Conversation Dialogue 3: Asking Someone's Nationality
 

 

In the previous dialogue, we learned how to confirm other's name. Using the same noun sentence pattern, you can ask someone if s/he is a Japanese. (See Culture Note #1 below.)

 

A: (End of phone conversation here)
B: すみません。にほんじん…ですか。
A: はい、そうです。
B: たむらです。はじめまして。
どうぞ、よろしく。
A: こんどうです。はじめまして。
どうぞ、よろしく。

 

key voc
1. にほんじん
にっぽんじん		 Japanese person/people [nationality]

Key Vocabulary

1. アメリカじん American [person/people]
2. フランスじん French [person/people]
3. ドイツじん German [person/people]
4. イギリスじん British [person/people]
5. ロシアじん Russian [person/people]
6. メキシコじん Mexican [person/people]
7. ちゅうごくじん Chinese [person/people]
8. かんこくじん Korean [person/people]
English
A: Excuse me. Are you a Japanese?
B: Yes, I am. (Lit. "That's right.")
A: I'm Tamura. How do you do? Nice to meet you.
B: I'm Kondo. How do you do? Nice to meet you.
bunka
1.

にほんじん…ですか

 

It is abrupt to start a conversation by asking someone's nationality. Since this sounds rather impolite, many people ask such a question in a hesitant manner as shown in the dialogue above.

  
2.

Japanese say their family name first followed by their given name (e.g., "Ono Yoko"). Commonly, there is no middle name. When they give their name to Westerners, they usually follow the English pattern: given name + family name (e.g., "Yoko Ono").

  
3.

Although there are exceptions, women's names are more likely to have two to three syllables while men's names are more likely to have three to four syllables. Traditional women's names end with "ko" at the end, but there are many names that don't follow this pattern.