Grammar
| Welcome to the grammar page. Click on the English to link to a video of the phrase. |
| Parts of Speech | ||
|---|---|---|
| English | Romaji | Japanese |
| Parts of speech | hinshi | 品詞 |
| verb | doushi | 動詞 |
| noun | meishi | 名詞 |
| pronoun | daimeishi | 代名詞 |
| personal pronoun | ninshou dai meishi | 人称代名詞 |
| i adjective | keiyoushi | 形容詞 |
| na adjective | keiyoudoushi | 形容動詞 |
| adverb | fukushi | 副詞 |
| conjunction | setsuzokushi | 接続詞 |
| particle | joshi | 助詞 |
| counter | josuushi | 助数詞 |
| interjection | kandoushi | 感動詞 |
| General Linguistic Terms | ||
| sentence | bun | 文 |
| word/language | kotoba | 言葉 |
| grammar | bunpou | 文法 |
| word / vocabulary | tango | 単語 |
| vocabulary / glossary | goi | 語彙 |
| language | gengo | 言語 |
| Prepositions | ||
| on | ue | 上 |
| under | shita | 下 |
| left | hidari | 左 |
| right | migi | 右 |
| in | naka | 中 |
| outside | soto | 外 |
| front | mae | 前 |
| back / behind | ishiro | 後ろ |
| between | aida | 間 |
| facing / across from | mukai | 向かい |
| next to | tonari | 隣 |
| nearby | soba | 側 |
| around | mawari | 回り |
| side | yoko | 横 |
| Particles | ||
| Japanese | Romaji | Explanation |
| は | wa | topic marker |
| が | ga | subject marker |
| を | o | direct object marker |
| に | ni | static location marker |
| へ | e | directional marker |
| で | de | by means of marker |
| も | mo | also marker |
| と | to | and marker, quote marker |
| や | ya | and/etc. marker |
| から | kara | from marker |
| まで | made | until marker |
| より | yori | comparison marker |
| の | no | many uses mostly as a possessive particle, verb and adjective nominalizer |
| Sentence-Final Particles | ||
| か | ka | question/doubt particle |
| ね | ne | agreeance particle |
| よ | yo | affirmative particle |
| わ | wa | agreeance/exclamation particle, used almost exclusively by females |
| ぜ | ze | agreeance particle, used mostly by men |
| ぞ | zo | Emphasizes one’s opinion, used mostly by men |
| の | no | emphatic question particle, used mostly by children and women |
| なあ | naa | indicates emphasis, question, or reflection |
| Adverbs of Frequency | ||
| always | itsumo | いつも |
| often | yoku | よく |
| sometimes | tokidoki | 時々 |
| not very often | amari | あまり |
| once in a while | tamani | たまに |
| almost never, hardly | hotondo | ほとんど |
| not at all | zenzen | 全然 |
| Routines using Every and Time | ||
| everyday | mainichi | 毎日 |
| every morning | maiasa | 毎朝 |
| every night | maiban | 毎晩 |
| every week | maishuu | 毎週 |
| every month | maigetsu | 毎月 |
| times per the period | kai | 回 |
| how many times… | nankai | 何回 |
| Conjugated Forms | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| conjugation | doushi no katsuyou henka | 動詞の活用変化 | |
| intransitive verb | jidoushi | 自動詞 | 消える – to go out – flame |
| transitive verb | tadoushi | 他動詞 | 消す – to put out – fire |
| potential verb | kanoudoushi | 可能動詞 | 飲める – able to drink |
| stative verb | joutaidoushi | 状態動詞 | |
| causative form | shiekikei | 使役形 | させる |
| passive form | ukemikei | 受け身形 | される |
| imperative form | meireikei | 命令形 | 来い、しろ、食べろ、飲め |
| Active, Causative, Causative Passive, Passive & Potential | |||
| Term | English | Romaji | Japanese |
| Active sentence | I paid the bill. | Watashi wa daikin o haraimashita. | 私は代金を払いました。 |
| Causative passive | I was forced to pay the bill. | Watashi wa daikin o harawaseraremashita / harawasaremashita. | 私は代金を払わせられました。 |
| Causative sentence | My friends made me pay the bill. | Tomodachi wa watashi ni daikin o harawasemashita. | 友達は私に代金を払わせました。 |
| Passive Sentence | The bill was paid. | Daikin wa harawaremashita. | 代金は払われました。 |
| Potential sentence | I can pay the bill. | Watashi wa daikin o haraemasu. | 私は代金を払えます。 |
| Because | |||
| Because using de | Because I was working late last night I got very tired. | Kinou no yoru, shigoto de, totemo tsukaremashita. | 昨日の夜仕事で、とても疲れました。 |
| Because using kara (a) | Because many people will probably come, I bought lots of food. | Hito ga takusan kuru darou kara, tabemono o takusan katte | 人がたくさん来るだろうから、食べ物のをたくさん買っておいた。 |
| Because using kara (b) | Please come tomorrow because I’m busy today. | Kyou wa isogashii desu kara, ashita kite kudasai. | 今日は忙しいですから、明日来て下さい。 |
| Because using nazenara | Because, (I’m) really hungry! . | Nazenara hara ga hetta kara. | なぜなら腹が減ったから。 |
| Because using node | Because I drank a lot of sake I got sleepy. | Osake o takusan nonda node, nemuku narimashita. | お酒をたくさん飲んだので、眠くなりました。 |
| Advanced Grammar: Counters | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| small objects | people | machines | books | minutes | small animals | buildings | time past |
| ひとつ | ひとり | いっだい | いっさつ | いっぽん | いっぴき | いっけん | いっかい |
| ふたつ | ふたり | にだい | にさつ | にほん | にひき | にけん | にかい |
| みっつ | さん人 | さんだい | さんさつ | さんぼん | さんびき | さんけん | さんかい |
| よっつ | よにん | よんだい | よんさつ | よんほん | よんひき | よんけん | ほんかい |
| いいつ | ごにん | ごだい | ごさつ | ごほん | ごひき | ごけん | ごかい |
| むっつ | ろくにん | ろくだい | ろくさつ | ろっぷん | ろっぴき | ろっけん | ろっかい |
| ななつ | しちにん | しちだい | しちさつ | しちほん | しちひき | しちけん | ななかい |
| やっつ | はちにん | はちだい | はっさつ | はっぽん | はっひき | はっけん | はっかい |
| ここのつ | きゅうにん | きゅうだい | きゅうさつ | きゅうほん | きゅうひき | きゅけん | きゅうかい |
| 十と | じゅうにん | じゅうだい | じゅさつ | じゅほん | じゅうひき | じゅうけん | じゅうかい |
| Counter Work Key | ||
|---|---|---|
| English | Romaji | Japanese |
| Round small objects | tsu | つ |
| People | nin | にん |
| machinery | dai | だい |
| Bound objects | satsu | さつ |
| long thin items | hon | ほん |
| small animals | hiki | ひき |
| houses, shops, businesses, banks | ken | けん |
| times of occurrence | kai | かい |
| Suppose to | ||
|---|---|---|
| English | Romaji | Japanese |
| Mr. Tanaka is supposed to get married next year. | Tanaka san wa rainen kekkon suru hazu desu. | 田中さんは来年結婚するはずです。 |
| That person is supposed to be married. | Ano hito wa kekkon shite iru hazu desu. | あの人は結婚しているはずです。 |
| That person is not supposed to be married. | Ano hito wa kekkon shite inai hazu desu. | あの人は結婚していないはずです。 |
| Five friends were expected to come to my house today. | Kyou tomodachi ga gonin uchi e kuru hazu deshita. | 今日友達が五人家へ来るはずでした。 |
| Mr. Tanaka is supposed to be absent from school today. | Tanaka san wa kyou gakkou o yasumu hazu desu. | 田中さんは今日を休むはずです。 |
| Mr. Tanaka supposedly does not have a part-time job during the vacation. | Tanaka san wa yasumi ni arubaito o shinai hazu desu yo. | 田中さんは休みにアルバイトをしないはずですよ。 |
| It is supposed to rain. | Ame ga furu hazu desu. | 雨が降るはずです。 |
| Tanaka is supposed to come with his sister. | Tanaka san wa oniisan o tsurete kuru hazu desu. | 田中さんはお兄さんを連れて来るはずです。 |
| It’s not expected to rain. | Ame ga furunai hazu desu. | 雨が降るないはずです。 |
| Mr. Tanaka is not expected to come with his sister. | Tanaka san wa oniisan o tsurete konai hazu desu. | 田中さんはお兄さんを連れて来ないはずです。 |
| Adjectives | ||
|---|---|---|
| English | Romaji | Japanese |
| Big | ookii / ookina | 大きい |
| Small | chiisai / chiisa-na | 小さいな |
| Many | ooi | 多い |
| Few | sukunai | 少ない |
| New | atarashii | 新しい |
| Old | furui | 古い |
| Good | ii / yoi | いい よい |
| Not good; bad | yokunai | よくない |
| Bad | warui | 悪い |
| Quiet; peaceful | shizuka-na | 静かな |
| Noisy; distrubing | urusai | うるさい |
| Attractive; clean | kirei-na | きれいな |
| Dirty | kitanai | きたない |
| Spacious; wide | hiroi | 広い |
| Small (in area); narrow | semai | 狭い |
| Low | hikui | 低い |
| High; expensive | takai | 高い |
| Inexpensive | yasui | 安い |
| Interesting | omoshiroi | 面白い |
| Famous | yuumei-na | 有名な |
| Lively | nigiyaka-na | にぎやかな |
| Boring | tsumaranai | つまらない |
| Difficult | juzukashii | むずかしい |
| Easy; kind | yasashii | やさしい |
| Long | nagai | 長い |
| Short | mijikai | 短い |
| Delicious | oishii | おいしい |
| Bad tasting | mazui | まずい |
| Colors | ||
| black | kuro / burakku | 黒 / ブラック |
| blue | ao / burū | 青 / ブルー |
| brown | chairo / buraun | 茶色 / ブラウン |
| gray | haiiro / gurē | 灰色 / グレー |
| green | midori / guriin | 緑 / グリーン |
| orange | daidai / orenji | 橙 / オレンジ |
| purple | murasaki / pāpuru | 紫 / パープル |
| red | aka / reddo | 赤 / レッド |
| white | shiro / howaito | 白 / ホワイト |
| yellow | kiiro / ierō | 黄色 / イエロー |
