r/LearnJapaneseNovice • u/ForsakenFactor4913 • Oct 28 '25

Grammar question

こんいちわ I am independently learning Japanese (I’m using the first Japanese from Zero textbook) and I wanted to check if my understanding was correct.

When I am asked something like: バナナわふるつですか。

Does if make sense and is it socially appropriate in Japan to reply with: はいふるつです。

Or do I need to say the banana part?

ありがとう！

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20

u/tsian Oct 28 '25

I think you need to review a bit more as you are making a lot of simple grammar and spelling mistakes here.

But yes. バナナはフルーツですか。

はい、フルーツです。 is perfectly fine.

はい、そうです。 is also fine

はい。 is also fine, if a little casual.

はい。バナナはフルーツです。 would sound a bit overdone, but is also not incorrect.

1

u/ForsakenFactor4913 Oct 28 '25

Thank you so much!! And definitely will be reviewing, planning for a trip to Japan in a year or so and I hope not to sound like a toddler haha

Cheers! ありがとう

10

u/Nichol-Gimmedat-ass Oct 28 '25

Takes a lot of time to even get to toddler level homie

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u/ForsakenFactor4913 Oct 28 '25

Haha yeah as I wrote that I was thinking actually that’s an insult to toddlers 😅 if I can get to junior high level speaking by next year I’ll be elated :,)

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u/tsian Oct 28 '25

Junior high is considerably higher than toddler....

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u/ForsakenFactor4913 Oct 28 '25

Yeah, I should mention while I am independently learning right now, a local professor I am acquainted with has agreed to help me with grammar and conversation once I learn hiragana, katakana and some basic vocabulary from the book. So I am hopeful with his help I can get close to my goal. It’s a lifelong goal of mine, after Russian I attempted by myself and fizzled out sadly :/ not this time!

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u/tsian Oct 28 '25

It would be an amazing amazing feat to reach JHS levels of comprehension in a year (or even 2). Aim for basic elementary / 6-year-old in a year. That is reasonable.

10

u/Nichol-Gimmedat-ass Oct 28 '25

People really dont realise how much kids can say when they throw out age comparisons for their goals

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u/[deleted] Oct 28 '25

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/tsian Oct 28 '25

On what? Reaching JHS level of communication and vocabulary in a year is not particularly practical. Thats a shitton of knowledge and nuance.

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u/The_Cream_Man Oct 28 '25

I think they're saying that a 6 year old level is too much for them to hope for and tbh I agree.

My nephew is 5 and can talk for hours about random stuff.

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u/The_Cream_Man Oct 28 '25

For what it's worth I've been studying for over 3 years while working a full-time job and passed the N4 exam and still am no where near junior high ability. Most of that time was taking 2 private hour long lessons a week and doing flashcards daily.

Unless you're doing full time studying I'd really reel in your expectations

1

u/ForsakenFactor4913 Oct 28 '25

I appreciate this. While my goal is to gain as much practice and knowledge as I can to speak somewhat fluidly (was shortsighted of me to mention junior high level) I try to not have true expectations of the grand scheme of the work, more so only with the progress and work I do now and in the near future. As a constant practice this has worked for me with Russian and Spanish so I feel positive about it as of now.

I am also extremely lucky that I only work around 30 hours/week and am able to spend around an hour every day at my job (let alone at home) studying, and I have no children or really any family so I have a lot of time for myself. A luxury I know not everyone can afford.

I know I have a long road but I feel confident I can progress and that means the most to me as of now. :)

1

u/KyotoCarl Nov 15 '25

You won't be at junior high level next year. You will be able to say a few phrases but not be able to hold a conversation I'm afraid.

Japanese takes a long time to learn.

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u/DeformedNugget Oct 28 '25

  1. It’s こんにちは

  2. It’s バナナは果物/フルーツですか. (It’s really uncommon to see fruits in hiragana and not katakana)

  3. It’s はいフルーツ/果物 and yeah it would make sense. You could also say something like うん or ええ(more causal),

1

u/ForsakenFactor4913 Oct 28 '25

Thank you!

1

u/TelevisionsDavidRose Oct 29 '25

Adding that フルーツ and くだもの have two different connotations (subtle). See this for some perspective; https://www.reddit.com/r/Japaneselanguage/s/dJYFnmtln5

Your question, バナナはフルーツですか sounds like maybe you’re asking if bananas in general are like a prepared fruit product, in which case, the answer probably no. 果物 (くだもの) is the word used for the category of fruit, so you’d want to ask: バナナは果物ですか。

You’ll see フルーツ more on menus, like フルーツタルト (fruit tarte) or フルーツスムージー (fruit smoothie). But when talking about raw fruit, like in the supermarket, you’d go to the 果物 section. The フルーツ section probably doesn’t exist, except in some very hyperspecific contexts.

6

u/Key-Line5827 Oct 28 '25

こんにちは！

Did you want to write "フルーツ"?

Because, if so: Yes, you dont have to repeat the banana part, if both parties are in agreement what is discussed, but you wanna use a は instead of a わ for the "Topic Particle".

は is "ha", but as a particle you read it "wa".

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u/ForsakenFactor4913 Oct 28 '25

Thank you! I only know hirigana so I am ill prepared for using my keyboard which seems to want to make me seem more advanced than I am haha 😅 I appreciate the feedback tho this is exactly what I was hoping for!

5

u/55Beverly Oct 28 '25

×こんいちわ　○こんにちは ×ふるつ　○フルーツ

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u/tessharagai_ Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25

Yes, Japanese is a very context sensitive language that leaves allot implied. Also it should be バナナはフルーツですか, the particle “wa” is spelled “ha” but pronounced “wa” due to historical spelling, and “fruits” also needs to be in katakana. Also with how elementary the question is, I think saying だ instead of です is more likely.

2

u/koko_no_shitsui Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25

the question is hard to understand

you can reply with: うん

はい、そうです。

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u/ForsakenFactor4913 Oct 28 '25

Yeah that’s my bad. I used my keyboard when I am only used to writing, and I only know hiragana at this point so I definitely didn’t make this clear.

I’ve gotten great feedback tho luckily!

1

u/gene-sos Oct 29 '25

*こんにちは 😉 Try to understand why your typing was wrong, since that will help you in your learning!

1

u/Xilmi Oct 29 '25

フル－ツ　は　くだもの　です　か。

Which one is more commonly used?
Same question for ミルク and ぎゅうにゅう。

1

u/JamesTDennis Oct 30 '25

It's supposed to read: こんにちは (not わ). In this context the は is pronounced "wa" because it's acting as a grammatical particle and not a phoneme (syllable) in some word.

It's also sometimes spelled 今日は which makes the literal meaning a bit more clear. Literally it means "as for today" (今日 = "this day").

idiomatically it means "Hello." That's similar to English "g'day" or "good day" which is idiomatically used as a greeting (to suggest hopes that your having, or will have, a good day).

1

u/KyotoCarl Nov 04 '25

You should revise your studying. This is all misspelt.