difficulty pronouncing English. When they say English words such as "hat," they tend to add a vowel after each consonant and pronounce it as "hatto."

There are five vowels in Japanesea (as in father), e (as in ten), i (as in pit), o (as in modify) and u (as in hood). (In the Japanese system, vowel order is a-i-u-e-o). Besides the five vowels, the rest of the Japanese sounds are made by combining consonants with these vowels to form consonant-vowel syllables. The following is the list of the consonant-vowel syllables that make up all Japanese words. The order of sounds is based on the Goj•-on alphabetizing system, which differs widely from the English alphabetical order. (Note: Even though "Goj•-on" literally means "Fifty sounds," Japanese currently employs more than 50 sounds.)

	a	i	u	e	o
Consonant
k	ka	ki	ku	ke	ko	(k as in Kabul)
s	sa	shi	su	se	so	(s as in son)
t	ta	chi	tsu	te	to	(t as in time)
n	na	ni	nu	ne	no	(n as in no)
h	ha	hi	fu	he	ho	(h as in home)
m	ma	mi	mu	me	mo	(m as in my)
y	ya		yu		yo	(y as in yes)
r	ra	ri	ru	re	ro	(r is pronounced by flicking the tip of the tongue against the gum behind upper teeth)
w	wa				(o)	(w as in water)
n	(before m, p, or b: pronounced "m" as in "my" as in the Japanese word "shinbun" meaning newspaper)
	(before n, t, d, z: pronounced "n" as in "night" as in the Japanese word "Honda")
	(before k, g at the end of the word: pronounced like the "ng" in "king" as in the Japanese word "manga" meaning comic book)

Additionally, there is a category of modified sounds for "ka-", "ha-", "sa-", and  "ta-." These sounds are known as the "voiced" sounds.

Consonant	Voiced Sounds

g		ga	gi	gu	ge	go	(g as in go)
b		bi	bi	bu	be	bo	(b as in boy)
z		za	ji	zu	ze	zo	(z as in zone)
d		da	(ji)	(zu)	de	do	(d as in dime)
p		pa	pi	pu	pe	po	(p as in pie with less aspiration)

There also is another category of syllables that have a "y" sound (as in "yes") inserted between the consonant and vowel sounds. These are

kya	kyu	kyo
gya	gyu	gyo
sha	shu	sho
ja	ju	jo
cha	chu	cho
nya	nyu	nyo
hya	hyu	hyo
bya	byu	byo
pya	pyu	pyo
mya	my	myo
rya	ryu	ryo

Though most Japanese words are the combination of one consonant and a vowel, there are some Japanese words that have two consonants. This happens only with p, t, s, and k. (Example: yappari, motto, shikkari, and massugu). The first consonant has the length of a full syllable.

Occasionally two vowels are used together to have the long sound.

In JapaneseNow!, we use a bar above a vowel to indicate the long sound.

B“ru (beer)

S•tsu (suits)

It is important to pay attention to the long vowel because when the long vowel is not properly pronounced, the word could have a completely different meaning. In the example above, if you pronounce b" ru as "biru," it means "building." In order to avoid misunderstandings, it is extremely important to pronounce the length of the vowels correctly.

Here are some additional examples.

Ryok”	(travel)	Ry”ko	(persons name)
Sh•jin	(prisoner)	Shujin	(master/husband)
K‘do	(card)	Kado	(corner)
T”ri	(street)	Tori	(bird)

When you read more than one word at a time, be sure to pronounce vowels such as "o"

(a particle) separately from the word before. For example, when there is a sentence "Hon o yomimasu" (I read a book), English speakers tend to pronounce it as "Hono yomimasu." Make sure the "o" (object marker) is pronounced independently. Otherwise, Japanese people will perceive that "hono" is one word and will not understand you.


Male Speech and Female Speech

Unlike European languages, Japanese does not conjugate based on the gender of each word, but there is a difference between male speech and female speech. Certain informal expressions are exclusively reserved as male speech or female speech. If you have a native Japanese conversation partner and if his/her gender is different from yours, you might need to be careful not to pick up some of his/her expressions.

Male speech

Male speech uses "Boku" or "Ore" as the first person pronoun. "Watashi" is used in formal occasion such as job interviews or making speeches, but colloquially "Boku" or "Ore" is more common. "Boku" is more formal than "Ore" and has a polite connotation, while "Ore" has a more masculine and casual connotation.

In colloquial situations, male speech uses the sentence final particle "zo" (and occasionally "ze") to indicate the speaker wants to draw the listeners attention.

Oi, sore wa shitsurei da zo. (Hey, that is rude. Do you know that?)

In the example above, "Oi" is also an exclusively male interjection.

Female speech

Female speech uses only "Watashi" as the first-person pronoun. In a colloquial situation, it could sound like "Atashi" as well.

In colloquial situations, female speech uses the sentence final particle "wa" to indicate the speakers assertion. "Wa" can be combined with other sentence final particles such as "ne" and "yo."

Ara, ame da wa. (Oh, it is raining.)

In the example above, "Ara" is also female-exclusive interjection.

* JapaneseNow! focuses on neutral, formal speech. For the first-person pronoun, "watashi" is used. Other sentence final particles, which are neutral, include "Ne" and "Yo."

"Ne" is used when the speaker requests confirmation/agreement from the listener.

Ii tenki desu ne. (It is a fine day, isnt it?)

The listener is expected to say "S” desu ne" (It is, indeed) in this case.

"Yo" is used to indicate the speakers strong assertion.

Soto wa ii tenki desu yo. (It is fine outside, I tell you.)


Nouns and Pronouns

Nouns do not reflect whether they are singular or plural and are not changed to indicate case. For example,

Hana (flower)

This noun itself does not indicate whether it is one flower or more or whether this is used as a subject or an object. You can tell whether it is a subject or an object by looking at the particle that comes after the noun in the specific sentence.

A pronoun is a word that indicates a previously mentioned or understood noun.

A pronoun can be the subject or object of a verb. (Subject pronouns are omitted before verbs when the subject is clear from the context.) Again, you can tell whether it is the subject or the object by the particle.

Watashi wa nihongo no hon o yomimasu. (I read a Japanese book.)

Tanaka-san wa watashi o yonda. (Mr/Ms. Tanaka called me.)

Here is a table of personal pronouns:

Watashi/(watakushi) boku	I, me       *(see male/female speech)
Anata/kimi (omae)	you (singular)
kare	he, him
kanojo	she, her
watashitachi	we, us
anatatachi	you (plural)
karera	they, them (masculine)
kanojotachi	they, them (feminine)

Traditionally, the third person pronouns (kare, kanojo, karera, kanojotachi) are not as commonly used as the first and second person pronouns.

Ko-so-a-do

Japanese distinguishes three degrees of distance using the following pronouns: kore, sore, and are. When asking question, dore is used. These pronouns are called ko-so-a-do.

1. near the speaker kore (adjective: kono) (this)

2. farther from the speaker and near the person addressed sore (adjective: sono) (that)

3. at a distance from the speaker and the listener  are (adjective: ano) (that over there)

4. when asking which one dore (adjective: dono) (which)

See Also:

Male and Female Speech

Particles


Particles

A particle indicates the relationship of a word, a phrase, or a clause to the sentence. Particles are placed after the word they affect.

These are some examples of basic particles:

The particle "wa" is a topic marker/contrastive marker.

Suzuki-san wa gakusei desu.

(Mr/Ms. Suzuki is a student.)

Suzuki-san wa gakusei desu. Watashi wa sarar“man desu.

(Mr/Ms. Suzuki is a student; I am a salaried employee.)

In casual usage, "wa" tends to be omitted.

Kono hon (wa) omoshiroi yo. (This book is interesting).

The particle "ga" is a subject marker. "Ga" and "wa" are often exchangeable, but ga is always used with WH-questions such as "who," "where," "what," etc. "Ga" also functions as an emphasis.

Dare ga kimasu ka. (Who will come?)

Tanaka-san ga kimasu. (Mr/Ms. Tanaka will.)

When the information of the word is obvious from the context, "ga" can be omitted.

Gohan (ga) dekimashita. (Dinner is ready).

The particle "o" indicates a direct object.

Hon o yomimasu. (I read books.)

When the subject is not under focus, "o" can be omitted as well.

O-cha (o) nomimash”. (Lets drink some tea.)

The particle "ni" indicates an indirect object.

Hon o anata ni agemasu. (I will give you a book.)

* Indirect object particle "ni" cannot be omitted.

The particle "ni" has many other functions.

1)	Indicates time

Shichi-ji ni aimasho. (Lets meet at seven oclock)

Indicates location of where someone/something exists.

Hariuddo wa kariforunia ni arimasu. (Hollywood is in California.)

Indicates "on"

Kami ni kaite kudasai. (Please write on the paper.)

Indicates "to" (direction)

Ashita sanfuranshisuko ni ikimasu. (I will go to San Francisco tomorrow).

The particle "e" also means "to" (direction).

T”ky” e iku (go to Tokyo)

The particle "kara" indicates a place of departure or starting time.

P‘t“ wa shichi-ji kara desu. (The party will be from seven oclock.)

Jon-san wa Bosuton kara kimashita. (John came from Boston.)

The particle "de" also indicates the location where the event takes place.

P‘t“ ga Tanaka-san no ie de arimasu. (The party will be at Tanakas house).

The particle "de" indicates a condition in which an action is taken.

Toraber‘zu chekku de haraimasu. (I would like to pay with a travelers check.)

The particle "to" means "with."

Watashi wa im”to to gakko e ikimashita. (I went to school with my younger sister.)

The particle "no" means "of."

Watashi no hon

(My book)


Adjectives

Japanese adjectives can be categorized into i adjectives and na adjectives; i

adjectives end with the sound of i, such as "atsui" (hot), "tsumetai" (cold) and "”kii" (big). When you use i adjectives to modify a noun, you simply place the i adjective before the noun which you would like to modify. The other adjectives that do not end with i are all called na adjectives. When you use na adjectives to modify nouns, you need to insert "na" between the adjective and the noun.

atsui (hot) [-i adjective]

atsui heya (hot room)

shizuka (quiet) [-na adjective]

shizuka "na" heya (quiet room)

Note: "Kirei" (pretty) is an exception. It ends with "i", but it is a na adjective.

See Also:

Adverbs


Adverbs

An adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

Adverbs are made by conjugating adjectives. In the case of i adjectives, the adverbs are made by dropping the last "i" and adding "ku" instead.

Utsukushii (beautiful)

UtsukushiKU (beautifully)

For na adjectives, the adverbs are made by adding ni.

Shizuka (quiet)

ShizukaNI (quietly)

Adverbs that indicates time:

ky”	(today)
kin”	(yesterday)
ashita	(tomorrow)
ima	(now)
sugu	(immediately)
mada	(yet)

See Also:

Adjectives


Verbs

1. Tense

Although the Japanese language has the concept of present, past and future, it only uses present tense and past tense. The concept of future is expressed using present tense in a future context.

The present tense can express the following events:

1)	Existence

Hon ga arimasu. (There is a book).

2)	Habitual customs/General Rules

Mainichi sanpo shimasu. (I take a walk every day).

Ushi wa kusa o tabemasu. (Cows eat grass.)

3)	Current Event

Ima sanpo shiteimasu. (I am taking a walk now.)

4)	Future Event

Ashita sanpo shimasu. (I will take a walk tomorrow).

Current events use the te form (the progressive form,or  -ing ) of the verb to differentiate from the future event.

The past tense can express the following events:

1)	Past Event

Tanaka san ni denwa shimashita. (I phoned Mr/Ms. Tanaka)

2)	An event that has already happened.

Tanaka san ni denwa shimashita. (I have phoned Mr/Ms. Tanaka)

1)	and 2) are different. The only time when the two concepts appear different is when they are the negative answers to the question.

Tanaka san ni denwa shimashita ka? (Did you phone Mr/Ms. Tanaka?)

--Iie, shimasen deshita. (No, I didnt.)

Tanaka san ni denwa shimashita ka? (Have you phoned Mr/Ms. Tanaka?)

--Iie, shite imasen. (No, I havent.)

The other concept such as past perfect is expressed using the past tense of the te form of the verb.

2. Participles

Participles are small units of speech that show relationships in a sentence.

tabete (eating)

itte (going)

To make a participle, the end of the past tense form, -a, needs to be changed to -e.

The participle is used in

katte-imasu (be buying) [progressive tense]

katte-kudasai (please buy) [polite command]

Participles can also connect two clauses.

Shibuya ni itte gohan o taberu.

(I go to Shibuya and eat.)

Japanese has a separate negative conjugation.

kaimasen (not buy)

3. "To Be" verb

There are three words which express "to be" in Japanese: desu, arimasu, and imasu.

desu (equal, be)

Anata no tokei ga okurete iru no desu.

(Your watch is slow.)

Present	desu
Past	deshita
Probable	desh”

arimasu (be, exist)

Shinguru rumu wa arimasu ka.

(Do you have a single room?)

Present	arimasu
Past	arimashita
Probable	arudesh”

imasu (equal, be) [used for living things]

Watashi wa hoteru ni imasu.

(I am at a hotel.)

Present	imasu
Past	imashita
Probable	irudesh”
4. Formality

Japanese verbs and adjectives (both i and na adjectives) have formal and informal styles. In JapaneseNow!, the formal style is mainly used. However, it is important to be aware of informal styles. If you look up the word in the dictionary, for example, it is always presented in informal style. The informal style is sometimes called the dictionary form as well. The formal style is sometimes called "-masu" form or "-desu" form since the present tense of the verb ending is "-masu" and the adjective ending is "-desu."

The "-masu" form can be formed in three ways depending upon the type of verb. If the verb stem ends with the sound of "-e" or "-I" (ex. "tabE-ru" to eat, "mI-ru"), drop the last "ru" and add "-masu" (ex. tabemasu, mimasu). If the verb stem ends with other sound (ex. "kaku "to write, "yomu"  to read,, etc). drop the last u and add "-imasu" (ex. kakimasu, yomimasu, etc.). Irregular verbs "kuru" (to come) and "suru" (to do) conjugate as "kimasu," "shimasu," respectively.

The "-desu" form can be formed by simply adding "desu" after the adjective word, whether it is i adjective or na adjective.

In formal situations such as a business or academic presentation, or even when the speaker does not know much about the listener and thus cannot judge whether it is appropriate to use the informal style, "-masu" and "-desu" forms are used ("-masu" is often pronounced as "-mas" and "-desu" is often pronounced as "-des").

The informal style is used, not only in the casual context but also when the situation is purely speaker-oriented and thus does not require listeners. Children who do not understand the social hierarchy learn the informal style first. Monologue tends to use the informal style for this reason.

See Also:

Adjectives


Politeness

Japanese has two different ways to form polite expressions. One is to show respect to the addressee. This is called an "honorific expression," and the other is to lower yourself (the speaker) or someone in your group. This is called a "humble expression."

Generally speaking, an honorific expression is used when the addressee is older or higher in social status. The longer the expression is, the more polite it tends to be.

There are two ways to make honorific verb forms in Japanese. One is to add the prefix "o-" in front of the verb stem and add ni naru (-ni narimasu). The other is to make the verb passive. Also, there are certain irregular honorific verbs such as "Goran-ni-naru" (honorific form of "miru" to see), "Irassharu" (honorific form of "iru"-to exist, "kuru" to come and "iku"-to go) and "Nasaru" (honorific form of "suru"-to do).

Honorific adjectives and nouns are formed by adding the prefix"o-". Some nouns take the prefix "go-" instead of "o-." "O-" is used for the traditional Japanese word or Japanized noun, while "go-" is used for the Japanese word whose origin is from Chinese.

Humble verbs are formed by adding the prefix "o-" and also "-suru" (-shimasu) to the verb stems. There are certain irregular humble verbs such as "Haiken-suru" (humble form of "miru" to watch), "Mairu" (humble form of "kuru" to come), "Itasu" (humble form of "suru" to do).

In addition to the honorific forms and humble forms, there is another "polite" form in Japanese. This uses "-de gozaimasu," which is the polite form of the copula "da." This is formed by adding "-de gozaimasu" after nouns, Na-adjectives or nominalized verbs.

In order to master the polite speech, it is necessary to understand the social and cultural aspect of Japanese. You need to know when and how to elevate somebody. For example, when you talk to somebody who seems older, you use honorific forms. However, when you are talking about the older person who is your in-group member (usually your family member or people at your company, including your bosses), you use the humble form to indirectly elevate the addressee. This is why Japanese people try to obtain personal information (such as job, marital status, age, etc.) as soon as they meet someone new in order to know which form they should use.


Word Order

Japanese is considered an SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) language, while English is an SVO language. That is, Japanese always ends with a verb or an adjective or a copula. The word order of adverbs or direct objects is not very strict, but the subject is normally placed in the beginning and the verb is placed in the end.

Watashi wa    hon o 	yomimasu.

( "I" = subject) ( "book" = object) ( "read" = verb)

Watashi wa 	wakai

( "I" = subject) ( "young" = adjective)

Watashi wa 	sarar“man 	desu.

( "I" = subject) ( "salaried employee" + copula)

In English, you can tell if the sentence is going to be the question or the statement just by listening to the beginning of the sentence. In Japanese, however, in case of yes/no questions, you cannot tell if the sentence is going to be a question or a statement until you hear the sentence ending. In questions, "-ka" is placed at the end of the sentence as a question marker.

Tanaka-san wa gakusei desu. (Mr/Ms. Tanaka is a student)

Tanaka-san wa gakusei desu ka. (Is Mr/Ms Tanaka a student?)

Japanese word order in relative clauses is also reversed compared with English. In the English relative clause, the modifier comes after the word. However, in the Japanese relative clause, the modifier comes before the word.

The book which I bought

(Word)	         (Modifier)

Watashi ga katta hon (The book which I bought)

(I)	   (bought) 	(book)

(Modifier)	(Word)

In terms of the word order of adjectives and the nouns that the adjectives modify, the word order is the same as English.

New 	book

(Adj)	(Noun)

Atarashii hon

(New) 	(book)

(Adj)	(Noun)

See Also:

Adjectives

Interrogatives


Interrogatives

Question sentences are formed by adding the particle "-ka" at the end of the sentence. The

"-ka" is used whether the sentence is a simple Yes/No question or a WH (what, when, where, who, how, etc) question. The word order stays the same.

(Affirmative sentence)

Kono hon wa omoshiroi desu. (This book is interesting.)

(Yes/No question)

Kono hon wa omoshiroi desu KA. (Is this book interesting?)

(WH question)

Kono hon wa ikura desu KA. (How much is this book?)

Note that questions have a rising intonation. Although it is becoming more acceptable, formal written documents tend to avoid the question mark.  (When used, it is the same symbol as in English.)

The following are typical answers for the example questions above.

Kono hon wa omoshiroi desu KA. (Is this book interesting?)

--Hai / ‚, omoshiroi desu. (Yes, it is.)

--Iie, omoshiroku arimasen. (No, it is not.)

For "Yes", "‚ has a more casual connotation.

For "No", "Iya" is occasionally used instead of "Iie."

Kono hon wa ikura desu KA. (How much is this book?)

-- 1000 en desu. (It is 1000 yen.)

When you make questions or answer them, the elements which should be understood from the context are often omitted.

Dare desu KA. (Who is it?[Literally, who are you?])

In this question, "Anata wa" (you) is omitted because it is assumed that the listener should understand that the speaker is asking you the question and therefore s/he wants to know about you.


Onomatopoeia

One of the unique characteristics of the Japanese language is that it has many onomatopoeic expressions. The function of onomatopoeia is to make the expression lively by providing the close sounds or realism.

Many onomatopoeic expressions are formed by repeating the same sound twice. They are often used to modify verbs, or some expressions can be used just like na adjectives. Sometimes

"-to" is added after the onomatopoeia to indicate that that is a quote.

Kirakira hikaru (shine sparklingly)

Voiceless consonants such as "k", "p", "s", "t" tend to be used to describe favorable situationsneat, small, quiet, pretty things/phenomena. On the other hand, voiced consonants such as "g", "b", "z", "d" tend to be used to describe something negative or annoying -- loud, big, ugly, tacky, powerful things/phenomena.

Giragira hikaru (shine dazzlingly)

The nasal sound tends to describe something soft, warm and slippery.

Nurunuru suru (feels slimy)

The following are some onomatopoeic examples that you might encounter often.

Perapera (to describe chattering away frivolously, to describe speaking foreign language fluently)

Jon san wa nihongo ga perapera desu.

(John is fluent in Japanese.)

Z‘z‘ (to describe the sound of rushing water, such as pouring rain)

Ame ga z‘z‘ futte imasu.

(It is pouring.)

Kyorokyoro (to describe someone looking around restlessly)

Kodomo wa kyorokyoro to ok‘san o sagashimashita.

(The child looked for the mother restlessly.)

Guchagucha (to describe something soft and wet, or to describe the awful mess)

Heya no naka wa guchagucha desu.

(Inside of the room is awfully messy).

Source: An Illustrated Dictionary of Japanese Onomatopoeic Expressions by Taro Gomi,

The Japan Times 1989


Numerals and Counters

There are two ways to count from 1 to 10 in Japanese; native Japanese numerals and Sino-Japanese numerals. Native Japanese numerals are used to count items and the counters are included.

Native Japanese Numerals	Roman Numerals	Sino-Japanese Numerals
Hito (-tsu)	1	Ichi
Futa(-tsu)	2	Ni
Mi(-ttsu)	3	San
Yo(-ttsu)	4	Shi/Yon
Itsu(-tsu)	5	Go
Mu(-ttsu)	6	Roku
Nana(-tsu)	7	Nana/Shichi
Ya(-ttsu)	8	Hachi
Kokono(-tsu)	9	Ky•
T”	10	J•

After 10, there are only Sino-Japanese numerals; 11 is counted as J•-ichi (10+1), and 12 is

J•-ni (10+2), respectively.

Japanese uses different counters to count different items. Counters are often assigned depending upon the shape of the items, but there are some idiomatic expressions to memorize as well.

Here are some examples of counters:

To count thin objects such as sheets of paper, -mai is used.

Ichi-mai, Ni-mai, San-mai, Yon-mai, Go-mai, Roku-mai, Nana-mai, Hachi-mai, Ky•-mai, J•-mai

To count long skinny objects such as pens or bottles, -hon/pon/bon is used.

Ippon, Nihon, San-bon, Yon-hon, Go-hon, Roppon, Nana-hon, Happon, Ky•-hon, Juppon

To count volumes such as books, -satsu is used.

Issatsu, Ni-satsu, San-satsu, Yon-satsu, Go-satsu, Roku-satsu, Nana-satsu, Ha-ssatsu, Ky•-satsu, Ju-ssatsu


Conjunctions

To connect two equal clauses, Japanese uses particles and conjunctions.

The following conjunctions are used with the dictionary form of a verb:

to (indicates the idea of if, as, or when)

Hik”ki de iku to, hayai desh”.

(If you take an airplane, you can get there quickly.)

node (because)

Genkin o motteinai node kurejitto k‘do de haraimasu.

(Since I dont have cash with me, Id like to put this on my credit card.)

toki (means time)

Samui toki wa o-cha wo nomimasu.

(When it is cold, I drink some tea.)

keredomo (but)

Kore wa atsusugiru keredomo oishii desu.

(This is too hot, but it tastes good.)

The following conjunction is used with a participle:

kara (after)

Kippu o kattekara, densha ni norimash”.

(Lets get on the train after we buy tickets.)