Grammar
These are my notes on grammar and anything else I find relevant to learning Japanese.
Warning
This is a living document and grows with my own understanding of the language. So beware that some statements may be incorrect or change drastically over time.
Grammar¶
Every sentence includes が¶
が is always there but might be invisible in a sentence.
graph LR
A("私が")---B("ケーキを")---C("食べる")
D("Øが")-.-E("ケーキを")---F("食べる")
style D fill:#fff,stroke:#666,stroke-width:2px,color:#000,stroke-dasharray: 5 5With the context of "私" already established the Øが sentence above also means "I eat cake".
graph LR
A["私は"]---B("Øが")-.-C("アメリカ人だ")
D["As for me,"]---E("I")-.-F("am American")
style B fill:#fff,stroke:#666,stroke-width:2px,color:#000,stroke-dasharray: 5 5
style E fill:#fff,stroke:#666,stroke-width:2px,color:#000,stroke-dasharray: 5 5The literal translation is "As for me, I am American".
The hidden Øが is the "I".
graph LR
A["私は"]---B("Øが")-.-C("うなぎだ")
D["As for me,"]---E("it")-.-F("is eel")
style B fill:#fff,stroke:#666,stroke-width:2px,color:#000,stroke-dasharray: 5 5
style E fill:#fff,stroke:#666,stroke-width:2px,color:#000,stroke-dasharray: 5 5私はうなぎだ in the context of ordering a meal, does not mean "As for me, I am an eel", it means "As for me, it is eel".
Øが is "it" and not "I" in this case, and it is "what we are eating/ordering".
Sentence endings¶
う Verbs¶
Verbs are words that show an action, occurrence, or state of being.
あきらが歩く
Akira walks
だ/です Nouns¶
Nouns are words that represent people, places or things.
あきらが日本人だ
Akira is Japanese
Adjectives¶
Adjectives are words that describe nouns.
～い¶
りんごが赤い
The apple is red
赤い = あか (Red) ＋ い (Is)
赤いりんごがおいしい
Red apples are delicious
～う¶
少女が歌った
The girl who sang歌った少女が寝ている
The girl who sang is sleeping
～だ (な adjectives)¶
Replace だ with な
犬がやんちゃだ
The bad dogやんちゃな犬が寝ている
The bad dog is sleeping
の¶
ゼルダの伝説
The legend of Zelda伝説の戦士
Legendary warrior
Particles¶
Noun+が (Subject)¶
Noun+は (Topic)¶
Noun+を (Object)¶
Noun+で (Utilisation)¶
Noun+に (Indirect Object)¶
Things done to someone
友達に手紙を書きます
Things done to you or for you
お母さんにケーキを買ってもらった
Noun+に・へ (Direction/Movement/Location)¶
Interchangable with へ
日本にいきます
日本へいきます
紙に書きます
紙へ書きます
Time+に¶
If the time is absolute it requires に, such as "On Monday".
Otherwise に is not required e.g. "Today", "Tomorrow"
Noun+も (Even/Also)¶
にも¶
Comes after a に sentence to say also did something
僕は東京にいく。
長野にもいく。
と (and/with)¶
Verb Conjugation¶
いる・える (ichidan)¶
When conjugating just swap out the る
ている¶
ている = doing
う (godan)¶
う・つ・る¶
Replace う、つ or る with って
笑う→笑って
持つ→持って
取る→取って
If there is no い or え sound before it, verbs that end in a る are also godan verbs
ぬ・ぶ・め¶
Replace ぬ・ぶ・め with んで
死ぬ→死んで
飲む→飲んで
遊ぶ→遊んで
く・ぐ¶
Replace く with いて
Replace ぐ with いで
歩く→歩いて
泳ぐ→泳いで
す¶
Replace す with して
話す→話して
くる・する (irregular)¶
Replace くる with きて Replace する with して Replace いく with いって
Tense¶
Non-past tense (dictionary form) defaults to future tense.
たべる
I will eat.
Dictionary form can seem impolite, so instead use ます
たべます
I will eat.
Adverbs¶
ある・いる To have, To exist¶
ある (あります) = inanimate object いる (います) = animate object (people, animals, etc)
Negative form¶
For ru-verbs: Drop the 「る」 and attach 「ない」
Example: 食べ~る~ + ない = 食べない
For u-verbs that end in 「う」: Replace 「う」 with 「わ」 and attach 「ない」
Example: 買~う~ + わ + ない = 買わない
For all other u-verbs: Replace the u-vowel sound with the a-vowel equivalent and attach 「ない」
Example: 待~つ~ + た = 待たない
Exceptions:
する → しない
くる → こない
ある → ない (exception for this conjugation only, not an exception verb)
れる・られる¶
Self-move / other-move¶
のが・事が¶
Describes what comes before it.
運転するのが上手
You're good at driving料理を作るのが下手
I'm not good at cooking
何も・何か (any/something)¶
何も = any
何か = something
もう・まだ (already/haven't)¶
I already...
もう食べた
もう見ました
I haven't yet...
まだ食べていません
まだ見ていない
から・ので (because)¶
REASON + から/ので + SITUATION
ので is used when you and the listener both know the first sentence is a fact
雨降ているので傘を持っていてね
It's raining so take an umbrella後で雨降かもしれないから傘を持っていてね
It might rain later, so take an umbrella
のだ・んだ¶
んだ is the conversational version of のだ/のです