Meeting someone and talking about class | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. はじめまして。

   Nice to meet you.

   はじめまして。

   Nice to meet you.

   More detail

   はじめまして。 is a fixed polite greeting used when meeting someone for the first time. In this utterance, it corresponds to “Nice to meet you.” Treat it as a reusable expression rather than trying to replace it with an ordinary greeting such as こんにちは. Example: はじめまして。田中です。 “Nice to meet you. I’m Tanaka.” This is a new example; 田中です adds the speaker’s introduction. The whole utterance is simply the conventional first-meeting greeting はじめまして, followed by the sentence-ending punctuation 。.

2. ここでの最初のレッスンですか。

   Is this your first lesson here?

   ここでの

   here; in this place

   最初

   first; initial

   レッスン

   lesson

   ですか

   is it?

   More detail

   ここでの combines ここ (“here”), で (the particle marking the place where something occurs), and の, which makes the location phrase modify a following noun. Thus, ここでの means “here” or “at this place” in a noun phrase such as “the lesson here.” 最初 means “first” or “beginning.” In this sentence, 最初の means “first,” with の linking it to レッスン. The useful pattern is XのY = “Y associated with or described by X.” Example: 最初のレッスンは楽しいです。 — “The first lesson is enjoyable.” レッスン is a noun meaning “lesson.” It is a loanword written in katakana and does not itself show tense, number, or politeness. Example: これはレッスンです。 — “This is a lesson.” ですか contains the polite copula です and the question particle か. Together, they turn a noun-based statement into a polite yes-or-no question. Example: これは最初のレッスンですか。 — “Is this the first lesson?” The Japanese sentence does not explicitly contain a possessive form meaning “your”; the fixed translation supplies that intended interpretation from the situation. As a whole, ここでの最初のレッスン is “the first lesson here”: ここでの describes the lesson’s location, and 最初の identifies it as the first one. Adding ですか asks whether the understood subject is that lesson, giving the intended meaning “Is this your first lesson here?” The polite ですか makes the question courteous.

3. 私は以前ここに来ました。

   I came here before.

   私は

   I; as for me

   以前

   before; previously

   ここに

   here; to this place

   来ました

   came

   More detail

   私は presents 私 (“I”) as the topic, marked by は. In this sentence, the speaker is the person who came. The pattern Xは means “as for X” and is a common way to set the topic; は itself does not mark tense. 以前 means “before” or “previously” here. It places the coming event at an earlier time without specifying exactly when. It can be used with other past events too, for example: 以前、ここで勉強しました。 — “I studied here before.” ここに combines ここ (“here”) with に. With a movement verb such as 来る, に marks the destination or point toward which someone comes. The same particle can have other functions, so its role here comes from its connection with 来ました. 来ました is the polite past affirmative form of 来る (“to come”): 来る → 来ます → 来ました. Thus it says that coming happened in the past. The form 来ます can describe coming in the present or a future plan, while 来ました presents the event as completed. Japanese verbs do not change form for the speaker’s gender, and this form does not itself indicate how many people came. Together, 私は identifies the speaker as the topic, 以前 places the event in an earlier time, and ここに来ました says that the speaker came to this place. The whole utterance means “I came here before.”

4. ここに来てから、しばらくたちます。

   I have been here for a while.

   ここに

   here

   来てから

   since coming

   しばらく

   for a while

   たちます

   time passes

   More detail

   ここに means “here.” ここ is the demonstrative for a place near the relevant viewpoint, and に marks the place associated with coming. In this sentence, it identifies here as the place the speaker came to; the translation supports the speaker as the person who has been here. 来てから means “since coming.” The base verb is 来る (“to come”); its て-form is 来て. Followed by から, 来てから marks the starting point for a later situation: “since [someone] came.” Example: 日本に来てから、日本語を勉強しています。 — “Since coming to Japan, I have been studying Japanese.” しばらく means “for a while” or “some time.” It describes an indefinite but limited period. Example: しばらく待ちます。 — “I will wait for a while.” たちます is the polite form of 立つ, literally “to stand,” but with elapsed time it means “time passes” or “a period elapses.” The polite nonpast form is used here for the current statement that time has passed. Example: 三年たちました。 — “Three years have passed.” Together, ここに来てから sets “coming here” as the starting point, しばらく specifies that some time has elapsed, and たちます states that this time has passed. Thus the utterance means “I have been here for a while.”

5. 先生はどんな人ですか。

   What is the teacher like?

   先生

   teacher

   どんな人

   what kind of person

   ですか

   is ...?

   More detail

   先生 means “teacher” here. It is a noun and can refer to a teacher as a title or form of address in other contexts as well. In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the teacher as the topic being asked about. は marks the topic: 先生は means “as for the teacher” or, naturally here, “the teacher.” The topic marker is written は but pronounced wa in this use. It does not itself mean “is.” どんな人 asks what kind of person someone is. どんな means “what kind of,” and 人 means “person.” Together, the pattern どんな + noun asks for the type or qualities of the noun: どんな本 means “what kind of book.” Here, どんな人 asks about the teacher’s character or qualities, not the teacher’s identity or name. ですか forms a polite question. です is the polite nonpast copular form, and か marks the sentence as a question. In this sentence, ですか follows the noun phrase どんな人, producing the polite question pattern どんな人ですか (“what kind of person is [someone]?”). For example, 田中さんはどんな人ですか。 means “What kind of person is Mr. or Ms. Tanaka?” Putting the parts together, 先生は sets “the teacher” as the topic, どんな人 asks what kind of person the teacher is, and ですか makes the question polite: “What is the teacher like?”

6. 先生はとても親切です。

   The teacher is very kind.

   先生

   teacher

   とても

   very

   親切

   kind

   です

   is; am; are (polite)

   More detail

   先生 means “teacher” here. It is a noun; the polite form does not change for singular or plural, so the sentence itself does not state how many teachers are meant. In this context, the fixed translation identifies the referent as the teacher already being discussed. は follows 先生 and marks it as the topic. The pattern 先生は ... means “As for the teacher, ...” or more naturally in English, “The teacher ...”. とても is an adverb meaning “very.” It strengthens the description that follows: とても親切 means “very kind.” 親切 means “kind” or “helpful” here. It is a Japanese na-adjective: before a noun, use 親切な, as in 親切な先生 (“a kind teacher”); at the end of a polite sentence, 親切です means “is kind.” The form 親切 itself is the descriptive base, while です supplies the polite sentence ending. です is the polite copula. After a noun or a na-adjective, it makes a polite statement, such as 先生です (“is a teacher”) or 親切です (“is kind”). It is not an English-style verb that changes for person or number. The structure is 先生は + とても + 親切 + です: the topic is the teacher, とても intensifies the description, and 親切です states that the teacher is kind in polite Japanese. Together, the utterance means “The teacher is very kind.”