How to use the indefinite article in Japanese

You want to learn how to use the indefinite article in Japanese? You've come to the right place! Scroll down and see the short Japanese lessons complete with useful examples. An apple, a house, a book... we explain it all to you in short, easy to follow lessons.

The Japanese indefinite article

The indefinite article is what we call the words 'a' and 'an' in English. The English indefinite article 'a' does not exist in Japanese. Unlike English, a noun on its own can be considered indefinite without the need for a specific word to show this.

Examples

tsuki
a month
hana
a flower
oneisan
a sister
šu
a week
onanohito
a woman
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About Japanese

About Japanese

Japanese is spoken as a first language by 122 million people in Japan. If you are planning on doing some travelling, learning Japanese would be a great way to make the most of your trip.

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Basic words and phrases in Japanese

Learn to get by in Japanese with these useful words and phrases. We'll begin by learning some basic Japanese phrases which you can use for everyday communication.

Genki ni šitēru ?
How are you doing ?
A dowmo
Hello !
Subete ga daijōbu ?
Everything okay ?
Daijōbu des ka ?
'You okay ?
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You can learn Japanese in just 9 easy steps.

If you want to go from beginner to fluent in Japanese in a reasonable amount of time, you'll need a proven study method and daily dedication. Our nine-step Japanese learning guide will show you how to teach yourself Japanese in a structured,effective way. The steps below will take you through the progression of skills needed to learn to speak, read and understand Japanese.

Step 3 : The indefinite article in Japanese

The indefinite article is what we call the word a in English. The indefinite article is used with nouns in English (a book, a chair, a door etc.). To get started in Japanese, pick just 3 important nouns. We suggest you learn the nouns šomotsu, čea and doa (book, chair, door). Once you have learned these nouns, you can then learn how to use each noun with the indefinite article. This is easy in Japanese, because in Japanese, there is no indefinite article. So the word šomotsu can mean book or a book, the word čea can mean chair or a chair and the word doa can mean door or a door. You can scroll to the top of this page to see a short lesson about the indefinite article in Japanese including useful examples. Once you have learned to use the indefinite article with the Japanese nouns šomotsu, čea and doa, you're ready to move on to Step 4 (the definite article in Japanese).

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On the Road! Japanese

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