Japanese grammar reference

Sentence basics

Japanese word order is Topic → Everything else → Verb. The verb always comes last.

わたしは    すしを    たべます
(topic)    (object)  (verb)
I           sushi     eat

Particles are the glue. They tag each word with its job in the sentence, which is why word order can be flexible — the particle tells you the role, not the position.

です makes a sentence polite and means "is/am/are" when attached to a noun.

• がくせいです。= I'm a student.

Particles

は — topic marker (pronounced wa)

Marks what the sentence is about. The default choice.

• わたしは たなかです。= I am Tanaka.

が — subject marker

Points at a specific thing, often new information or an answer to "which one?"

• わたしが たなかです。= I'm the Tanaka (you're looking for).
• あおが すきです。= I like blue.

Rule to memorize: すき, きらい, ほしい, じょうず, and ある／いる all take が, never を.

を — direct object (pronounced o)

The thing the verb acts on.

• すしを たべる = eat sushi

に — destination, time, existence point

• えきに いく = go to the station
• えきに いる = be at the station
• ７じに おきます = wake up at 7

で — location of an action, or means/tool

• レストランで たべる = eat at a restaurant
• はしで たべる = eat with chopsticks
• （すしでたべる would mean "eat using sushi" — the joke example from class, showing で marks the tool.）

と — "and" (complete list), also "with"

• すしとビール = sushi and beer
• ともだちと いく = go with a friend

か — "or", and the question marker

• すしかビール = sushi or beer
• たべますか？ = Will you eat?

も — "also, too"

Replaces は or を; never stacks with them.

• わたしも すきです。= I like it too.
• コーヒーも すきです。= I like coffee too.

の — possession / linking two nouns

• わたしのなまえ = my name
• カナダのトロント = Toronto, Canada

から / まで — from / until

• ２じから ７じまで しごとします = I work from 2 to 7

は vs が — the short version

Use は to talk about something. Use が to identify something.

• ねこはかわいいです。= Cats (as a topic) are cute.
• ねこがいます。= There's a cat. （new information）

Pronouns and こそあど

これ／それ／あれ stand alone. この／その／あの must be followed by a noun.

• これはなんですか？= What is this?
• このほんはなんですか？= What is this book?

People:

| わたし | I | | あなた | you （used less than English "you" — say the person's name instead） | | かれ | he | | かのじょ | she | | かれら | they |

Question words

Pattern: 〜は + question word + ですか？

• コーヒーはどこですか？= Where is the coffee?
• たんじょうびはいつですか？= When is your birthday?
• あきらさんはだれですか？= Who is Akira?
• ラーメンはどうですか？= How's the ramen?
• ねこはなんですか？= What's a cat?

なに vs なん: なん before です and counters, なに elsewhere.

• なんですか / なんにん / なにをたべますか

Indefinites — add か. Negatives — add も + negative verb.

Numbers

The sound changes at 3, 6, 8 are not optional — they're the ones to drill.

The 10 row breaks the pattern: ten hundreds is せん, not ✕じゅうひゃく, and ten thousands is いちまん, not ✕じゅうせん. Note also that 1,000 on its own is せん, but 10,000 always needs the いち: いちまん.

Large numbers group in 4 digits, not 3. This is the hard part for English speakers.

So 50,000 = ごまん, and 100,000 = じゅうまん.

Counters

Japanese counts different shapes of things with different words.

The 1・6・8・10 rule: 1, 6, 8 and 10 put a small っ in front of counters beginning with an h/f or k sound. Before an s sound it is 1, 8 and 10 only — six keeps its く.

The extra p-sound only happens with h/f counters（〜ほん, 〜ふん, 〜はい, 〜ひき）. k counters take the っ and nothing more: いっかい, ろっかい, はっかい, じゅっかい.

s counters（〜さつ, 〜さい, 〜そく）follow the same pattern except at six, which stays plain: いっさつ, はっさつ, じゅっさつ — but ろくさつ, ろくさい, ろくそく, never ✕ろっさつ.

• いっぽん、ろっぽん、はっぽん、じゅっぽん
• いっぷん、ろっぷん、はっぷん、じゅっぷん
• 3 is separate: it has no っ, but it still takes the p-sound — さんぷん, さんぼん, さんばい. So the full ぷん set is 1, 3, 6, 8, 10.

Full 1–10 counting of つ: ひとつ、ふたつ、みっつ、よっつ、いつつ、むっつ、ななつ、やっつ、ここのつ、とお

Time:

• 時じ= o'clock — いちじ、にじ、よじ、しちじ、くじ
• 分（ふん／ぷん）= minutes — いっぷん、にふん、さんぷん、よんぷん、ごふん、ろっぷん、ななふん、はっぷん、きゅうふん、じゅっぷん

Calendar

Months — number + がつ

Note 4月, 7月, 9月 — never ✕よんがつ, ✕なながつ, or ✕きゅうがつ.

Days of the month

Days 1–10 plus 14, 20, 24 are irregular and must be memorized. Everything else is just the number + にち.

Regular ones: 11日 じゅういちにち、17日 じゅうしちにち、19日 じゅうくにち、29日 にじゅうくにち、31日 さんじゅういちにち

17日 is also heard as じゅうななにち, but じゅうしちにち is the standard reading — the same し／く series as 7月 しちがつ, 9月 くがつ and 9時 くじ.

Days of the week

げつようび（Mon）、かようび、すいようび、もくようび、きんようび、どようび、にちようび（Sun）

Relative time

The pattern is consistent: せん = last, こん = this, らい = next, and doubling せん or adding さ extends it one more step.

Also: しあさって = three days from now

Other time words:

| けさ（今朝） | this morning | | こんばん（今晩） | this evening | | こんや（今夜） | tonight | | へいじつ（平日） | weekday | | しゅうまつ（週末） | weekend | | たんじょうび | birthday | | じき（時期） | season, period | | とき（時） | time, when | | いつから | since when | | あと | after, later, remaining |

あと word order matters:

• あと１０日 = 10 days remaining
• １０日あと = 10 days later

The two classes

• い-adjective behaves like a verb — it holds its own tense. さむい = "it is cold."
• な-adjective behaves like a noun — it needs だ／です to carry tense.

Which is which: if the final い is hiragana sitting outside the kanji (寒い, 高い), it's an い-adjective. Everything else is な — including 有名ゆうめい, 綺麗きれい, 丁寧ていねい, and the one genuine exception, 嫌いきらい, which has an okurigana い but is still な.

Conjugation

The trap: ✕ さむいでした. With い-adjectives the tense goes in the adjective and です never changes. With な-adjectives です is the verb, so it becomes でした.

Irregular: いい conjugates from よい → よくない、よかった、よくなかった.

The four positions

Only the last adjective in a chain takes the tense: やすくて、おいしかったです。

Adjective-based patterns

なる（become） — uses the adverb form:

• さむくなる = get cold / ゆうめいになる = become famous

すぎる（too much） — い-adjectives drop the い first:

• あますぎる = too sweet （not ✕ あまいすぎる）
• かんたんすぎる = too easy
• The result is an ichidan verb: あますぎない、あますぎた

Before とおもう — use the plain form. い-adjectives take no だ; な-adjectives do:

• おいしいとおもう / ゆうめいだとおもう / ゆうめいだったとおもう

The three verb classes

Summary only. The full treatment — five stems, the て-form sound changes, potential, passive, causative and the 音便 history — lives on the verb conjugation page. If the two ever disagree, that page is the one to trust.

Every Japanese verb is one of three types, and the type decides how it conjugates. This is the single most important thing to get right.

1. Ichidan （一段）— "る-verbs"

Ends in -iru or -eru. Conjugates by dropping る and attaching directly.

• たべる、みる、ねる、おきる、でる、あける、にげる、たすける、おぼえる、いれる

2. Godan （五段）— "u-verbs"

Everything else. Conjugates by changing the final vowel across the five vowel rows — which is where the name 五段 ("five levels") comes from.

• いく、のむ、はなす、かう、あるく、はしる、しる、つくる、まつ、あそぶ

3. Irregular — only two

• する = to do
• くる（来る）= to come

How to tell ichidan from godan

The "-iru / -eru" rule is a starting point, not a guarantee. A number of common verbs end in -iru or -eru but are godan:

Two reliable shortcuts:

1. If the verb does not end in る, it's godan. No exceptions.
2. If the syllable before る is an a, u, or o sound (つくる、ある、とる), it's godan. No exceptions.

The only real ambiguity is -iru / -eru, and that's a short memorization list.

Watch out for the two いる:

• いる（居る）= to be / exist （for people and animals）— ichidan
• いる（要る）= to need — godan

The godan vowel system

Godan verbs shift the last syllable through the vowel rows. Take いく:

Same pattern for のむ:

| a | のま | のまない | | i | のみ | のみます | | u | のむ | のむ | | e | のめ | のめば、のめる | | o | のも | のもう |

One sound rule: verbs ending in う use わ in the a-row, not あ.

• かう → かわない （not ✕ かあない）
• うたう → うたわない

Master conjugation table

Note on potential: たべられる is the textbook form. たべれる is the ら-nuki (ら-dropped) colloquial form — extremely common in speech, and what was taught in class. Both are understood; use られる in writing and on the JLPT.

The ます-form endings

Once you have the ます-stem, these all attach the same way:

たい — "want to"

たい attaches to the ます-stem and then conjugates as an い-adjective:

• いきたい = want to go
• いきたくない = don't want to go
• いきたかった = wanted to go
• いきたくなかった = didn't want to go

The て-form

The most useful form in Japanese. Everything from requests to progressive tense is built on it.

Ichidan: drop る, add て

• たべる → たべて、みる → みて、ねる → ねて

Godan: depends on the final syllable

One irregular: いく → いって （not ✕ いいて）

Irregular verbs

する → して、くる → きて

Uses of the て-form

Negative て-form

Use ない + で, not the て-form.

• たべないでください = please don't eat
• のまないでください = please don't drink
• はれないでほしい = I don't want it to be sunny

Progressive tense in detail

て + いる, then conjugate いる normally （it's ichidan）:

• たべている = is eating
• たべていた／たべてた = was eating
• なにをたべて（い）たの？= What were you eating?
• おきています = I'm awake （state resulting from waking up）

The past (た-form)

Identical rules to the て-form — just swap て→た and で→だ.

Learn て-form once and you have the past for free.

Conditionals — four ways to say "if"

This is where the original notes got tangled. There are four forms with different flavors.

ば — general/logical "if"

Godan: e-row + ば｜Ichidan: る → れば

• のめば、げんきになります = If you drink, you'll feel better.
• たべればいいです = It'd be good if you ate.
• い-adjective: さむければ ｜ な-adjective: しずかなら

たら — "when/once/if", the most versatile

Past form + ら. Works on everything.

• のんだら = if/when you drink
• たべたら = if/when you eat
• さむかったら = if it's cold
• しずかだったら = if it's quiet

If you only learn one conditional, learn this one — it covers the most situations.

なら — "if that's the case"

Attaches to the plain form. Responds to something just said or known.

• のめるなら、のんでください = If you can drink, please drink.
• にほんにいくなら、きょうとにいってください = If you're going to Japan, go to Kyoto.

と — automatic consequence

Plain form + と. For things that always follow.

• しょうゆをいちリットルのむとしにます = If you drink a liter of soy sauce, you die.

Combining with potential

"If you can X" = potential form + たら／なら:

• のめたら、のんでください = Drink if you're able to.
• のめるなら、のんでください = If you can drink, please do. （more expectant）

する verbs

Certain nouns become verbs by attaching する. Without する, they're just nouns.

They conjugate exactly like する:

The particle を can be inserted for emphasis or when the noun is modified:

• しゅくだいをします = I'll do the homework

Making verbs into nouns

Two methods:

1. ます-stem alone — the i-form for godan, drop る for ichidan

• のむ → のみ（a drink）、はなす → はなし（a story）、はじめる → はじめ（the beginning）、おわる → おわり（the end）
• This works far better for godan verbs than ichidan ones. ✕たべ is not a word on its own — for "food" you want たべもの.

2. 〜こと — plain form + こと, the general-purpose nominalizer

• たべることがすきです = I like eating
• にほんにすむということは、にほんごがすきということです

Quoting and thinking

〜とおもう — "I think"

Plain form + とおもう.

Key point: い-adjectives take no だ; な-adjectives and nouns require it. And です never appears before と here — the plain form is what goes in. (A direct quotation is a different pattern and keeps whatever was said, politeness included: 「おいしいです」といいました.)

English/Japanese mismatch: English says "I don't think it's good." Japanese usually says いいとおもわない or よくないとおもう — the negative can go on either half, and putting it on おもう is the more natural equivalent of the English.

〜という — "called / named"

Plain form or noun + という. Casual: っていう.

• 「あきら」というひと = a person called Akira
• 「おこのみやき」というたべもの = a food called okonomiyaki
• テキサスのベリトンというまちにすんでいます = I live in a town called Belton in Texas
• 「やきにく」っていうりょうり = a dish called yakiniku

〜について — "about"

• えいがはりんごについてです = The movie is about an apple
• りんごについてのえいが = a movie about an apple
• わたしのいちにちについてのにっき = a diary about my day

Experience, timing, and possibility

た + ことがある — "have done before"

Past form + ことがある. This is about experience, not the past.

• にほんにいったことがある = I've been to Japan
• ロッキーマウンテンオイスターをたべたことはありません = I've never eaten rocky mountain oysters
• Fast and Furiousのえいがをみたことがありますか？= Have you ever seen Fast and Furious?

〜とき — "when"

Plain form + とき. Note that な-adjectives take な here.

• たべるとき = when I eat
• しごとにいくとき = when I go to work
• さむいとき / しずかなとき

〜らしい — "apparently, I hear"

Plain form + らしい. Reporting something you heard.

• しょうゆをいちリットルのむとしぬらしい = Apparently a liter of soy sauce will kill you

〜みたい — "like, resembling"

Behaves as a な-adjective.

• レモンみたいなオレンジ = an orange like a lemon
• みずみたいなコーヒー = coffee like water
• レモングラスは、レモンみたいなかおりがするハーブです = Lemongrass is a herb that smells like lemon

〜かなぁ — "I wonder"

Plain form + かなぁ. Thinking out loud.

• なにがいいかなぁ = I wonder what would be good
• なにがあるかなぁ = I wonder what they have

〜んです — explanatory

Plain form + んです （な-adjectives and nouns take な）. Gives a reason or asks for one.

• なんで、ラーメンはおいしいんですか？= Why is the ramen good?
• しずかなんです = It's (the thing is) quiet

Comparing and choosing

〜のほうが — "more / rather"

• あかとオレンジ、どっちのほうがすきですか？= Which do you prefer, red or orange?
• オレンジのほうがすきです = I prefer orange
• フェラーリのほうがたかいです = A Ferrari is more expensive

それとも — "or" at the start of a question

Use それとも to offer an alternative; か joins nouns.

• じどうしゃがっこうにいますか、それともどこにいますか？

でも vs けど — "but"

• でも starts a new sentence: たべたいです。でもおかねがありません。
• けど／が joins within one sentence: すきですけど、たかいです。
• ルフィがいちばんすきだけど、ゾロもすきです = Luffy's my favorite, but I like Zoro too

（The class note "Don't be a でも person" is about this — joining with けど sounds more fluent than starting every sentence with でも.）

〜だけ — "only" ／ 〜ずつ — "at a time"

• いっこだけ = only one
• ひとつずつ = one at a time

Degree and frequency

あまり and ぜんぜん must pair with a negative:

Greetings and set phrases

Useful questions

Family （かぞく）

• かぞくは、なんにんいますか？= How many people are in your family?
• かぞくは、さんにんいます。= There are three of us.

Your family vs someone else's

Japanese uses two sets of family words, and the list above is mostly the polite set — the one for other people's relatives, and what you call your own relatives to their face. Talking about your own family to an outsider, you switch to the plain set.

So ちちは せんせいです for your own father, but おとうさんは せんせいですか？ when asking about someone else's. おにいちゃん／おねえちゃん are the affectionate versions of おにいさん／おねえさん — fine within a family, not for describing your brother to a stranger.

Food and taste

• どんなあじがするの？= What does it taste like?
• バターのあじがするクッキー = a cookie that tastes like butter

Common verbs

Godan

Ichidan

Other useful vocabulary