Japanese grammar

One point at a time.

Japanese works almost nothing like Chinese, and the two are worth keeping apart in your head. Verbs conjugate, politeness is built into the grammar rather than added to it, the verb comes last, and small particles — は, が, を, に, で — do the work English does with word order. These are those, one page each, in plain English.

A1 20 points

は — what the sentence is about

Topic + は + Comment

Written は, said “wa”. It marks the topic, not the subject.
が — the subject, and new information

Subject + が + Predicate

The particle that answers a question は cannot.
です — being, and being polite

Noun + です · Noun + だ

です is not really a verb. It is politeness with a copula attached.
を — the object

Object + を + Verb

Written を, said “o”. It marks what the verb acts on.
に — where to, when, and where something is

Place / Time + に + Verb

The busiest particle in the language, and に versus で is the question it raises.
で — where it happens, and how

Place / Means + で + Verb

The place an action occurs, and the means it occurs by. Not where something sits.
と — and, with, together

Noun + と + Noun

“And” between nouns only. It cannot join two sentences.
の — joining two nouns

Noun A + の + Noun B

Possession, but also origin, material, role, and location. The order is the opposite of English.
あります and います — existence

Place + に + Thing + が + あります / います

Two verbs for “there is”. Which one you use depends on whether the thing is alive.
ます — the polite verb ending

Verb stem + ます

Politeness lives inside the verb, not in extra words around it.
い-adjectives and な-adjectives

Adjective + Noun / Adjective + です

Japanese has two kinds. One conjugates like a verb; the other behaves like a noun.
ません — the negative

Verb stem + ません

Japanese negates by changing the verb’s ending, never by adding a word like “not”.
ました — the past

Verb stem + ました

One past tense, formed by swapping the ending. Adjectives have their own.
か — the question particle

Sentence + か

Add か to the end. Word order does not change.
The て form

Verb (て form) + …

The connector. It joins actions, makes requests, and starts a dozen other patterns.
も — also, either, even

Noun + も

It replaces は, が and を rather than sitting next to them.
これ, それ, あれ — this and that

これ / それ / あれ + は …

Three distances, not two. English has to make do with one “that”.
Word order — the verb comes last

(Topic) (Object) (Place) + Verb

Everything else can move. The verb cannot.
Numbers and counters

Number + Counter

You cannot count nouns directly. A counter word goes between the number and the thing.
Time expressions

Time + (に) + Verb

Absolute times take に. Relative times take nothing at all.

A1 20 points

は — what the sentence is about

が — the subject, and new information

です — being, and being polite

を — the object

に — where to, when, and where something is

で — where it happens, and how

と — and, with, together

の — joining two nouns

あります and います — existence

ます — the polite verb ending

い-adjectives and な-adjectives

ません — the negative

ました — the past

か — the question particle

The て form

も — also, either, even

これ, それ, あれ — this and that

Word order — the verb comes last

Numbers and counters

Time expressions

A2 20 points

The plain form

ている — in progress, and still true

たい — wanting to do something

The potential form — can

ましょう and よう — let’s, shall we

から and ので — because

が and けど — but

たら — if, and when

なければいけない — must

てもいい — may, and it’s fine if

より and のほうが — comparing

Making adverbs — く and に

なる — becoming

前に and 後で — before and after

とき — when

たことがある — having done something

あげる, くれる and もらう — giving and receiving

Transitive and intransitive pairs

ながら — while doing

すぎる — too much