A Guide to Japanese Grammar

Tae Kim started learning Japanese in college and ended the first year very confused and only able to use the polite form. Eventually, he figured out how to talk like a real person and started a website for learning Japanese (www.guidetojapanese.org) to explain everything he had to figure out on his own.

Since then, he has worked at a big Japanese company in Japan as a Java deve...

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Tae Kim started learning Japanese in college and ended the first year very confused and only able to use the polite form. Eventually, he figured out how to talk like a real person and started a website for learning Japanese (www.guidetojapanese.org) to explain everything he had to figure out on his own.

Since then, he has worked at a big Japanese company in Japan as a Java developer, passed the JLPT level 1, got a perfect score in TOEIC (the Japanese company administered it every year) , and continues to work on his next book for learning Japanese in his spare time.

1 Introduction
1.1 The problem with conventional textbooks
1.2 A Japanese guide to learning Japanese grammar
1.3 Suggestions
．
2 The Writing System
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1 Introduction
1.1 The problem with conventional textbooks
1.2 A Japanese guide to learning Japanese grammar
1.3 Suggestions
．
2 The Writing System
2.1 The Scripts
2.2 Intonation
2.3 Hiragana
2.3.1 The Muddied Sounds
2.3.2 The Small 「や」、「ゆ」、and 「よ」
2.3.3 The Small 「つ」
2.3.4 The Long Vowel Sound
2.4 Katakana
2.4.1 The Long Vowel Sound
2.4.2 The Small 「ア、イ、ウ、エ、オ」
2.4.3 Some examples of words in Katakana
2.5 Kanji
2.5.1 What is Kanji?
2.5.2 Learning Kanji
2.5.3 Reading Kanji
2.5.4 Why Kanji?
．
3 Basic Gramma
3.1 Basic Grammatical Structures
3.2 Expressing State-of-Being
3.2.1 Declaring something is so and so using 「だ」
3.2.2 Conjugating to the negative state-of-being
3.2.3 Conjugating to the past state-of-being
3.2.4 Conjugation summary
3.3 Introduction to Particles
3.3.1 Defining grammatical functions with particles
3.3.2 The 「は」 topic particle
3.3.3 The 「も」 inclusive topic particle
3.3.4 The 「が」 identifier particle
3.4 Adjectives
3.4.1 Properties of Adjectives
3.4.2 The na-adjective
3.4.3 The i-adjective
3.4.4 An annoying exception
3.5 Verb Basics
3.5.1 Role of Verbs
3.5.2 Classifying verbs into ru-verbs and u-verbs
3.5.3 Appendix: iru/eru u-verbs
3.6 Negative Verbs
3.6.1 Conjugating verbs into the negative
3.7 Past Tense
3.7.1 Past tense for ru-verbs
3.7.2 Past tense for u-verbs
3.7.3 Past-negative tense for all verbs
3.8 Particles used with verbs
3.8.1 The direct object 「を」 particle
3.8.2 The target 「に」 particle
3.8.3 The directional 「へ」 particle
3.8.4 The contextual 「で」 particle
3.8.5 When location is the topic
3.8.6 When direct object is the topic
3.9 Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
3.9.1 Pay attention to particles!
3.10 Relative Clauses and Sentence Order
3.10.1 Treating verbs and state-of-being like adjectives
3.10.2 Using state-of-being clauses as adjectives
3.10.3 Using relative verb clauses as adjectives
3.10.4 Japanese Sentence Order
3.11 Noun-related Particles
3.11.1 The last three particles
3.11.2 The Inclusive 「と」 particle
3.11.3 The Vague Listing 「や」 and 「とか」 particles
3.11.4 The 「の」 particle
3.11.5 The 「の」 particle as explanation
3.12 Adverbs and Sentence-ending particles
3.12.1 Properties of Adverbs
3.12.2 Sentence-ending particles
3.12.3 「ね」 sentence ending
3.12.4 「よ」 sentence ending
3.12.5 Combining both to get 「よね」
．
4 Essential Grammar
4.1 Polite Form and Verb Stems
4.1.1 Not being rude in Japan
4.1.2 The stem of verbs
4.1.3 Using 「〜ます」 to make verbs polite
4.1.4 Using 「です」 for everything else
4.1.5 「です」 is NOT the same as 「だ」
4.2 Addressing People
4.2.1 Referring to yourself
4.2.2 Referring to others by name
4.2.3 Referring to others with "you"
4.2.4 Referring to others in third person
4.2.5 Referring to family members
4.3 The Question Marker
4.3.1 Questions in polite form
4.3.2 The question marker in casual speech
4.3.3 「か」 used in relative clauses
4.3.4 Using question words
4.4 Compound Sentences
4.4.1 Expressing a sequence of states
4.4.2 Expressing a sequence of verbs with the te-form
4.4.3 Expressing reason or causation using 「から」 and 「ので」
4.4.4 Using 「のに」 to mean "despite"
4.4.5 Expressing contradiction using 「が」 and 「けど」
4.4.6 Expressing multiple reasons using 「し」
4.4.7 Expressing multiple actions or states using 「〜たりする」
4.5 Other uses of the te-form
4.5.1 Using 「〜ている」 for enduring states
4.5.2 Enduring state-of-being vs enduring state of action
4.5.3 Using 「〜てある」 for resultant states
4.5.4 Using the 「〜ておく」 form as preparation for the future
4.5.5 Using motion verbs (⾏く、来る) with the te-form
4.6 Potential Form
4.6.1 Expressing the ability to do something
4.6.2 The Potential Form
4.6.3 Potential forms do not have direct objects
4.6.4 Are 「⾒える」 and 「聞こえる」 exceptions?
4.6.5 「ある」, yet another exception
4.7 Using する and なる with the に particle
4.7.1 Using 「なる」 and 「する」 for nouns and na-adjectives
4.7.2 Using 「なる」 with i-adjectives
4.7.3 Using 「なる」 and 「する」 with verbs
4.8 Conditionals
4.8.1 How to say "if" in Japanese
4.8.2 Expressing natural consequence using 「と」
4.8.3 Contextual conditionals using 「なら (ば)」
4.8.4 General conditionals using 「ば」
4.8.5 Past conditional using 「たら (ば)」
4.8.6 How does 「もし」 fit into all of this?
4.9 Expressing "must" or "have to"
4.9.1 When there's something that must or must not be done
4.9.2 Using 「だめ」, 「いけない」, and 「ならない」 for things that must not be done
4.9.3 Expressing things that must be done
4.9.4 Various short-cuts for the lazy
4.9.5 Saying something is ok to do or not do
4.10 Desire and Suggestions
4.10.1 How to get your way in Japan
4.10.2 Verbs you want to do with 「たい」
4.10.3 Indicating things you want or want done using 「欲しい」
4.10.4 Making a motion to do something using the volitional form
4.10.5 Making a motion to do something using the volitional form
4.10.6 Making Suggestions using the 「ば」 or 「たら」 conditional
4.11 Performing an action on a relative clause
4.11.1 The direct quote
4.11.2 The interpreted quote
4.11.3 Using 「って」 as a casual version of 「と」
4.12 Defining and Describing
4.12.1 The various uses of 「いう」
4.12.2 Using 「いう」 to define
4.12.3 Using 「いう」 to describe anything
4.12.4 Rephrasing and making conclusions with 「という」
4.12.5 Using 「って」 or 「て」 for 「という」
4.12.6 Saying 「ゆう」 instead of 「いう」
4.13 Trying something out or attempting to do something
4.13.1 Let's try some stuff
4.13.2 To try something out
4.13.3 To attempt to do something
4.14 Giving and Receiving
4.14.1 Japanese people like gifts
4.14.2 When to use 「あげる」
4.14.3 When to use 「くれる」
4.14.4 When to use 「もらう」
4.14.5 Asking favors with 「くれる」 or 「もらえる」
4.15 Making requests
4.15.1 Politely (and not so politely) making requests
4.15.2 「〜ください」－ a special conjugation of 「くださる」
4.15.3 Using 「〜ちょうだい」 as a casual request
4.15.4 Using 「〜なさい」 to make firm but polite requests
4.15.5 The Command Form
4.15.6 Negative Command
4.16 Numbers and Counting
4.16.1 The Number System
4.16.2 Counting and Counters
4.16.3 Using 「⽬」 to show order
4.17 Casual Patterns and Slang
4.17.1 Basic Principles of Slang
4.17.2 Sentence ordering and particles
4.17.3 Using 「じゃん」 instead of 「じゃない」 to confirm
4.17.4 Using 「つ」 for 「という」
4.17.5 Using 「ってば」 and 「ったら」to show exasperation
4.17.6 Using 「なんか」 just about everywhere
4.17.7 Showing contempt for an action with 「〜やがる」
4.18 More sentence-ending particles
4.18.1 「な」 and 「さ」 sentence-ending particles
4.18.2 「かい」 and 「だい」 sentence-ending particles
4.18.3 Gender-specific sentence-ending particles
4.18.4 That's a wrap!
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5 Special Expressions
5.1 Causative and Passive Verbs
5.1.1 Causative Verbs
5.1.2 Passive Verbs
5.1.3 Using passive form to show politeness
5.1.4 Causative-Passive Forms
5.2 Honorific and Humble Forms
5.2.1 Set Expressions
5.2.2 Other substitutions
5.2.3 Honorific and Humble Conjugations
5.2.4 Making honorific requests
5.3 Things that happen unintentionally
5.3.1 Using 「しまう」 with other verbs
5.3.2 Using the casual version of 「〜てしまう」
5.3.3 Another meaning of 「しまう」
5.4 Expressions with generic nouns
5.4.1 Using 「こと」 to say whether something has happened
5.4.2 Using 「ところ」 as an abstract place
5.4.3 Using 「もの」 as a casual feminine way to emphasize
5.5 Expressing levels of certainty
5.5.1 Using 「かもしれない」 to express uncertainty
5.5.2 Using 「でしょう」 to express a fair amount of certainty
5.5.3 Using 「でしょう」 and 「だろう」 to express strong amount of certainty
5.6 Expressing amounts
5.6.1 Indicating that's all there is using 「だけ」
5.6.2 Using 「のみ」 as a formal version of 「だけ」
5.6.3 Indication that there's nothing else using 「しか」
5.6.4 Expressing the opposite of 「だけ」 with 「ばかり」
5.6.5 Saying there's too much of something using 「すぎる」
5.6.6 Adding the 「も」 particle to express excessive amounts
5.6.7 Using 「ほど」 to express the extent of something
5.6.8 Using 「〜さ」 with adjectives to indicate an amount
5.7 Express similarity and hearsay
5.7.1 Expressing similarity with よう
5.7.2 Using 「みたい」 to say something looks like something else
5.7.3 Guessing at an outcome using 「〜そう」
5.7.4 Expressing hearsay using 「〜そうだ」
5.7.5 Expressing hearsay or behavior using 「〜らしい」
5.7.6 「っぽい」: Slang expression of similarity
5.8 Using ⽅ and よる for comparisons, etc
5.8.1 Using 「⽅」 for comparisons
5.8.2 Using 「より」 for comparisons
5.8.3 Using 「⽅」 to express a way to do something
5.8.4 Using 「によって」 to express dependency
5.8.5 Indicating a source of information using 「によると」
5.9 Saying something is easy or difficult to do
5.9.1 Variations of 「〜にくい」 with 「〜がたい」 and 「〜づらい」
5.10 More negative verbs
5.10.1 Doing something without doing something else
5.10.2 A casual masculine type of negative that ends in 「ん」
5.10.3 A classical negative verb that ends in 「ぬ」
5.11 Hypothesizing and Concluding
5.11.1 Coming to a conclusion with 「わけ」
5.11.2 Making hypotheses with 「とする」
5.12 Expressing time-specific actions
5.12.1 Expressing what just happened with 「〜ばかり」
5.12.2 Express what occurred immediately after with 「とたん」
5.12.3 Using 「ながら」 for two concurrent actions
5.12.4 Using 「ながら」 with state-of-being
5.12.5 To repeat something with reckless abandon using 「まくる」
5.13 Leaving something the way it is
5.13.1 Using 「まま」 to express a lack of change
5.13.2 Using 「っぱなし」 to leave something the way it is
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6 Advanced Topics
6.1 Formal Expressions
6.1.1 What do you mean by formal expressions?
6.1.2 Using 「である」 for formal state-of-being
6.1.3 Negative of 「である」
6.1.4 Sequential relative clauses in formal language
6.2 Things that should be a certain way
6.2.1 Using 「はず」 to describe an expectation
6.2.2 Using 「べき」 to describe actions one should do
6.2.3 Using 「べく」 to describe what one tries to do
6.2.4 Using 「べからず」 to describe things one must not do
6.3 Expressing the minimum expectation
6.3.1 Using 「(で)さえ」 to describe the minimum requirement
6.3.2 「(で)すら」 - Older version of 「(で)さえ」
6.3.3 「おろか」 - It's not even worth considering
6.4 Showing signs of something
6.4.1 Showing outward signs of an emotion using 「〜がる」
6.4.2 Using 「ばかり」 to act as if one might do something
6.4.3 Using 「めく」 to indicate an atmosphere of a state
6.5 Formal expressions of non-feasibility
6.5.1 Expressing the inability to not do using 「〜ざるを得ない」
6.5.2 Expressing the inability to stop doing something using 「やむを得ない」
6.5.3 Expressing what cannot be done with 「〜かねる」
6.6 Tendencies
6.6.1 Saying something is prone to occur using 「〜がち」
6.6.2 Describing an ongoing occurrence using 「〜つつ」
6.6.3 Describing a negative tendency using 「きらいがある」
6.7 Advanced Volitional
6.7.1 Negative Volitional
6.7.2 Using the volitional to express a lack of relation
6.7.3 Using 「であろう」 to express likelihood
6.7.4 Using 「かろう」 as volitional for 「い」 endings
6.8 Covered by something
6.8.1 Using 「だらけ」 when an object is riddled everywhere with something
6.8.2 Using 「まみれ」 to describe a covering
6.8.3 「ずくめ」 to express entirety
6.9 Advanced proximity of actions
6.9.1 Using 「が早いか」 to describe the instant something occurred
6.9.2 Using 「や／や否や」 to describe what happened right after
6.9.3 Using 「そばから」 to describe an event that repeatedly occurs soon after
6.10 Others
6.10.1 Using 「思いきや」 to describe something unexpected
6.10.2 Using 「〜がてら」 to do two things at one time
6.10.3 Using 「〜あげく (挙句)」 to describe a bad result
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