Genki I Chapter 8: Informal Conversation (Present, Negative)

Dictionary form

Dictionary form

Adjective/noun + だ. You can drop the だ in spoken dialogue, but when writing it you'll want to include it.

Drop る, add ない

If it ends in う: Change う to わ, add ない
Otherwise: Change the final kana to the あ equivalent, add ない

しない

こない

ない

Drop い, addくない

Add じゃない

Informal form shows that you have some form of intimacy or seniority with the person you're speaking to. You typically use informal form with close friends, family members, children, and subordinates.

Particles are often dropped in Japanese they're dropped A LOT in informal conversation. For instance, か isn't required to ask a question, and だ isn't necessary unless you're using a particle like よ or ね.

うん

ううん

While technically not wrong per se, you don't typically respond to a question with うん or ううん. You usually respond with the positive or negative form of the verb that the question ended with.

For example, if someone asks, "寿司食べる？" it's more natural to respond with, "うん、食べる。" or "食べる。" rather than just, "うん。"

"I think..." You need to have the particle だ after nouns and な-adjectives.

"I do not think..." By making the verb or adjective negative the sentence will literally translate to, "(Verb) did not happen I think"

"They said..." This is used to say that someone said something and you were there to hear it.

If you weren't there to hear it, it's more appropriate to say と言いました

"Please don't..."

Nominalization. You're using の to nominalize phrase A so that you can work with it like you would a noun. こと can often be used in place of の.

A confusing particle that can be used in a few ways. Two ways the particle could be used are:

1. To add emphasis
2. Used with question words like 何, どこ, and どれ

Something

Nothing