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Word Order<br />
The normal word order in Japanese sentences is:<br />
subject – object – verb<br />
ane wa sushi o suki des ga, watashi wa suki dewa arimasen<br />
[‘sister’ + sub. part. + ‘sushi’ + ob. part. + ‘like but I’ + sub. part. + ‘like not’]<br />
my sister likes sushi but I don’t<br />
Adjectives usually precede the noun they modify while particles<br />
and conjunctions follow the noun they refer to.<br />
‘Yes’ and ‘No’<br />
The words for ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are hai (or sometimes e) and ie<br />
(or ie):<br />
hai, onegai shimas ie kek·ko des<br />
yes, please no thanks<br />
yomimashta ka? hai, yomimashta<br />
have you read the paper? yes, I have<br />
In general, however, it is possible to omit hai and ie and<br />
answer simply by using the verb.<br />
When the question is a negative one, however, hai and ie are<br />
used in quite a different way to English.This is because hai<br />
is used to confirm the statement, whether the answer is affirmative<br />
or negative:<br />
anata wa Amerika-jin dewa arimasen ka?<br />
[‘you’ + sub. part. + ‘American’ + negative + question part.]<br />
aren’t you American?<br />
hai, Igirisu-jin desu<br />
[‘yes (I am not) English’]<br />
no, I’m English<br />
HOW THE LANGUAGE WORKS<br />
■ Word Order / ‘Yes’ and ‘No’<br />
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