よ、ね、も Particles

Particles, Particles Everywhere

Until this point you haven’t really been taught a way to say that something isn’t something, the equivalent of “That is not a cat” or “This is not my pencil”. It’s about time you learn how to be a little more negative, don’t you think?

Vocabulary

Kanji	Kana	English
	〜じゃないです	It is not
	〜よ	I tell you
	〜ね	Right?/Do you agree?
	〜も	Also

To accomplish this feat of negativity, all you need to do is change です to its negative form 〜じゃないですand you’ve successfully changed any “it is” sentence to an “it is not” sentence.

Side Note: You can also use the phrases じゃありません or ではありません to do exactly the same thing with varying levels of politeness. Don’t worry about it right now though, we shot straight to the center-most polite level so unless you’re talking to the emperor, you’ll be fine.

Examples

Kanji	Kana	English
これは私の鉛筆じゃないです。	これはわたしのえんぴつじゃないです。	This is not my pencil.
私は馬鹿じゃないです。	わたしはばかじゃないです。	I’m not an idiot.
玉は青いじゃないです。	たまはあおいじゃないです。	The ball is not blue.

Ending Particles

Remember back in the first episode when you were introduced to the particle か and its placement at the end of sentences to create questions? What if you were to learn there are many more ending particles like that, would that excite you or terrify you? Well, either way you’re learning two more right now!

The first is the particle よ. It’s got two main uses you need to understand at this moment. One, it’s an exclamation point. But think of it at being about twice as strong as its English counterpart, you need to be nearly shouting for this to make much sense in context. Two, it’s used to ensure the person you’re talking to about whatever information you’re giving them. If you’re using it in the second way, think of yourself as an expert on the subject and you’re educating the second party in this conversation on the matter. You can think of よ as “I tell you” if it makes more sense to you that way, even though that wouldn’t be translated directly.

The second ending particle you’re learning this episode is ね. It’s nearly an exact opposite for よ in that you’re looking for confirmation on something. You can think of it as a “right?” or “eh?” tagged onto the end of your sentence. Imagine yourself bumping your elbow into the person you’re talking to as you say it (don’t actually do this, just imagine it).

Examples

Kanji	Kana	English
肉はじゃないですよ。	にくはじゃないですよ。	This is not meat!
さくらさんは日本人ですよ。	さくらはにほんじんですよ。	Sakura is Japanese (I can assure you)
これはちょっと高いですね。	これはちょっとたかいですね。	This is a little expensive isn’t it?
外は暑いですね。	そとはあついですね。	It’s hot outside, isn’t it?

も Particle

Finally, we reach the final new particle you need to know for this episode も. Remember that funny little symbol from back when you learned hiragana? Well when it’s used as a particle it means “also” or “too”. This particle doesn’t go at the end of your sentences like the previous two, it is placed after the item in the sentence it is modifying. This one is a bit tricky, so we’ll give you an example to look at first and work from there.

Examples

Kanji	Kana	English
A: この犬は大きいです。	A: このいぬはおおきいです。	This dog is big.
B: その犬も大きいです。	B: そのいぬもおおきいです。	This dog is also big.

Changing the Formula

Remember AはBです? Hopefully! Well も can be used to modify that structure a bit.

AはCです means that A is C, right? Well, BもCです means B also means C. You can use this in a lot of situations let’s list off a few.

You’re eating lunch with some friends and someone says to the group that the soup they ordered is spicy. Wow! Your soup is spicy too, better tell everyone.

You meet a new friend. You’re exchanging small talk when they say that they love watching movies. Well guess what you love watching movies just as much as they do!

See how useful も can be?

Side Note: Obviously you don’t know how to talk your way through all these situations quite yet. You’ll get there. Just keep the idea in mind as you’re learning about these situations so you can make your speech more diverse.

Examples

Kanji	Kana	English
私も。	わたしも。	Me too!
彼もアメリカ人です。	かれもアメリカじんです。	He is also an American.

Before You Move On…

…Make sure you understand how to express negativity using 〜じゃないです or one of the other similar phrases. Understand the two new ending particles explained here and then understand the basics of how the もparticle is used.