night
day
original

ホーム学習anonguides → ボイロ大好き grammar

ボイロ大好き grammar guide


2018-08-12 BY AN ANON FROM /jp/

the grammar guide that nobody wanted, that nobody asked for



Introduction


• The example sentences here are ripped from visual novels so they demand context to have a literal understanding of them.

• It's not possible to give unambiguous translations of most Japanese sentences without context.

• Because they're ripped from visual novels, they might have writing style problems or typos.

• Because they're stripped of context, they might be misinterpreted, even intentionally.

• There is a LOT of grammar that is not taught here. You have to learn it on your own.

You learn languages by doing listening and reading practice. Grammar study and vocabulary memorization are just supplements that make it easier to read and listen!


Mini-glossary


Compound words in Japanese work the same way as English.

Japanese nouns do not have grammatical number or grammatical gender.

会議meeting/conference
会議室meeting room/conference hall
科学science
科学者scientist
可能possible
不可能impossible

Guide


The main body of this grammar guide can be viewed as a reference using illustrative examples sourced from native media. You know, things the Japanese themselves consume for enjoyment.

Before you start

Firstly, let's address some questions in advance:

Q: Why didn't you include X?

A: I only included very basic grammar. There might be a couple things that don't look basic here, but I assure, really, if I didn't include it then I probably didn't consider it to be basic.

Q: Why didn't you include ‹N3 grammar point› / Why did you include ‹N1 grammar point›?

A: Because JLPT grammar classifications are like 50%~80% bullshit.

Q: Why are the example sentences individually sourced?

A: All language resources should only use examples found "in the wild". And they should source every single one of their examples, so you know they're not made-up.

Q: This grammar explanation is wrong.

A: It probably isn't. I mean it might be, just probably not. Everything here is so basic that even someone with bad Japanese could teach it somewhat reliably. It's just incomplete.


Concepts


This is called "state of being".

Na-adjectives are also allowed to be used in these patterns.

Nだ、Nです
someone/something is N
Nだった、Nでした
someone/something was N
Nじゃない
someone/something isn't N
Nじゃなかった
someone/something wasn't N

今度お前貸す!
今度(this time, topic)
(I, subject)
お前(you, indirect object)
(strength, direct object)
貸す!(lend, present/future tense action)
This time, I lend my strength to you!

From: Full Metal Daemon Muramasa
DL: link

Note: Sometimes 今度 means "the next time this happens". This is just like how sometimes "this Friday" means "the next time Friday happens". It's not possible to translate things unambiguously/accurately without context. Assume that every single example sentence here might have similar problems. This is the only translation note you're getting.


The neutral sentence structure in Japanese is

‹Topic›‹Subject›‹Indirect object›‹Direct object›‹Adverbs›‹Verb›
startend

Adverbs can go almost anywhere, but the location affects what they modify. When they modify the verb directly, they go after the direct object.

If it doesn't add ambiguities, most parts of a sentence can be moved around without changing what it means.

The subject and object can both be dropped completely, unlike English. Dropping the subject or object is like using pronouns, even if they would be a pronoun if they were stated.

Japanese can mark the subject or object as a topic (は) instead of subject (が) or object (を) if it makes sense and isn't misleading.

Verbs do not change form for the gender (he/she), number (I/we), or perspective (I/you/he) of their subject.


大切
大切(precious, adjectival)
(day, days)
"precious day" or "precious days"
(日 can also mean "sun" but doesn't here)

Na-adjectives act like nouns if they don't have な attached to them. Sometimes, it's unnatural to use a specific na-adjective as a subject or object, especially if it's too abstract like "precious".

(My, possessive)
(strength)
"my strength" or "strength of mine"
(Night, adjectival)
(ocean, sea)
the night sea

This is the です from Nです, but the phrase Aです is irregular. です does not mean "is" here. It just adds politeness. Aです isn't a conjugation, it just replaces the nonexistent/impossible A-ます conjugation.

Note: A conjugation is a form of a verb, or in Japanese's case, of a verb or adjective. "Jumping" and "jumped" are conjugations of "jump".

People also say Vです, which means ALMOST the same thing as V-ます. But it's not really a conjugation, it's just using です as a politeness word.

Japanese has two categories of regular verb conjugation.

In the first category, the final syllable is dropped from the verb, and the conjugation is appended to the new form.

食べ食べます
ます

In the second category, the last syllable changes depending on the conjugation.

知る知ります
話す話します
死ぬ死にます

Note: Notice that 5-る verbs conjugate differently than 1-る verbs

The first category is called single-row (一段). The second category is called five-row (五段). The names come from traditional hiragana/katakana charts. With the last core syllable in a given single-row verb, it always stays on the same row. With the last core syllable in a given five-row verb, it can be a kana from any row, depending on the conjugation.

The rule/pattern for a given conjugation depends on which category the verb is from. It's not always as simple as deleting the る from single-row verbs or respelling the last syllable for five-row verbs.

The last core syllable of a verb in the dictionary form/present tense always ends in the vowel "u".

Irregular verbs: する "do", くる "come"

するします
くるきます

These are essentially the formal versions of だ, だった, じゃない, and じゃなかった. In this case, the formal versions are the older versions. That means that である (actually it was であり at the time) turned into today's だ, etc. Also, the ある in である is a verb, and conjugates like one.


食べ食べない
ない
知る知らない
話す話さない
死ぬ死なない

The very common five-row verb ある, "to be", takes the negative form ない, not あらない.

Irregular verbs:
するしない
くるこない
熱い熱くない

In Japanese, い-adjectives conjugate too, not just verbs. Just not the same way as verbs. Surprised? い-adjective conjugations are based on the consonant "k", rather than the syllable い.


食べ食べ

A little explanation for the past tense of five-row verbs is in order. The final core syllable switches to an "i" syllable, just like for the ます form. But when the た is attached, the conjugation gets slurred together. This isn't a slang thing. This conjugation slurs together absolutely everywhere except for archaic-sounding writing or speeches.

話す話し
知る知っ
待つ持っ
買う買っ
問う問う
聞く聞い
急ぐ急い
死ぬ死ん
学ぶ学ん
飲む飲ん

Be careful: there's a sentence-ender, んだ, that looks a lot like the past tense of ぬ/ぶ/む verbs, but is actually something completely different.

Irregular verbs:
するした
くるきた

熱い熱かった

The past tense of い-adjectives is irregular for unintuitive etymological reasons. Just learn it.

Most verb conjugations from here on out will not have equivalents for い-adjectives.

食べ食べない
食べなかった

ない is, itself, an い-adjective. You just can't conjugate it to itself (i.e. no 食べなくない).

Irregular verbs:
するしないしなかった
くるこないこなかった

These are the negative, past tense, and negative past tense forms of the V-ます conjugation, because the past tense doesn't conjugate and V-ない doesn't have a ます form.

These are alternative polite negatives. Like Vです, they're not considered conjugations, they're just using です as a politeness word.


The choice between に and へ for destination depends on the specific kind of movement or travel. に focuses on the destination or specific direction, へ focuses on the motion or travel.

The choice between に and で for location depends on the specific combination of situation and location. If it helps, で is more like "at" or "by", and に is more like "in" or "on".


熱い
hotness / heat(as an amount, not a concept)

Unlike most other い-adjective conjugations, this one drops the last core syllable (the い) entirely, instead of replacing it with a "k" syllable.

甘い
sweetness(can be an amount or a concept)

Note: A-み is sometimes spelled as A-味, e.g. 甘味 "sweetness". This is also a good way to remember how A-み differs from A-さ.


Conjugates exactly the same way as the past tense, but with て/で instead of た/だ.

Look!

From: Common

食べください
Eat, please.

From: Common

ってもらう (compound verb)
someone fights for me / is fighting for me / will fight for me

From: Common

Note: 戦ってもらう can also be used when an opponent gives you a second chance or something

失いたくねえ。だから戦って、守るんだよ
I don't wanna lose anyone. That's why I fight, I protect.

From: Kajiri Kamui Kagura - Akebono no Hikari
DL: link
DL: link

Usage 3 can change the nature of the verb so much that the meaning of the subject and/or object change. It depends on what specific verb is added. 4 can't do this, it just strings statements together, like a comma or semicolon.


よこれ!!
Take a look at this!!!

From: Narisokonai Snow White

……舞台を見。俺を見るな。
...Look at the stage, not me.

From: Shikkoku no Sharnoth -What a Beautiful Tomorrow-

The form for five-row verbs replaces the "u" from the last core syllable with an "e".

Irregular verbs:
するしろ
するせよ (less common)
くるこい

くて、硬くって、おっきくて
Hot, hard, and big.

From: Astelight Shuushuubako

Note: The っ in くって in this example doesn't have a grammatical purpose, it just adds emphasis.

朝食を食べ、すぐに家を出た。
I ate breakfast, then left (departed from home) right away.

From: Aete Mushi Suru Kimi to no Mirai ~Relay Broadcast~


Surprise! You can use entire statements as adjectives! As long as they don't end in だ or です or ます or a bunch of other exceptions. These are called adjectival clauses. Except in the case of lone adjectives, in which case they're just adjectives.

自分も考える時間が欲しい。
I want time to think too.

From: Shugaten! -Sugarfull Tempering-

どうせいずれは殺す人々
At any rate, all of them are people who kill.

From: Kajiri Kamui Kagura - Akebono no Hikari

今日も暑い日になりそうだ。
Looks like it's gonna be hot today, too.

From: Aete Mushi Suru Kimi to no Mirai ~Relay Broadcast~

These are basically ways of using a verb like a noun. Vaguely similar to English's "~ing". こと and もの act like nouns being modified by a relative clause consisting of V or V's statement. But の acts less like a noun being modified and more like some kind of indescribable conjugation-that-isn't-a-conjugation particle-that-isn't-a-particle thing.

Again, こと and もの are also normal nouns. This is just a specific pattern that uses them in a specific way.

This is some kind of extremely indirect instruction that something must be done (or if V is negative, not be done). Not always an instruction, can also just be a way of framing a statement as a description of itself.

入室の際にはノックすること
That you knock when entering a room.

From: Hoshizora no Memoria

カレンに見つめられること、カレンがそんな目をすること
To be stared at by Karen. For Karen to look at me with such eyes.

From: Futsuu no Fantasy


一緒に今日の進め方を考えているから。
Since I'm thinking about how to spend the day with him.

From: Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm

そう、好きな人一緒に
Right, with someone I like.

From: Dracu-Riot!

と can also come at the end of certain adverbs like ちゃんと, ずっと, and きっと, and is also a listing marker, and a conjunction, so be careful about that.

These are ways of creating a relative clause from nothing, without it needing to modify a noun, not even weak nouns like こと or もの or a dummy noun like の. Sometimes the phrase on the left is a literal quote. Yes, と here can be pretty confusing.

何か、大変なことがあった聞いたけど――?
I heard that there was some kind of, big thing that happened, though...?

From: Magical Charming!

Simply put, these use a quotative phrase as a topic. Often used to define words, or to use a word (rather than the thing described by that word) as the context of a statement.

These convey that a notion is described by a given phrase or that a given phrase is how something is viewed. They can also be used to modify nouns with phrases that would be very difficult to attach to nouns otherwise, like phrases ending in another noun.


These are ways of asking questions. Do not actually attempt to memorize the list, it's extremely redundant.

Questions made with か or tone of voice focus on learning new information, questions made with の or のか focus on exchanging ideas or notions. That said, they can both be used both ways.

の can be slurred sometimes.

The の here is the の that can turn verbs into nouns.

こんちは……何故、もういるですか?
Hello... Why are you still here?

From: Aete Mushi Suru Kimi to no Mirai ~Relay Broadcast~

ちょっと、どこ行くの?
Wait, where are you going?

From: Common

まだ食べるか?
Still eating?

From: Watashi ga Suki nara "Suki" tte Itte!

さて、食べる
Now, how about I eat.

From: Watashi ga Suki nara "Suki" tte Itte!

う、ううっ、どっちが年上だどっちが先輩だ
Er, uhh... Who's older? Who's the senior?

From: Clover Point

いいですか?
Is it fine? / Can I?

From: Common

It's pretty common for の/のか questions to be answered with のだ/のです/んだ/んです statements. のだ statements carry the mood of conveying explanatory information or giving an answer or greater context to an idea/notion/curiosity, rather than just any kind of information or an answer to a desire for information.


These are ways of asking for confirmation about something. じゃない and じゃん are also used for expressing surprise by pretending to ask a question (like "Well well, isn't it the boss himself?")

Yes, じゃない really can mean both "it isn't" and "isn't it". You just have to get used to it.

さっき自分で言ったじゃん
It like you just said, isn't it?

From: Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai

なんだっけ、それ
What was that again?

From: Common


食べないでください
Don't eat, please.

From: Common


Most of the time, the two meanings are basically indistinguishable without context, unless it's part of a construction where only a topic or only a condition makes sense.

あなたは戦っては駄目ッ
It's bad for you to fight! / It's bad if you fight.

From: Dies irae

Note: V-ちゃ is a different contraction than V-ちゃう/V-ちゃった etc.


Non-contrastive means that mentioning the topic isn't an act of excluding other topics. For example, saying "You did well tonight" is contrastive, and implies that other days they might not have done well. Saying "You did well tonight, too" is non-contrastive, and implies that they did well on other days too.

も includes one topic among a group of other implied valid possible topics. In other words, it usually means that the statement is true of other topics (like "other people are leaving"), and is additionally true of the given topic (like "I'm leaving too").

行くよ
I'm going too!(inclusive topic)

From: Common

The ability to choose between も and は for topics means that, by choosing one when you don't need to state the topic at all, you're either playing up the topic being special (with は), or playing up that the topic is like other topics (with も).

……昨夜、そんなに痛かったですか?
...Did it hurt that much last night, too?(non-contrastive topic)

From: Kimi no Koe ga Kikoeru

Note: Using は here might (depending on context) be contrastive and imply that other nights didn't hurt, like tonight or the night before last night.

Saying that something is "included" among other options affects logical entailment*. Non-neutral logical entailment can trigger linguistic polarity* weirdness when part of questions, conditions, or negative statements.

It's 100% okay if you have no idea what the fuck you just read. Just take the following example for granted.

いないな
Looks like there's nobody here. (negative polarity example)

From: Common


あんな短い剣では槍を受け流す事しかできない。
With such a short sword, you can't do anything to spears but deflect them.

From: Fate/Stay Night

今部屋の外では女の子達がドアに耳をつけて聞いているに違いなかった。
The girls are definitely listening in from outside the room with their ears against the door right now.

From: Nursery Rhyme

この世で絶対の理屈や論理は、子供でも分かる数の大小、算数だ。
The objective logic and reason in this world are the mathematical inequalities that even children understand; elementary mathematics.

From: Dies irae

お暇なら、一緒に探検でも行きませんかっ?
If you have time, why don't we go exploring (or something) together?

From: Twinkle Crusaders

奴らに通じるのは言葉でも道理でもない。力だけだ
Words or reason won't get through to them. Only force.

From: Full Metal Daemon Muramasa
DL: link

でも気をつけてください
But please be careful.

From: Common

わかった、でも迷子になるなよ
Got it, but don't get lost, hear me?

From: Dracu-Riot!


There are many other ways to say "because", this is just one of them. だから and ですから can also be interjections, without a noun.

それに、まだパンツを履いていないので……あの、履いてきてもいいですか?
Oh, and I haven't put on my panties yet, so... hey, can I go put them on first?

From: Trinoline


ある is for subjects that are unlike life, いる is for subjects that are like life. This ある is the same ある from である.

考えている
I'm thinking.

From: Common

それは心が死んでいる人の生き方です
That is the way of life of one whose heart is dead.

From: Dies irae ~Interview with Kaziklu Bey~

てある turns transitive verbs into intransitive verbs expressing that something has had an action done do it. Expresses the state resulting from the action, not the event of the action being done to it.

お茶は淹れてある
Tea's done (being steeped).

From: Shugaten! -Sugarfull Tempering-



Less likely to mean "... and V". More likely to have to do with how the verb progresses over time. The て or と can be voiced like で or ど for verbs like 死ぬ that conjugate to 死んで for the て form.

Less likely to mean "finish doing V". The ち starts where the て used to be. Can also be じゃう or じまう for verbs like 死ぬ that conjugate to 死んで for the て form.


これ means "this thing". それ and あれ mean "that thing", with the difference being that それ is for things the other person would say "this" for but not the speaker, and あれ being for things that both people would say "that" for. どれ means "which one".

しかし……この本は、さすがに……。
But... This book sure is, how do I put it...

From: Chronobox

There are more words of this kind, like こちら/こっち/etc, but once you know how they work they're very easy to figure out.

In actual speech, うん/ううん are pronounced completely differently.


The conjugation for five-row verbs turns the vowel of the last core syllable into an "a", then adds れる.

この子、パンツ見られると凶暴化するんだろうか。
I guess this girl goes feral when her panties get seen.

From: Flyable Heart
DL: link

ゆえに、どうせ殺されるなら戦って、その果てに。
Thus, if you will be killed regardless, then fight, fight to the very end.

From: Dies irae

Irregular verbs:
するされる
くるこられる

The passive form of single-row verbs doubles as a potential form. There's a short potential for single-row verbs too, if you see it, you can be 99% sure that it's a potential (can X), not a passive (was/got Xed) or a potential-passive (Xable / can be Xed).

The conjugation for five-row verbs turns the vowel of the last core syllable into an "e", then adds る.

でも、漢字が読めないのは人生でも困るよ。多分
But not being able to read kanji would make it hard for someone just to go through life. Probably.

From: Twinkle Crusaders

Irregular verbs:
するできる
くるこられる
くるこれる

服を脱がせるから、後は私とミアに任せて
I'm taking off the girl's clothes, so leave the rest to me and Mia.
(i.e. go somewhere that you won't see her naked)

From: Yoake Mae yori Ruri Iro na

君を死なせたくなかった
I didn't want to let you die.

From: Sen no Hatou, Tsukisome no Kouki

Sometimes both the direct object of the original verb and the direct object of the causative verb (so, the person being made to do something) are included. In this case, the original direct object is probably going to use を or go unmarked, and the causative direct object is probably going to be marked with に or something.

そうすればセイバーに人を殺させる必要なんてない。
If I do things that way, I won't "need" to make Saber kill people.

From: Fate/Stay Night

Prescriptivists consider it wrong for five-row verbs ending in す, and for single-row verbs, but those kinds of verbs still use it once in a blue moon.

Some verbs have fixed special versions that are used way, way more than their causative conjugation, like 見せる (so in 見せる's case, it's almost always used instead of 見る's 見させる).

Irregular verbs:
するさせる
くる来させる

より強い
Stronger than me.

From: Yoake Mae yori Ruri Iro na (but common as part of longer lines)

あの子、みんなが思っているより強い子じゃないの
That girl's stronger than everyone thinks, isn't she.

From: Fureraba ~Friend to Lover~


行こうか
Let's go / How about we go?

From: Common

考えてみる
I'll try to think about it.

From: Common

教えてほしい。ここは本当に学園の中なのか?
I want to know. (I want you to tell me.) Is this place really on campus?

From: Tokeijikake no Ley Line -Tasogaredoki no Kyoukaisen-

ラーメンが食べたい
I want to eat ramen.

From: Love of Ren'ai Koutei of LOVE!

何が食べたい
What do you want to eat?

From: Common


Expresses that if one thing happens, another thing is or will be true. Usually focuses on the condition, not the result.

けば死ぬ。
If I untie it I'll die.

From: Fate/Stay Night

下着をずらせば、天音の秘部がしっかりと見える。
If I shift her underwear, Amane's privates will be completely visible.

From: Flyable Heart
DL: link

れば分かる
it's obvious / you can understand it just by looking at it

From: Common

どうすればいい?
What should I do?

From: Common

Irregular verbs:
するすれば
くるくれば
歩けなければ走れない。
If you can't walk, you can't run.

From: Dies irae


Means that if one thing is true, so is the other. Doesn't describe cause and effect. Focuses on the result. Not anywhere near as much of a condition as ~ば is. Sometimes it's basically used as though it's a topic marker that's even more contrastive than は.

喩えるなら、戦闘の専門家と戦争の専門家だ。
Metaphorically speaking, they specialize in combat and war, respectively.

From: Dies irae

キミならできるよ!
You can do it!

From: Aete Mushi Suru Kimi to no Mirai ~Relay Broadcast~


Doesn't describe cause and effect. Can be used for things like "If you're free tomorrow, come see me", which ~ば can't.

Attaches to statements, not nouns or whatever. Usually has a comma after it, but not always. Describes cause and effect. Used for things that are generally true, not coincidences or unique situations. Attaches like 行くと for verbs, Nだと for nouns, etc.


鼻で息をしながら、がくがくと首を縦に揺らす
Breathing through her nose, she shook and rocked her head front-to-back.

From: Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm


けど can also be けれど, けども, or けれども, which all have different levels of formality and politeness.

You've already seen でも as a conjunction before. ても is でも but for verbs (and adjectives), and doesn't have the same oddities/caveats that でも as a conjunction has with nouns.

しかし is just an interjection and doesn't act like a conjunction.

しかし事実だ
However, it's the truth.

From: Itsuka, Todoku, Ano Sora ni. (but common as part of longer lines)

The が here is not the subject marker, and it doesn't attach directly to nouns.

声もかけてみる、返事はない。
I even try to raise my voice, but there's no response.

From: Hoshizora no Memoria


They're endless. There are also such adverbs ending in っさり, っぱり, っとり, etc. Many of them can take と to emphasize their adverbialness, or する to turn them into actions about behaving that way.

Many of these can also take と to emphasize their adverbialness or する to make them actions, just like the っきり/っかり ones.

自然
Naturally/spontaneously

Normal Japanese nouns are uncountable. You can't say "five stores" or "four stores" with the normal word for "store". This is just like how in English you can't say "five rices" when you're referring to pieces of food or grains of rice. You say "five pieces of food" or "five grains of rice" instead. But in Japanese, almost all nouns aren't countable, so almost every way of counting things is something like "pieces of food" or "grains of rice".

There are other counting words than つ, which are almost all nouns, but they're restricted to counting specific kinds of things.

あと、もう一つ
And then give me another.
After that, one more thing.
(e.g. one more thing to explain)

From: Common


Means that the N is nothing more special than what is said about it by calling it an N.

Sometimes ただ takes the form たった, but たった can also just be a verb like 立った or something.


These are sentence-ending particles that convey the speaker's attitude towards what they're saying or how the person they're saying it to is going to take it. They can express things like assertion, agreement, free-willed-ness, caution, etc. か is technically one of these but serves more of a grammatical function.

Compound sentence ending particles don't follow the same rules their parts would follow on their own, so you can say things like いいだぜ just fine and it doesn't seem weird at all, even though "いいだ" is objectionable at best on its own.

This is not the same な from the list of sentence-ending particles above, even though it is identical.

くる
Stay away!

From: Common

Yes, Vな as in prohibition and な the sentence-ending particle are ambiguous. You just have to get used to how they're used so you can tell which is which.

食べなさい
Eat.

From: Common



These mean "someone", "some time", "something", etc. as in "Is someone there?", "I know someone who can deal with this", "something fell out of my bag", etc.

……誰かいるんですか?
...Is someone there?

From: Clover Point


These aren't really used for "anyone" in positive statements. 誰も and いつも can be used for "everyone" or "all the time" in positive statements, but that's irregular behavior.

い、いいえ。何も言ってません
N-, no. I didn't say anything.

From: Flyable Heart
DL: link

It's not always possible to translate them into English as "anyone" etc, so some dictionaries define these words as "nobody", "never", "nothing", etc. But it's important to realize that the "no" is not part of the Nも phrase, it's part of the statement as a whole.

誰も来ないよ
Nobody's coming.

From: Common

These can be used with positive phrases. In negative phrases they're like an emphatic version of the Xも phrases.

誰でもわかる
Anyone could understand. / Anyone can understand it.

From: Common

そいつはあの火事の中、誰でもいいから誰かを助けようとやってきて、この俺を見つけたのだ。
That guy walked within those fires, looking to save someone, anyone was fine, and found my very self.

From: Fate/Stay Night


This is like how "and", "or", "and/or", and commas are used in English. They do not, however, literally translate into just "and", "or", or "and/or". They also all mean slightly different things.

The listing particle is often omitted from the last entry in a list. Some kinds of lists can work even if there's only one item.

寂しいとか、悲しいとか
Like lonely, or sad.

From: Tokeijikake no Ley Line -Asagiri ni Chiru Hana-

Also remember that でも can be used as a listing particle, especially when the list is part of a bigger negative structure.


たり is formed the same way as the past tense. Sometimes there's only one past event.

There are a very large number of ways of listing actions or statements, just like listing nouns. ~たり~たり is only a single way of doing it.


These have different nuances and are used in different situations.

だけ and のみ mean that the statement only applies to what they're attached to.

聞こえたのは僕だけかな?
Am I the only one who heard it?

From: Twinkle Crusaders

なら、追いかけるのみだ。
Then there is only pursuit.
(can only chase after them or just have to chase after them)

From: Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai -Dreaming Sheep- (fandisk)

ばかり expresses that there's so much of something, or so little of anything else, that you can't think of it any other way.

先輩の本能は、えっちなことばかりなんですね
Wow, Senpai's instincts are all about sex.

From: Clover Point

空模様は悪化するばかり
The weather just gets worse and worse.

From: Shugaten! -Sugarfull Tempering-

ばかり can work on the "time" something happened, like with さっき "recently/a short while ago", even if it's not directly attached.

でも、さっき恋人になったばっかり
But we just became lovers recently.

From: Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai


This doesn't operate on question words like the other stuff here, but it's affected by polarity like they are.

今、ここには自分とセイバーしかいない。
Right now, there's nobody here but Saber and myself.

From: Fate/Stay Night

俺はもう、狂うしかないじゃないか
Isn't madness all that's left for me now?

From: Sekien no Inganock -What a Beautiful People-


Can have a wide range of implications, everything from "someone is ...ish" to "I think I'm gonna ...".


もう行っちゃうの? もっとお話ししたいのにな
Are you leaving already? I still have stuff to say, though.

From: Ama Koi Syrups ~Hajirau Koigokoro de Shitaku Naru Amagami-sama no Koi Matsuri~

もう一回やってみるか?
Want to try doing it again?

From: Common

もう大丈夫です
I'm okay now.

From: Common

Comes from meaning 1 from above, like "もういい" "enough already".

もうこわくない
I'm not afraid anymore.

From: Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm (but common)

もう喋る
Don't talk anymore.

From: Common


でもまだ眠いし……
But I'm still tired...

From: Hanahira!

そう、頭の中はまだ何も整理できていない。
That's right, I still can't sort anything out in my head yet.

From: Silverio Vendetta

またパンツ見えた。
I saw her panties again.

From: Aete Mushi Suru Kimi to no Mirai ~Relay Broadcast~

There are many "or" phrases like または. They're allowed in different situations and mean slightly different things.


Forms the same way as the negative, except する's ず form is せず/せずに, not しず/しずに.

Any phrase that goes "‹negative condition› ‹expression of wrongness›" means "must", but they all have different nuances.


アンタたちが逃げようとするからでしょッ!!
Isn't it because you guys are trying to run away!!

From: Axanael

そうとする試みは無意味だろう。
Attempting to try to dodge it would surely be meaningless.

From: Fate/Stay Night

Normally comes after the full dictionary form of the verb, but for single-row verbs, the る can be dropped as well (i.e. V1-まい).

Not normally used as a way to say "let's not X". Almost always presents negative conjecture.

なるほど。それでは、そう簡単には終わるまい
I see. In that case, there's no way it would end that easily.

From: Fate/Stay Night


Most of these contractions apply in general, not just with the given word/phrase.

Note: "~ai" syllables can be contracted to "~ee" almost universally in rough or dialectal speech

Note: んち can happen with pretty much any honorific, sometimes names, and sometimes even things that don't end in ん at all.

Note: This じゃ is not the じゃ from じゃない. This じゃ used to be spelled ぢゃ, じゃない's didn't.


These exist. They mean exactly what they look like they mean. When you get to Nではありませんでした and Nじゃありませんでした they start to look like unintelligible hiragana stew, but you get used to it.


Concept List

Grammatical structures in order of appearance.