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ホーム学習anonguides → Ixrec Japanese

Ixrec's Guide to Japanese


2012-07-27 BY IXREC



Introduction


Alphabets


Particles


Vocabulary


Conjugation


Clauses


Terminology


Confusing Vocabulary


Additional Grammar Topics


Old Japanese


Introduction



The Japanese language is awesome.

It also has one of the highest learning curves for (popular) modern languages, probably only rivaled by Chinese and English. It's especially hard for Westerners who don't know any Eastern languages already, since the way of thinking that Japanese relies on is just so alien to them.

At the same time, there are a lot of people, like me, who passionately consume one or more facets of Japan's pop culture (arguably a menagerie of worldwide cult hits). This translates into droves of people with a strong personal desire to learn the language.

So, I've been studying Japanese in one form or another for over five years now, and I've spent at least two of those years doing amateur translations of visual novels and trying to help others learn the language themselves.

Here are a few of my favorite things about Japanese as a language: It looks and sounds beautiful, it's extremely intuitive (once you're fluent), its lexicon has several precise but abstract words English lacks, there are countless ways of expressing one's mood or personality or relationship to others without rephrasing anything, and virtually anything can be left implied so you never have to mince words.

The corresponding downsides include an insane learning curve (half the pros I just listed are confusing as hell to most Westerners), a ton of homophones, and an incredibly high reliance on context.


Why this guide?

Most books intended to help someone learn a foreign language are quite useless. Often, this is because few people actually want to put in the time and effort to properly learn a language, so the only way to write a book that appeals to them is to present very simplisitic and incomplete material. Other times, it comes down to the fact that teaching a language is very hard to do, and cannot be taught the same way most school subjects are.

There are a number of serious but painfully common mistakes made as a result of trying to teach languages like an ordinary subject. The big one is that they never expect you to use a dictionary and "source material" (e.g., an actual book written in Japanese) to gain experience with the language. Instead, many classes and books will try to build your vocabulary using lists (often with misleadingly simple definitions) and teach you grammar via snowclones (e.g., "_に_を言う" means "to tell _ that _"), which can only ever hope to cover the simplest of sentences.

Of course, it doesn't have to be as bad as I made it sound in the last paragraph. Tae Kim's guide, for instance, does a pretty good job keeping these disadvantages to a minimum. Still, in my opinion, being newbie-friendly is worth sacrificing in order to provide information that's as close to being genuinely accurate and comprehensive as possible. And that's what I tried to do.

The upshot of this is that my guide expects you to put a lot of effort into studying Japanese, and in return you can trust it to never use any misleading simplifications or omit anything you need to know. In theory, this guide covers everything you need to know about Japanese, other than what you'll find in a dictionary or get a feel for just by reading for years yourself.

Some people absolutely love this approach. Others find it intimidating and might be better off using a guide like Tae Kim's until they feel more confident. It's absolutely fine if you want to do that, as long as you are aware that such guides cannot avoid some amount of oversimplification or incompleteness in order to be that approachable, so take their lists and/or explanations with a grain of salt. And of course, there's no reason you can't use my guide in conjunction with others.

Incidentally, my main goal for improving this guide in the future (aside from adding more random entries to Confusing Vocabulary) is to try and make it a little more newbie-friendly without sacrificing the informational content. For this version, I've added some sections that dissect some source material for you, which should make things less intimidating.


How do I study Japanese using this guide?

Like most langauges, you must learn the Japanese alphabets (kana) first. There is absolutely no point attempting to do anything else until you have memorized them. As you might expect, reading the Alphabets section will help, since it contains a lot of other random information you ought to know in addition to simply what sound each kana corresponds to. It also has material on the kanji, but it's entirely up to you whether you want to study the kanji right after the kana or put them off for later (I expect most people will prefer to put them off for a while).

After that, you need to get a dictionary, some kind of source material, and a translation for it. First-timers should try using the source material dissections included in this guide, though I don't know how long those will last you. The meat of the guide is composed of these four sections: Particles, Vocabulary, Conjugation and Clauses. Start by reading as much of the first section as you can digest in one sitting, then look for the stuff it talked about in your chosen source material.

Intially, this means looking for particles in random sentences and figuring out how they're being used. You will not be able to understand the vast majority of the text, but that's fine. Just look up some of the words in the simpler sentences, try to identify the particles around them, guess what they're doing, and compare against the translation to see how much you got right.

The idea is that after a while, you get a feel for basic particles, so then you can move on to reading material further in the guide, then trying to apply those new ideas to the source material again. After a few weeks, you should be starting to look at common pronouns and transition words. After a few months, you should be looking primarily at verb forms. After several months, you should have very little trouble with simple sentences and be focusing your efforts on ones with multiple clauses. This process is definitely slow at first, but over time you'll be amazed at how much your fluency accelerates.

Moreover, if you ever want to learn any language, you will have to do something like this eventually. There's no way around that. However, there are a lot of resources you can use to get a "headstart" on grasping certain aspects of the language. For instance, Rosetta Stone is a good headstart for understanding the particles (and some basic vocabulary), and Heisig's Remembering the Kanji is a good headstart for mnemonically memorizing kanji shapes and meanings. Using stuff like this can be a very good idea, as long as you're aware that they are only headstarts and should never be treated as authoritative references or teaching methods (in particular, anyone who thinks that you can use RtK to "learn all the kanji" is deluded).

The other sections in the guide are all some kind of supplement with no particular order or structure, and it really doesn't matter when you read them or what you do with them. But do check them out at some point.


Source Material

"Source material" is a term I use to refer to anything created in a given language, by a native speaker of that language, and intended for use by other native speakers of that language. Depending on your location, budget, and attitudes towards legality, you may wish to travel to a Japantown and buy something in person, mail order something online, or download/pirate stuff from the internet. This guide and I will always assume you are attempting to read Japanese source material on a regular basis (regardless of how much of it you can actually understand). Important things to keep in mind when choosing your first source material (that isn't part of this guide):

For most people I know, the ideal first source material will be a manga series serialized in the Shonen Jump magazine.


Introduction to the Three Japanese Alphabets

One of the most unique aspects of the Japanese language is that it can use up to three different alphabets at the same time. I think it's worth giving you at least a skeletal understanding of the way they interact before making you seriously study them.

The three Japanese alphabets are called hiragana, katakana and kanji. The kana (hiragana and katakana together) are phonograms, just like the English alphabet. The kanji are ideograms, and are in many ways analogous to Greek and Latin roots in English.

There are 71 hiragana, 71 katakana, and between 2,000 and 50,000 kanji depending on who you ask. Hiragana and katakana have a perfect one-to-one relationship (i.e., every hiragana has one corresponding katakana which represents the same sound, and vice versa). Hiragana are used constantly, so they will be your first priority. Katakana are used primarily for loanwords and miscellaneous aesthetic purposes, so they're less common. Kanji are used most of the time, although technically they're always optional, so conventions on whether to write a word in kanji or hiragana vary significantly. Also, there are several words which have no kanji.

Most words are written one of three ways: kana only, kanji only, or kanji followed by hiragana. In the third case, the hiragana that follow are called okurigana. Kanji, as ideograms, tend to embody the meaning of a word, while the exact word being used may be specified and then inflected using okurigana.

Here are two short sample sentences:

Sentences:
Hiragana:
Katakana:
Kanji:
Romaji:konobunwasanpurudesu.
Sentences:
Hiragana:
Katakana:
Kanji:
Romaji:fukakukangaenaidekudasai.

The words written only in hiragana here are pretty easy. この means "this/these," and です is a polite way of ending a sentence. The katakana word サンプル is a simple loanword, exactly as easy as the romaji make it look. The first kanji here—文—is representing the word "bun (sentence)" by itself. When you're more familiar with common particles (see document 2b), it will be naturally obvious to you that the letter は is a particle (marking the subject of the sentence) rather than okurigana, and thus that 文 is meant to be read alone. The second kanji—深—is the beginning of the word 深い fukai (deep). The いi has been changed to くku to indicate a change from adjective to adverb. Again, once you're more familiar with this sort of thing, it will be naturally obvious that the く is okurigana for 深. The third kanji—考—is the beginning of the word 考える kangaeru (to think), which has been heavily conjugated. The ない indicates a negative form ("don't"), the で indicates a connective form allowing more to be added, and the 下さい is an additional form meaning "please." Notice that it also starts with a kanji but has a few okurigana.

Hopefully this now makes at least some vague conceptual sense.


Alphabets



This section contains information about the kana (Japanese phonetic alphabets) and kanji (the Japanese ideograms), as well as a little bit about pronunciation, typing, romanization, punctuation, and honorifics. Though it's largely up to you when you start studying kanji, everything else in this section you should know before learning any grammar. In particular, you should know all the kana by heart. The rest of the guide will assume you can read kana (and look up kanji) on your own.

Pronunciation

Compared to any European language, the pronunciation rules of Japanese are almost unbelievably simple, in that there is almost zero ambiguity. The basic difference between English and Romaji pronunciation is the vowels. If you happen to know Spanish, you're in luck, because that language uses the exact same vowel pronunciation. If you don't, here's the short version:

English has at least a short and long sound for each, while Japanese only has one sound. The letter "a" can be "ah" or "ay" in English, but only "ah" in Japanese. "e" can be "eh" or "ee" in English, only "eh" in Japanese. "i" can be "ih" or "ee" or "ai" in English, only "ee" in Japanese. "o" can be "ah" or "uh" or "oo" in English, only "oo" in Japanese. Finally, "u" can be "uh" or "uu" in English, only "uu" in Japanese.

Here's another attempt at explaining it:

JapaneseUnique to English
"a" as in "attic""a" as in "ate"
"e" as in "edible""e" as in "Japanese"
"i" like the "ee" in "feet""i" as in "igloo"
"o" as in "open""o" as in "octopus"
"u" like the "oo" in "boot""u" as in "up"

And another:

Romaji(Rough) Pronunciation
kokoro ga yureugoku tabikoh-koh-roh gah you-reh-uu-go-kuu tah-bee
machi mo hito mo kotoba momah-chee moh hee-toh moh koh-toh-bah moh
chigau iro ni naruchee-gah-uu ee-roh nii nah-ruu

Hopefully that makes it pretty clear. The only time this gets any harder is with the vowel blends, but even those are pretty easy to sound out. Consider "ai" for instance. Try sounding it out: "ah-ee," and then say it faster and faster. It should start to sound just like the English pronoun "I." All other blends are just as easy. If you can't figure out what two vowels would sound like together, then they probably don't make a blend and you should pronounce them separately.

The only other things that confuse Westerners are letters like "tsu," but that's also pronounced exactly as it sounds. Try to convince yourself that the "t" in "tsunami" isn't actually silent and it shouldn't take too long. "dzu" and "dji" are weirder but also not hard once you see them get used a few times (especially since nowadays they're usually pronounced exactly the same as "zu" and "ji").

Hiragana

Hiragana Table
あ aい iう uえ eお o
か kaき kiく kuけ keこ ko
さ saし shiす suせ seそ so
た taち chiつ tsuて teと to
な naに niぬ nuね neの no
は haひ hiふ fuへ heほ ho
ま maみ miむ muめ meも mo
や yaゆ yuよ yo
ら raり riる ruれ reろ ro
わ waを wo
ん n
が gaぎ giぐ guげ geご go
ざ zaじ jiず zuぜ zeぞ zo
だ daぢ djiづ dzuで deど do
ば baび biぶ buべ beぼ bo
ぱ paぴ piぷ puぺ peぽ po

The pairs of short lines above four of the last five rows are called 濁り nigori. The circles above the last row are called 丸 maru. Every letter with a nigori or maru is a variant on one that has neither, so it is suggested you memorize these letters in doubles and triples like かが and はばぱ whenever possible. Not counting variants, there are 55 hiragana.

A glide is a special combination of two kana whose sounds can blend together. All glides require the second letter to be written smaller than usual; if it isn't small pronounce them as two separate letters.

For example, 「きゃ」 is "kya" but 「きや」 is "kiya"

きゃ kyaきゅ kyuきょ kyo
しゃ shaしゅ shuしょ sho
ちゃ chaちゅ chuちょ cho
にゃ nyaにゅ nyuにょ nyo
ひゃ hyaひゅ hyuひょ hyo
みゃ myaみゅ myuみょ myo
りゃ ryaりゅ ryuりょ ryo
ぎゃ gyaぎゅ gyuぎょ gyo
じゃ jaじゅ juじょ jo
ぢゃ djaぢゅ djuぢょ djo
びゃ byaびゅ byuびょ byo
ぴゃ pyaぴゅ pyuぴょ pyo

Also, a っ or "little つ" always means that the following letter has a double consonant.

For example: きっぷ kippu, けっこう kekkou, やった yatta

Note that the glides にゃ, にゅ and にょ can be easily confused with the non-glides んや, んゆ and んよ when romanized. For this reason the latter trio should be romanized with an apostrophe after the "n" to indicate the syllable break. To clarify:

For example: けんいち = Ken'ichi, not Keni-chi or Ke-nichi


Typing in Japanese

If you can’t type in Japanese yet, add Japanese to your keyboard languages now and get used to the IME (Input Method Editor) right away. If you don't know how, explore the Language settings in your control panel, or use google to find a thorough tutorial for your OS.

Once you've switched to Japanese input, first you simply type the romaji for each kana (i.e. type "ka" and か appears, type "mya" and みゃ appears). As you type, notice there is a dotted line underneath the kana. This means they haven't actually been entered yet because you may want to convert them to kanji. Press the space bar to make the IME guess what kanji you want. It will then split the string into several segments, convert them to kanji, and underline the farthest left segment. Press the space bar again to see a menu with other conversion options for this segment. Use the arrow keys to scroll through these menus or change which segment you want to see the menu for. Pressing enter at any time during this process (even before pressing space the first time) will remove all underlining and actually enter the string in whatever form it currently appears.

The details of conversion you can and should work out yourself by experimenting, or by googling for more thorough tutorials. However, there are some important exceptions to the "just type the romaji" rule, as follows:

To type a small hiragana or katakana outside a glide, either use the conversion menus (the long way), or type "l" or "x" in front of it. For example: typing "ya" makes や while typing "lya" or "xya" makes ゃ. The same trick allows you to type やよゆあえいおう as ゃょゅぁぇぃぉぅ for assorted aesthetic reasons, though it won't work on any of the other hiragana.

The following letters/blends are typed differently from how they are pronounced. These are mostly the result of non-Hepburn romanization systems, as explained below.

Typing 「ん n」 can be particularly annoying because typing any consonant or punctuation mark after it will cause it to convert to ん even if you did not type "n" twice. This makes it easy to get in the habit of typing "n" once, which usually results in problems like typing にゃ when you meant んや, or having words end with n for no apparent reason. The ideal habit is to always type "nn" for ん just to be safe.


Katakana

Katakana Table
ア aイ iウ uエ eオ o
カ kaキ kiク kuケ keコ ko
サ saシ shiス suセ seソ so
タ taチ chiツ tsuテ teト to
ナ naニ niヌ nuネ neノ no
ハ haヒ hiフ fuヘ heホ ho
マ maミ miム muメ meモ mo
ヤ yaユ yuヨ yo
ラ raリ riル ruレ reロ ro
ワ waヲ wo
ン n
ガ gaギ giグ guゲ geゴ go
ザ zaジ jiズ zuゼ zeゾ zo
ダ daヂ djiヅ dzuデ deド do
バ baビ biブ buベ beボ bo
パ paピ piプ puペ peポ po

A loanword, if you don't already know, is a word in one language that speakers of another language borrow and start using themselves, to the point where it becomes part of their language as well, often with a different meaning from the original.

When using katakana to write a loanword which—in the original language—ends in a consonant, the letters "ku," "su," "ru," "to," "fu," and their variants (gu, zu, do, bu, pu) will often have their vowels dropped without any extra indication.

All the hiragana glides work the same in katakana, with the following additions:

The chouon (dash) is a shortening of the term 長音符 (ちょうおんぷ) chouonpu, literally meaning "long sound mark." It is used like this:

These symbols can be used to stand for sounds that Japanese doesn't use. When speaking Japanese, stick to the pronunciation these letters would normally represent even if they are being used to imitate English words.

These two symbols are also very common in loanwords and foreign names:

Since loanwords are almost always written in katakana, here are some random examples to help clarify the rules from part 2. Many of the rules listed above affect pronunciation but not romanization, so the romaji here may not reflect them.


Obsolete Kana

HiraganaKatakanaRomaji
wi
we

Romanization

Romanization means taking a language not written in the Roman alphabet, and somehow writing it in the Roman alphabet.

I use something close to Hepburn style for all of this guide, because that's the system designed to actually look like the correct sounds to native English speakers. That's also the style you saw above in the kana charts. The other popular systems, Kunrei-shiki and Nihon-shiki, were made by and for Japanese speakers.

Things distinctive of non-Hepburn styles include romanizing つづしふじ as tu, du, si, hu, zi, and writing all glides with a "y" in the middle (e.g. じゃ as "zya" instead of"ja") Although sometimes ふ should in fact be read as "hu", most of those spellings are simply misleading to any Westerner trying to learn the language. You need to be aware of them simply to avoid being confused when you do see them, because they do get used a lot (especially in Japan).

Even within Hepburn, there are tons of variations and controversy. Most notably, my usage of dzu/dji for づぢ is technically obsolete, but I'm convinced it's useful, if only because using the same romanization for two distinct kana (zu for both ずづ or ji for both じぢ) is just asking for confusion.


Punctuation

In Japanese, punctuation (including spaces) is entirely optional, so usage is a bit more inconsistent than in English, but a lot of it is basically the same. Just don't rely on it to tell you when clauses and sentences end as much as you would in English.

The marks to know are the period (。), the comma (、), the square brackets (「」) which act as quotation marks, and the hollow square brackets (『』) whose exact meaning are entirely up to the author. Also notice that the characters themselves have a lot of blank white space, so even if it looks like Japanese text has spaces after its commas or periods, it really doesn't. The reason for this filler is that every single character in Japanese is meant to fit within a square.


Honorifics

In English, our honorifics include the prefixes Mr., Ms., Miss, Sir, Ma'am and occupational titles like President or Supervisor. While occupational titles can always be looked up and often translated literally, the most common of the general purpose Japanese ones need to be explained. Also, all Japanese honorifics are suffixes.

-[blank]:unlike English, simply not using an honorific (when addressing someone directly, doesn't matter in the third person) implies a very close relationship
さん -san:the default honorific for just about anyone, regardless of age or occupation
君 -kun:a more friendly honorific, usually used for males of the same age or lower
ちゃん -chan:a friendly and cute honorific, usually used for young females
様 -sama:a respectful honorific used for those of a higher social standing
殿 -dono:even more respectful than -sama, less likely to be used solely out of obligation

These last three have English equivalents, but are so incredibly common that they often can't be translated literally (or at all) without sounding far stiffer than they should.

先生 -sensei:usually "teacher" or "doctor," also any professional the speaker respects
先輩 -senpai:"upperclassman," someone with more experience or in a higher grade level
後輩 -kouhai:"underclassman," someone with less experience or in a lower grade level

At this point you've read everything you need to know before moving on to Particles. I would recommend skimming the kanji information below so that you're not completely unaware of it, but you don't have to seriously study the kanji for quite some time (since you can get source material with furigana).


Kanji


Kanji Introduction

漢字 kanji are ideograms. In other words, they represent ideas. Not sounds, not words, but ideas. That's the number one thing I want you to get out of studying them. Often, they are also combinations of other ideograms, which allows you to pull them apart and come up with some kind of rational explanation for these arbitrary shapes. The simplest elements a kanji can be broken into what I call primitives. Traditionally, the Chinese organize their hanzi and the Japanese their kanji using a standardized list of 214 primitives (and their common variants) called radicals. If you have a dictionary that lets you look up kanji using their radicals (and you should before you study the kanji) then you can use it to look up each radical's meaning on your own.

A quick warning: don't ever rely on lists of kanji to tell you what you should learn. That's just as silly and counterproductive as thinking that there can be a list of a couple thousand English words you need to know to use the language, and nothing else. Lists can certaintly be good starting points, but never treat them as anything more than that. The majority of your kanji knowledge will come from reading actual source material, especially when it comes to things like knowing which reading or meaning to use in which compounds.

As implied earlier, if you can recognize what all of the radicals and small kanji in a really messy kanji mean, sometimes you can guess what the entire kanji means just from that. Most of the time, you can't. The reason studying radicals is useful is that once you know them, you look up a kanji, then come up with a way of associating the meanings of the radicals with the meaning of the kanji as a whole, often in the form of some amusing nonsense sentence or pithy statement. Once you start doing that, remembering what complex kanji mean and look like gets far easier. A few quick examples:

If that looked utterly arbitrary, it was. There is no general method of determining a kanji's meaning from its elements, so the idea here is simply to recognize kanji inside other kanji, and some really common radicals with meanings everyone agrees on, so that you can invent these mnemonics and save yourself a lot of time and effort. Of course, for this to work, you have to memorize several dozen simple kanji first. Once you've done that, take a look at the radicals list below and start looking for them the next time you try to read something in Japanese.

Finally, a brief touch on stroke counts/order. If you want to see the strokes for any kanji, visit http://kakijun.main.jp/main/kensaku.htmland type it in. You don't need to know anything about strokes to simply read kanji, but since radical-based dictionaries rely on stroke count to organize entries, and you have to know strokes in order to write any kanji by hand well, it's still good to know.


List of Radicals

Format is: radical number, stroke count in (), the radical itself (may be shown indirectly inside {}s), and meaning. If the radical can only appear on a certain part of a kanji, it's mentioned inside []s.

Most of these meanings are widely agreed upon, and all of them should be useful, but feel free to ignore or disagree with some of them since these are in no way hard rules. And of course, you do not have to memorize all of these anytime soon.

1. (1)一 floor [bottom] or cut [middle] or ceiling [top]61c. (4){bottom of 恭and忝} valentine
4. (1)ノ a drop of something [top]64a. (4)手 hand
5b. (1)乚 fishhook [right]64b. (4)扌 fingers
8. (2)亠 top hat [top]65. (4)支 branch
9a. (2)人 person66b. (4)攵 taskmaster or teacher
9b. (2){left of 什} person [left]68. (4)斗 measuring cup
9c. (2){top of 介} umbrella [top]71. (4)无 previously
10. (2)儿 human legs [bottom]72. (4)日 sun or day
12a. (2)八 animal legs [bottom]74. (4)月 moon or flesh or body part
12b. (2){top of 羊 and 並 and 米} horns [top]75a. (4)木 tree or wood
13a. (2)冂 hood or lid or cover [enclosure]75b. (4)ホ pole or wooden pole
13b. (2){13a but pierced by a vertical line like in 市} belt76. (4)欠 lack or yawn
14. (2)冖 crown [top]77. (4)止 stop or footprint
15a. (2)冫 ice [left]78. (4)歹 bones [left]
15b. (2){bottom of 冬} ice [bottom]79. (4)殳 missile [right]
18a. (2)刀 dagger85a. (4)水 water
18b. (2)刂 saber [right]85b. (3)氵 water [left]
19. (2)力 power or muscle86a. (4)火 hearth or conflagration
20. (2)勹 bound up [enclosure]86b. (4)灬 cauldron or cooking fire or oven fire [bottom]
21b. (2)七 to cut94a. (4)犬 small dog [bottom or right]
24. (2)十 ten or needle94b. (3)犭 pack of wild dogs [left]
27. (2)厂 cliff [enclosure]95. (5)玄 mysterious
30. (3)口 mouth96a. (5)玉 jewel or ball
31. (3){enclosure of 囲 and 国} pent in96b. (4)王 king or scepter or ball
32. (3)土 ground or dirt or land102a. (5)田 rice field or one's wealth
33. (3)士 gentleman or samurai102b. (5)由 a sprout or a seedling
34. (3)夂 walking legs102c. (5)甲 roots or to push down
36. (3)夕 evening102d. (5)申 monkey or speak
37. (3)大 large104. (5)疒 sickness
38. (3)女 woman109. (5)目 eye or eyeball
39. (3)子 child113a. (5)示 altar [left]
40. (3)宀 house [top]113b. (4)礻 altar [left]
41. (3)寸 glue or glued to [bottom and/or right]118. (6){top of 竺 and 竻} bamboo [top]
42a. (3)小 small120. (6)糸 thread or tapestry [left or bottom]
42b. (3){top of 尚 and 光 and 当} small122b. (5)罒 eyeball [top]
44. (3)尸 flag140c. (3){top of 花 and芳} flower
48. (3)工 craft or girder or artificial145a. (6)衣 garment
50. (3)巾 towel or paper145b. (5)衤 cloak [left]
52. (3)幺 cocoon155b. (7){top of 変} apple [top or right]
53. (3)广 cave [enclosure]162. (2)辶 road or path [enclosure]
54. (3)廴 stretch [enclosure]163. (2){right of 邛} city walls [right]
60. (3){left of 役 and 彼} column or line or going164. (7)酉 bottle of alcohol
61a. (4)心 heart170b. (2)阝 encounter [left]
61b. (4)忄 state of mind [left]172. (8)隹 turkey

Kanji Readings

Now the important part. Just about every single kanji has at least two readings, or ways it can be pronounced. Most of these readings are either 音読み on'yomi or 訓読み kun'yomi, and it's safe to assume every kanji you will ever encounter has at least one of each. While there is no strict way of distinguishing the two categories, a lot of useful rules of thumb can be stated.

As an example, let's consider the very typical kanji 走. Its readings are:

And in contrast, a potentially annoying one, 間:

You may be wondering in cases like 間 how to tell which kun'yomi or which on'yomi to use. The short answer is there is no way other than memorizing all the words they're used in. The long answer is that once you've seen the kanji used for a while, you'll get a feel for when one reading or the other gets used more often, or know that this reading is only used in a handful of compounds or this reading is never used on its own, etc. But remember this is strictly on a case-by-case basis.

Note that both of those example kanji are a bit lacking in usage examples. It's mostly up to you to study and pay enough attention to the kanji that you can eventually remember most of their readings, what they mean and what words they're used in. Also, if you want to see how messy it can get, try looking up 生 or 下.

You may recall I said "most" (not "all") readings are either kun'yomi or on'yomi. The third category I was implying is 名乗り nanori, or name readings. Just as the term implies, these are readings which only get used in people's names. Many of these are so strange and irregular that entire dictionaries exist for nothing but nanori. However, since they're never used outside of names, you can safely ignore them for now and focus on learning real words instead.


Reading Changes in Compounds

When making compounds, some kanji can change their reading a bit. There are three (arguably just two) ways this can happen. To simplify the explanations below, pretend we're talking only about compounds of two kanji or two words.

1) If the last syllable of the first kanji is つ or less often く, it may change toっ

2) If the first syllable of the second kanji is a kana which could have nigori added to it, then those nigori might be added. Same for marus.

3) Arguably not an actual change, but when the last syllable of the first kanji is ん and the first consonant sound of the second kanji is "m," "b" or "p," the ん might be pronounced more like an "m" than an "n."


Particles



In English, you generally rely on word order to determine what each word is doing in the sentence. In Japanese, while there are rules for word order, only a handful of verb-related rules are actually mandatory (they're explained in Clauses). The optional rules can be summed up by the fact that Japanese sentences default to SOV (subject, object, verb) order. English enforces an SVO (subject, verb, object) order on all of its sentences. For instance, in English we say "I bought flowers", but in Japanese you would normally put "flowers" in front of "bought", though other arrangements are also valid.

Instead of word order, Japanese relies on its particles to tell you what each word is doing. It is impossible to define these particles in terms of any single English word or concept, so I need to use some basic grammatical terms to explain them. If you aren't confident you know what terms like "subject", "object", "inflection", "conjugation", "stem", "tense" and of course "particle" mean, go read the Terminology section now.

I divide Japanese particles into four categories: simple case markers, sentence ending particles, compound particles, and grammatical vocabulary. That last category is made up of words which may or may not be considered particles, so I'm saving it for the next section.


Simple Case Markers

"case marker" is the term for a word that denotes the grammatical role of another word (in Japanese they are all postpositions, meaning they denote the role of the previous word or phrase). Case markers are the core of all Japanese grammar, and you should spend the vast majority of your time trying to master them. As a result, I'll cover each one individually, after quickly showing you a list with all of them.

When explaining them individually, I will use example sentences simple enough that you should be able to work them out just by looking up some words and reading what I wrote around them. However, I will also omit some details and even entire meanings which neither can nor should be explained at this stage, instead leaving links to places in the guide where they are explained.

List of Simple Case Markers:


は wa

は is normally pronounced "ha", but it changes to "wa" when used as a particle. Don't worry, it's the only kana that ever does this.

1) denotes the subject of the clause

2) denotes the context in which the main clause occurs


が ga

1) denotes the subject

This meaning is shared with は wa. Usually, when denoting a subject, は wa and が ga are technically interchangeable.

A lot of the time either は wa or が ga will be a more natural choice (either due to convention or to prevent clause break ambiguity), but that is not something you should be worrying about at this stage. It's much better to learn it through experience anyway.

2) can denote an object if it is inanimate or the object of an emotion

This is much more likely to be an issue with simple sentences, but it's also a lot less common than the first meaning, so don't worry too much about it.

My theory is, が ga can denote an object if either: the object is inanimate and thus incapable of performing the action in question (grades can't receive, vegetables can't hate), or it's the object of an emotion. The latter is a genuinely special case, since it seems to apply to only a small handful of emotional words like 好き suki (like/love), 嫌い kirai (dislike/hate), 怖い kowai (afraid), which already have some odd grammatical behavior, so don't let this worry you.

3) can simply mean "but"

4) used to make a certain conditional verb form


も mo

1) denotes one of multiple subjects (the others may be implied)

2) changes interrogative pronouns into indefinite or negative pronouns


を wo

を wo is often pronounced closer to "o" than "wo", and may be romanized as just "o", though I don't consider this a serious pronunciation change.

1) denotes the object of the clause

This should also be easy to understand: を wo comes immediately after whatever is being acted upon.

Since this particle has no other meanings or uses, it should be one of the easiest to learn. On the other hand, several other particles are capable of denoting objects, so don't get complacent with this one.


と to

1) denotes an object which can be interpreted as a quote, often before a verb such as 言う (say) or 思う (think)

Basically, there's a handful of verbs that love to use と to for denoting their objects instead of を wo, and about a year ago it finally hit me that objects for those verbs can almost always be interpreted as quotations. This includes onomatopoeias, which Japanese has loads of.

2) denotes one of multiple subjects that performed a single action together; often means "with"

3) simply means "if" or "when" after verbs

4) can simply mean "and" between two short nouns or adjectives

5) used to make a certain negative conditional verb form


の no

1) means "of," except backward compared to English, and is used more broadly

This is another one of those things that's easy to understand but hard to get used to. By "more broadly", I meant that の no is used even in sentences like the second example where the use of "of" is considered incorrect in English.

2) denotes possession

  • 俺のコンピューターは早い My computer is fast.
  • This is even easier than in English, since you don't have to memorize a set of possessive pronouns like "my", "his", "her", and "theirs". Arguably this is a special case of the first meaning ("garden of neighbor" becomes "neighbor's garden", "computer of me" becomes "my computer").

    3) in compound particles, may be short for a clause-ending noun

    4) connects nouns to adjectives in a noun phrase used as an interjection

    This is a special case you shouldn't spend much time on. In English, it's common to exclaim things like "You idiot!" or "That bastard!", even though those are neither sentences nor interjections. Specifically, noun phrases can be used like interjections. You can do exactly the same things in Japanese, as long as you put の no in between: "君のバカ!" or "あいつの野郎!"


    へ he

    へ he is often pronounced closer to "e" than "he", and may be romanized as just "e", though I don't consider this a serious pronunciation change.

    1) denotes a direction or destination of literal or figurative travel

    Also pretty easy, although the compound particles using へ he are so similar in meaning that they often get used more than へ he itself.


    で de

    1) denotes the situation in which the action is performed

    This use of で de often corresponds to English prepositions such as "at" and "during".

    2) denotes the means by which the action is performed

    This use of で de often corresponds to English prepositions such as "with" and "in".

    Notice that the use of "with" I'm referring to here is distinct from the use of "with" that と can correspond to.

    3) can simply be a transition, meaning "so" (causal) or "then" (temporal)

    Also pretty easy, although the compound particles using で de are so similar in meaning that they often get used more than で de itself (for this meaning at least).


    な na

    1) denotes an adjective

    2) together with 的 (てき), can transform any noun into an adjective (like the -y suffix in English)


    に ni

    1) denotes an adverb

    2) together with 的 (てき), can transform any noun or adjective into an adverb (like the -ly suffix in English)

    3) denotes the location where the action occurs, or indicates a location as an object

    4) denotes an animate object, or an indirect/optional object

    The direct object is always the one being "given", while the indirect object is the one being "given to". For some verbs, indirect objects are optional.

    5) can simply mean "and" between two names


    って tte

    1) denotes a quotation (not necessarily verbatim) which may be the subject, context, or an object

    Notice that the verb "say" is left completely implied here, because after って tte is used it's already obvious what the action is.

    2) in colloquial speech, denotes the context or subject

    This does match は wa's meanings exactly, but it is almost exclusively used in colloquial speech.


    Overlaps

    As you probably noticed, these basic particles often overlap in meaning. So I've rearranged some of the information down here to help minimize confusion.

    Particles that can denote a subject:

    Particles that can denote an object:

    There is also some minor overlap between へ he and に ni when marking locations. 店へ行く is more like "I'll head for/go toward the store" while 店に行く is more like "I'll go to the store". The latter assumes that the destination will be reached and that the journey there is irrelevant.

    There is also some minor overlap between の no and な na when marking adjectives. There's no rule of thumb I can give here, since the overlap arises largely because the English and Japanese languages disagree about which words/concepts should be given noun or adjective status.


    Sentence Ending Particles or 語尾 gobi

    Every Japanese clause ends with a verb (though it may be implied), and possibly one or more of a special set of particles called 語尾 gobi meant to go immediately after said verbs. Believe it or not, many of these you can actually ignore without changing the meaning of the sentence, so don't obsess over exactly what they mean. An italicized m or f indicates a gobi which is particularly masculine or feminine.


    Simple Example Sentences

    If the dissection has to refer to something this guide hasn't discussed yet (like verb forms), I will gray it out so you know not to worry about it yet. In the Breakdown subsection, the color codes are as follows: nouns and pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, particles, gobi, other.

    君の家はとってもいい場所
    Breakdown: とってもいい場所
    Definitions:君 = "you"
    の marks possession
    家 = "home"
    は marks a subject
    とっても = "very"
    いい = "good"/"fine"/"OK"
    場所 = "place"
    Literal Translation:Your home is a nice place.
    私も学校へ歩く
    Breakdown:学校歩く
    Definitions:私 = "I"
    も marks one of multiple subjects
    学校 = "school"
    へ marks a direction
    歩く = "to walk"
    Literal Translation:I'll also walk to school.
    飴の箱が届いた
    Breakdown: 届く届いた
    Definitions:飴 = "candy"
    の = backwards "of"
    箱 = "box"
    が marks a subject
    届く = "to arrive"
    届いた = past form
    Literal Translation:A box of candy arrived.
    数学の宿題を失った
    Breakdown: 数学宿題失う失った
    Definitions:数学 = "math"/"mathematics"
    の = backwards "of"
    宿題 = "homework"
    を marks an object
    失う = "to lose"
    失った = past form
    Literal Translation:I lost my math homework.
    猫はにゃって鳴くよ
    Breakdown: にゃって鳴く
    Definitions:猫 = "cat"
    は marks a subject
    にゃ = "meow"
    って marks a quotation
    鳴く = "to make noise", always refers to animals
    よ is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:Cats make a "meow" noise.
    夜に勉強しますか
    Breakdown: 勉強する勉強します
    Definitions:夜 = "night"
    に marks a location
    勉強する = "to study"
    勉強します = polite form
    か marks a question
    Literal Translation:Do you study at night?
    英語を読むんじゃない
    Breakdown: 英語読むじゃない
    Definitions:英語 = "English"
    を marks an object
    読む = "to read"
    ん is just a gobi
    じゃない marks a negative rhetorical question
    Literal Translation:Don't you read English?
    一時のバスで行くよ
    Breakdown: 一時バス行く
    Definitions: 一時 = "one o'clock"
    の connects a noun phrase to the noun it describes
    バス is the English word "bus"
    で marks a means/method
    行く = "to go"
    よ is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:I'll take the one o'clock bus.
    友達と店に入ったのです
    Breakdown: 友達入る入ったのです
    Definitions:友達 = "friend"
    と = "with"
    店 = "store"
    に marks a location
    入る = "to enter"
    入った = past form
    のです are just gobi, though です adds a little formality
    Literal Translation:I went into the store with a friend.
    あいつは安いと言った
    Breakdown: あいつ安い言う言った
    Definitions:あいつ = "he"/"that guy"
    は marks a subject
    安い = "cheap"
    と marks a quote-like object
    言う = "to say"/"to tell"
    言った = past form
    Literal Translation:He said it was cheap.
    いい成績が貰った
    Breakdown: いい成績貰う貰った
    Definitions:いい = "good"/"fine"/"OK"
    成績 = "grade"/"score"/"mark" on a test or in a class
    が marks an object (not a subject because 成績 are inanimate)
    貰う = "to receive"
    貰った = past form
    Literal Translation:I got a good grade.
    青いと白の空だ
    Breakdown: 青い
    Definitions:青い = "blue"/"green" (here it's being used like a noun)
    と = "and"
    白 = "white"
    の = backwards "of"
    空 = "sky"
    だ is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:A sky of blue and white.
    大きいな問題があるぞ
    Breakdown: 大きい問題ある
    Definitions:大きい = "big"/"large"
    な marks an adjective
    問題 = "problem"
    が marks a subject
    ある = "to be"
    ぞ is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:There's a big problem.
    ここは凄いだな
    Breakdown: ここ凄いだな
    Definitions:ここ = "here"/"this place"
    は marks a subject
    凄い = "amazing"
    だな are just gobi
    Literal Translation:This place is amazing.
    普通にすると安全
    Breakdown: 普通する安全
    Definitions:普通 = "normal"
    に marks an adverb
    する = "to do"
    と = "if"
    安全 = "safe"
    Literal Translation:It's safe if you do it normally.
    今日は私がゲームを遊ぶ
    Breakdown: 今日ゲーム遊ぶ
    Definitions:今日 = "today"
    は marks the context
    私 = "I"
    が marks a subject
    ゲーム is the English word "game", in Japanese it usually means "video game"
    を marks an object
    遊ぶ = "to play"
    Literal Translation:Today I'll play video games.
    俺の家に行くの? いいえ、私の
    Breakdown: 行く? いいえ、
    Definitions: 俺 = "I"
    の marks possession
    家 = "house"
    に marks a location
    行く = "to go"
    の is just a gobi
    いいえ is the interjection equialent to "no"
    私 = "I"
    の marks possession
    Literal Translation:Going to my house? / No, mine.
    空の部屋は寂しいな
    Breakdown: 部屋寂しい
    Definitions:空 = "empty"
    の connects a noun phrase to the noun it describes
    部屋 = "room"
    は marks a subject
    寂しい = "lonely"
    な is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:Empty rooms feel really lonely.
    先生に話すといいよ
    Breakdown: 先生話すいい
    Definitions:先生 = "teacher"
    に marks an (animate) object
    話す = "to talk"
    と = "if"
    いい = "good"/"fine"/"OK"
    よ is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:It's good to talk to the teacher.
    あなたって食べないと寝る
    Breakdown: あなたって食べる食べない寝る
    Definitions:あなた = "you"
    って colloquially marks a subject
    食べる = "to eat"
    食べない = negative form
    と = "if"
    寝る = "to sleep"
    Literal Translation:You'd fall asleep if you didn't eat.
    子犬が大好きだわ
    Breakdown: 子犬大好きだわ
    Definitions:子犬 = "puppy"
    が marks a subject
    大好き = "strong like/love"
    だわ are just gobi, though very feminine ones
    Literal Translation:I simply adore puppies.
    正直に言うと、嫌いだ
    Breakdown: 正直言う嫌い
    Definitions: 正直 = "honest"
    に marks an adverb
    言う = "to say"/"to tell"
    と = "if"
    嫌い = "dislike"/"hate"
    だ is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:If I were to speak honestly, I hate it.
    大きいな本は怖いよ
    Breakdown: 大きい怖い
    Definitions:大きい = "big"/"large"
    な marks an adjective
    本 = "book"
    は marks a subject
    怖い = "scary"
    よ is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:Big books are scary.
    昨日は君がいたか
    Breakdown: 昨日いたいる
    Definitions:昨日 = "yesterday"
    は marks a context
    君 = "you"
    が marks a subject
    いる = "to be"
    いた = past form
    か marks a question yesterday [context] you [subject] to be here [question]
    Literal Translation:Were you here yesterday?
    どこで何をしたの
    Breakdown: どこしたする
    Definitions:どこ = "where?"
    で marks a situation
    何 = "what?"
    を marks an object
    する = "to do"
    した = past form
    の is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:What were you doing and where?
    私と猫が学校に行くとクラスが楽しいなのだよ
    Breakdown: 学校行くクラス楽しいなのだよ
    Definitions:私 = "I"
    と = "and"
    猫 = "cat"
    が marks a subject
    学校 = "school"
    に marks a location
    行く = "to go"
    と = "if/when"
    クラス is the English word "class"
    が marks a subject
    楽しい = "fun"
    なのだよ are just gobi
    Literal Translation:When the cat and I go to school the class is really fun.

    Hopefully it is now obvious why I say "thinking in Japanese" is very different from "thinking in English." Also keep in mind that several of these examples could be translated other ways depending on the context, especially when it comes to plurality, implied subjects and general manner of speaking.


    Compound Particles

    Example sentences using these compound particles can be found at the end of the next section.

    I exclude most combinations of gobi from this category because they don't have any special grammatical meaning. Though they often have gender or formality connotations, those never affect intent or meaning so you can just learn them gradually through experience.


    Vocabulary



    The idea here is to list a few categories of vocabulary which are absolutely essential to understanding Japanese. For the most part, that means how numbers and pronouns work. Not only are those critical in all languages, but the way they work in Japanese is very different from English, so a dictionary alone won't cut it.


    Japanese Numbers

    いち1
    2
    さん3
    よん or し4
    5
    ろく6
    なな or しち7
    はち8
    きゅう9
    じゅう10

    For example:

    ひゃく100
    せん1,000
    まん10,000
    十万じゅうまん100,000
    百万ひゃくまん1,000,000
    千万せんまん10,000,000
    おく100,000,000 or 10,000^2
    ちょう1,000,000,000,000 or 10,000^3
    (けい10,000,000,000,000,000 or 10,000^4

    For example:


    Counting Words

    Now that you've seen basic numbers, we can move on to what makes Japanese number usage very different from English number usage: counting words.

    This is one of the few categories of vocabulary that not only should but must be explained before you can just look stuff up on your own. In English, we have the numbers one, two, three and so on, and you say you have one, two or three of something. In Japanese, you have the numbers いち, に, さん and so on, and instead you say you have ひとつ, ふたつ or みっつ of something. The first three are just "numbers" while the latter three are "counting words." It turns out there are several sets of counting words for different kinds of objects. Irregular ones include:

    Most counting words (including these and other irregulars) are easy to recognize if you're familiar with those above, and easy to look up in any decent dictionary, but you should remember these details:


    Grammatical Vocabulary


    Again, just need-to-know vocab plus a bunch that a dictionary isn't much good on. By "interrogative" I mean used to ask a question, by "personal" I mean used to denote a person, by "semi-personal" I mean used to denote either a person or a thing, and by "impersonal" I mean used to denote a thing. These are far from strict categories, and are only here to make it a little easier to wrap your head around the very large number of pronouns and other words I've listed.


    Interrogative Pronouns
    何 (なに or なん)what?
    何かsomething (colloquially used to mean somehow/somewhat)
    何も or なんにもnothing (if verb is negative), everything (if verb is positive)
    なんでもwhatever, whichever, no matter what
    なんとかsomehow, in some way, by some means
    なんとなくsomehow, in some way, by some means, without any particular intent of doing so
    なんか or なんだかsomething, somehow, for some reason

    誰 (だれ)who?
    誰かsomeone, somebody
    誰も or 誰にもno one, nobody (if verb is negative), everybody, everyone (if verb is positive)
    誰でもwhoever, whomever
    全て (すべて) or 全部 (ぜんぶ)all, everything
    皆 (みな or みんな)everyone, everybody
    何故 (なぜ) or 何で (なんで)why? for what reason?
    何故かfor some reason

    ここhere, this place
    そこthere, that place (relatively close)
    あそこthere, that place (relatively far away)
    どこwhere?
    どこかsomewhere
    どこにもnowhere (if verb is negative), everywhere (if verb is positive)
    どこでもwherever
    いつwhen?
    いつかsometime, someday
    いつもnever (if verb is negative), always (if verb is positive)
    いつでもwhenever

    Personal Pronouns
    ~達 (たち) and ~等 (ら)plural suffixes for most of the following pronouns after a name, they mean something like "_ and the other(s) with him/her"

    私 (わたし)I or methe most common way of referring to oneself, since it implies a mild but not excessive degree of politeness.
    あたしI or mesame as わたし, but often preferred by middle-aged adults or teenage girls when not trying to be polite
    私 (わたくし)I or mea level of politeness above わたし, often used when addressing someone worthy of an honorific like "-sama" or "-dono."
    俺 (おれ)I or mevery popular among teenage males (and tomboys)
    僕 (ぼく)I or mea slightly childish pronoun usually used by little boys or boyish girls
    我 (われ)I or meclassical pronoun implying either strong pride or authority
    我が (わが)minean old-fashioned possessive, often used with a sense of pride or authority
    儂 (わし)I or meused mostly by old men and women

    お前 (おまえ)youthe default second-person pronoun (especially for males)
    君 (きみ)youmore friendly than おまえ, implying that there is some sort of relationship
    貴方 (あなた)youa second-person pronoun used by females, sometimes used specifically to address her husband
    あんたyoua more colloquial version of あなた without the strong connotations
    てめyouused primarily to express contempt of the subject. Also, attaching め to the end of any noun or pronoun conveys the same nuance of contempt.
    貴様 (きさま)youessentially a more formal version of てめ. In some contexts this does not convey contempt, but rather an expectation of humility or submission.
    お主 (おぬし)youa very old second-person pronoun

    彼 (かれ)he or himsometimes implies a close relationship since it's part of the word for boyfriend: 彼氏 (かれし)
    彼女 (かのじょ)she or hersometimes implies a close relationship since it also means girlfriend

    自分 (じぶん)oneselfi.e., can be myself/yourself/themselves/etc.
    己 (おのれ)oneselfbut sounds more old-fashioned. As an interjection, it acts like 貴様

    Semi-Personal Pronouns
    こいつthiscan refer to a person (he/she/him/her) or an object (it), so it is often interpreted as either belittling a person or personifying an object
    そいつthat (relatively close)can refer to a person (he/she/him/her) or an object (it), so it is often interpreted as either belittling a person or personifying an object
    あいつthat (relatively far away)can refer to a person (he/she/him/her) or an object (it), so it is often interpreted as either belittling a person or personifying an object
    どいつwhich, what, who, or whomcan refer to a person (he/she/him/her) or an object (it), so it is often interpreted as either belittling a person or personifying an object
    こっちthis way, me, or my situationmost often used to contrast with other ways/situations
    そっちthat way (relatively close), him/her, or his/her situationmost often used to contrast with other ways/situations
    あっちthat way (relatively far away), him/her, or his/her situationmost often used to contrast with other ways/situations
    どっちwhich way?, who?, or whose situation?

    Impersonal Pronouns, Demonstratives and More
    これthisstrictly a pronoun, so これがいい "That is good" is correct but これものがいい "That thing is good" is wrong.
    このthisstrictly an adjective, so このものがいい "This thing is good" is correct but このがいい "This is good" is wrong.
    こんなthis, this sort ofstrictly an adjective
    こんなにthis much, this far, to this degreestrictly an adverb
    こうthis, this way, in this manner, like this
    それthat (relatively close)strictly a pronoun, so それがいい "That is good" is correct but それものがいい "That thing is good" is wrong.
    そのthat (relatively close)strictly an adjective, so そのものがいい "That thing is good" is correct but そのがいい "That is good" is wrong.
    そんなthat, that sort of (relatively close)strictly an adjective
    そんなにthat much, that far, to that degree (relatively close)strictly an adverb
    そうthat, that way, in that manner, like that (relatively close), that is so, is that so?, I see
    あれthat (relatively far away)strictly a pronoun, so あれがいい "That is good" is correct but あれものがいい "That thing is good" is wrong.
    あのthat (relatively far away)strictly an adjective, so あのものがいい "That thing is good" is correct but あのがいい "That is good" is wrong.
    あんなthat, that sort of (relatively far away)strictly an adjective
    あんなにthat much, that far, to that degree (relatively far away)strictly an adverb
    ああthat, that way, in that manner, like that (relatively far away)
    どれwhich?, what?strictly a pronoun, so どれがいい "Which is good?" is correct but どれものがいい "Which thing is good?" is wrong.
    どのwhich?, what?strictly an adjective, so どのものがいい "Which thing is good?" is correct but どのがいい "Which is good?" is wrong.
    どんなwhich?, what?, which sort of?, what sort of?strictly an adjective
    どんなにhow much?, how far?, to what degree?strictly an adverb
    どうhow?, what?, what way?, in what manner?see Confusing Vocabulary for common but puzzling phrases using this
    どうか or どうにかsomehow, somewhat, in some wayusually used to beseech, as in "please, if you could somehow find it in your heart to _"

    Miscellaneous
    いう (not 言う)means "sort of" after こう, そう, ああ or どう means "that which is/can be called _" after って or と
    くれぐれeach and every, everything, all of these _effectively a special plural of これ
    それぞれeach and every, everything, all of those _effectively a special plural of それ
    相手 (あいて)refers to the "other" person/group in any context with exactly two people/groupsFor example: the object of a crush, an opponent in a duel, a partner in an assignment, someone you talked to one-on-one, etc.
    先方 (せんぽう)refers to the "other" person/group in any context with exactly two people/groupsA more formal version of 相手(あいて), most often used to refer to the "other party" in a legal dispute or business transaction.

    I know it's a lot, but trust me, it's worth it. Thankfully a lot of them fit into neat little sets (especially the impersonals).


    Less Simple Example Sentences

    Same as last time, except now I'm adding compound particles and grammatical vocabulary to make the sentences a little more complicated. Verb forms will still be grayed out.

    簡単なものから始まる
    Breakdown:簡単ものから始まる
    Definitions:簡単 = "simple"
    な marks an adjective
    もの = "thing"
    から = "so"/"because"/"from"/"since"/"starting from _", in this case it's "starting from"
    始まる = "to start"
    Literal Translation:I'll start with simple things.
    あの雲だって白じゃない
    Breakdown:あの雲だってじゃない
    Definitions:あの = "that"
    雲 = "cloud"
    だって in this case is acting like も = marks one of multiple subjects
    白 = "white"
    じゃない marks a negative rhetorical question
    Literal Translation:Isn't that cloud white too?
    これも嫌いけどいいかも
    Breakdown:これ嫌いけどいいかも
    Definitions:これ = "this"
    も marks one of multiple subjects
    嫌い = "dislike"/"hate"
    けど = "but"/"however"/"although"
    いい = "good"/"fine"/"OK"
    かも = "maybe"
    Literal Translation:I hate this too but maybe it's okay.
    誰が試験を落ちたの
    Breakdown:試験落ちる落ちた
    Definitions:誰 = "who?"
    が marks a subject
    試験 = "test"/"exam"
    を marks an object
    落ちる = "to fall", in this case "to fail (a test)"
    落ちた = past form
    の is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:Who failed the test?
    そんなに綺麗なのか?
    Breakdown:そんな綺麗なのか
    Definitions:そんな = "that"/"that sort of"
    に marks an adverb
    綺麗 = "pretty"/"beautiful"
    なの are just gobi
    か marks a question
    Literal Translation:Is is that pretty?
    しかし皆失敗したみたい
    Breakdown:しかし皆失敗するしたみたい
    Definitions:しかし = "however"/"still"/"but"
    皆 = "everyone"
    失敗 = "failure"
    する = "to do"
    した = past form
    みたい = "apparently"/"seems like"/"resembles"
    Literal Translation:But it looks like everyone messed up.
    読むとすぐに眠るのは何故
    Breakdown:読むすぐ眠るのは何故
    Definitions:読む = "to read"
    と = "if"
    すぐ = "soon"/"immediately"
    に marks an adverb
    眠る = "to sleep"
    のは marks a clause as the context/subject
    何故 = "why?"
    Literal Translation:Why is it that you fall asleep right away when reading something?
    大学へと進むべきです
    Breakdown:大学へと進むべきです
    Definitions:大学 = "university"/"college"
    へと marks a destination
    進む = "to advance"
    べき = "should", as in "morally obligated to"
    です is just a gobi, though with a little formality
    Literal Translation:I should/I have to go to college.
    一週くらいでいい
    Breakdown:一週くらいでいい
    Definitions:一週 = "one week"
    くらい = "only"/"at least"/"to the point of being"
    で marks a means/method
    いい = "good"/"fine"/"OK"
    Literal Translation:I'll be fine with just one week.
    一人ずつ話すんだって
    Breakdown:一人ずつ話すんだって
    Definitions:一人 = "one person"
    ずつ = "in pieces/blocks/periods of _", "each/every _", "_ at a time"
    話す = "to talk"
    んだ are just gobi
    って marks a quotation
    Literal Translation:I said I'll talk to them one at a time.
    自分を教えるしかない
    Breakdown:自分教えるしかない
    Definitions:自分 = "oneself"
    を marks an object
    教える = "to teach"
    しかない = "nothing but"/"no choice"/"no other way"
    Literal Translation:I have no choice but to teach myself.
    てめ、本当に殺すぞ
    Breakdown:てめ本当殺す
    Definitions:てめ = "you" (with contempt)
    本当 = "truth"
    に marks an adverb
    殺す = "to kill"
    ぞ is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:You bastard, I really will kill you.
    面白いとは言うべきかも
    Breakdown:面白いとは言うべきかも
    Definitions:面白い = "fun"/"interesting"
    とは marks a quote-like object and a context
    言う = "to say"/"to tell"
    べき = "should", as in "morally obligated to"
    かも = "maybe" fun [quote as subject] say [moral obligation] [maybe]
    Literal Translation:Perhaps I should say it was 'fun'.
    また変なのが来たみたい
    Breakdown:またなのがくるきたみたい
    Definitions:また = "again"
    変 = "strange"
    な marks an adjective
    の is short for もの = "thing"
    が marks a subject
    くる = "to come"
    きた = past form
    みたい = "apparently"/"seems like"/"resembles"
    Literal Translation:Looks like another weird thing came.
    彼女との関係は?
    Breakdown:彼女との関係
    Definitions:彼女 = "she"
    との = "a _ with _"
    関係 = "relation"/"relationship"
    は marks a subject
    Ending a question with は like this effectively asks the other person to "fill in the blank" after the は. This can be easily adapted by filling it in with "what?" or some other interrogative pronoun.
    Literal Translation:What's your relationship with her?
    もう復活するはずがない
    Breakdown:もう復活するはずがない
    Definitions:もう = "already"/"no longer"/"more"
    復活 = "revive"/"restore"
    する = "to do"
    はず = "should", as in "likely"/"probably"/"supposed to be". In this case, we have to translate it as "chance"/"likelihood" to get a decent-sounding English sentence.
    が marks a subject
    ない = "none"
    Literal Translation:There's no longer any chance of revival.
    難しいじゃ分からないでしょ
    Breakdown:難しいじゃ分かる分からないでしょ
    Definitions:難しい = "hard"/"difficult"
    じゃ = "if"/"then"/"in the case of _"
    分かる = "to know"/"to understand"
    分からない = negative form
    でしょ indicates likelihood while also marking a question
    Literal Translation:I wouldn't understand hard stuff, would I?
    自分の部屋だからできる
    Breakdown:自分部屋だからできる
    Definitions:自分 = "oneself"
    の marks possession
    部屋 = "room"
    だから = "because"/"therefore"
    できる = "to be able to do something" or "to get/make something"
    Literal Translation:I can do it because it's my own room.
    私には蛇が恐ろしい
    Breakdown:には恐ろしい
    Definitions:私 = "I"
    には = "in the case of"
    蛇 = "snake"
    が marks a subject
    恐ろしい = "terrifying"
    Literal Translation:For me, snakes are terrifying.
    何も考えてないから終わる
    Breakdown:何も考える考えてる考えないから終わる
    Definitions:何も = "nothing"
    考える = "to think"
    考えてる = -teru form = "_ing"/present tense
    考えない = negative form
    から = "so"/"because"/"from"/"since"/"starting from _", in this case it's "because"
    終わる = "to finish"
    Literal Translation:I'm not thinking of anything, so I'm done.
    三匹の兎まで飼うだっけ?
    Breakdown:三匹まで飼うだっけ
    Definitions:三匹 = "three (animals)"
    の connects a noun phrase to the noun it describes
    兎 = "rabbit"
    まで = "until"/"as far as"/"even"
    飼う = "to raise (an animal)"
    だっけ = だってか which marks both a quotation and a question
    Literal Translation:Did he say he will take care of as many as three rabbits?
    いくら白でも鴉は鴉だろ
    Breakdown:いくらでもだろ
    Definitions:いくら = "how many/much/far", "as far as"
    白 = "white"
    でも = "even", "but" or "something like"
    鴉 = "crow"/"raven"
    は marks a subject
    だろ indicates likelihood while also marking a question
    Literal Translation:However white it is, a raven is a raven.
    こういう方法で買うの?
    Breakdown:こういう方法買う
    Definitions:こういう = "this sort of"
    方法 = "way"/"method"
    で marks a means/method
    買う = "to buy"
    の is just a gobi
    Literal Translation:I buy it like this?/by doing this?
    二ヶ月書くのが危険だけど一つの名作くらい書きたい
    Breakdown:二ヶ月書くのが危険だけど一つ名作くらい書く書きたい
    Definitions:二ヶ月 = "two (months)"
    書く = "to write"
    のが marks a clause ("to write for two months") as the context/subject
    危険 = "danger"
    だけど = "but", "however", "although"
    一つ = "one (thing)"
    の connects a noun phrase to the noun it describes
    名作 = "masterpiece"
    くらい = "only"/"at least"/"to the point of being"
    書く = "to write"
    書きたい = -i tai form
    Literal Translation:It's dangerous writing for two months straight, but I wanna write at least one masterpiece.

    Conjugation



    The vast majority of this section is about verb conjugation. More than anything else, this section illustrates how my approach to language instruction is different from the norm. Here I literally attempt to list every single verb form in the entire language (and some other stuff), whereas a normal textbook would likely spend multiple pages if not entire chapters on each one of these forms (and probably never mention a lot of them).

    Obviously, I don't expect you to memorize them all anytime soon. I doubt anyone could without seeing all of them in source material a number of times. So feel free to digest this material at whatever pace you like.

    However, the order definitely matters, so don't skip or skim any parts.

    You should also be aware that what I describe here, which I call the "gaijin model", is not how the Japanese themselves describe Japanese verb conjugation. They use what I call the "jodoushi model", which is very good for older forms of Japanese but kinda bad with modern Japanese, so I introduce it in the Old Japanese supplment.


    The Basic Verb Forms

    Every Japanese verb, in its infinitive form, ends with a "u" sound. This means it could end in any kana which happens to have a "u" sound. I call that kana its verb type. For instance, かく is a ku-type verb, はしる a ru-type verb, つかう an u-type verb, and so on.

    The type of a verb determines precisely which kana each conjugated form will be spelled with. However, it has absolutely no effect on the meaning of those forms or the verb itself, so you can ignore the details of spelling conjugated verbs for quite some time (hence I put that section near the bottom).

    For now, what you want to focus on is the ability to recognize a given form on any verb type.

    The basic verb forms you absolutely must know are:

    Verb FormEnds in...In English, it means...Example
    Infinitive/Nonpast Form"u""to _" or "will _" (nonpast = either present or future)なる
    Negative Form"nai", occasionally just "n""to not _"ならない, occasionally ならん
    Polite Form"masu"no meaning, only formalityなります
    Past Form"ta", "tta" or "da"past tense, "_ed"なった
    -te Form"te" or "de"can be a mild command, but usually part of a complex formなって
    Imperative/Command Form"e"indicates a strong commandなれ
    Volitional Form"ou"indicates eagerness or willingness, a little like "I'll _" or "Let's _".なろう
    Conditional Form"eba""if _"なれば
    Passive Form"areru"Usually "to be _ed"なられる
    Potential Form"eru""to be able to _"なれる
    -i Form"i"can be a gerund, but usually part of a complex formなり
    Causative Form"aseru"Usually "to make _" or "to let _"ならせる

    When I say a verb form "ends in" something like "areru" I do not necessarily mean the kana あれる. I mean the sounds. Verbs in the passive form could end with the kana される, われる, られる, かれる, たれる, ばれる, まれる, なれる, or がれる, depending on verb type. Again, recognition is what's important here. Get to the point where seeing all of those kana as the same verb form comes naturally, then worry about how to conjugate each verb yourself. Similarly, the meanings column is a bit ambiguous because Japanese conjugation is unaffected by grammatical person. So my "to not _" could easily mean "I won't _", "You won't _", "He won't _", "They won't _" and so on. Here are a few random examples:

    It's also very common for verbs to be conjugated into more than one form at a time:

    Once you know all of the common forms, it's possible to conjugate a single verb several times in a row.

    Now for some miscellanea:


    Negative and Polite Forms

    Verb FormEnds in...In English, it means...
    Negative Form"nai""to not _"
    Colloquial Negative Form"ne" or "nee""to not _", usually used by young men
    Past Negative Form"nakatta""did not _"
    Negative Conditional Form"nakereba", "nakya", "neba" or "nai to""if not _"
    Negative Command Forminfinitive plus "na""don't _"
    Negative Volitional Forminfinitive plus "mai""unwilling to _" or "unlikely to _"
    Negative -te Form"naide"can be a mild negative command or part of a complex form
    Adjectival Negative Formくない instead of い"not _", for adjectives and some verb forms
    Polite Form"masu"no meaning, only formality
    Negative Polite Form"masen""to not _" with formality
    Past Polite Form"mashita""did _" with formality
    Past Negative Polite Form"masendeshita""did not _" with formality
    Volitional Polite Form"mashou""let's _" with formality

    -te Forms

    Verb FormIn English, it means...
    -temo"even if", "no matter" (often forms English's "_ever" pronouns; e.g. どこ_ても = whereever I _)
    -te iru or -teru"to be _ing"
    -te ita or -teta"was _ing" or "have been _ing"
    -te aru"to be _ing" or "to be/exist in a [verb]ed state"
    -te hoshii"want _ to _", indicates a desire for someone else to perform the action (contrast with -i tai)
    -te oku or -toku"to _ in advance/for later"
    -te shimau, -chimau or -chaucan mean "to finish _ing"/"to end", can indicate the action is regrettable or unfortunate, or (especially with -chau) may be used just because it sounds cute
    -te yagaruindicates contempt for the subject or hatred of the action
    -te miru"to try _ing", specifically "to try _ and see what happens"
    -te iku or -te yuku"to keep _ing"
    -te tamaru"to be able to stand _ing", often used to mean things like "how can I _?" or "I can't just _"
    -te kakeru"to start _ing" or "to almost _"
    -te kiru"to finish _ing" or "to completely _"
    -te kuru"to go/come and _" or "to _ and go/come"
    -te wa or -cha"if/then/in the case of _", probably identical to the word じゃ

    There are some other verbs and adjectives which can be placed after the -te form, but their meanings in this case are identical to their normal meanings and thus there is absolutely no need to list them. Admittedly, the -te kuru form is usually like this, but it happens to be extremely common and occasionally gets used a bit oddly.


    Here are what I call the "modal" -te forms, because they're the closest thing I know of to explicit grammatical modes in Japanese. Unsurprisingly, these are probably the hardest ones to explain or understand. It may be best to find an example or two in source material before trying to make sense out of these.

    Verb FormIn English, it means..
    -te ageru or -tageruliterally "to give", sometimes adapted as "_ for you" indicates an action the speaker performed for the benefit of another may express benevolence or generosity
    -te kureruliterally "to give", sometimes adapted as "_ for me" indicates an action someone performed for the speaker's benefit may express gratitude or appreciation
    -te morauliterally "to take", sometimes adapted as "have you _" indicates an action the speaker performed for his or her own benefit, often as the expense of someone else may express dominance or control

    -i Forms

    Verb FormIn English, it means...
    -ibeing a gerund, it's often best defined as "the act of _ing", and occasionally as "one who _s"
    -i masuthis is the same Polite Form defined earlier
    -i tai"want to _", indicates a desire to perform the action oneself (contrast with its passive form, -te hoshii)
    -i nasai or -i naa softer (usually feminine) command form, often with a chiding nuance
    -i tamaea command form used by those with higher social status
    -i [adjective]"[adjective] to _", for example 読み難い = "hard to read"
    -i ni [verb]"[verb] in order to _", for example 走りに行く = "to go somewhere to run"

    Compound Verbs

    The last important -i form is simply putting a verb after it, which creates what I call a "compound verb." Since this can be done between virtually any two verbs, many of the -te forms listed above can also be made using the -i form, and it's worth showing a whole table of examples. So here I've listed a few very common ones, plus all the ones I know of that have special meanings. You may notice that Japanese compound verbs often correspond to English phrasal verbs.

    Verb FormIn English, it means...
    -i komu"to _ into" or "to _ over"
    -i dasu"to _ out" or "to _ away"
    -i naosu"to re_" or "_ again" or "to correct something by _ing"
    -i au"to _ each other"
    -i ageru"to _ up" (notice this has nothing to do with -te ageru)
    -i sugiru"to overdo _" or "to do _ too much" or "to do _ too often"
    -i tate"something which has just been _ed"
    -i makuru"to do _ with reckless abandon," or when that makes no sense "to _ to a ridiculous extent"
    -i kakaru"to be on the verge of _ing" or "to _ at/to/toward someone or something"
    -i ppanasu"to _ and then leave that way"
    -i kaneru and -i kanenai"to be unable to _" and "to be unable to not _"
    -i sokoneru"to be prevented from _ing" and "to fail to _"

    Conjugation Examples

    That is all of the verb forms you might have to learn to reach Conversational Fluency. Now here's a bunch of examples of conjugating multiple times in a row:

    走る to run → 走って run → 走っていく to keep running → 走っていこう let's keep running

    言う to say → 言われる to be said → 言われ act of _ being said → 言われたい to want _ to be said → 言われたくない to not want _ to be said

    作る to make → 作って make → 作ってくれる to make _ for me → 作ってくれて make _ for me → 作ってくれてありがとう thank you for making _ for me

    笑う to laugh → 笑い act of laughing → 笑いあう to laugh at each other → 笑いあえる to be able to laugh at each other → 笑いあえれば if _ can laugh at each other

    見る to see → 見 act of seeing → 見に行く to go to see → 見に行って go to see → 見に行ってあげる to go see _ for someone → 見に行ってあげて go see _ for someone → 見に行ってあげてしまう regrettably go see _ for someone → 見に行ってあげてしまった regrettably went to see _ for someone

    With enough experience, things like たくない, しまった and ってあげる will start to feel like single steps, and even conjugations like 見に行ってあげてしまった will become natural, despite the fact that English can never conjugate a single verb that much.

    Now for a bunch of example sentences using conjugated verbs. The format here is the same as before, though since I'm using a lot more verb forms, it's worth explicitly stating that each step of conjugation is done on a separate line in the breakdown (though you may have noticed that already).

    この道を歩く
    Breakdown:この道歩く
    Definitions:この = "this"
    道 = "path"/"road"
    を marks an object
    歩く = "to walk"
    Literal Translation:I walk/will walk along this road.
    話が終わってしまった
    Breakdown:終わる終わってしまう終わってしまった
    Definitions:話 = "conversation"/"story"/"topic"/"issue"
    が marks a subject
    終わる = "to end"
    ってしまう = -teshimau form = "regrettably"
    った = past form
    Literal Translation:The story regrettably ended.
    早く学校に行け
    Breakdown:早い早く学校行く行け
    Definitions:早い = "fast"/"early"
    く = adverb form
    学校 = "school"
    に marks a location
    行く = "to go"
    け = command form
    Literal Translation:Go to school already!
    朝飯を食べた
    Breakdown:朝飯食べる食べた
    Definitions:朝飯 = "breakfast"
    を marks an object
    食べる = "to eat"
    た = past form
    Literal Translation:I ate breakfast.
    部屋でゲームを遊びました
    Breakdown:部屋ゲーム遊ぶ遊びました
    Definitions:部屋 = "room"
    で marks a situation
    ゲーム is the English word"game", in Japanese it usually means"videogame"
    を marks an object
    遊ぶ = "to play"
    遊びます = polite form
    遊びました = past form
    Literal Translation:I played videogames in my room.
    その発想を書いといた
    Breakdown:その発想書く書いとく書いといた
    Definitions:その = "that"
    発想 = "idea"/"conception"
    を marks an object
    書く = "to write"
    いとく = -toku form = "to do in advance"/"for later"
    いた = past form
    Literal Translation:I wrote down that idea for later.
    後で買いに行くかも
    Breakdown:買う買いに行くかも
    Definitions:後 = "after"/"later"/"next"
    で marks a situation
    買う = "to buy"
    いに = -ini [verb] form = "to_in order to_"
    行く = "to go"
    かも = "maybe"
    Literal Translation:I might go to buy it later.
    先生はすぐ私達を帰させる
    Breakdown:先生すぐ私達帰る帰させる
    Definitions:先生 = "teacher"/"doctor"
    は marks a subject
    すぐ = "soon"/"immediately"
    私達 = "we"
    を marks a subject
    帰る = "to go home"
    させる = causative form = "to make/let_"
    Literal Translation:The teacher will let us leave soon.
    そんなこと言わないで
    Breakdown:そんなこと言う言わないで
    Definitions:そんな = "that"/"that sort of"
    こと = "thing"/"fact"/"matter"
    言う = "to say"/"to tell"
    わないで = negative-te form
    Literal Translation:Don't say such things.
    これを見て楽しいか?
    Breakdown:これ見る見て楽しい
    Definitions:これ = "this"
    を marks an object
    見る = "to see"/"to look"
    て = -te [adjective] form
    楽しい = "fun"
    か marks a question
    Literal Translation:Is it fun to look at this?
    明日は勝負しようぜ
    Breakdown:明日勝負するしよう
    Definitions:明日 = "tomorrow"
    は marks a subject
    勝負 = "fight"/"match"/"duel"
    する = "to do"
    しよう = volitional form
    Literal Translation:Let's fight tomorrow.
    彼に言って欲しい
    Breakdown:言う言って欲しい
    Definitions:彼 = "he"
    に marks an (animate) object
    言う = "to say"/"to tell"
    って欲しい = -te hoshii form
    Literal Translation:I want him to say it.
    食べきってやがったか
    Breakdown:食べる食べきる食べきってやがる食べきってやがった
    Definitions:食べる = "to eat"
    きる = -ikiru form
    ってやがる = -te yagaru form
    った = past form
    か marks a question
    Literal Translation:Did you eat all of it!?
    みんなを勉強させよう!
    Breakdown:みんな勉強する勉強させる勉強させよう
    Definitions:みんな = "everyone"
    を marks an object
    勉強する = "tostudy"
    させる = causative form = "to make/let_"
    よう = volitional form
    Literal Translation:Let's make everyone study!
    家に入りなさいよ
    Breakdown:入る入りなさい
    Definitions:家 = "house"
    に marks a location
    入る = "to enter"
    りなさい = -inasai form
    Literal Translation:Go in the house.
    暗号使ったから読みにくい
    Breakdown:暗号使う使ったから読む読みにくい
    Definitions:暗号 = "code"/"encryption"/"password"
    使う = "touse"
    った = past form
    から = "so"/"because"/"from"/"since"/"starting from_"
    読む = "to read"
    み = -i [adjective] form
    にくい = "hard"/"difficult"encoding to use (past) [because] to read (-i[adjective]) hard
    Literal Translation:It's hard to read since I used a code/encoded it.
    ゆっくりすれば問題ない
    Breakdown:ゆっくりするすれば問題ない
    Definitions:ゆっくり = "slowly"/"leisurely"/"at one's own pace"
    する = "to do"
    れば = conditional form
    問題 = "problem"
    ない = "none"
    Literal Translation:There's no problem if you take it easy.
    行けるから場所言って
    Breakdown:行く行けるから場所言う言って
    Definitions:行く = "to go"
    ける = potential form
    から = "so"/"because"/"from"/"since"/"starting from_"
    場所 = "place"
    言う = "to say"/"to tell"
    って = -te form, in this case a mild command
    Literal Translation:I can go so tell me the place.
    走りすぎてやばいよ
    Breakdown:走る走りすぎる走りすぎてやばい
    Definitions:走る = "to run"
    りすぎる = -isugiru form
    て = -te [adjective] form
    やばい = "bad"/"risky"
    Literal Translation:Running too much is bad for you.
    習わなければダメだって
    Breakdown:習う習わない習わなければダメだって
    Definitions:習う = "tostudy"/"tolearn"
    わない = negative form
    ければ = conditional form
    ダメ = "useless"/"hopeless"/"nogood"
    だってin this case emphatically marks a quote to study/learn (negative conditional) hopeless [quote emphasis]
    Literal Translation:I said it's hopeless if I don't learn this.
    授業に戻りたまえ
    Breakdown:授業戻る戻りたまえ
    Definitions:授業 = "class"/"lesson"
    に marks a location
    戻る = "to return"
    りたまえ = -itamae
    Literal Translation:Go back to class.
    この任務を果たすか果たせないのか
    Breakdown:この任務果たす果たす果たせる果たせないのか
    Definitions:この = "this"
    任務 = "mission"
    を marks an object
    果たす = "to fulfill"/"to accomplish"/"to achieve"
    か marks a question
    果たす = "to fulfill"/"to accomplish"/"to achieve"
    せる = potential form
    ない = negative form
    のか marks a question
    Literal Translation:Will you complete this mission? Or are you unable to complete it?
    してあげましょうって?
    Breakdown:するしてあげるしてあげますしてあげましょうって
    Definitions:する = "to do"
    してあげる = -teageru form
    ます = polite form
    しょう = volitional form
    ってmarks a quotation
    Literal Translation:Are you saying "Let's do it for her"? What do you mean "Let's do it for her"?
    起きさせるけど殴り合いに終わるぞ
    Breakdown:起きる起きさせるけど殴る殴り合う殴り合い終わる
    Definitions:起きる = "to wake up"/"to get up"or"to occur"/"to take place"
    させる = causative form
    けど = "but"/"however"/"although"
    殴る = "tohit"/"to punch"
    り合う = -iau form
    い = -i form, in this case a gerund
    に marks a location
    終わる = "to end"
    Literal Translation:I will make him wake up but it'll end in a mutual beating/us beating each other up.

    You may be wondering if there are any rules there are governing the order which forms can be applied to verbs. There definitely are, but I don't think it's worth the effort to try and come up with a set of rules myself, or make you learn one. The language is very consistent with what orders it chooses, so by the time you've mastered the forms themselves, you'll have naturally picked up more than enough of the ordering rules.


    Advanced Verbs Forms and Uses

    Up until now, I've been defining each form with one sentence or less. Now we're going to look at the forms where that simply isn't an option, as well as some additional uses of forms you already know. For the most part, this is because these forms affect the meaning of the entire sentence and not just that of the verb, which makes them significantly more difficult.


    -ra Form

    Either the infinitive plus "nara" or the past plus "ra" (usually "tara"). "nara" usually means "if _" and applies to the entire clause, not just the verb, while "tara" tends to mean "if/when" and applies to just the verb. The conditional "eba" form is different from both in that it has no temporal implications. It's hard to explain this with examples, but:

    Conjunctive -te

    Yet another use of the -te form (and slightly less often, the -i form). If a verb in the -te form isn't part of some complex form, and a mild command makes no sense, then the -te is meant to act as a conjunction (specifically "and") between this verb and whatever verb comes next. Two or more verbs may be connected in this way (keep using -te until the last one), and there may or may not be other words between them. Also, these -te verbs effectively borrow their tense/mood/etc. from the final verb in the sentence.

    As a side note, a -te form by itself can sometimes be an indicator of uncertainty rather than a mild command. I believe that's a result of this conjunctive -te, but that's debatable.

    The quasi-particle し can also be placed after a verb (in various forms) or an adjective to do basically the same things.

    -tari Form

    Spelling it is easy: it's the past form with り added. Understanding it isn't much harder. I interpret it as a series of actions taken as a single whole. It may also help to see it as a tendency or disposition to perform the action, or as an action repeated or spread out over a long period of time. Strangely, English tends to implicitly take care of this nuance for you, so translating it is simply a matter of using the generic mood. Also, this form is just as conjunctive as the -te form.

    The basic idea is that after certain verb forms (usually conditionals) you can place a word meaning either "good" or "bad." Sometimes, this makes perfect sense if you understand conditionals to begin with. Other times, it seems odd because the meanings of certain popular combinations have drifted much closer to modal words like "should" or "must." The main ones to be wary of are:

    Conditional-esque Form(s)"good"/"bad" Word(s)Meaning
    ~temoいい"may _" or "can _"
    ~eba/[infinitive] gaいい"should" or "can (without difficulty)"
    ~teならない"must", "need to" or "have to"
    ~nakereba/neba/nakya/nakute/nai toいけない/ならない/だめ"must", "need to" or "have to"
    ~nakereba/neba/nakya/nakute/nai toいい"don't need to" or "don't have to"

    Some of the conditional forms listed above will look new or strange. This is largely because [infinitive]が and [negative]と are used almost exclusively for these modal uses. That and "nakute" is a result of adjective conjugation (the next section).

    The genuinely tricky part is that the word for good/bad might be implied, giving you lines like "if I don't go..." which actually mean "I have to go." This is probably the single easiest way to get a line completely wrong without even knowing you're missing something.


    Adjective Conjugation

    Japanese is kinda weird in that it lets adjectives have tense and mood to some degree, but it's not hard to learn since you already know verb conjugation. Yes, it technically should be called adjective declension, but it's so similar to conjugation that I prefer to call it that instead. By the way, all Japanese adjectives end in either い or な, hence "-i adjective" and "-na adjective". First, -i adjectives:

    Default form早い(はやい)fast
    Negative form早くないnot fast
    Past form早かったwas fast
    -te form早くて or 早いしfast (always a conjunctive -te, never a command or part of a complex form)
    Adverb早くfastly/quickly
    Noun form早さfastness/speed
    Apparent form早そうseems fast/seemingly fast/likely to be fast
    Negative Apparent form早くなさそうseems not fast/seemingly not fast
    Conditional form早ければif _ is fast

    As for な adjectives (which are often just nouns with な attached), the only forms they can have are な, じゃない, だった, そう and さ. It should be obvious what those mean without a separate chart. The gobi だ can also become だった or じゃない in a verbless clause or sentence.

    Now the weird part: a few verb forms are technically adjectives. Specifically, the negative (nai) form, the -i tai form, and the -te hoshii form (but definitely not the -i form) can be further conjugated this way, as well as ない and じゃない themselves. In fact, the "past negative" -nakatta and "negative conditional" -nakereba forms listed above (as well as the "negative adverb" -naku form) are merely the most common ways in which adjective conjugation affects verb forms. So expect to see lots of stuff like -i たくない and -te ほしかった.

    There's also a "-garu form" where the い changes to がる, and the result is a verb meaning "to feel that _ is _". I didn't list this because it's only ever used on a small subset of adjectives that can be easily interpreted as feelings. For instance, 寂しがる means "to feel that _ is lonely" and 不思議がる means "to feel that _ is strange/mysterious", but no one would ever say 早がる.


    Spelling Conjugated Verbs

    Ichidan versus Godan

    一段 ichidan and 五段 godan are the two major categories the Japanese break their verbs into. Ichidan consist of about half of the "ru" type verbs, and are labeled as "1ru" in the chart below. All other verbs are godan, including the other "ru" verbs which I labeled "5ru." Thankfully, ichidan verbs always end in either "eru" or "iru," which makes their odd forms a little easier to recognize.

    As for telling what's ichi and what's go, you're screwed. There's absolutely no way to tell other than memorization or experience (although edict entries will conveniently indicate them with v1 and v5).

    Now that you know that, all the verb types in the following chart should make sense to you.

    Conjugation Chart
    Verb TypeNonpastNegativePolitePast-te FormCommand
    irregularするしないしますしたしてしろ・せよ
    irregularくるこないきますきたきてこい
    "1ru" type食べる食べない食べます食べた食べて食べれ・食べろ
    "5ru" type走る走らない走ります走った走って走れ
    "tsu" type待つ待たない待ちます待った待って待て
    "bu" type遊ぶ遊ばない遊びます遊んだ遊んで遊べ
    "mu" type読む読まない読みます読んだ読んで読め
    "ku" type書く書かない書きます書いた書いて書け
    "nu" type死ぬ死なない死にます死んだ死んで死ね
    "gu" type泳ぐ泳がない泳ぎます泳いだ泳いで泳げ
    "su" type示す示さない示します示した示して示せ
    "u" type使う使わない使います使った使って使え
    Verb TypeVolitionalConditionalPassivePotential-i FormCausative
    irregularしようすればされるできるさせる
    irregularきようくればこられるこれるき・きしこさせる
    "1ru" type食べよう食べれば食べられる食べられる食べ食べさせる
    "5ru" type走ろう走れば走られる走れる走り走らせる
    "tsu" type待てよう待てれば待たれる待てる待ち待たせる
    "bu" type遊ぼう遊べば遊ばれる遊べる遊び遊ばせる
    "mu" type読もう読めば読まれる読める読み読ませる
    "ku" type書こう書けば書かれる書ける書き書かせる
    "nu" type死のう死ねば死なれる死ねる死なせる
    "gu" type泳ごう泳げば泳がれる泳げる泳ぎ泳がせえる
    "su" type示そう示せば示される示せる示し示させる
    "u" type使おう使えば使われる使える使い使わせる

    Columns for the more complex forms are completely unnecessary once you know that the polite form is a "su" type verb, the negative form is an adjective, and the causative/passive/potential forms are all "1ru" type verbs. Now for another list of little details to watch out for:


    More Conjugation Examples

    You know the drill by now. Expect more complex and potentially confusing conjugation this time. The translations will now use slashes and parenthesis to help clarify intent.

    本当に書いてくれたらいいけど
    Breakdown:本当書く書いてくれる書いてくれたらいいけど
    Definitions:本当 = "truth"
    に marks an adverb
    書く = "to write"
    いてくれる = -te kureru form
    たら = -tara form
    いい = "good"/"fine"/"OK"
    けど = "but"/"however"/"although"
    Literal Translation:Although it's fine as long as you really wrote it (for me).
    怖かった現実に圧倒されて倒れてしまった
    Breakdown:怖い怖かった現実圧倒する圧倒される圧倒されて倒れる倒れてしまう倒れてしまった
    Definitions:怖い = "scary"
    かった = past form
    現実 = "reality"
    に marks an object. Since the verb is in its passive form, this corresponds to the English particle "by".
    圧倒する = "to overpower"
    される = passive form
    て = -te form, in this case conjunctive
    倒れる = "to collapse"/"to fall to the ground"/"to be defeated"
    てしまう = -te shimau form
    った = past form
    Literal Translation:I was overpowered by the reality I feared and, regrettably, collapsed.
    大人しくなったら許してあげよう
    Breakdown:大人しい大人しくなるなったら許す許してあげる許してあげよう
    Definitions:大人しい = "quiet"/"obedient"
    く = adverb form
    なる = "to be"/"to become"
    ったら = -tara form
    許す = "to forgive"/"to allow"
    してあげる = -te ageru form
    よう = volitional form
    Literal Translation:I'd be willing to allow it/forgive you if you got quiet/behaved better.
    欲しくて欲しくて考えられないよ
    Breakdown:欲しい欲しくて欲しい欲しくて考える考えられる考えられない
    Definitions:欲しい = "want"
    くて = -te form
    考える = "to think"
    られる = potential form
    ない = negative form
    Literal Translation:I want it, I want it (so bad) I can't think (straight/rationally).
    返してもらわなきゃ
    Breakdown:返す返してもらう返してもらわない返してもらわなきゃ
    Definitions:返す = "to return (something)"
    してもらう = -te morau form
    わない = negative form
    きゃ = short for ければ = conditional form
    Since this ends on a negative conditional, it's very likely there is a modal implication intended.
    Literal Translation:We must have them return it.
    難しかったから死にそうな顔をしてた
    Breakdown:難しい難しかったから死ぬ死にそうするしてるしてた
    Definitions:難しい = "hard"/"difficult"
    かった = past form
    から = "so"/"because"/"from"/"since"/"starting from _"
    死ぬ = "to die"
    に = -i form
    そう = "seems like"/"as if"
    な marks an adjective
    顔 = "face"
    を marks an object
    する = "to do", in this case the usage is slightly colloquial and more like the English verb "to have"
    してる = -teru form = "_ing"/present tense
    た = past form
    Literal Translation:Because it was hard, he had a face (that made it seem) as if he would die.
    美しさの問題じゃないって思っていますけど
    Breakdown:美しい美しさ問題じゃないって思う思ます思っているけど
    Definitions:美しい = "beautiful"
    さ = noun form
    の = "of"
    問題 = "problem"
    じゃない = "not"
    って marks a quotation
    思う = "to think"/"to feel"
    っている = -teru form = "_ing"/present tense
    ます = polite form
    けど = "but"/"however"/"although"
    Literal Translation:Although I think "It's not a problem of beauty." Though I don't think beauty is the issue...
    恥ずかしがってませんか?
    Breakdown:恥ずかしいがるがってるがってますがってません
    Definitions:恥ずかしい = "embarrassing"
    がる = -garu form, "to feel that _ is _"
    ってる = -teru form = "_ing"/present tense
    ます = polite form
    せん = negative form
    か marks a question
    Literal Translation:Are you not feeling embarrassed?
    早くこれを開いて帰させろ
    Breakdown:早い早くこれ開く開いて帰る帰させる帰させろ
    Definitions:早い = "fast"/"early"
    く = adverb form
    これ = "this"
    を marks an object
    開く = "to open"
    いて = -te form, in this case conjunctive
    帰る = "to go home"
    させる = causative form
    ろ = command form
    Literal Translation:Quickly/Hurry up and open this thing and let me go home.
    すぐ食べ終えるなら行って
    Breakdown:すぐ食べる食べ終えるなら行く行って
    Definitions:すぐ = "soon"/"immediately"
    食べる = "to eat"
    食べ = -i form, in this case to make a compound verb
    終える = "to finish"
    なら = "if/when"
    行く = "to go"
    って = -te form, in this case a mild comman
    Literal Translation:If you're going to finish eating soon, then go.
    騙されやすいでしょ?
    Breakdown:騙す騙される騙され騙されやすいでしょ
    Definitions:騙す = "to trick"/"to deceive"
    される = passive form
    され = -i [adjective] form
    やすい = "easy"
    でしょ indicates likelihood while also marking a question
    Literal Translation:You're easily tricked, right?
    あいつがよく夢見たり、現実を無視したり
    Breakdown:あいつよいよく見る見たり現実無視する無視したり
    Definitions:あいつ
    が marks an object
    よい = いい = "good"/"fine"/"OK"
    く = adverb form
    よく = "well" or "often"
    夢 = "dream"
    見る = "to see"/"to look"
    たり = -tari form
    現実 = "reality"
    を marks an object
    無視する = "to ignore"
    したり = -tari form
    Literal Translation:That guy often dreams and ignores reality.
    そこまで無理そうな事言っちゃバカみたくない?
    Breakdown:そこまで無理そう言う言っちゃバカみたいみたくない
    Definitions:そこ = "there"
    まで = "until"/"as far as"/"even"
    無理 = "impossible"/"unreasonable"
    そう = "seems like"/"as if"
    な marks an adjective
    事 = "thing"/"fact"/"matter"
    言う = "to say"/"to tell"
    っちゃ = -cha = -te wa form
    バカ = "idiot"/"stupid"
    みたい = "apparently"/"seems like"/"resembles"
    くない = negative form
    Since this is a question, the negative at the end can be rhetorical.
    Literal Translation:Won't you look like an idiot if you say seemingly impossible things so much?
    自分で始まらないなら私は無理矢理始めるわよ
    Breakdown:自分始まる始まらないなら無理矢理始めるわよ
    Definitions:自分 = "oneself"
    で marks a means/method
    始まる = "to start"/"to begin"
    らない = negative form
    なら = "if/when"
    私 = "I"
    は marks a subject
    無理矢理 = "forcibly"/"against someone's will"
    始める = "to start (something)"
    Literal Translation:If you won't start it on your own then I'll start it by force.
    こういう方程式を説明してくださいませんか
    Breakdown:こういう方程式説明する説明してくださる説明してくださいます説明してくださいません
    Definitions:こういう = "this sort of"
    方程式 = "equation"
    を marks an object
    説明する = "to explain"
    してくださる = -te kudasaru form = formal version of -te kureru form
    います = polite form
    せん = negative form
    か marks a question
    Literal Translation:Would you mind explaining of this sort of equation for me?
    諸君は死にたいと思うまい
    Breakdown:諸君死ぬ死にたい思うまい
    Definitions:諸君 = "you all", but formal enough it should always be adapted to something else, e.g. "all of you"/"ladies and gentlemen"/"comrades"
    は marks a subject
    死ぬ = "to die"
    にたい = -i tai form
    と marks a quote-like object
    思う = "to think"/"to feel"
    まい = "does not seem like"/"not as if"
    Literal Translation:It seems unlikely/I doubt that any of you wish to perish.
    そう言われればなんか真実を言わせたくなるよな
    Breakdown:そう言う言われる言わればなんか真実言う言わせる言わせたい言わせたく言わせたくなるよな
    Definitions:そう = "that"/"like that"/"in that manner"
    言う = "to say"/"to tell"
    われる = passive form
    れば = conditional form
    なんか = "somehow"
    真実 = "truth"
    を marks an object
    言う = "to say"/"to tell"
    わせる = causative form
    せたい = -i tai form
    く = adverb form
    なる = "to be"/"to become"
    Literal Translation:If that is said/When you say it like that I kinda want to make her tell the truth.
    開きっぱなしならどんな生き物でも簡単に入れるわよ
    Breakdown:開く開きっぱなす開きっぱなしならどんな生き物でも簡単入る入れるわよ
    Definitions:開く = "to open"
    きっぱなす = -i ppanasu
    し = -i form
    なら = "if/when"
    どんな = "what?"/"what sort of?"
    生き物 = "living thing"
    でも = "even", "but" or "something like"
    どんな_でも = "whatever _"/"whatever sort of _"
    簡単 = "simple"/"easy"
    に marks an adverb
    入る = "to enter"
    れる = potential form
    Literal Translation:If left open, any sort of critter can get in easily.
    早くしろ、でなければサメの餌になる
    Breakdown:早い早くするしろでないなければサメなる
    Definitions:早い = "fast"/"early"
    く = adverb form
    する = "to do"
    しろ = command form
    で is acting as a transition
    ない = "not
    ければ = conditional form
    サメ = "shark"
    の connects a noun phrase to the noun it describes
    餌 = "(animal) food"
    になる = "to become"
    Literal Translation:Do it quickly, if not you'll become shark food. Hurry up, or else you'll become shark food.
    集中しなきゃと皆からうるさく勧められまくってる
    Breakdown:集中する集中しない集中しなきゃからうるさいうるさく勧める勧められる勧められまくる勧められまくってる
    Definitions:集中する = "to focus"/"to concentrate"
    しない = negative form
    きゃ = short for ければ = conditional form
    と marks a quote-like object
    皆 = "everyone"
    から = "so"/"because"/"from"/"since"/"starting from _", in this case "from"
    うるさい = "loud"/"annoying"
    く = adverb form
    勧める = "to recommend"/"to advise"
    られる = passive form
    まくる = -i makuru form
    ってる = -teru form = "_ing"/present tense to concentrate(negative conditional) [quote as object] everyone [from] annoying(adverb) to advise(passive(-i makuru(-teru)))
    Literal Translation:I'm being annoyingly advised by everyone that "you have to concentrate" to the point of absurdity/ad nauseum.
    君に来られようとしたら真面目な話なんてできなくなるんじゃない
    Breakdown:くるこられるこられようするしたら真面目なんてできるできないできなくなるじゃない
    Definitions:君 = "you"
    に marks an object. Since the verb is in its passive form, this corresponds to the English particle "by".
    くる = "to come"
    こられる = passive form
    よう = volitional form
    とする = "to attempt to _"/"to try to _"
    したら = -tara form
    真面目 = "serious"
    な marks an adjective
    話 = "conversation"/"story"/"topic"/"issue"
    なんて is acting like とか = "_ and such"/"something like _"
    できる = "to be able to do something" or "to get/make something"
    ない = negative form
    く = adverb form
    なる = "to be"/"to become"
    じゃない marks a negative rhetorical question
    Literal Translation:If you tried to come here wouldn't we become unable to have anything like a serious conversation?

    Clauses



    For many this material will be especially tricky, since the rules I can give are not as rigorous or as thorough as before. In fact most of the page is spent listing special cases. We're getting to the point where you really do have to "think in Japanese" to get this stuff.


    Introduction

    The quintessential rule in complex Japanese grammar (in my opinion) is that a verb always ends a clause. This usually also means it ends the sentence (especially if sentence ending particles come after it), unless:

    Case 1 was thoroughly dealt with by the last page (Conjugation), while case 2 was largely handled by Particles and the examples in Vocabulary which use compound particles. Most of this page is about the potentially confusing case 3 (and how 2 is sometimes a special case of 3).

    Long story short: if the verb at the end of a clause is immediately followed by a noun phrase, then the clause is describing the noun somehow.

    Most likely, the clause is simply an action performed by said noun. A literal translation in these instances will often use a relative pronoun (e.g. "who"/"which"/"that"). For these first examples, I'll put subordinate clauses inside parenthesis for clarity.

    The only restriction on what verb forms can be used at the end of a subordinate clause is that the clause must not end in one of the aforementioned "connective forms." That means it'll usually be infinitive, past, ~te iru or ~te ita form.

    And keep in mind that, if it makes no sense for the noun to be performing the action, then the clause is describing it some other way. For example, the clause may be an action that is to be performed using the noun, or an ability of the noun, or even something the noun causes (more precisely, this means the causative/potential/passive forms can all be implied on top of the usual subject/object implication). However, this is quite rare. By the time you have to worry about it, it'll come to you naturally anyway.


    List of Clause-Ending Nouns

    clause-ending noun is my term for nouns which have special meanings or uses when they end clauses, separate from what they would mean anywhere else in the sentence. Many of the ones I list below will have definitions both as ordinary and clause-ending nouns, so try not to get confused. And of course it's subjective what counts as a "special meaning," so a few of them you may feel are just words that often get used to end clauses but still mean the same thing.>


    事 koto

    Literally means "thing," "fact" or "matter." As a clause ender it may also mean "the act of _ing," "things which _" or "instances/occurrences of _."

    Also, this technically isn't relevant, but のこと is effectively an emphatic を to be used after an animate object or when discussing emotions.


    癖 kuse

    Literally "habit." When followed by に it's effectively the same as 事 koto except it implies criticism or blame (often with anger). Otherwise, treat it like an ordinary noun.


    物 or 者 mono

    Literally "thing" or "person" depending on the kanji. May be either if in kana. Often overlaps with 事 koto.

    Can also be colloquially shortened to もん, and used as a feminine gobi much like よ in short or long form.


    側 gawa

    Literally "side" (of a debate or issue) and is effectively the collective noun for 者 mono, meaning it refers to a group or type of people (especially an opinionated one).


    時 toki, 頃 koro, うち uchi and 度 tabi

    All of these literally mean "time." As a clause-ender 時 toki usually means "the time when _." If followed by に it means "at the time when _" or "at the same time as _." 頃 koro is the same, but more likely to indicate a long period of time in the past. うち uchi is more likely to indicate a short period of time near the present. たび tabi is more likely to indicate one of several similar periods of time.


    前 mae and 後 ato

    The words themselves are pretty easy: "in front" vs. "behind", "before" vs. "after" and "previous" vs. "next." They also mean "before/after" as clause-ending nouns, but for some reason students seem to misinterpret them a lot, so they're listed here. Also, I think 後's "nochi" reading is unique to clause-ending.


    積もり tsumori

    Literally "intention" or "plan." As a clause ender it means "intent to _," "the thought/belief that _," "to plan/intend on _" or "to think/believe that _ is the case."


    気 ki

    Literally "spirit" (see Confusing Vocabulary for its usage in idioms). Overlaps with tsumori. As a clause-ender it means "intent/inclination to _," "to intend on _," "to be in the mood to/for _" or "to feel like _."


    様 you

    Literally "manner" or "appearance." As a clause ender, with no adjacent particle, it means "it seems to be the case that _."

    If you add certain particles, you get similies.


    風 fuu

    Much the same as 様 you, but it only means "manner," not "appearance." The "as if" and "like a" definitions above apply to 風 fuu as well, but not the others. As a result, particles are much more optional.


    為 tame

    Literally "sake" or "cause." As a clause ender, unsurprisingly, means "for the sake of _," "in order to _" or "as a result of _."


    甲斐 kai

    Literally "effect/result" or "worth/use/avail." As a clause ender, it means the latter.


    訳 wake

    Most literally, "a set of circumstances surrounding an action or situation." Sometimes translates to "reason," "circumstance," "way," "meaning," "situation" and so on. When in Japanese you say a 訳 wake ある exists or ない doesn't exist, you mean that there is or is not a plausible reason for something to be the case (the latter may be translated "there's no way"). If there is no explicit verb and the sentence just ends with 訳 wake and maybe a gobi, then it is an explanation of the circumstances surrounding some situation.

    Incidentally, the phrase というわけだ is a common way of ending an explanation (especially a long one), and the phrase というわけで is a common way of transitioning from one subject to another.


    儘 mama

    Most literally, a "state of being" or "tendency of progression." Most often used in conditional statements to mean "given this state/condition/trend" which often translates to "like this," "in this condition," "at this rate," "if this keeps up" or "with the way _ is/are." When it ends a clause, the clause is describing the state.


    程 hodo

    Most literally, "the degree or extent to which an action is performed." Sometimes translates directly to "degree," "extent" or "limit." As a clause ender it can be a standard noun meaning one of those three things. It can also be "no more than _" (especially if ending the sentence) or "to the point that _." Sometimes you'll see a phrase like "[verb]hodo[verb]" which means "[verb] to the extent that [verb]" i.e. "the more _ [verb] the more _ [verb]."


    所為 sei and お蔭 okage

    所為 sei is literally "cause," "reason" or "fault." Identical to the "as a result of _" meaning of 為 tame, except it implies anger or blame. Its opposite, お蔭 okage, literally means "assistance" and also has 為 tame's "result" meaning, but implies gratitude instead.


    振り furi

    Literally "pretense," "appearance" or "behavior." As a clause ender it almost always means "pretending to _" or "acting as if _," and it's often written in katakana when used this way.


    所 tokoro

    Literally "situation," often "place" and/or "time." Can also mean "parts that _," "the part when _," "something like _," "what someone looks/acts like when _ing" or refer to a certain "side" of someone. Also, the phrase ところで by itself is roughly equivalent to "speaking of which" in English. Finally, ところ is interchangeable with とこ and どころ.


    場合 ba'ai

    Arguably the more figurative version of 所 tokoro, meaning "situation" as in "time" or "place" as well as in "position," "role" or "standing." No weird alternate meanings on this one.


    より yori

    Means "more than," but once again backwards compared to English. Also, the thing being compared to may be implied, or entirely unnecessary.


    方 hou

    Literally "way" or "option," but its most common usage by far is in comparisons. In Japanese, when you say a 方 hou is [adjective], you almost always mean that whatever's describing the 方 hou is more [adjective] than some other thing (which is either implied or specified with yori). Also, 方 kata after a gerund means "way of _ing" or "how to _."


    筈 hazu and べき beki

    You've seen these in Grammatical Vocabulary. 筈 hazu is a clause ender just like anything else in this list, but べき beki is an adjectival verb form which attaches to the infinitive/nonpast form, making it a grammatical oddity.


    If you've been seriously attempting to read source material up to this point, then most of the subsections below will probably cover things you've more or less figured out on your own (consciously or otherwise). My goal in talking about them is not so much to teach you new things, as it is to give you an idea of how well you intuitively understand Japanese, and get you to start consciously thinking about some of the more subtle and complex issues with Japanese grammar (especially in contrast with English) which you might not have noticed.


    Ambiguity and Context

    There are two quick things I'd like to show you to get you thinking about some of the more subtle issues that come up once you can understand multi-clause sentences.

    First, the subject of the subordinate clause is not necessarily the noun it modifies. Even the object (if any) doesn't have to be located anywhere in the clause. Instead it may be in a previous sentence or clause, or it may be the "context" denoted by は. Since this is only useful or common during a long conversation where the subjects and objects intended gradually become obvious, there's not much point in giving more than one simple example here:

    That example should also make it very clear what I meant at the beginning when I said Japanese relies on context and leaves things implied a lot more than English.

    Second, consider this sentence: 脱出するものは支援せよといったから行く。 Obviously, there are two subordinate clauses (if you interpret the quote as a clause). However, it is not clear whether the second subordinate clause encompasses the first one or not, giving us two valid but very different meanings:

    Notice that, without any context, it is impossible to tell which of these two interpretations is correct. Fortunately, in context, it will usually be very easy to tell which meaning is intended.

    Also, the distinction between は and が is relevant here, since が is more likely to be found inside a subordinate clause and は less so (though if context, tone of voice or anything else imply the contrary, follow those cues instead). On occasion you may be able to eliminate one or the other option by noticing a particular verb is strictly intransitive.


    Clause-Ending か ka

    When a subordinate clause ends in か, and is therefore a question, you don't actually need a noun. In this case the clause represents either the question itself, or its answer. It can also express a possible reason for something described by the next clause. Multiple か ka clauses in parallel usually mean "whether/or"


    Tenses In Subordinate Clauses

    Interpreting a single tense in a single clause is generally pretty simple, since many of the most basic tenses in Japanese can be accurately equated with basic English tenses. However, the way you interpret tenses of verbs in subordinate clauses can be subtly different. Consider the following sentence:

    Notice that 考える is in nonpast form, even though the act of thinking takes place in the past. The English tense ("was _ing") makes the past-ness explicit. In my opinion, the trick here is: because the 考える is in the subordinate clause, its tense should be interpreted relative to the tense of the main clause. In this case, the "thinking" occurs in the present relative to when the "ending" happened (which means the "thinking" happened at the same time as the "ending"). Since the "ending" is in past tense, that means the "thinking" also happened in the past. If your brain is operating in Japanese then this might make sense. A different example:

    合格した is in simple past form despite the fact that no "passing" ever took place. In English we have to use a "would've" to mark the hypothetical status of this act. No further analysis should be necessary, though it's worth explicitly saying that Japanese completely lacks a direct equivalent to "would" because, as you can see, it simply doesn't need one.


    Compound Particles Revisited

    Some of the compound particles can be explained a little better once you understand clause-ending nouns. Basically, I think の can be short for 事 koto or もの mono, especially if in a compound particle.

    To convince you this works, let's bring in some old examples:

    Similarly, に in a compound particle may loosely resemble 場合 ba'ai or 所 tokoro.

    These are probably the most useful comparisons, but I think most compound particles can be explained (at least in some of their uses) in a similar way if desired.


    Hard Examples

    And now, just for good measure, some examples of painfully long sentences. Because long multi-clause sentences normally only occur deep in context, natural-sounding examples aren't really possible, so I had fun stretching these out until they got ridiculous.

    That's the end of the main guide. Either review some of the pages you've read, go read a ton more source material, or browse some of the supplementary sections below to see if they'll help


    Terminology



    This section teaches almost nothing about Japanese grammar. Instead, the goal is to quickly introduce you to some basic grammar terms I need to use in the guide in order to explain how Japanese works.


    General Terms

    Phrase: two or more consecutive words which can be treated as a single unit.

    Subject: the word or phrase expressing whatever is performing the action

    Predicate: the word or phrase expressing whatever action is being performed

    Object: a word or phrase expressing whatever is being acted upon

    Clause: a phrase which has both a subject and a predicate. May or may not be a complete sentence.

    Lexical Word: Any word that represents a concept or has a meaning all by itself. Most words in a language are lexical, and they are collectively called a language's lexicon.

    Particle: Any non-lexical word, i.e. a word that has no meaning on its own but is only used for grammatical reasons. In English, these are mostly prepositions and pronouns. Exactly what does and does not count as a particle is very debatable.


    Basic Parts of Speech

    Part of Speech (POS) or Lexical Category: Any term or category used to define what grammatical roles words are capable of fulfilling. The eight generally recognized English parts of speech are: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.

    Noun: a word denoting a person, place, thing, idea or feeling

    Pronoun: a word which acts as shorthand for one or more nouns, usually in order to avoid repeating the noun/listing all the nouns {I, you, he, she, it, they, everyone, someone, each, every}

    Verb: a word denoting an action

    Adjective (adj.): any word that describes or modifies a noun

    Adverb (adv.): any word that describes or modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. You may have been told all adverbs end in -ly. That's not true.

    Adposition (adp.): a word used to attach extra objects to a sentence. All English adpositions are prepositions (they're placed before their objects) while all Japanese adpositions are postpositions (they're placed after their objects).

    Here "music" and "video game" are nouns, "I" is a pronoun (acting as shorthand for the speaker's name), "think" and "contributes" are verbs, "entertaining" is an adjective describing the noun "music", and "significantly" is an adverb describing the verb "contributes".

    Finally, "to" is a preposition attaching the object "video game" to "contributes" (notice that the sentence would still make sense without "to a video game", hence this object is optional and a preposition is needed to attach it).

    Conjunction: a word(s) that connects two clauses and/or describes the relationship between them {and, but, if, yet, so, for}

    Interjection: a word or short phrase that isn't really part of a sentence, but instead is used as a quick exclamation {ow!, hey!, oh my god!} or as a space filler {um, uh, er…}


    Inflection

    Inflection: modifying a word to change or add to its original meaning. A word with no inflection whatsoever is called a lemma, and the set of words which can be created by inflecting it are called a lexeme.

    Pluralization: the process of changing a singular noun or pronoun {cat, I} into a plural one {cats, we}. This is probably the simplest and most intuitive type of inflection in English.

    Declension: the process of changing nouns, pronouns and/or adjectives to incorporate concepts such as tense, person, and mood. English doesn't do this at all, but Japanese does for adjectives.

    Conjugation: the process of changing verbs to incorporate concepts such as tense, person, and mood. This can be done either by changing the verb's ending or by adding a helping verb.

    Stem: the portion of a verb that normally remains unchanged by inflection/conjugation.

    Helping Verb/Auxiliary Verb: a word placed in front of the main verb in order to conjugate it. {be, have, should, must, can, might} Japanese has none of these, and instead allows the verb's ending to be changed in several ways at once.

    Tense: the time(s), or period(s) of time during which an action occurs. English and Japanese use most of the same tenses, though they express them differently.

    Person: the type of subject performing the action. In English, it states only the subject's relative position to the speaker. Japanese never inflects for person.

    Mood: the intent or nature of emotion involved in the statement. Includes concepts like commands, requests, probability, necessity, conditional statements and hypothetical speaking. English moods usually involve helping verbs. Japanese moods are expressed with verb forms and "sentence ending particles".

    I refer to Tenses, Persons and Moods collectively as Verb Forms. When describing Japanese, I rarely find it necessary to explicitly distinguish between the three, so Conjugation just uses the term "forms" constantly.


    Other Important Terms

    For some reason, these terms come up a lot when explaining differences between English and Japanese.

    Phrasal Verb: a specific verb and adposition which, when used together, have a unique meaning. English has a lot of these (to write up, to work through, to fight on, etc). Japanese has a few.

    Transitivity: The minimum number of objects a verb needs in order to make grammatical sense. A verb requiring 0 objects is called intransitive (e.g., to run), a verb requiring 1 is called transitive (e.g., to say something), and a verb requiring 2 is called ditransitive (e.g., to give someone something). Adpositions are used to add objects which aren't grammatically necessary.

    Demonstratives: words like "this" and "that" which can be pronouns or adjectives (compare "this is blue" to "this flower is blue"). Japanese always uses two separate words, which may be tricky to grasp at first.


    Other Interesting Terms

    I won't expect you to know any of these since I rarely use them myself (except for a few of the tenses, which I redefine when they come up later), but it's probably good to have heard of them at least once.

    Concrete Noun: a word defining a person, place, or thing {America, road, human}

    Abstract Noun: a word defining an idea or feeling {psyche, concept, morbidity}

    Articles: the words "the," "an," and "a." These are considered adjectives.

    Comparative Adjectives: adjectives used to contrast two nouns or noun phrases. In English, these are formed with the adverb "more" or the suffix "-er." Japanese uses ほう and より.

    Superlative Adjectives: adjectives used to contrast one noun with ‘everything else.’ In English, these are formed with the adverb "most" or the suffix "-est." Japanese uses もっとも and 一番.

    1st person: a grammatical person in which the speaker is the subject {I, me}

    2nd person: a person in which the speaker is talking to the subject {you, yours}

    3rd person: a person in which the speaker is talking about but not to the subject {he, she, it}

    Correlative Conjunction: two or more words that surround the phrase(s) they conjunct. {if…then, both…and, either…or, neither…nor, not only…but…also/too}

    Personal Pronouns: pronouns that take the place of a specific noun and serve no secondary grammatical purpose. {I, me, you, he/she, it, we, they, that, those, this, these}

    Relative Pronouns: pronouns referring to a previous noun within the same sentence, thereby denoting a subordinate clause. {These events which you were involved in…}

    Interrogative Pronouns: pronouns that ask a question. {who, what, when, where, why}

    Indefinite Pronouns: pronouns that represent general categories of people or things. {everyone, everything, someone, something, anyone, anything}

    Reflexive Pronouns: effectively what personal pronouns look like when "reused" later in the same sentence. {myself, yourself, themselves}

    Distributive Pronouns: pronouns that represent one item or person in a group separately from the others. {each, every, the other}

    Negative Pronouns: pronouns specifying an indefinite noun that is absent from a certain group. {none, nobody, nothing}

    Generic mood: used to make very general statements about a particular class of things

    Declarative or Indicative mood: a simple statement of fact, without any special qualifications or implications. Considered the "default" mood in all languages.

    Conditional mood: used to speak of an event whose realization is dependent on a certain condition (i.e., hypothetical and ‘if, then’ statements).

    Imperative mood: expresses direct commands, requests, and other impositions of will.

    Interrogative mood: used for asking questions ("do you" instead of "you do").

    Negative mood: expresses a negated action. English negations use the auxiliary "not."

    Potential mood: a mood of probability, indicating that in the opinion of the speaker, the action or occurrence is considered likely.

    Infinitive: the default or dictionary verb form. In English, it’s "to run," "to be," etc., although the "to" in front is optional.

    Gerund: a verb form used as a noun meaning "the action of _ing." For example, "skiing, walking, typing, conjugating, etc." Obviously, English gerunds use the -ing form.

    Participle: a verb form that only specifies one grammatical detail (present or past tense), while shifting the designation of other details onto an auxiliary verb, thereby allowing for more complex tenses.

    Present Participle: the –ing form with an auxiliary. Used in passive voice and complex tenses. "I am being watched." "I will be watching it when…"

    Past Participle: the –ed form with an auxiliary. Used in passive voice and complex tenses. "I was defeated." "I had arrived there when…"

    Active Voice: as usual, the subject is the one performing the action.

    Passive Voice: instead the action is being done to the subject, not by it. "I was defeated."

    Simple Present Tense: an action taking place in the present. "I go to school." In all languages I know, this is also the infinitive.

    Simple Past Tense: an action taking place in the past. "I went to class."

    Simple Future Tense: an action taking place in the future. "I will go home."


    Confusing Vocabulary



    In the Introduction I cite "several precise but abstract words English lacks" as one of Japanese's major pros. Unfortunately, the flip side of this is that Japanese to English dictionaries are often terrible at defining and unable to adequately explain these words. So, I wanted to make a list of the ones I know are likely to cause you problems sooner or later. While I was at it, I also added a few which are just grammatical oddities, frequently mistranslated or poorly adapted, or otherwise need some kind of clarification. At this point it's basically a list of any word(s) I want to tell you something about.

    I've tried to divide the entries into groups based on why I added them.


    Words with abstract meanings


    付く

    There are a lot of different "tsuku"s out there written with different kanji, but like most homonyms a decent dictionary is all you really need. This one is special because it is so vague and so common. Most literally, it means "to attach." Very few uses are markedly more popular than the countless others, so here are those few plus a bunch of random ones:

    This is an excellent of something you probably don't "get" yet, and will only "get" once you've been working with Japanese for a very long time. Hopefully this saves you at least a little frustration.


    加減

    Literally "degree" (just like 程 hodo), though it's virtually never used to mean that. Its current usage is always in the phrase いい加減 which is literally "good degree" or "moderation." This can mean exactly what it looks like in the typical line いい加減にしなさい "do it in moderation" i.e. "stop overdoing _" or "do less of _" which is often used much like the English "cut it out already."

    But just to be incredibly annoying, いい加減な_ always means "a _ lacking in moderation" despite there being absolutely nothing to even imply a negative in that phrase. I can't really explain this at all except by pointing out that English has some equally perplexing flip-flops (see "bad boy," "goody two-shoes," any vulgar interjection, etc.).

    It's also common to use いい加減 like an adverb to imply the action is long overdue, usually in tandem with a modal implication or どう phrase. For instance, いい加減逃げれば? would usually mean "Shouldn't you just (give up and) run away already?"


    折角

    Literally something like "circumstances conducive to doing _." Depending on context, translations (once an obligatory だから or なので or something is added) may include "since/while we're all here," "given the circumstances," "might as well," etc. Note that this is always used when leading into an additional activity on top of whatever the speaker et. al. are already doing or planning on doing.


    適当

    Most literally, "appropriate." Sometimes that means what it looks like. But when used to mean "appropriate to the immediate situation," then it confuses the hell out of English speakers.

    In that case, it describes something which is "based on gut feelings/instincts/snap judgments rather than genuine thought/consideration/analysis." In a comedic sense it means improvisation, ad libbing or lying to be funny, but in a more serious sense it can also mean saying something you don't really mean. The latter is the harder to understand, so to give an example: a girl you have no interest in asks you out, but because you don't want to make her cry you (適当に) agree to go out with her anyway, regardless of the fact that this will just make her cry more later when you two break up.


    仕方ない

    Also 仕方がない, しようがない, and しょうがない. These all literally mean "there is no way/means of preventing/fixing something." The most accurate adaptation might be "it can't be helped," "there's no choice," "there's no other way," "we can't do anything about it," and so on depending on context.


    させてもらう

    This is the -te morau form of the causative form, both of which you should be familiar with. What makes this weird is that "to have you let me _" not only rarely makes any sense but actually means something like "to do _ despite not asking/knowing/caring if you're okay with it." Sometimes this can be adapted with a phrase like "I'll have to use your _" or "I'll just let myself _" or "I'll take the liberty of _", but sometimes it's just dropped.


    っていうか

    Technically this is a compound particle, but it's harder to explain than most, so it didn't really fit into Compound Particles. The only real good way to explain it is through an (underlined) example like this:

    At least, that's how I interpret it literally, since using "say" that way helps establish the connection to what っていう normally means. You may also see this shortened to something like てか or つか.


    贅沢

    Literally, this means "luxury". Most of the time, it's used to refer to someone wishing/asking/hoping for something they could never realistically obtain/achieve, especially if what they already have obtained/achieved should be more than enough to satisfy them. For instance, if your soccer team spends years training hard to beat a rival team, and you finally manage to defeat them 3-1, and you're mumbling to yourself about how you shouldn't have let them score a single goal, that's an extreme case of 贅沢.


    割り切る

    Most literally, "to divide by cutting", i.e. cut a part out of a whole. When meant concretely, this is as easy as it looks. Abstractly, it's more like "to cut off one's emotions from an event or decision". Cutting emotions off an event means something like "getting over", "getting past" or "moving on from" that event. Cutting emotions off from a decision means not letting your emotions get in the way of making the right choice. If portrayed positively, this often means being "decisive", but if portrayed negatively, this often means being "cold" or "calculating".

    Incidentally, the use of this word assumes the person "has emotions" to cut off in the first place. If someone who simply doesn't care about human life chooses to sacrifice people for some noble cause, that's not 割り切り no matter how right the decision was.

    MuvLuv Alternative has a lot of good examples of this word. For instance, when one character angrily asks whether they should simply abandon their "Storm Vanguard" and focus on the mission if he gets separated from the rest of the squad, another says "well yeah, that's the risk of being in that position", and the protagonist is impressed by her 割り切り.


    かかる

    This is one of those verbs that has such a ridiculous vairety of disparate meanings that attempting to list or learn them all is probably a waste of time. So here is a very short list of the meanings I think are actually worth memorizing, either because they're very common, or they're the ones least likely to be conveniently implied by nearby nouns.


    Pairs/Triples/etc of words with abstract meanings


    先 saki vs 元 moto

    These two kanji have several meanings, but they're always opposites of each other. Every meaning of one is the opposite of one of the other's. The best generalized definition I can come up with is that 元 moto is "point A" and 先 saki is "point B" along some literal or figurative line. Specific cases include:


    ちゃんと chanto and 一応 ichiou

    I believe ちゃんと chanto most literally means "like you're supposed to." Possible adaptations may use phrases like "doing it right," "properly," "as expected," "correctly," "without any huge mistakes," etc.

    一応 ichiou is pretty much the negation of that, so it roughly means "not exactly like you were expected/supposed to do it," though for some reason it's more difficult. Depending on the context, the precise meaning may be more like "technically," "kind of," "in a way/sense," "despite evidence to contrary," "I know what it looks like," etc.


    余裕 yoyuu, 容赦 yousha and 余地 yochi

    The best general definition for 余裕 yoyuu is, "more of something than is absolutely necessary." That something can be food, money, time, room, space, stamina, brainpower, options, resources, etc, and it's often more than one of those things. The word can also refer to the attitude that results from having this excess, namely a sense of pride, superiority, overconfidence, or a disposition to bide one's time, enjoy it to the fullest, and/or rub it in people's faces.

    On the other hand, 容赦 yousha is basically 余裕 yoyuu given to you by some other animate party. 容赦 yousha itself may translate to leniency, mercy, tolerance, forgiveness, etc. To clarify: in a context where 余裕が無い means "you'll have no second chances," 容赦がない might mean "I'm not giving you any second chances."

    余地 yochi is essentially 余裕 yoyuu but without the subjective/psychological meanings. So 余地 yochi can refer to money, time, room, space, options, resources, etc. but not to stamina, brainpower, pride, superiority, overconfidence. For some reason, 余地 yochi is particularly popular when referring to a sort of logical space of possibilities. For instance, when a certain claim is completely ruled out by hard evidence, we say there is no longer any 余地 yochi left for that claim to "exist" in.


    調子 choushi and 様子 yousu

    Both of these words basically mean "how one is/things are doing." 調子 choushi is more likely to refer to a change/trend over time, while 様子 yousu is more likely to refer to the immediate state of affairs. As a result, 調子 choushi can translate to way, trend, manner, progression, state of health, while 様子 yousu can translate to appearance, state, situation, etc. This is not as easy to learn as I make it sound.


    漫才 manzai (突っ込む tsukkomu and ボケる bokeru)

    Often defined as "comic dialogue," though it specifically refers to what in English is called a "double act." That means a stand-up comedy duo with a ボケ boke (or "funny man," who acts stupid) and a 突っ込み tsukkomi (or "straight man," who comments on the stupidity). The double act itself is important only because it is insanely common in Japanese pop culture (interestingly, the protagonist/narrator is almost always the 突っ込み tsukkomi) and because the words for the two parts of it are verbs which are very hard to explain outside of this context.

    ボケる bokeru literally means "to grow senile," so you can pretend this means "to have a senior moment" to explain why it more often means "to do something inexplicably and comically stupid."

    突っ込む tsukkomu literally means "to thrust/plunge into something" or "to stab/jab at something." It is not too hard to explain its colloquial usage as "to stab/attack the gaps in someone's reasoning/behavior." This is the more common of the two verbs, and usually much harder to adapt well, so here are a few options: to attack, to criticize, to counter-argue, to point out problems, to burst someone's bubble.


    通じる tsuujiru and 伝わる tsutawaru

    Both of these words share a meaning best defined as "to convey/get across." 伝わる tsutawaru usually has a subjective object, i.e. to convey a feeling, emotion or idea. 通じる tsuujiru usually takes something more objective, i.e. to convey an idea, plan, message. The repetition of "idea" is intentional, since that roughly describes where the two words overlap. 伝わる tsutawaru can also mean to circulate or pass down. 通じる tsuujiru can also mean to have in common or to make sense.


    Words which are easily misunderstood due to multiple meanings or uses


    挨拶 aisatsu

    This is often defined just as "greeting" or "farewell", but in reality it means "ritual phrase", which includes certain greetings and farewells, plus some other stuff. Admittedly, it is often fine to translate it as "greeting", but don't forget what it really means. There's a short list of ritual phrases farther down.


    聞く kiku

    Means either "to hear/listen" or "to ask." It always means one of the two, never both, and you have no way of knowing which except for the fact that only one of them will make any sense. Some writers will use this kanji trick to help clarify: 聴く kiku usually means "to listen" and 訊く kiku usually means "to ask."


    いる iru and ある aru

    By now you probably know of 居る iru as in "to be," which is an ichidan verb. There's also 要る iru as in "to be needed," which is a godan verb. 要る is only ever used in its infinitive and negative forms, so remember that いらない is "to be unnecessary" while いない is "to not be."

    There's also 入る for "to enter" (though it's usually in set phrases or read as hairu instead), 射る for "to shoot with an arrow" (context should make it exceedingly obvious when this is being used) and three or four other kanji for "to fry/boil/roast" (again, context), but it's mostly the top two you need to keep in mind.

    As for ある aru, there's a popular myth that いる iru is for animate objects and ある aru for inanimate (I think some textbooks are to blame). While there is a tendency for this to be the case, the real distinction is that いる iru is the default word for "to be" while ある aru is an alternative slightly closer to "to exist", and there simply is no hard rule to tell which one is "correct." Much of the time both are valid, even if one is slightly more natural. It's kinda similar to the は vs. が problem.


    知る shiru

    You probably already recognize this word as "to know" or something similar. However, dictionaries all seem to omit the alternate meaning "to care." This meaning is almost always used in one of two ways:

    Also, this seems to be exclusive to when the speaker is angry, so you could easily argue it doesn't count as a separate definition but just an idiomatic usage. Just to be clear: in most contexts "to care" is handled by 構う kamau instead.


    いい ii and 悪い warui

    You probably know that these mean "good/fine/okay" and "bad". What you might not have known is that some of the alternate meanings/uses those words have in English also apply to their Japanese counterparts. First, in English "I'm fine" or "It's okay" can be a polite way of saying "I don't want/need that". The same is true of いいよ and similar phrases (as well as stuff like 結構です). Second, in English the slang "my bad" can be used for "sorry", and 悪い happens to do the same thing in Japanese. But 悪い goes even farther, and crosses over into sentences where English speakers would normally say "thank you" rather than "sorry".


    済む sumu

    Literally "to end/finish/complete," and technically that's all it ever means. The reason it's worth mentioning here is because whenever you say "to end without _ing" in Japanese you might actually mean "to not have to _." For example, この事件を殺さずに済ませる is literally "to make this incident end without killing" and likely means "to end this incident without having to kill." Both translations are about equally valid in this example, though there will be times when only one of the two makes any sense.


    Words having to do with politeness, obligation, etc.


    世話 sewa

    世話 is literally "help," "assistance," or "looking after." The reason this deserves a mention here is the popular phrase 世話になる or "to be/become someone who is looked after." Notice the passive voice coming from (apparently) nowhere. What this phrase really means is "to impose upon someone," and some form of it is almost invariably said whenever someone feels they are obliged to someone else. This is sometimes best translated using "thank you" or "I appreciate what you've done for _."


    迷惑 meiwaku

    The converse (?) of 世話になる is 迷惑をかける. While the former means having someone else help you with your problems, the latter means to cause problems for someone else. Aside from the literal (which is often accurate), it is sometimes best to translate this using "I'm sorry" or "I apologize for what I've done to _."


    面倒 mendou

    面倒を見る means "to look after/take care of someone." This one can pretty much always be translated literally, but I'm mentioning it for completeness' sake, and because other uses of 面倒 are hard to explain without knowing this phrase.


    困る komaru

    Simply "to be troubled." This refers to any sort of emotional discomfort/malaise/puzzlement as well as actually having a problem that needs solving. Forms of 困る komaru (especially causative) can behave a lot like the phrases above, but can often be translated literally, e.g. 人を困らせるな "don't trouble people."


    勝手 katte

    It can be as simple as "selfish," though it often refers to specific selfish actions which either directly disobey someone else's will or are done with blatant indifference toward someone else's will. Hence it should often be adapted using "without" and an additional verb based on what action would have negated the selfishness, e.g. 勝手に出るな might be "Don't leave without telling/asking me."


    Words with odd grammatical behavior

    好き suki and 嫌い kirai

    The words themselves are effortless, but grammatically speaking they behave very oddly. They're both -i forms of the verbs 好く and 嫌う, but at the same time they seem to be -na adjectives, since it's perfectly normal to see 好きじゃない, 嫌いだった, etc. Fortunately, other forms of the verbs are normal.


    Lists of words or phrases


    気 ki idioms

    気 ki literally means "spirit" or "air." You may be more familiar with it as the Chinese word 気 qi or the martial arts concept of ki/qi/chi/life energy/whatever flowing through your body, which is actually a very good image to help you understand the word in Japanese.

    There are dozens of common, standardized and idiomatic phrases using this word; probably more than any other word in the language has. It's certainly the hardest list of expressions for a Westerner to master (see this entry for a very thorough list), which is why I want to list some literal meanings and equivalent English phrases here for the most common ones. Also, I believe that checking how much of this list makes intuitive sense to you is a good way of gauging how far you're getting with your Japanese overall.


    Deceitful Loanwords

    Kind of a random topic, but definitely worth mentioning. By now you've noticed that Japanese has a lot of loanwords from English, that they are usually written in katakana, and that they pretty much mean the same thing they did in our language, although they may exclude or add an alternate meaning.

    There are also some loanwords whose usage bears little or no resemblance whatsoever to English. It's easy to get confused by them, especially if your dictionary chooses to be misleading and just throw the English word back at you.

    A few good examples:


    Love Words

    Japanese has a lot of them. I would like to list a few.

    恋 koi and 愛 ai both mean romantic love, but they make a distinction English often leaves implied. 恋 koi tends to mean short-term, shallow, infatuated love, while 愛 ai tends to mean long-term, deep, married couple-type love. It's common for this distinction to be explicitly mentioned (恋じゃなくて愛だ), so you need to understand it.

    恋愛 ren'ai is the general term for love, encompassing both 恋koi and 愛 ai (as you can tell from the kanji) and sometimes even more kinds. You usually use this word when talking about the concept of love itself rather than any specific instance of one person falling for another.

    好き suki, gerund of 好く suku, refers to liking/loving someone. You may recall the word "to like" in English has a certain ambiguity as to whether it means friendship, love between family, or actual romantic love. 好き suki has it too. 嫌い kirai is its opposite, meaning disliking/hating someone.

    憧れる akogareru and 惚れる horeru both mean "to be attracted to/by _," and, interestingly enough, seem to imply that the emotion (romantic or otherwise) is caused by how the other person acts/behaves.

    憧れる akogareru is more likely to mean "to admire/look up to" or "to have a crush on" than actual love, while 惚れる horeru is more likely to mean "to fall in love with/be charmed by." It's probably worth mentioning that 一目惚れ hitomebore is how the Japanese say "love at first sight."


    どう dou Phrases

    Not many of them, and none are particularly hard, but they're so incredibly common it's worth trying to explain them instead of simply listing meanings like with the 気 idioms.

    = "however (it turns out), good" = "good no matter what" = "it doesn't matter how". It can almost always be translated with some form of "doesn't matter." But to help it make more sense, imagine whatever came before it ended with _は (which it often does) so that you get "In the context of _, no matter what, it's fine" i.e. "it's fine no matter what happens to _/how _ works out."

    = "if I do how, good?" = "It would be good if I did what?" = "What should I do?" Again, often best assumed to have a _は so that it becomes "it would be good if I did what about _/in the context of _/when _ comes up" or "What should I do about _?"

    is a particularly interesting usage of the conjunctive -te, literally meaning "_ and do what?" or "What would you do after _ing/accomplish by _ing?". Usually the intent is along the lines of "Why would you (want to) _?" or "What was the point in _ing?"

    are literally "If/when you do/did _, what/how?" which if rearranged very slightly produces "How about you do _?" or "What if _ happens?", and these are pretty accurate definitions. However, the intent behind this is often closer to "Why not _?"

    acts like an adverb or transition, and is always at the beginning of a clause. The etymology is extremely similar to どうしても (since せ is an old form of する), but the intent of どうせ_ is more like "(it doesn't matter anyway since) you're still going to _" or "_ is still true" or "_ will turn out to be true".


    Some Ritual Phrases

    Additional Topics



    As the title implies, this is just a short list of things I think are worth listing or explaining, but don't really fit in anywhere else. At the moment it's extremely short, so there's almost certainly something obvious I've forgotten to include, on top of the fact that I don't know very much about non-Kantou dialects yet (though as of v2.3 my kogo knowledge is decent).


    Phrasal Verbs

    There are very, very few phrasal verbs in Japanese, so what follows is probably close to a comprehensive list.

    がするto detect/sense, to hear something
    にするto make into _, to make it the case that _, to decide on doing _
    [-i form or 事 koto]にするto decide to _, to go with/plan on _ing
    になるto become (there is no をなる)
    [apparent form]になるto almost do, to become likely that
    とするto (hypothetically) assume, if _ were the case
    [volitional form]とするto try to do
    に決まるto be obvious that, to decide that
    と違うto be different from
    であるto be _, to be the case that _

    Formal Verbs

    Several Japanese words have a very specific formal (and longer) synonym, as shown below. For some reason, most of the "ru" verbs below have an irregular -i form ending in "i" not "ri," which even doubles as a soft command. So, expect to see a fair amount of らっしゃい, 下さい and the like.

    Normal VerbFormal Equivalent
    言う (いう)申す (もうす) or 仰る (おっしゃる)
    かしら
    くれる下さる (くださる)
    あるござる
    なるなさる
    ですございます
    いるいっらっしゃる
    ~i ます~i らっしゃる
    行く (いく)参る (まいる)
    ~te ある~te おる
    何故 (なぜ)何故 (なにゆえ)
    ~te みて~te ごらん
    どうか何卒 (なにとぞ)
    ~te もらう~te いただく
    こいつ, そいつ, あいつ, どいつこの方 (かた), その方, あの方, どの方, こなた, そなた, あなた, どなた

    Persistent 古語 kogo

    古語 kogo is a general term for old forms of Japanese, in contrast with modern Japanese. There's a supplemental section all about it since, like many other languages, learning a little about old Japanese helps with understanding modern Japanese. This is partly because it helps explain a lot of the modern language's quirks, but also because most native speakers know a few things about old Japanese and are thus prone to using them even in otherwise modern Japanese. The goal here is to list those things, so you can avoid getting thrown off by them even if you don't care about learning old Japanese.

    Before I can simply list all the bits worth knowing, there is one grammar detail that needs explaining. In old Japanese, instead of a single infinitive/nonpast form, there was a separate "predicative form" for verbs/adjectives meant to end a sentence, and an "attributive form" for verbs/adjectives at the end of a clause/phrase meant to describe a noun. The predicative form is the default/infinitive/dictionary form.


    Dialects

    Unfortunately, I am not very knowledgeable about dialects. But I can list several things distinctive of Kansai-ben which, I feel, is enough to make the vast majority of lines in that dialect comprehensible. I'll expand this if I ever I get the chance to study dialects properly.

    For the record, the 関東弁 Kantou Dialect or 東京弁 Tokyo Dialect is the one I've been teaching you.


    関西弁 Kansai-ben or 大阪弁 Osaka-ben

    That should be enough to make sense out of any random Kansai you come across. There are of course dozens of other minor differences, but the ones listed above are among the most likely to throw you off or genuinely confuse you since they involve forms/particles/words you would never see otherwise.

    The thickest, frequently-occuring Kansai dialect I've personally encountered in manga/anime/etc is that of Sket Dance's main heroine Himeko, so I would read some of that if for some reason you really want to learn basic Kansai.


    Old Japanese



    This page is extremely incomplete and unreliable because I'm not yet capable of reading old Japanese. In fact, this is mostly here for my own sake. Putting together what I know into some guide-like form helps me retain and organize the knowledge better. But since it's not total crap, and you guys might learn something from this, I might as well upload it.

    Pretty much all the information here comes directly from the books I've been using to study old Japanese, along with some "supplementary research" (browsing Japanese wikipedia articles) to fill in the details. One of the books is a ridiculously informative dictionary for old Japanese, complete with grammar guide, and the other is an edition of the Tale of Genji which includes the original text, a modern translation and lots of translation notes. Just to be clear, neither book contains any English, which is part of the reason me translating and repackaging the information here might be of some use to someone.

    This page is written on the assumption that you have little to no difficulty reading modern Japanese, or "Kinseigo", since I'll be defining things in terms of modern Japanese whenever it's convenient.


    Introductory Stuff


    Why 中古語 Chuukogo?

    The history of the Japanese language has four stages:

    To avoid any risk of ambiguity, I'll be referring to these as Joudaigo, Chuukogo, Chuuseigo and Kinseigo throughout this page. I'll use the adjectives "ancient" to imply Joudaigo, "old" to imply Chuukogo and "modern" to imply Kinseigo. Also, anything on this page marked with an asterisk (*) is unique to Joudaigo. Also, up until recently, Japanese had a literary form called 文語(ぶんご) which was separate from the spoken form, or 口語(こうご).

    This page is primarily about Chuukogo, for various reasons. First, 文語 is extremely similar to Chuukogo, so many modern-day Japanese speakers still have some familiarity with features of Chuukogo, which causes them to pop up in otherwise modern Japanese every so often.

    Second, Japanese literature took off in the Heian period, when Chuukogo was being used, so most classics of Japanese fiction are written in Chuukogo (like the Tale of Genji) or Chuuseigo (like the Tale of Heike), which is much closer to Chuukogo than the others. For comparison, the most famous works written in Joudaigo are the Kojiki (mythology), Nihon Shoki (history) and Man'youshuu (poetry).

    Third, to oversimplify things a bit, Joudaigo relied on a system of phonetic kanji called man'yougana, which was later used to develop the kana we're familiar with (in fact, man'yougana means "the kana used by the man'youshuu"). So even if you're more interested in Joudaigo, it seems like it might be better to learn Chuukogo (or maybe Chinese?) first and then transition to Joudaigo.

    What Has and Hasn't Changed

    For obvious reasons, most of the sections below will be listing facts unique to Chuukogo. So before all that, I'll give a very rough semi-accurate summary here of what aspects of Japanese seem to have changed between Chuukogo and Kinseigo, and which haven't.

    Chuukogo uses the same kana and kanji, but adds two kana (ゐ wi and ゑ we) and introduces several additional cases of alternate kana pronunciations (in Modern Japanese the only case is は being read wa).

    The major meanings of the basic particles are the same in both. は and が still mark subjects, を still marks objects, で still marks means/method, と still marks quotes, か still marks questions (though now や does too), the annoying mess of meanings に has is basically the same, etc. In fact, all the particle meanings I would consider difficult are unchanged, so adapting to Chuukogo's particles is relatively easy.

    Several particles have additional meanings in Chuukogo. For instance, は and を are now also sentence enders, の can also mark subjects.

    There are a few particles which fell out of use after Chuukogo, like にて and やは, but these are outnumbered by more familiar particles.

    A lot of the grammatical words in Chuukogo will look familiar, and many will also have similar meanings. A handful will be brand new though (including ones like なる which don't look new at all).

    With Chuukogo's particles, grammatical words and verb forms, there is a much stronger tendency for a given meaning to be expressable in several different ways (there are about eleven ways to mark the cause or reason for an event), and for a single particle/word/form to have several different meanings at once (as you can see below, べし has seven meanings). To say it more pessimistically: there's a lot more needless overlap, and a lot more frustrating ambiguity.

    A very large chunk of the vocabulary is the same, once you get used to alternate spellings caused by the alternate pronunciations and different conjugation system (e.g. かひなし is the same as 甲斐ない).

    Of course, there's also a lot of vocabulary that changed significantly. In my experience, the familiar meanings of these words simply don't make sense in context, which should be enough of a clue to look them up.

    Somehow, there seem to be almost no words that have sort of the same meaning but just changed in some subtle way to confuse you (many did change subtly, but so far not in ways that misled me at all).

    The way clauses work is, as far as I can tell, essentially the same. The problem is that Chuukogo seems more fond of leaving lots of subjects and objects implicit (apparently referring to people by name was rude in the imperial court, so for all I know this issue might be unique to the Tale of Genji). Also, many of its particles, verb forms and transition words often act as if there's an implicit 事 or 状態 or ように or some other noun or phrase following them. Thus, it's much harder to "guess" how the clauses fit together even though the basic rules are the same. The most common implicit nouns/phrases for a given particle/form/word will be mentioned as part of its definition in the lists below.

    The syntactic nature of verb forms is very similar. By that I mean that conjugating still consists of changing the last letter of a verb, attaching a suffix, and possibly repeating with the last letter of that suffix.

    However, the majority of the verb forms you're familiar with don't exist in Chuukogo, and most of the verb forms in Chuukogo don't exist in Kinseigo. One exception is the -i form. Also, compound verbs were just as common back then as they are now.

    A partial exception is the -eba form. I say partial because it's no longer a conditional form. Instead of "if _ then _", it now means "because" or "therefore". It's extremely common, so get used to this fast.

    As mentioned on the Conjugation page, the jodoushi model of verb conjugation (the one the Japanese themselves use) is much better for explaining Chuukogo than the gaijin model you're used to, so I'll be introducing it below.

    Chuukogo adjectives end in し in their default form, not い.

    Also, Chuukogo verb forms tend to be noticably shorter on average, which is a major cause of the aforementioned overlap. For instance, the -a nu (negative) and -i nu forms (past tense, sorta) are spelled identically on 一段 and 二段 verbs. It gets worse when these forms are themselves conjugated: an -i te form might be a conjunctive -te, or it could be a form of the -i tsu form (another past tense, sorta). Surprisingly, it's not that hard to deal with this, but doing so often requires looking at what comes before and after each part of the conjugated verb, which is probably not how you're used to identifying forms. For instance, a conjunctive -i te would have no further inflections, whereas the -i tsu form changed to -i te must be followed by something (and yes, it's possible to derive most of that claim directly from the information I give below).


    Kana, Particles and Vocabulary


    Interesting Vocabulary

    Chuukogo WordMeaning (in English or Kinseigo)
    をり(おり)時 or 機会
    やう様(さま) or 状態
    ほど時 or 時間 or 間(あいだ)
    のたまうおっしゃる
    はべるます
    たまふ(たまう)more formal than ます, probably best adapted with something like respectful passive or お_になる.
    たてまつる差し上げる or 申し上げる or お_になる (still kinda confused on this one)
    いと"very"
    え_[positive verb]"to _ well/successfully"
    え_[negative verb]"to be unable to _"
    かかるこんな, このような or こういう
    かしこあそこ
    しかそのような
    さばかりそれほど
    おことあなた (not sure)
    そこら数多く (the 其処等 meaning is secondary)
    己がじしeach and every (person)
    にほふ(におう)"to be beautiful", via sight and to a lesser extent via smell, unlike today where it's mostly smell and can be used positively or negatively
    なつかしinstead of "nostalgic", this describes someone you want to be closer to, possibly due to a kind, amicable personality
    聞こゆ(きこゆ)can mean "to say" as well as "to hear"
    よろづさまざま or 万事/すべて
    大和/倭(やまと)The old word for Japan. Can also mean the area which is now called Nara prefecture (since the old capital is there).
    まかづto leave a place, often a room occupied by someone of higher status, and/or return to some other place
    心地(ここち)気持ち
    嘆く(なげく)"to sigh", not "to lament"
    契り(ちぎり)約束/promise, including "promise from a past life"/fate/karma, and the vow between husband and wife
    飽く(あく)Instead of "to get sick of", this means "to be satisfied with". In fact, I saw the phrase あかぬことなし (literally "no unsatisfactory thing") used a lot like 申し分ない.
    置く(おく)Still means "to put somewhere" and the -te oku form still means the same thing, but in old Japanese this word also refers to mist/fog appearing, can mean "to remain as is" or "to leave aside" or "to abandon" or "to leave a distance between you and someone else" or "count/calculate" or "draw a pattern on something".
    床し(ゆかし)describes something you're drawn to by curiosity, possibly to the point of actively desiring it. Often resembles 行きたい/見たい/聞きたい/知りたい/読みたい. Likewise, 床しがる covers all the -たがる forms of those verbs.
    わりなしmainly 無理 or 道理にあわない, can also act like どうしようもない, 迷惑, つらい, はなはだしい
    あふ(あう)Has all the meanings you're used to (plus "to marry"), but now has a homonym 堪ふ(あう) which means 堪える(こたえる). So watch out for -i あふ forms that might be 堪ふ instead of 会う.

    There are also some words which miraculously manage to have almost exactly the same set of meanings in both old and new Japanese. 色 is one example. I might try listing some of these later.


    Changes to the Kana

    First, the easy one: The ゐ wi and ゑ we hiragana actually get used, so remember them.

    Now, remember how each kana has exactly one pronunciation, with the exception of は being read wa when it's a particle? Chuukogo has a lot more exceptions. Fortunately, most of the exceptions are reasonably intuitive: はひふへほをづぢゐゑ may be read as わいうえおおずじいえ respectively. I'm pretty sure there are a few others, but that covers the vast majority. As a quick example, the old way of writing 思います is 思ひたまふ, which would be read 思いたまう. Thankfully, conjugation doesn't add any complications to this. For instance, たまふ(たまう) has forms like たまはず(たまわず) and たまへば(たまえば).

    Finally, this isn't really a change to the kana, but it'll probably save you some headaches if I tell you about this now. There are a few kana, like で and だ, which you're used to seeing only as particles or in verb stems. But in Chuukogo, there are dzu-type verbs like 出づ(いづ) and まかづ which can conjugate to things like 出だぬ or まかでたまふ.


    Common Particle Meanings

    To deal with overlap efficiently, I'm going to use some Japanese terms for particularly common meanings.

    1) 感動語尾 - a sentence ending particle used when the speaker is emotionally moved by the action (by the way, I made this one up, it's not a real Japanese term).

    2) 逆説 - the word for "contradictory conjunction". In English these include "but", "however", "despite", "although", etc.

    3) 原因助詞 - the words for "cause/reason" and "particle". Basically, any particle which (like the modern から) may mark the cause or reason for an action later in the sentence (I also made this one up).


    Case Markers and 語尾 Gobi

    Grammatical Words

    First, the ones that are relatively easy to define.

    WordMeaning
    なむ/なんstrong emphasis, less so than ぞ
    こそstrong emphasis, and 逆説
    かしemphatically ends sentence
    just emphasis
    ながら逆説, "_ alongside/while _", "のままで"
    ものの/ものを逆説
    ものから/ものゆゑ逆説, 原因助詞
    とも"even if"
    だに"if nothing else"/"at the very least", "not even _ much less _"
    すら"not even _ much less _"
    さへ"in addition, even _"
    のみだけ, 特に
    ばかりほど/ぐらい, だけ
    などsame as modern など
    までsame as modern まで plus a ほど/ぐらい meaning
    めり"ような"/"みたいな"
    Conjugation:_めり_めり_める_めれ_
    ごとし"ような"/"みたいな", may have an implicit たとえば too
    Conjugation:_ごとく_ごとし_ごとき___

    Don't worry about the little "conjugation" parts for now. They'll be explained a few sections later. Last but not least, here are the tricky ones.

    らむ/らん denotes present actions the speaker knows about secondhand, or is guessing are happening. This may also mark the cause of the action in the next clause. If the speaker does know about it firsthand, this asks why it's happening. Compare to -i けむ/けん below.

    らし indicates an inferred cause of or reason for some event the speaker perceives directly.

    Conjugation:__らしらし
    らしき
    らし_

    なり indicates an event inferred from noises or voices the speaker heard, or something they know through hearsay.

    Conjugation:_なりなりなるなれ_

    べし indicates likelihood/volition/intent/obvious truth/recommendation/order/possibility. Seriously, it can be any of those.

    Conjugation:べからべく
    べかり
    べしべき
    べかる
    べけれ_

    まじ is the negative of べし, so it indicates unlikelihood/non-volition/non-intent/obvious falsehood/prohibition/negative order/impossibility.

    Conjugation:まじからまじく
    まじかり
    まじまじき
    まじかる
    まじけれ_

    り denotes actions that are complete, but whose effects persist (like ~て・ある). Since there are weird restrictions on when this form can and can't be used, the -i たり form (same meaning) is much more popular.

    Conjugation:

    べし should look very familiar because its predicative form べき and to a lesser extent its negative form べからず (and べし itself) are still present in Kinseigo. Obviously, it has dropped a lot of those meanings over the past several centuries. I also suspect the modern まい form has a lot to do with まじ.

    I don't know for sure how you're supposed to tell the difference between all the meanings of べし and まじ, but I suspect it's very similar to what you do with the -a mu form described below.


    Verbs


    Verb Categories

    Before, I defined "verb type" as the letter a verb ends in by default, which determines how its other forms are spelled. A "verb category" is a set of rules determining these spellings based on type. In Kinseigo, 一段 ichidan and 五段 godan are the only verb categories, and all 一段 ichidan verbs are -ru type anyway, so categories just weren't that important before.

    In old Japanese, we have the categories 一段 ichidan, 二段 nidan and 四段 yondan (as far as I can tell 三段 sandan doesn't exist). Technically, 一段 and 二段 are each split into "upper" and "lower" categories depending on whether the stem's last vowel is i or e respectively. This doesn't actually affect how the verbs conjugate, so I will ignore it and write lots of "i/e"s instead.

    There are also small categories for irregular verbs. カ変 is short for カ行変格活用 "k-sound irregular conjugation", meaning any irregular verb starting with か, け, き, こ or く (though the only verb actually in this category is く). Likewise, there are サ変, ナ変 amd ラ変 categories. Kinseigo has these categories too, but so few verbs are in them that it's usually not worth mentioning.

    Also, adjectives are split into ku-type and shiku-type. In Kinseigo, it's often said there are i-adjectives and na-adjectives, but the vast majority of na-adjectives are really just nouns with a particle after them, so they kinda don't count. In Chuukogo, nari-type and tari-type adjectives are the same way, so I will be ignoring these.


    The Jodoushi Model

    Now, as promised, I'll tell you the model that the Japanese use to explain Japanese verb conjugation. Long story short: everything that can be conjugated has exactly six basic forms. Depending on the verb/adjective/whatever, some of these forms may have no spellings (i.e. they can't be used at all) or multiple spellings (which are interchangeable), but usually it's one spelling each.

    Japanese NameEnglish NameUsage
    未然形(みぜんけい)Incomplete FormLike the -te and -i forms, this is used to make several complex forms
    連用形(れんようけい)Connective FormThe modern 連用形 is called the -i form in the gaijin model. The old 連用形 has the same uses, including forming compound verbs.
    終止形(しゅうしけい)Predicative FormFor verbs meant to end a sentence, i.e. verbs in the "main predicate". This also serves as the default/dictionary/infinitive form.
    連体形(れんたいけい)Attributive FormFor verbs at the end of a clause meant to describe a noun, i.e. "attribute" an action to it.
    已然形(いぜんけい)Conjunctive FormUsed by certain particles to express meanings like "since" and "however" (which are conjunctions in English).
    命令形(めいれいけい)Command FormExactly what it sounds like.

    The Connective and Command Forms should be extremely familiar. The Incomplete Form is a bit odd, but similar enough to things you're familiar with that it shouldn't take long to get used to. The Conjunctive Form may look very odd now, but once you look at the itty-bitty table for it below, you should grasp it very quickly. Just so you know, the jodoushi model for Kinseigo refers to the 已然形 as the 仮定形 or "Hypothetical Form".

    The introduction of the Attributive Form is probably the weirdest part, largely because in modern Japanese the Predicative and Attributive Forms are completely identical. For instance, the old verbs す and く had Attributive Forms する and くる, and nowadays we refer to those verbs as する and くる since their Predicative Forms have been phased out.

    Because of this strong "only six forms" premise, we can give a concise and complete description of verb/adjective/whatever's conjugation by simply listing those six forms in the correct order. For instance, the six forms of す are せ (incomplete), し (connective), す (predicative), する (attributive), すれ (conjunctive), and せよ (command). In my Chuukogo dictionary, and many other books about Japanese written in Japanese, it's common to to list these in an extremely concise form such as: (せ・し・す・する・すれ・せよ). In fact, I already put similar lists underneath some of the "grammatical words" listed above.

    Now, why am I calling this the "jodoushi" model? Because most of the things you're used to calling "forms" are the result of attaching either a 助動詞 jodoushi or a particle to one of the six basic forms. A jodoushi is any non-lexical word (i.e. "particle" in the broadest sense) that can itself conjugate to the six forms. Thus all of the "grammatical words" above that I attached a list of conjugations to are actually jodoushi. For the rest of this page, "particle" specifically means non-lexical words that don't conjugate (though hopefully that was already part of your intuitive definition).

    For instance, in Kinseigo, what we've been calling the "negative form" is actually the result of attaching ない (a jodoushi) to the Incomplete Form (走らない = 走ら + ない), and what we've been calling the "hypothetical form" is actually the result of attaching ば (a particle) to the Hypothetical Form (行けば = 行け + ば). As a direct result, the grammar guide that came with my Chuukogo dictionary was essentially just a list of particles and jodoushi.

    Okay, we're finally done with the conceptual foundation, so we can move on to some real conjugation. Since there's only six forms now (and I'm no longer treating verb types separately since I'm sure you can deal with that by now), there's no reason not to just throw up a complete conjugation table.

    Verb/Adjective Category未然形
    Incomplete Form
    連用形
    Connective Form
    終止形
    Predicative Form
    四段
    Example: 書く
    -a
    書か
    -i
    書き
    -u
    書く
    一段
    Example: 着る
    -i/e
    着(き)
    -i/e
    着(き)
    -iru/eru
    着る
    二段
    Example: 起く
    -i/e
    起き
    -i/e
    起き
    -u
    起く
    カ変: 来(く)
    カ変: 来(く)
    ナ変: 死ぬ, 往ぬ/去ぬ死な死に死ぬ
    ラ変: 有り, 居(を)り
    侍(はべ)り, いまそかり
    有ら有り有り
    ク活用の形容詞
    Example: なし
    なからなかり
    なく
    なし
    シク活用の形容詞
    Example: 美し
    美しから美しかり
    美しく
    美し

    Verb/Adjective Category連体形
    Attributive Form
    已然形
    Conjunctive Form
    命令形
    Command Form
    四段
    Example: 書く
    -u
    書く
    -e
    書け
    -e
    書け
    一段
    Example: 着る
    -iru/eru
    着る
    -ire/ere
    着れ
    -iyo/eyo
    着よ
    二段
    Example: 起く
    -uru
    起くる
    ure
    起くれ
    -iyo/eyo
    起きよ
    カ変: 来(く)くるくれ
    カ変: 来(く)するすれせよ
    ナ変: 死ぬ, 往ぬ/去ぬ死ぬる死ぬれ死ね
    ラ変: 有り, 居(を)り
    侍(はべ)り, いまそかり
    有る有れ有れ
    ク活用の形容詞
    Example: なし
    なかる
    なき
    なけれなかれ
    シク活用の形容詞
    Example: 美し
    美しかる
    美しき
    美しけれ美しかれ

    This particular table is a heavily altered version of one I stole from wikipedia. I bring that up only because, if you want to learn more about the jodoushi model itself, separately from Chuukogo, that link is a good starting point.


    List of Chuukogo Verb Forms

    Within the jodoushi model, I use "verb form" to refer to certain combinations of one of the six basic forms with either a particle or a jodoushi. Specifically, I mean those combinations where the particle/jodoushi must be attached to a verb (not a noun) conjugated to a specific non-infinitive form (so べし, まじ, etc don't count). That may sound a little confusing and arbitrary, but this matches the intuitive distinction between "grammatical words" and "verb forms" that I've used in the main guide, so it's worth using here too.

    Only three of the non-infinitive verb forms actually apply here. The 終止形 doesn't count because it's the infinitive form, and I ruled that out. The 命令形 doesn't count because nothing attaches specifically to it (of course some particles can come after it, like と, but those can come after anything). The 連体形 doesn't count because every particle that attaches to it also attaches to nouns (in fact, when you see a "clause-ending particle" in old Japanese, it's often a good idea to assume an implied noun).

    So, using my (purportedly intuitive) definition of "verb form", all complex forms are based on 已然形, 未然形 and 連用形. This should be very comforting, since the 未然形 and 連用形 are analogous to the -te and -i forms you're used to, and the 已然形 only makes two extremely specific and easy to remember forms. Let's get 已然形 out of the way first.

    Forms made using the 已然形 Conjunctive Form
    Verb FormSix-Form ConjugationMeaning(s)
    -e/-re ばDoes not conjugateThis means "_ since/because _", like the modern から. Note that it does not mean "if _, then _". May have the nuance of "whenever _, always/afterward _".
    -e/-re ど/どもDoes not conjugate逆説, like the modern -temo form. May have the nuance of "-temo, yahari".

    Forms made using the 未然形 Incomplete Form
    Verb FormSix-Form ConjugationMeaning(s)
    -a るれ れ る るる るれ れよSame as modern passive form (including the formality and spontaneous uses),
    -i/-e らるられ られ らる らるる らるれ られよor same as modern potential form. In Joudaigo, these were -a *ゆ and -i/-e *らゆ.
    -a すせ せ す する すれ せよ
    -i/-e さすさせ させ さす さする さすれ させよSame as modern causative form.
    -a/-i/-e しむしめ しめ しむ しむる しむれ しめよ
    ざり ざる ざれ
    -a/-i/-e ずざら ず ざれSame as modern negative form.
    ず ぬ ね
      む むCan indicate volition ("I shall..."), a suggestion/recommendation ("You should..."),
    -a/-i/-e む
    -a/-i/-e ん
    _ _  め _likelihood ("It will probably..."), or act like ような/という ("Such a thing would..."),
      ん んdepending on the subject.
      むず むずる むずれ
    -a/-i/-e むず
    -a/-i/-e んず
    _ _   _Can indicate volition ("I shall...") or likelihood ("It will probably...").
      んず んずる んずれ
    -a/-i/-e じ_ _ じ じ じ _Negative of むず/んず, so "I shall not..." or "It probably won't...".
    ませCan indicate likelihood ("It will probably...") or a hypothetical ("If _ were true, then
    -a/-i/-e まし _ まし まし ましか _perhaps _") or simply hesitation/puzzlement. The third meaning is especially
    ましかcommon in questions.
     まほしく まほしき まほしけ まほしか
    -a/-i/-e まほしまほしか まほ まほしか れ れSame as modern -i tai form.
     ら り る
    -a/-i/-e でDoes not conjugateSame as modern negative form, but also like conjunctive -te. Pretend it's short for ないで.
    -a/-i/-e ばDoes not conjugateMeans "if/when", like modern -tara/-nara forms.
    -a/-i/-e ばやDoes not conjugateSimilar to modern -i tai form, but without implying the speaker can/will actually do it. The nuance is a lot like -i たいものだ or "I would love to _"
    -a/-i/-e なむDoes not conjugateSame as modern -te hoshii form.
    -a/-i/-e なんDoes not conjugateSame as modern -te hoshii form.
    -a/-i/-e *なもDoes not conjugateSame as modern -te hoshii form.
    -a/-i/-e/-o *す???Conveys moderate respect. For some reason, it looks like this form can change the 四段未然形 from -a to -o. For instance, 思ふ becomes 思ほす.
    -a/-i/-e *ふ???Indicates repetition or continuation of an action, much like -i つつ.
    -a/-i/-e *な???Same as modern -i tai form.
    -a/-i/-e *ね???Same as modern -te hoshii form.

    Forms made using the 連用形 Connective Form
    Verb FormSix-Form ConjugationMeaning(s)
    -i/-i/-e き*せ _ き し しか _-ki is past tense for events the subject knows firsthand.
    -i/-i/-e けり*けら _ けり ける けれ _-keri is past tense for events the subject knows about secondhand.
    -i/-i/-e つて て つ つる つれ てよThese denote actions that either are complete (past tense), will complete (~て・しまう), or are certain to occur (きっと).
    -i/-i/-e ぬな に ぬ ぬる ぬれ ね-tsu is better for deliberate or transitive actions. -nu is better for natural or intransitive actions.
    -i/-i/-e たりたら たり たり たる たれ たれThis denotes actions that are complete, but whose effects persist (like ~て・ある). For instance, 書きたり would mean someone wrote something that's still around.
    _ _ けむ けむThis denotes past actions the speaker knows about secondhand, or is guessing happened.
    -i/-i/-e けむ  けん けん けめ _This may also mark the cause of the action in the next clause, especially in a question. Compare to らむ/らん
    たか たく た たき たけ
    -i/-i/-e たしら たか れ _Same as modern -i tai form.
     り る
    -i/-i/-e に [verb]Does not conjugateBoth of these add emphasis if the same verb is being repeated, just like modern "-i に [same verb]".
    -i/-i/-e と [verb]Does not conjugateThe -i に [verb] form also has the same "_ in order to _" meaning as it does nowadays.
    -i/-i/-e てDoes not conjugateEither a conjunctive -te (which may double as a 逆説 or 原因助詞), or marks a state/condition. To prevent confusion: there are no "-te forms" in Chuukogo.
    -i/-i/-e つつDoes not conjugate"continue _ing", "repeatedly _" or "_ alongside/while _ing"
    -i/-i/-e こそDoes not conjugateSame as modern -te hoshii form.
    -i/-i/-e そDoes not conjugateA negative command or request. Often used with a な preceding the verb: な書きそ = "(please) don't write it".
    -i/-i/-e もがDoes not conjugateMuch like があればな or "if only (there was a) _"
    -i/-i/-e もがなDoes not conjugateMuch like があればな or "if only (there was a) _"
    -i/-i/-e *もがもDoes not conjugateMuch like があればな or "if only (there was a) _"
    -i/-i/-e しがDoes not conjugateSimilar to modern -i tai form, but without implying the speaker can/will actually do it.
    -i/-i/-e しがなDoes not conjugateThe nuance is a lot like -i たいものだ or "I would love to _"

    Example(s)

    Obviously, it would be stupid for me to try and write my own sentences, so I'll be taking a handful of lines I like from Genji or the example sentences in my dictionary. By "expert translation", I mean a translation provided by the book I found the sentence in.

    The biggest reason I chose these sentences is that I'm pretty sure I actually understand how all the parts add up to the translation provided. Admittedly, a few things about them still puzzle me, and are thus ignored in my explanations, but considering I've only studied Chuukogo for one or two months total, that's unavoidable.

    Old Japanese: かなはざりける命のほどぞ尽きせずうらめしき。

    Step-by-step Parsing: The first word is the verb かなふ, which in this case is the same as 叶う(かなう). It's conjugated to the -a ざる negative form, then the ざる conjugated to its past tense -i けり form, and finally that けり to its predicative form ける because it's being used to describe the noun phrase 命のほど. Thus, かなはざりける is equivalent to 叶わなかった.

    For 命のほど, we have to remember that ほど can mean 時間. Essentially, this phrase is meant to refer to the length of a life. The particle ぞ at the end is just emphasis (though it should sound very weird). Next, 尽き and せず are more or less the same as modern Japanese: "exhaust" and "to not". In this case, their combination means something like 限りなく. Finally, うらめし is the same as 恨めしい "reproachful", except it's in its predicative -ki form, because the phrase 尽きせずうらめしき is meant to be describing 命のほど. Notice that the presence of ぞ allows the 尽きせずうらめしき phrase to describe something retroactively without causing confusion.

    尽きせずうらめしき phrase to describe something retroactively without causing confusion. Putting all that together, we have something like "the length of a life, which is such that (some wish) could not be granted, is infinitely reproachful." In the context of the story, the speaker is bemoaning the fact that his lover's life was too short for her to fulfill a promise they'd made.

    Expert Translation to Modern Japanese: (その願いの)かなえられなかった命のはかなさが限りもなく恨めしいのである。

    Old Japanese: 秋ならで妻よぶ鹿を聞きしがなをりから声の身にはしむかと

    Step-by-step Parsing: First, the -a で form of なる is a negation. Second, the -i しがな form is kinda like -i tai, but with a "were it possible, I would love to _" nuance. From that, you can see how the first part of this sentence means "I would love to hear a deer call for his mate when it was not autumn."

    Recall をり means "time". The から here marks a cause rather than a start. Notice the の particle is marking 声 as a subject. The verb しむ is basically 沈む. The かと is the same as modern Japanese. So the second part means "I suspect that voice sinks into my body because of the time", where "time" refers to the season of autumn and "sinks into my body" means exactly what you'd expect.

    Expert Translation to Modern Japanese: 秋以外の時に、妻を呼んで鳴く鹿の声を聞きたいものだな。秋という季節だからこのように声が身にしみるかと。

    Old Japanese: 右近の司の宿直奏の声聞こゆるは、丑になりぬるなるべし。

    Step-by-step Parsing: The first part of this sentence just requires you to know things, so focus on the more interesting second part once you read this. 右近の司 refers to a particular guard whose shift is at 丑 (1-3 AM). 宿直奏 refers to a guard announcing their name when their shift begins. 声聞こゆる is exactly what it looks like: "hearing the voice of (the guard saying his own name)".

    Now the fun part. The first なる is the usual verb "to become", conjugated to -i nu form, the nu's predicative form adds a ru, to which the naru particle attaches (inferring event based on something heard, in this case the guard's voice), to which the beshi particle attaches (the subject is third person so interpret it as likelihood). Thus this adds up to "It's probably (based on what he heard) just about 1 AM."

    Expert Translation to Modern Japanese: 右近衛府の宿直奏の声が聞こえてくるのは、もう丑の時になってしまっているのであろう。

    Old Japanese: さるまじき御(おほむ)ふるまひもうちまじりける。

    Step-by-step Parsing: さる is like ある, まじき is the attribute form of まじ. Together these mean something like "_ which should not be" which can be interpreted as "undesireable" or "inappropriate".

    御 and ふるまひ are the same as おふるまい despite the weird spelling. も is a particle by itself. うちまじる is まじりあう and -i ける is past tense. So the whole line is "Inappropriate behavior was mixed in", which, based on the context I haven't transcribed, means "Sometimes he acted inappropriately."

    The とか in the expert translation probably reflects the fact that ける is for secondhand knowledge.

    Expert Translation to Modern Japanese: 時には不都合なおふるまいもなくはないのだったとか。

    Old Japanese: おのづからかしこまりもえおかず、心の中(うち)に思ふことを隠しあへずなむ、むつれきこえたまひける。

    Step-by-step Parsing: おのづから is like "by onself" in modern JP, here it's like 自然と "naturally". かしこまる here means something like "to be respectfully quiet". There's an え_[negative], meaning "unable to _", around an おく, which here means "to remain as is". Thus this phrase means "it naturally became such that they were unable to remain respectfully quiet".

    心の中に思ふこと means exactly what it looks like: "what they felt in their hearts". 隠す also means "hide" as usual. The tricky part here is that the -i あふ form is using 堪ふ instead of 会ふ, so 隠しあへず means "cannot endure hiding". The なむ is emphatic.

    Finally, 睦れ means "intimately" (recall 睦まじい) and this きこゆ is one of the many meaning "say" rather than "hear". The -i たまふ is just formality, and -i ける is past tense. So this part means "they spoke intimately".

    Expert Translation to Modern Japanese: お互いに胸の中のことも包みきれず話し合うといった具合に、親しみ申されるのであった。

    Old Japanese: 「その片かどなき人はあらむや」とのたまへば、「いとさばかりならむあたりには、誰(たれ)かはすかされ寄りはべらむ。」

    Step-by-step Parsing: 片かど is 片才, meaning a meager talent/skill. 片かどなき thus means "without even the slightest talent". The -a mu form indicates likelihood since the subject is third person. Notice that や marks a question here. So this part means "Is it probable for such a talentless/worthless person to exist?"

    The のたまふ means おっしゃる. Remember the -e ば is not "if" but "because".

    いと means "very". さばかり means それほど. あたり means what you think it does. In this case, the -a mu form is best read as という, and さばかりならむ is referring to the phrase 片かどなき in the previous quote. So the literal is "a (hypothetical) place that is _ to such a great degree". Plug in the reference and this becomes "a (hypothetical) place with such a worthless person".

    In context, this is Genji and his caretaker talking about court ladies in the imperial palace, so what this phrase really means is "a place with such a worthless woman".

    誰(たれ) still means "who?", the pronunciation is just older. すかす means うまいこといってだます. 寄る still means "to visit", and はべる is simply a formal verb. Once again, the -a mu is likelihood. This adds up to "Who would be deceived into visiting (such a place)?"

    Expert Translation to Modern Japanese: 源氏は「一つの取り柄もないという人がいるものだろうか」とおっしゃると、中将は、「まったく、それほどひどい女がいるとしたら、そんな所には、誰がだまされて寄りつきますか。」