Submissions from 2015-07-13 to 2015-07-14 (1 total)

First let's start with some pronouns.

129. and 130. "I", and "you"

The word for "I" or "me" in Japanese is (わたし - watashi).

The word for "you" is 貴方 (あなた - anata). Note that you wouldn't use this for someone of higher status than yourself.

24. "of", or the possessive particle

The particle (no) indicates possession. You can think of it as a backwards "of" or alternatively, as the apostrophe-s for possession in English. You place this particle after the possessor to show that something belongs to them.

So for example, "my" is 「私の」 (watashi no) and "your" is 「貴方の」 (anata no) and "Sam's" is 「サムの」 (Samu no).

Another example is:「終わりのセラフ」 (owari no serafu - Seraph of the End), which is the name of the anime I was just watching. Here the の isn't really being used in a possessive-pronoun kind of way, but more like a backwards "of".

255. "My name is"

So somebody asks you:

「お名前は?」 (onamae wa?)

Or alternatively:

「貴方のお名前は?」 (anata no onamae wa?)

You want to say, "As for my name; it's Sam." (If your name is Sam I mean.):

「私の名前はサムです」 (watashi no namae wa Samu desu)

Note that you don't say お名前 when referring to your own name, just 名前.

However, you don't necessarily need the の particle here. You could also say 「私はサムです」 (watashi wa Samu desu).

Of course, if you're being super informal and someone asks your name, you can always just say 「サムです」instead. If your name is in fact Sam.

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