Countries and Nationalities

Introductory Japanese Lessons (13)

by Namiko Abe
Namiko Abe is a Japanese language teacher and translator, as well as a Japanese calligraphy expert. She has been a freelance writer for nearly 20 years.
Updated February 02, 2019

Dialogue in Romaji

Mike: Ginkou wa doko desu ka.
Yuki: Asoko desu.
Mike: Nan-ji kara desu ka.
Yuki: Ku-ji kara desu.
Mike: Doumo.


Dialogue in Japanese

マイク: 銀行はどこですか。
ゆき­: あそこです。
マイク: 何時からですか。
ゆき­: 九時からです。
マイク: どうも。

Dialogue in English

Mike: Where is the bank?
Yuki­: It is over there.
Mike: What time is the bank open from?
Yuki­: From 9 o'clock.
Mike: Thanks.

Do you remember how to ask someone what country he or she is from? The answer is "Okuni wa dochira desu ka （お国にはどちらですか。）" "Dochira （どちら）" and "doko （どこ）" both mean "where". "Doko" is less formal.

How do you say, "What time is it?" The answer is "Nan-ji desu ka （何時ですか）"

Today's question is "Nan-ji kara desu ka （何時からですか）". "Kara （から）" is a particle and means "from".

Quiz

Translate into Japanese. Check your answers at the end of the lesson.

(1) I'm from Japan.
(2) I'm from England.

Here are some vocabulary for the names of the countries.
 

Nihon
日本		 Japan Ingurando
イングランド		 England
Amerika
アメリカ		 America Itaria
イタリア		 Italy
Chuugoku
中国		 China Kanada
カナダ		 Canada
Doitsu
ドイツ		 Germany Mekishiko
メキシコ		 Mexico
Furansu
フランス		 France Oosutoraria
オーストラリア		 Australia


Click here to learn how to write the names of the countries in katakana.

Expressing the nationality is easy. Just put "jin (人)" (which means "person" or "people") after the name of country.
 

Nihon-jin
日本人		 Japanese
Amerika-jin
アメリカ人		 American
Kanada-jin
カナダ人		 Canadian


Answers for the Quiz

(1) Nihon kara desu. 日本からです。
(2) Igirisu kara desu. イギリスからです。