How was your holiday? We had fun. -- Yasumi wa dou(or:ikaga) deshita ka. Tanoshikatta desu. *How was Nikko? It was beautiful/pretty. -- Nikkou wa dou (or:ikaga) deshita ka. Kirei deshita (yo). Note: Yo indicates the speaker's assurance that his statement is correct="you know" *How was your weekend? It was o.k. --Shuumatsu wa dou deshita ka. Maamaa deshita. *(The holiday) was nice (lit. good). -- (Yasumi wa) yokatta desu. (Note: adj. ii has an exceptional conjugation) is not good (non-past/negative) -- yoku arimasen is good (non-past/positive) -- ii desu was good (past/positive) -- yokatta desu was not good (past/negative) -- yoku arimasen deshita *Mr. Smith, how was Japan? It was good. -- Sumisu-san, Nihon wa dou deshita ka. Yokatta desu. to tell the truth -- jitsu wa *To tell the truth, I didn't go because of urgent business. -- Jitsu wa kuuyou de ikimasen deshita. *To tell the truth, I didn't go to the party because I had a cold. -- Jitsu wa kaze de paatii ni ikimasen deshita. *I went to Sapporo on business. -- Shutchou de Sapporo e ikimashita. (cause) Are you going to play golf tomorrow? To tell the truth, I'm not going to go because I have a meeting tomorrow. -- Ashita gorufu ni ikimasu ka. Jitsu wa ashita kaigi de ikimasen. I did not go to the party because of urgent business. -- Kyuuyou de paatii ni ikimasen deshita. business -- shigoto business trip -- shutchou conference -- kaigi errand -- youji rain -- ame sickness -- byouki cold -- kaze urgent business -- kyuuyou (can be anything, not only business related) *Why are you going to Kyushu next Saturday? -- Doushite raishuu no do-youbi ni Kyuushuu e ikimasu ka. Why didn't you come yesterday? -- Kinou nan de kimasen deshita ka. *Why didn't you come to class yesterday? -- Kinou nan de (or: doushite=more formal) kurasu e kimasen deshita ka. *I had a nice trip. I'm glad to hear that (lit. that was good, wasn't it?) -- Ryokou wa yokatta desu. Sore wa yokatta desu ne. *I did not go anywhere last night because of a cold. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. (lit. that's no good, is it) -- Kinou no ban ni kaze de doko e mo ikimasen deshita. Sore wa ikemasen ne. *That's too bad. (lit. that was disappointing, wasn't it?) -- Sore wa zannen deshita ne. *Please take care. (when s.b. is sick) -- Douzo odaiji ni. I did not go to school yesterday because of a cold. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you all right now. Yes, I'm all right now. -- Kinou kaze de gakkou ni ikimasen deshita. Sore wa ikemasen ne. Mou daijoubu desu ka. Ee, mou daijoubu desu. *Which place was particularly interesting? -- Tokuni doko ga omoshirokatta desu ka. (asking for detailed comment) What was particularly delicious? -- Tokuni nani ga oishikatta desu ka. (asking for detailed comment) Around what time was it particularly beautiful? -- Tokuni nan-ji goro ga kirei deshita ka. (asking for detailed comment) *What part of Japan was good, particularly. The scenary was beautiful. (asking for detailed comment) -- Tokuni Nihon wa doko ga yokatta desu ka. Keshiki ga kirei deshita. very -- totemo scenery -- keshiki ocean, sea -- umi beach (sea, ocean) -- kaigan river -- kawa water -- mizu air -- kuuki mountain -- yama forest -- mori greenery -- midori tree -- ki flower -- hana town -- machi country side -- inaka buddhist temple -- (o-)tera shinto shrine -- jinja Toshogu shrine -- Toushouguu the price of.... -- ....no nedan beverages -- nomimono service -- saabisu *Kyoto was very beautiful, and Japanese food was delicious. That's good. -- Kyouto ga (or wa) totemo kirei deshita. Soreni Nihon no tabemono ga (or wa) oshikatta desu. Sore wa yokatta desu ne. in addition to that/furthermore -- soreni *The trip was boring but the scenery was pretty. -- Ryokou wa tsumaranakatta desu. Demo keshiki wa kirei deshita. The mountains were beautiful. However, there were too many people. -- Yama ga kirei deshita. Demo, hito ga ookatta desu. *How was the beach? -- Kaigan wa dou deshita ka. (in this case it has to be wa, use wa in the answer also) *The food at the restaurant was good, but the service was bad. -- Resutoran no tabemono wa oishikatta desu. Demo saabisu wa warukatta desu. *Although Japanese cars are small, they are expensive, aren't they? In addition to that, gasoline is also expensive. -- Nihon no kuruma wa chiisai desu ga (or: kedo) takai desu ne. Soreni gasorin mo takai desu. *The beach was nice, but it was very cold. -- Kaigan wa kirei deshita (yokatta desu). Demo, totemo samukatta desu. *Last night I did not go the the concert because of urgent business. -- Kinou no ban ni kyuuyou de konsaato ni ikimasen deshita. *The weather was not good last Friday. -- Senshuu no kin-youbi wa (or: no) tenki wa yoku arimasen deshita. (specific time+ ni, only when verb at the end of the sentence) is not interesting -- omoshiroku arimasen (i-adj, neg. form, non-past= i is dropped and -ku arimasen added) was interesting -- omoshirokatta desu (i-adj, past, positive= i is dropped and -katta desu added, desu is just for politeness added) was not interesting -- omoshiroku arimasen deshita (i-adj, negative, past=i dropped and -ku rimasen deshita added) is not pretty -- kirei ja arimasen (negative, non-past, adj. noun= adj. noun plus ja arimasen) was pretty -- kirei deshita (past, positive, adj. noun= adj. noun plus deshita) was not pretty -- kirei ja arimasen deshita (past, negative, adj. noun = adj. noun plus ja arimasen deshita)