My wallet was stolen!

Watashi no saifu ga nusumareta. : My wallet was stolen.
watashi : I, my, me
watashi no : my
saifu : purse, wallet
nusumu : steal
nusumareta : was stolen

By attaching "-reru" or "-rareru" after a verb with conjugation, you can make a passive voice.

nusumu : steal
nusuma-reru : is stolen
nusuma-reta : was stolen

Many verbs in past tense have "-da" or "ta".
Then we can think like this ;
how to make a past tense sentense : verb+"da" / "ta"
how to make a passive voice : verb + "reru" / "rareru"

nusumu + "reru"+"ta" : nusumareta : was stolen

Basic rules of making a past tense and a passive voice are mentioned above.
In order to know the conjugation rule , you'd better meet actual sentenses as much as possible.

But if you say just "nusumu (ra)reru ta/da" to Japanese people, maybe they can understand what you say.

Don't do that.

Sore wa shinaide kudasai. : Don't do that.
sore : it, that
shinai : don't do, doesn't do
kudasai : give me
shinai de kudasai : don't do please

Here review the conjugation of verbs.
suru : do
shinai : do not
shimasu : do (polite)
suru : do (plain)
surutoki : do when
sureba : do if
shiro : do (imperative)

You can see that the head of the word changes to "su-" or "-shi".
"suru" is a kind of a special word which has strange conjugation pattern.

If you want to make a negative imperative sentense, you can make it by "do not" pattern + de + kudasai.

tataku : beat
(tatakanai, tatakimasu, tataku,tatakutoki,tatakeba, tatake)
Tatakanai de kudasai. : beat not, please : Don't beat.
Watashio tatakanai de kudasai : me, beat not, please : Don't beat me.

miru : look
(minai, mimasu, miru, mirutoki, mireba, miro)

Minai de kudasai : look not, please : Don't look.
Watashi o minai de kudasai. : me, look not, please : Don't look at me.

Show me please.

Misete kudasai. : Show me ,please.
(verb)shite kudasai : (verb), please
miseru : show
miseru+shite kudasai : misete kudasai

Misete kudasai masenka? : Could you show me, please.
Misete. : Show me.
Misete itadaitemo yoroshiidesuka? : Is it OK for you to show me?
Misete itadaitemo kamawanaidesuka ? : Would you mind showing it to me ?

In any case mentioned above, the parts of verb "Misete" are the same.

"kudasai" literaly means " give me, please".
So if you say just "Kudasai", it means you say " Give me please.".

Kore kudasai. Give me this. / I take this./ I want this.

At restaurant, at shops, you can use this phrase " kore kudasai".

Can I use this?

Kore tsukattemo iidesuka? : Can I use this? / May I use this ?
kore : this
tsukau : use
ii / yoi : good
ii desuka : is it good?
tsukattemo : in terms of using , using

kore tsukattemo iidesuka? : this, in terms of using, is it good? : Can I use this? May I use this?

Kono kuruma untenshitemo iidesuka ? : Can I drive this car? / May I drive this car?
kono : this
kuruma : car
untensuru : drive

Ano hon yondemo iidesuka? : Can I read that book ?
ano : that
hon : book
yomu : read

Anata o aishitemo iidesuka? : Can I love you ? / May I love you?
anata : you
aisuru : love

Sometimes " mo " would be omitted.

Anata o aishite iidesuka ? : Can I love you?

Denwa o tsukatte iidesuka ? : Can I use the phone?
denwa : telephone
tsukau : use

When you ask for using a someone's thing, "kariru(borrow)"can be used.

Denwa o karitemo iidesuka ? : Can I use the phone?
kariru : borrow ( in this case, use)

Okane o karitemo iidesuka ? : Can I borrow money?
kariru : borrow

Toire o karitemo iidesuka? : Can I use a bathroom?
toire : toilet, W.C, restroom, bathroom

No one knows.

Dare mo shiranai. : No one knows.
dare : who
dare mo ...nai : no one ....
shiru / shitteiru : know
(conjugation : shiranai, shirimasu, shiru, shirutoki,shireba,shire)
(conjugation : shitteinai, shitteimasu, shitteiru, shitteirutoki, shitteireba, shitteiro)

In above case, " mo " is important. You should better learn it as a phrase.

If " mo " changed to "ga", the meaning would change.

Dare ga shiranai : who, does not know : Who doesn't know?( I think everyone knows it.)

Nani mo shiranai : I know nothing.
nani : what
In this case, "nani" is an objective word.
This sentense should be learnt as one phrase, too.

Dare mo utawanai : No one sings.
Nani mo utawanai : I sing nothing.
utau : sing
(conjugation : utawanai,utaimasu, utau,utautoki,utaeba,utae)

Comparative degree

Kore wa are yori ookii : This is bigger than that.

In English, adjective words will be conjugated when making comparative sentenses, like " big", " bigger","biggest".

But in Japanese, adjective words will not be conjugated but attached some words.

ookii : big
...yori : than...
mottomo : (most) , -est
chiisai : small

Kore wa are yori chiisai : this, that, than, small : This is smaller than that.

sega takai : tall
sega hikui : short
...no nakade : among
karera : they, them

Kare wa karera no nakade mottomo sega takai.: he, them , among, tallest : He is the tallest among them.

Kanojo wa kare yori sega hikui : she, he/him, than, short : She is shorter than he.

Let's go to the park!

Kouen ni ikimashou : Let's go to the park.

kouen : park
ni : to , on, at
iku : go
(ika-nai, iki-masu,iku,iku-toki,ike-ba,ike)
-mashou : let's do

hashiru : run
(hashir-anai,hashiri-masu,hashiru,hashiru-toki,hashir-eba,hashire)
made : upto, to

Kouen made hashirimashou. : the park, upto, let's run: Let's run to the park.

saa : (accost word when tempting someone to do something)
hajimeru : start
(hajime-nai,hajime-masu,hajimeru,hajimeru-toki,hajimer-eba,hajimero)

Saa, hajimemashou.: Hey, let's start.

Somethng to drink

nanika nomumono : something to drink

nanika : some
nomu : drink(plain)
-mono : thing

verb(plain)+mono : thing to verb
When " mono " added behind a verb, the verb changes to a noun.

taberu : eat
nanika taberumono : something to eat

yomu : read
nanika yomumono : something to read

tataku : beat
nanika tatakumono : something to beat

kudasai : please give

Nanika nomumono o kudasai. : something to drink , please give : Please give me something to drink.

I love you.

Watashi wa anata o aishiteimasu. : I , you, be loving : I love you.

aisuru : love(verb)
aishiteiru : be loving
aishiteimasu : be loving (polite)

" verb+-shiteiru" means " be+-ing".
A verb is to explain the action.
The function of "-shiteiru" is to explain the current situation of the "verb".

There exists a little bit diffrence between " verb+-shiteiru" and " be+-ing".

Aishiteimasu : ( I ), be loving : I love you / I'm loving you.

Watashi wa anata o eienni aishimasu. : I, you, forever, love : I love you forever.
In above case, "aishimasu" is right. If "aishiteimasu" is used, the meaning of sentense will chang to " I'll be loving you forever.".

Similar case;
shiru : know
shitteiru : (literaly means " be knowing" ) know

Watashi wa sore o shitteimasu. : I, it, know : I know it.

I don't know.

When you are asked something but don't know the answer, you can use this phrase.

Shirimasen : ( I ), know,not : I don't know

shiru : know
shirimasu : know(polite)
shiranai : know not
shirimasen : know not (polite)

Wakarimasen : ( I ), understan,not : I don't understand.

wakaru : understand
wakarimasu : understand ( polite)
wakaranai : understand not
wakarimasen : understand not ( polite)

"wa" or "ga"

"wa" or " ga" makes a noun a subjective word by being attached in a sentense.

But ,we, Japanese, use them properly case by case.

Then , what is the difference between "wa" and "ga".

One thing Ican say is that "ga" is used in the case where something is specified or emphasized.

For example,
A teacher found that window glass of classroom is broken, and he thought someone of students did it.
Then he asked the students "Who broke the window?" in front of all of the students.

A student stands up and say "I did."

In this case, "Watashi ga yarimashita." (I did) is right , because the speaker emphasizing who did it.

On the contrary, assuming that there is a man whose work is to break glass everyday,
, he would say " Watashi wa garasu o mainichi warimasu."( I break glass everyday)
In this case, he needs not to specify anything.

I think it is better for you to learn "wa" and "ga" by encountering as much as possible.

Who did what?

Dare ga nani o shitanodesuka : who, what , did : Who did what ?

dare : who
nani : what
shita : did
desuka : ( "desuka" added at the end of the sentense make it interrogative.)
no : ( which connect a verb and "desuka". when connecting a noun and "desuka", no need to put "no")

eg.
hashiru : run
hashiru nodesuka : Do you run ?
hashitta : ran
hashitta nodesuka : Did you run?

pen : pen
pen desuka : Is this a pen?

Dare ga nani o shitanodesuka . : Who did what?
Dare ga nani o surunodesuka. : Who does what?
shita : did
suru : do

In the conversation, if you couldn' t catch some words, you can ask by substituting the word you caught for "who" or "what" in the above sentense.

Mr. Tanaka ga nani o shitanodesuka. : Mr. Tanaka did what?/ What Mr.Tnaka did?
Watashi wa nani o surunodesuka. : I do what? / What should I do?

It is very difficult to explain difference between " wa" and "ga" .Next time I will .

I beg your pardon?

If you couldn't catch what someone said to you, you may say " I beg your pardon?" to request him/her to say once again.

In Japanese, "Mou ichido itte kudasai.".

mou : more
ichi do : one time, once
mou ichido : once again
iu : say
itte : (conjugation ) say
kudasai : please

Mou ichido itte kudasai. : once again, say , please, : Say it again please / I beg your pardon.

sumimasen : excuse me

Sumimasen, mou ichido itte kudasai : excuse me, once again, say, please. : Excuse me , please say again.

I can't do that

…dekinai/ …dekimasen ; can not …./ is(/are) not able to …

sore/are : that

Watashi wa sore o dekimasen : I, that, cannot : I can not do that.

Above sentense doesn't include a verb but a object word.

Yesterday, I wrote in this blog about "can.."sentense, and explained that if a verb is included in the sentense, the verb should be conjugated.
The case of "cannot …"sentense is same.

hanasu : speak
hanas-eru : can speak
hanas-enai: can't speak
hanas-emasen : can't speak(polite)

Watashi wa nihongo o hanasemasen. : I, Japanese, can't speak: I can't speak Japanese.

And also explained a easier way to make " can..." sentense with changing a verb into a noun.

hanasu : speak
hanasu koto : speaking, to speak

Watashi wa nihongo o hanasukoto ga dekimasu.: I, Japanese, speaking,can: I can speak Japanese.

A negative sentense is same.

Watashi wa nihongo o hanasukoto ga dekimasen.; I, Japanese, speaking, can't : I can't speak Japanese.

You may already know a basic structure of easy Japanese sentense, then you can try to make sentenses as much as possible for your prctice.

I can do that.

...dekiru : can... , be able to ....

sore, are : that
suru : do
dekiru : can
(conjugation : dekinai,dekimasu,dekiru,dekirutoki,dekireba,dekiro)

Watashi wa sore o dekimasu : I, that, can : I can do that.

hanasu : speak
nihongo : Japanese
-eru : can..., be able to...
-emasu : (polite)can..., beable to...
hanasemasu : hanasu+-emasu : can speak

Watashi wa nihongo o hanasemasu. : I, Japanese, can speak : I can speak Japanese.

if "-eru" or "-reru" is attached to a verb, it means " can...." with verb conjugation.

More easier way to mean " can..." is ;
1. put "-koto" behind the verb(plain) , which makes the verb a noun.
2.put " -ga dekimasu" after the word.

For example,

Watashi wa nihongo o hanasu koto ga dekimasu (hanasemasu).; I, Japanese, speaking, can : I can speak Japanese.

yomu : read
(conjugation : yomanai,yomimasu,yomu,yomutoki,yomeba,yome)

Watashi wa hon o yomu koto ga dekimasu (yomemasu). : I, book, reading, can, : I can read a book.

Conjugaiton of verbs is difficult so you can use this easy way to make "can do " sentense.

Where can I wash my hands?

...wa doko desuka? : Where is ....?

toire : W.C., restroom
doko : where
-wa : (attached after the subject word)
desu : is,are
-ka : (attached at the end of the interrogative sentense)

Toire wa doko desuka ? : restroom, where, is ; Where is the restroom?

denwa : telephone

Denwa wa doko desuka ? : telephone, where, is : Where is a telephone? Where can I make a telephone call?

... wa doko ni arimasuka ? : (same with "...wa doko desuka ?") Where is .....?

Toire wa doko ni arimasuka ? : Where is a restroom?
Denwa wa doko ni arimasuka? : Where is a telephone?

on the phone

Every Japanese people , at the beginning of the telephone conversation, says " moshi-moshi" as an accost word.

"Moshi-moshi. Suzuki to moushimasu ga, Tanakasan ni tsunaide itadakemasuka ."
(Hello, this is Suzuki speaking. May I speak to Mr. Tanaka.)

...to moushimasu : (literaly " I say") I am...
ga : but
-san : Mr. Mrs. Miss. Ms.etc
tsunagu : connect
-te/ -de : (conjunctive particle) this particle connects a verb to another verb.
itadakemasuka : (literaly "Can I have..." , " May I have...") Could you please...

moshi-moshi : (accost) hello
Suzuki to moushimasu ga : Suzuki, I am, but : I am Suzuki
Tsunaide itadakemasuka. : connect, could you please : Could you please connect me to.../ Can I speak to...

Introdece yourself

When you meet someone for the first time, you have to itroduce yourself.

hajimemashite : how do you do (learn it as a phrase)
namae : name
to moushimasu : (literaly means " I say...", but usually means "is")

Hajimemashite; how do you do : How do you do.
Watashino namae wa Suzuki to moushimasu. : my, name , Suzuki, is. : My name is Suzuki.

It si OK to say " Watashino namae wa Suzuki desu(is)."

Usually, "you" or " I " as a subject is omitted, then, you can say like this ;
Suzuki to moushimasu. : Suzuki, is : ( I am ) Suzuki. / (My name) Suzuki.

Remember that there are many cases in which a subject of the sentense is omitted.
You should concentrate on listening ordinary nouns and proper nouns but " watashi ( I )" as a subject. Personal pronouns are not so important in our conversation because you can imagine them.

vocabulary : family

otousan , chichi : father
okaasan , haha : mother
ojiisan, sofu : grand father
obaasan , sobo: grand mother
oniisan , ani: elder brother
otouto : younger brother
oneesan , ane : elder sister
imouto : younger sister
ojisan , oji : uncle
obasan , oba : aunt
itoko : cousin
musuko : son
musume : daughter
kodomo : child
oya : parents
mago : grandchild
akachan : baby
kazoku : family

A no B : A's B, B of A

sumu : live

sumanai : live not
sumimasu : live(polite)
sumu : live
sumutoki : live when
sumeba : live if
sume : live (imperative)

sunda : lived
sundeiru : be living
sundeimasu : be living (polite)

"sumu" is usually used in progressive form.
ima : now
amerika : america, united states

Watashi no imouto wa ima amerika ni sundeimasu. : my younger sister, now,america in , is living :
My sister is living in US now.

Oji no musuko wa itoko desu. : son of uncle, cousin, is : Son of uncle is cousin.

kekkon : marriage
kekkonsuru : marry, get married
A noun "kekkon" plus a verb "suru" becomes a verb "kekkonsuru" .
mou : already

Watashi no imouto wa mou kekkonshimashita . My younger sister, already, got married.: My sister has already got married.

shinu : die
shinanai : die not
shinimasu : die (polite)
shinu : die
shinutoki : die when
shineba : die if
shine : die (imperative)

shinda : died, was/were dead

If you have to say something about someone's death, you should better use more polite word in spite of using "shinu".
That is " nakunaru".

nakunaru : die
nakunaranai : die not
nakunarimasu : die (polite)
nakunaru : die
nakunarutoki : die when
nakunareba : die if
nakunare : die (imperative)

nakunatta : died
nakunarimashita : died, was/were dead (polite)

Watashino ojiisan wa mou nakunarimashita. : my grandfather, alread, died. : My grandfather is dead.

umareru : be born
umarenai : be born not
umaremasu : be born(polite)
umareru : be born
umarerutoki : be born when
umarereba : be born if
umarero : be born(imperative)

umareta : was/were born

umare : birth , being born(noun)

Akachan ga umareta : a baby, was born. : A baby was born.

Watashi wa ku gatsu umare desu. : I, September, being born, is : I was born in September.

On the taxi

Many Japanese taxi drivers are not good at speaking English.
This may be top level in the world.

But once they got your destination, you will be satisfied with their driving tequnique.

When you get on a taxi, the most important thing is to make a taxi driver understand where to go.

iku : go
shitai : want
ikitai : want to go
no desuga : literaly means "....,but..". When you ask for something, these words are added at the end of the sentense in many cases.

Tokyo ni ikitai no desuga : Tokyo to, want to go, (I mean),: I want to go to Tokyo.
Hotel ni ikitai no desuga : Hotel to, want to go,: I want to go to the hotel.

or

...made : to..., up to ...
onegaishimasu : please

Tokyo made onegaishimasu.: Tokyo to, please. : Please go to Tokyo.
Shinjuku made onegaishimasu. : Shinjuku to , please : Please go to Shinjuku.

"onegaishimasu" is very useful word which means requesting something.

At a shop;
Kore onegaishimasu. : this, please : I want this.

At a station counter;
Shinjuku made onegaishimasu. : Shinjuku to , please : I want a ticket for shinjuku.

At a movie theater ;
otona : adult
ichi : one
mai : when you count thin thing , "mai" would be added after numbers

Otona ichi mai onegaishimasu. : adult, 1, please : I want 1 adult ticket.

At a restaurant;
mizu : water
hanbaagu : humburg
Mizu o onegaishimasu. : water, please : I want a glass of water.
Hanbaagu o onegaishimasu. : humburg, please : I want a humburg.

sentense-final particles

Japanese language sentenses consists of many kinds of particles.
It is no exaggeration to say that you mastered Japanese if you've got full understanding of Japnese particles.

Some particles are very important to make a sentense have a meaning, but some are not in our conversation.
For example, "sentense-final particle" are not so important for non-native speakers, especially bigginers, I think.

It is not a main purpose to explain grammar of Japanese on this blog, but I want to say that Japanese language has that kind of structural character.

I hope you to feel the meaning of sentense-final particles when you meet it.

okane : money
otosu :
yo : (sentense-final particle)

Okane o otoshimashita yo. : money, dropped : (Hey) you dropped money.
Okane o otoshimashita ne. : money, dropped : You dropped money(, didn't you).
Okane o otoshita nosa. : money, dropped : (Ya,) I dropped money.


otosu : drop
otosanai : drop not
otoshimasu : drop(polite)
otosu : drop (plain)
otosutoki : drop when
otoseba : drop if
otose : drop (imperative)
otoshita : dropped
otoshimashita : dropped(polite)

Conjunction words

A conjunction words like " and ", " but ", " or " and etc are to connect a word and a word , a sentense and a sentense.

to, soshite : and
demo, shikashi : but
ka, aruiwa : or
(da)kara, nanode, ...(da)kara , ...no seide, ...no okagede , ..de : because,because of

anata to watashi : you and me
anata ka watashi : you or me

hare : fine(weather)(noun)
hareteiru : be fine
samui : cold

Kyou wa hareteiru demo samui : today, fine,but, cold : It is fine today but cold.

ame : rain

Kyou wa ame nanode samui : today, rain because, cold : It is cold today because of rain.

kaze : a cold (flu)
yasumu : be absent

Kaze de gakkou o yasunda : a cold because of , school, absent : Because of a cold, I was absent from school.
(The subject word is omitted)

yasui : cheap
kau : buy

Yasui kara sore o katta.: cheap because, it , bought. : Because it is cheap, I bought it.

Conjunction words widen your conversation.

today's conjugation;

yasumu : be absent
yasumanai : be absent not
yasumimasu : be absent (polite)
yasumu : be absent (polite)
yasumutoki : be absent when
yasumeba : be absent if
yasume : be absent(imperative)

yasunda : was/were absent
yasundeiru : being absent

kau : buy
kawanai : buy not
kaimasu : buy (polite)
kau : buy (plain)
kautoki : buy when
kaeba : buy if
kae : buy(imperative)

katta : bought

Passive voice

When you say a paasive voice in Englis, you use past participle.

eg. You write a letter. : A letter is writen by you.

In Japanese , " reru " or " rareru " is used.

tegami : letter
kaku : write
kakareru : is/are writen
ni (yotte ): by

Kono tegami wa watashi ni yotte kakareru.: this , letter, me by, be writen.: This letter is writen by me.

tataku : beat
tatakareru : is/are beaten
tatakareta : was/were beaten

Watashi wa kare ni tatakareta : I, him by, was beaten : I was beaten by him.

tazuneru : ask
michi : way , road, street
eki : station
e : to
no : on, in
...e no michi : a way to...

Watashi wa eki e no michi o tazunerareta.: I,station, a way to ,was asked. : I was asked a way to a station.

To turn a sentense into a passive voice,the basic points are;
1.The object word is changed to a subject.
2.The verb is attached with "reru" or "rareru".
3.The verb is conjugated.

You can have it.

ageru : give

conjugation
age-nai : give not
age-masu : give (polite)
ageru : give (plain)
ageru -toki : give when
ager-eba : give if
ager-o : give(imperative)

ageru darou : will give
ageta : gave

anata : you
ni :to
kore : this

Anata ni kore o agemasu. : (the subject "watashi wa" omitted) ,you to, this, give.: I give you this.

When the recipient is "me", "kureru" should be used in spite of "ageru".

Anata wa watashi ni kore o kuremasu. : you, me to, this, give.: You give me this.

kare : he , his, him
kanojo : she, her, her

Kare wa kanojo ni kore o ageta. : he, her to, this, gave : He gave her this.
Anata wa kare ni kore o ageta. : you , him to, this, gave : You gave him this.
Kare wa watashi ni kore o kureta. : he, me to, this, gave : He gave me this.

kureru : give

conjugation
kure-nai : give not
kure-masu : give (polite)
kureru : give (plain)
kureru-toki : give when
kurer-eba : give if
kure : give (imperative)

kureru darou : will give
kureta : gave

Kore o kanojo ni agero : this, her to, give(imperative).:Give her this.
Kore o watashi ni kure : this, me to, give. : Give me this.

When the recipient and "me"(the first person) is in the same group like family, "kureru" can be used.

omocha : toy
musuko : son
watashi no : my

Kare wa watashi no musuko ni omocha o kureta. : he, my son to, toy,gave : He gave a toy to my son.

We can say that "ageru" has a nuance of "going out", "kureru" has "coming in".

Excuse me.

sumimasen / sumimasen ga : excuse me

"sumimasen" is very useful word, you can catch it anytime,anywhere.

When you want to ask someone to do something for you, "sumimasen" is a starting word of conversation.

vocabulary : Months

It is very easy to say a montsh in Japanese.
Number plus "gatsu", that's all.

ichi-gatsu : January
ni-gatsu : February
san-gatsu : March
shi-gatsu : April
go-gatsu : May
roku-gatsu : June
shichi-gatsu : July
hachi-gatsu : August
ku-gatsu : September
juu-gatsu : October
juuichi-gatsu : November
juuni-gatsu : December

In case of date of the month, basicaly number+"nichi".But there are some exceptions.
nichi : day

tsuitachi : 1st(first day of the month)
futsuka : 2nd
mikka : 3rd
yokka : 4th
itsuka : 5th
muika : 6th
nanoka : 7th
youka : 8th
kokonoka : 9th
touka : 10th

Word above are specialized to use for days of month.

juuichi-nichi : 11th
juuni-nichi : 12th
juusan-nichi :13th
.
.
.

kyou : today
Kyou wa roku-gatsu futsuka desu.: today, June,2nd, is : It is June 2nd today.

vocabulary : day of the week

nichi-youbi : Sunday
getsu-youbi : Monday
ka-youbi : Tuesday
sui-youbi : Wednesday
moku-youbi : Thursday
kin-youbi : Friday
do-youbi : Saturday

hataraku : work(verb)
...kara : from
...made : to,up to

Watashi wa getsu-youbi kara kin-youbi made hatarakimasu.:I,Monday from,Friday to,work.: I work from Monday to Friday.

conjugation
hatarakanai : work not
hatarakimasu : work(polite)
hataraku : work(plain)
hatarakutoki : work when
hatarakeba : work if
hatarake : work(imperative)

tense
hataraku darou : will work
hataraita : worked

vocabulary : colors

iro : color
kuro : black(noun)
aka : red(noun)
ao : blue(noun)
kiiro : yellow(noun)
midori : green(noun)
chairo : brown(noun)
shiro : white(noun)

when " -i" added,then adjective.

kuroi : black(adjective)
akai : red (adjective)
aoi : blue(adjective)

Kono iro wa kuro desu.: this, color , black, is : This color is black.
Kore wa kuroi desu. : this, black, is : This is black.

I drive a car.

unten : driving (noun)
suru : do
untensuru : drive (verb)
kuruma : car

Watashi wa kuruma o unten suru.: I , car , drive : I drive a car.

Sometimes "noun+suru" becomes a verb.

hakken : discovery
hakken suru : discover

The conjugation of "suru" is below;

shinai : do + not
shimasu : do (polite)
suru : do (plain)
suru toki : do+when
sureba : do+if
shiro : do (imperative)

Watashi wa unten shinai : I, drive, not : I don't drive.
Watashi ga unten shimasu : I, drive, do : I drive.

The difference between "wa" and "ga" .

In order to make a noun a verb, " wa " or " ga " is attached to a noun.
Generally "wa" would be attached to a noun and make it a subject.

But "ga" is attached , the subject word is emphasized.

"Watashi ga unten shimasu " means " I drive" , but the nuance is " It's me to drive".

When there are some people and someone should drive a car, you say " I drive a car".
In Japanese, "Watashi ga unten shimasu" is right.

When you are asked " Do you drive a car?", "Watashi wa unten shimasu" is good.

And the difference of "wa" and "ga" is sometimes explained as a difference between " a" and " the " in English.

inu : dog

Are wa inu desu. : that, dog, is : That is a dog.
Are ga inu desu. : that, dog, is : That is the dog.

It can be explained that " ga " specifys the subject.

Thank you.

arigatou : thank you, thanks
doumo arigatou : thank you very much

As a phrase to express your gratitude, just learn it as a phrase.

Doumo arigatou. : Thank you very much.
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu : Thank you very much.(polite)

When "gozaimasu" is attached at the end of the phrase, the sentense would be very polite.

It is fine today.

We use "it" to describe the weather.
But in Japanese we don't have any word functioning "it" in above sentense.

tenki : weather
yoi / ii : good, fine
kyou : today

Kyou wa tenki ga ii. : today , weather, good. : It is fine today.

"wa" of "kyou wa" is meaning " in terms of " or " regarding", not "wa" which is attached after the subject.
Literaly meaning is " Regarding today, weather is good.".

ashita : tomorrow
ame : rain(noun)
ame ga furu : rain(verb)
furu : fall, drop

Ashita wa ame ga furu darou. : Tomorrow, rain, fall, will : It will rain tomorrow.

Hints for conversation:imagination

When you have a conversation, you have to talk and to listen.

Although you can say something to someone, a conversation would not be established if you can't catch what he/she says.

But if you know what he/she will say , it is easier to catch what they said.

In our conversation, it would be important to imagine word which will be said.

Imagine the situation when you ask the way to someone.
If you ask " How do I get to .....", you would meet various kind of answers.
But if you ask " Is this a way to .....", answer is very simple and you may catch it.

To communicate with the other person , it is a one of the ways to lead your conversation to the one which includes imaginable words as much as possible.

Mentioned above is just an example, but it is a fact that we are repeating imaginations in our conversation.