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1Lesson 1Submit Question
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1.

Question In the lesson you say that desu is pronounced des.  But I have heard it pronounced desu with the u not being silent.  Which one is correct?
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Answer

Both are correct.  However desu with the u being silent is more natural.

2.

Question I have heard that there ARE plurals in Japanese, but in this lessons it says that there aren't any.  Are there plurals?
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Answer

Yes in certain situations there are plurals.  But for all intensive purposes there are no plurals.  Plural words are discussed in other lessons.
2Lesson 2Submit Question
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1.

Question What if I want want to say, "What is this?" and there is only one item.  Should I use kore or kocchi?
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A.gif (171 ???)

You should use koreKore can be used in all situations regardless of the amount of items.  However when asked docchi desu ka you should answer with kocchi etc.

2.

Question In the sentence "Which one is a vegetable?" (Yasai wa dore desu ka.)  Shouldn't dore come first as in "Dore wa yasai desu ka."   This looks like it makes more sense.
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Answer

No.  The topic of the sentence is yasai not dore.  Starting a sentence with a question word is not normal unless you are stressing something mid way through a conversation.

3.

Question Why is "This is a pillow" translated as "Makura desu", while "This is a computer" is translated as "Kore wa konpyuutaa desu."  That's really confusing.
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Answer

In Lesson 1 you learn that depending on the context of the sentence DESU can
mean: it is, this is, they are, I am, your are, he is, she is, and we are
etc.


Then is Lesson 2 you learn that KORE means THIS.  The important thing to
remember is that KONPYUUTAA DESU can mean: it is a computer, this is a
computer, that is a computer depending on the context of the sentence.  But
KORE WA KONPYUUTAA DESU only mean THIS is a computer.

For example if I ask you:
Kore wa nan desu ka (what is this?)

You could simply answer:
Konpyuutaa desu. (this is a computer)

Even though KORE is not in the sentence above, the word THIS is assumed
because of the context.  DESU cover many meanings.

If you are holding an item in your hand and ask somebody NAN DESU KA.  The
English translation of your question should be WHAT IS THIS?
because WHAT IS IT? would sound strange.  The word THIS is assumed because
of the context of the question.

Remember that DESU to the Japanese is always the same thing and doesn't
change.  It is the English representation of DESU that changes depending on
the situation.
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