Japanese learning blog
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
All articles · Page 102
Japanese Suru Verbs Guide: Noun Plus Suru, O, Loanwords and Dekiru
A suru verb is an action noun with suru, to do, attached: benkyō suru, to study, kopī suru, to copy; the noun supplies the meaning, suru supplies every conjugation, and the potential is dekiru.
13 min readJapanese Tara Conditional: When, If and the Moment You Found Out
Tara is the ta form plus ra, and it means once A has happened, B: when for events that are certain, as in eki ni tsuitara denwa shimasu, if for uncertain ones, and in past sentences it reports what you found.
13 min readJapanese Zu and Zu Ni: Without Doing, the Older Negative Explained
Zu is an older negative that replaces nai on the same verb stem, and zu ni means without doing, as in asagohan o tabezu ni dekaketa; it matches nai de in meaning but sounds more formal and written.
12 min readJapanese Kanji for Body and Health: Clinic Signs, Symptoms and Pharmacy Words
Twenty kanji cover the body parts you point to, the symptoms you describe and the signs on a clinic or pharmacy, so learning 体, 頭, 目, 手, 足, 病, 院, 薬, 熱 and 痛 as one set makes a visit to a Japanese doctor far less daunting.
13 min readJapanese Kanji for Directions and Signs: Exits, Compass Points and Warnings
About two dozen kanji do most of the work on Japanese signs, and once you can read 出口, 入口, 東西南北, 上下左右 and 禁止 you can find your way through a station, a department store and a car park without a translation app.
13 min readJapanese Kanji for Money and Shopping: Price Tags, Tax and Discount Signs
Japanese price tags and shop signs run on about twenty kanji, and once you can read 円, 税込, 税抜, 割引, 半額 and 無料 you will know the real price of anything before you reach the till.
13 min readJapanese Kanji for Transport and Travel: Tickets, Platforms and Train Types
Japanese stations put everything you need on a board, and once you can read 駅, 線, 特急, 各停, 乗り換え, 発 and 着 you can pick the right train, platform and ticket without asking anyone.
13 min readJapanese Kanji for Weather and Seasons: Reading the Forecast and the Calendar
The Japanese weather forecast uses a small, stable set of kanji, and once you can read 晴, 曇, 雨, 雪, 暑, 寒 and 台風 you can understand the TV forecast, a weather app and the small talk that starts almost every conversation in Japan.
13 min readJapanese Kanji for Emotions and Feelings: 楽 悲 怒 愛 喜 and Their Adjectives
Fifteen kanji cover most of the feelings you will describe in Japanese, and nearly every one of them turns into an adjective or a verb, so learning 楽 gives you tanoshii and tanoshimu, and 悲 gives you kanashii and kanashimu, in one go.
12 min readJapanese Kanji for Family and People: 父 母 子 兄 弟 姉 妹 and Their Readings
The kanji for family members are among the first you learn, but each one carries two sets of words, a humble one for your own family and a polite one for other people's, and the kanji stays the same while the reading changes.
13 min readJapanese Kanji for Nature: 山 川 海 空 森 花 and the Place Names They Build
Fifteen nature kanji, mountain, river, sea, sky, forest, woods, flower, tree, rice field, stone, island, lake, star, light and grass, are among the simplest characters to learn and the most common in Japanese place names and surnames.
12 min readJapanese Kanji for School and Work: 学 校 先 生 会 社 仕 事 and Business Cards
Sixteen kanji cover most of what you read on a school timetable, an office door and a business card: 学 校 生 先 教 室 for study, 勉 強 試 験 for effort and exams, and 会 社 仕 事 働 員 for the world of work.
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