Japanese grammar
The main rules of Japanese, each on one short page with tables and examples you can listen to. Use it to look something up, or read it alongside the course: every chapter links to the pages it uses.
Start here: the Japanese scripts
- HiraganaThe 46 basic hiragana with romaji, the voiced marks (が, ぱ), small ゃゅょ combinations, small っ and long vowels.
- KatakanaThe katakana chart with romaji, the long vowel mark ー, small ッ, and the extra combinations used for loanwords (ティ, ファ, ウィ, ヴ).
- KanjiHow kanji work: signs for meaning, on and kun readings, okurigana, radicals, and the first common kanji with their readings.
Beginner (A1)
- Demonstratives: これ, それ, あれ, どれThe こそあど system: words for this, that and which, for things, places, directions and kinds, with the polite こちら.
- Invitations, suggestions and plansInviting with ～ませんか, suggesting with ～ましょう(か), the plain volitional ～よう／～おう, and plans with ～つもり and ～予定.
- Numbers, counters, time and datesNumbers up to 億 with their sound changes, the common counters (つ, 人, 個, 本, 枚, 円, 回), clock times and dates.
- Questions and かYes/no questions with か, question words, how to answer with はい and いいえ, and casual questions without か.
- The particles と, も, の, や, から and までJoining nouns with と and や, “also” with も, linking nouns with の, and “from” and “until” with から and まで.
- The particles は and がは marks the topic and contrast; が marks new information and the subject with あります／います, 好き, できる and inside clauses.
- The particles を, に, で and へを marks the object; に marks time, where something is and where you go; で the place of an action and the means; へ the direction.
- The ます formます, ません, ました and ませんでした, the three verb groups, and how to make the `ます` form from the dictionary form.
- あります and いますあります for things and places, います for people and animals: saying where something is, “I have”, and position words (上, 下, 中, 隣).
- い-adjectives and な-adjectivesThe two adjective types before nouns and at the end of a sentence, their negative and past, ～くなる, and comparisons.
- です and basic sentencesXはYです, its negative and past, why the verb always comes last, and why Japanese leaves out whatever is clear.
Elementary (A2)
- ～ている and ～てあるThe te-form + いる for actions going on, lasting states, habits and wearing, and ～てある for the result of someone's action.
- Advice and obligationGiving advice with ～たほうがいい, saying what you must or don't have to do (～なければならない, ～ないといけない, ～なくてもいい) and should do (～べきだ).
- Experience: ～たことがあるSaying you have or have never done something with ～たことがある, how it differs from the simple past, and useful answers like 一度 and まだ.
- Plain and polite formsThe plain forms of verbs, adjectives and だ, when to speak plainly or with `です／ます`, casual speech, the written である style and spoken contractions.
- Relative clausesDescribing a noun with a whole clause in front of it (赤いコートを着ている人), plain forms inside, が → の, and long modifiers.
- Requests and permissionAsking people to do or not do things with ～てください and ～ないでください, asking permission with ～てもいいですか, and softer, more polite requests.
- Sentence-ending particles: よ, ね and moreHow よ, ね, よね, かな, の and a few casual particles at the end of a sentence change its tone: telling, agreeing, checking and wondering.
- The past tenseThe polite and plain past of verbs, adjectives and nouns, and the time words that go with the past.
- The potential form: canHow to say “can” with 食べられる, 話せる, できる and 来られる, が with the potential, noun + ができる, and 見える／聞こえる.
- The te-formHow to make the te-form for every verb group, how it joins sentences, and ～てから, ～てみる and ～てしまう.
- Wanting: ～たい and ほしい～たい for things you want to do, ほしい for things you want, ～てほしい for what you want others to do, and how to talk about other people's wishes.
Intermediate (B1)
- Conditionals: ～ば, ～たら, ～と, ～ならThe four ways to say “if” in Japanese, how to form them, when to use which, and unreal conditions like ～ば～のに and ～ていれば.
- Giving and receiving: あげる, くれる, もらうWho gives to whom with あげる, くれる and もらう, the polite さしあげる, くださる and いただく, and doing favours with ～てあげる, ～てくれる and ～てもらう.
- Keigo: honorific and humble languageThe three kinds of keigo (尊敬語, 謙譲語, 丁寧語), the special verbs, お～になる and お～する, the inside/outside rule and key business phrases.
- Seems and hearsay: ～そう, ～よう, ～らしいLooks like (～そう), I hear (～そうだ), it seems from evidence (～ようだ／みたい) and apparently (～らしい): how to form them and which one to choose.
- The causative and causative-passiveMaking and letting someone do something (～させる), ～させてください, the humble ～させていただく, and being made to do something (～させられる).
- The passiveForming the passive (～られる, ～れる), the direct passive, the passive in news and customs, the “suffering” passive and ～によって.
- Transitive and intransitive verb pairsVerb pairs like 開ける／開く, 壊す／壊れる and 落とす／落ちる: someone does it or it happens, and the difference between ～ている and ～てある.
- Turning verbs into nouns: の and ことHow の and こと turn a verb into a noun (見るのが好き), when to use which, and the fixed patterns ～ことができる, ～ことがある, ～ことにする and ～ことになる.
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