Grammar
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
Grammar · Page 13
To Ieba and To Iu To: Changing the Subject Naturally in Japanese
To ieba picks up a word someone just said and uses it to switch topics, speaking of which, while to iu to means when you say that, this comes to mind, and both let you change the subject in Japanese without sounding abrupt.
13 min readConnecting Adjectives in Japanese: Kute, De and Nakute for Longer Descriptions
To link two descriptions in Japanese, change an i-adjective's final i to kute (yasukute), put de after a na-adjective or noun (shizuka de, gakusei de), and only the last adjective in the chain takes the tense and politeness.
13 min readGa with Suki, Wakaru and Dekiru: Why These Japanese Words Do Not Take O
Suki, kirai, wakaru, dekiru, hoshii, jōzu, heta, hitsuyō, aru and iru mark their object with ga, not o, because in Japanese they are not actions done to something but states that hold about something, and the thing they hold about is a grammatical subject.
13 min readIku vs Kuru: Why Japanese Says Ima Ikimasu When English Says I'm Coming
Iku means moving away from where the speaker is now, and kuru means moving towards where the speaker is now, so when someone calls you from the door and you answer, you say ima ikimasu, I am going, where English would say I am coming.
14 min readKaneru, Kanenai and Yō ga Nai: Polite Refusals and Worst Cases in Japanese
Kaneru attaches to a verb stem to refuse something formally, kanenai says that an unwanted outcome might well happen, and yō ga nai says there is no way to do something, and the three are easy to mix up because they look like one family.
13 min readJapanese Masu Stem Uses: One Verb Form Behind Ni Iku, Nagara, Tai, Kata and More
The masu stem, the part of a polite verb left when you remove masu (tabe, nomi, hanashi), is the base for purpose with ni iku, nagara, yasui and nikui, sugiru, hajimeru and owaru, kata, tai, compound verbs, nouns and formal clause joining.
13 min readN desu in Japanese: Explaining, Asking Why and Softening
Two small sounds, n desu, turn a flat statement into an explanation, and they are one of the clearest markers of natural spoken Japanese.
11 min readTsumori in Japanese: Intentions, Plans and I Thought I Had
Tsumori is the word Japanese speakers reach for when they want to say what they mean to do, and also when things did not turn out the way they meant.
9 min readHou ga ii in Japanese: Giving Advice Without Sounding Bossy
Hou ga ii is the everyday way to tell someone what they had better do, and a small change in form or tone decides whether it sounds caring or pushy.
9 min readKoto ni Suru and Koto ni Naru: I Decided vs It Was Decided
Japanese has two ways to announce a decision, and choosing between them says as much about who decided as it does about what happens next.
10 min readNi Shimasu in Japanese: Choosing, Ordering and Making Things
When a Japanese waiter asks what you would like, the most natural answer is not a request at all but a decision: kōhī ni shimasu, I'll go with coffee.
11 min readShi in Japanese: Listing Reasons the Way People Really Talk
Ask a Japanese friend why they like a place and you will often hear a string of reasons joined by one tiny syllable: yasui shi, chikai shi, oishii shi.
10 min readPractical guides
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