Total Japanese Grammar

By Maki Hayasaka

See how easy Japanese can be with Total Japanese Grammar!

Total Japanese Grammar is a complete guide for anyone wanting to learn Japanese. Every topic is carefully explained in simple language to build on your knowledge as you progress, with detailed examples and guided activities. From verb forms and particles to making requests and using conditionals, this self-study course is all you need to master the rules for both casual and polite Japanese. The guide is designed for quick reference to every rule and offers more than 120 different activities to reinforce your learning as comprehensively as possible. It also includes a vocabulary builder with over 1200 important words and kanji to help you express yourself fluently in everyday life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maki Hayasaka
• Release date: Jul 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463854990

Maki Hayasaka

Maki Hayasaka is a sociolinguist and has worked in Japanese studies for nearly two decades. Her focus as a language researcher has been on the relationship between English and Japanese, and how native speakers of one language can best learn the other.

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Total Japanese Grammar

Maki Hayasaka

First published 2019

Publication © Rockwaller Books 2019

Text © Maki Hayasaka 2019

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Publisher: Rockwaller Books

Editor: Dane Wallace

Proofreader: Aika Shiraishi

Cover design: Emma Grey

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@RockwallerBooks

Distributed by Smashwords

ISBN: 9780463854990

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Contents

About This Book

1. Simple Sentences

2. Adjectives

3. Existence

4. Comparisons

5. Verbs: Past and Present Tense

6. Descriptive Particles

7. Verbs: The -te Form

8. Temporal Events

9. Reason and Intent

10. Capability and Experience

11. Likes, Wants, and Intentions

12. Requests and Suggestions

13. Permission and Obligation

14. Conditionals

15. Conjecture and Reported Speech

16. Exchanges and Favors

17. Types of Voice

Vocabulary List

Stay in Touch!

Quick Reference

About This Book

1. Simple Sentences

1.1 Topics and subjects

1.1.1 Referring to people: Pronouns and plurals

1.1.2 Honorifics

1.1.3 The copula: Da / desu

1.2 Forming descriptions

1.2.1 Possessive and appositional phrases: no

1.2.2 Demonstrative pronouns

1.3 Asking questions

1.3.1 Interrogatives: Who and what

1.4 Negative present tense: de wa nai

1.5 Also/either and both/neither: mo

1.6 Past tense: Datta / deshita

1.7 Negative past tense: de wa nakatta

1.8 Joining sentences: de

2. Adjectives

2.1 Adjectives: i, na, and no

2.1.1 Positive present tense

2.1.1.1 Attributive adjectives

2.1.1.2 Predicative adjectives

2.1.2 Negative present tense

2.1.3 Positive past tense

2.1.4 Negative past tense

2.2 Describing features and traits

2.3 Linking adjectives

2.4 Adding emphasis: shi

2.5 Variable qualities: The -tari form

3. Existence

3.1 Describing things that exist: Iru and aru

3.1.1 Positive present tense

3.1.2 Negative present tense

3.1.3 Positive past tense

3.1.4 Negative past tense

3.2 Specifying locations: ni

3.2.1 Describing a topic’s location

3.3 Asking where: Doko

3.3.1 Somewhere: Doko ka

3.4 Asking who and what: Dare and nani

3.4.1 Somebody and something: Dare ka and nani ka

3.5 Possession

3.6 Describing quantities

3.6.1 Adverbs

3.6.2 Counters

3.7 Listing things: to and ya

4. Comparisons

4.1 Comparative descriptions

4.1.1 Describing likeness

4.1.2 Negative comparisons

4.2 Superlative descriptions

4.3 Asking questions

4.3.1 Comparing two things

4.3.2 Comparing three or more things

5. Verbs: Past and Present Tense

5.1 Simple verb forms

5.1.1 Positive present tense

5.1.2 Negative present tense

5.1.3 Positive past tense

5.1.4 Negative past tense

6. Descriptive Particles

6.1 Location of actions/events: de, ni, and wo

6.2 Direction: ni and e

6.2.1 Points of entry and exit: ni and wo

6.3 Means of an action: de

6.4 From (place/time) until: kara ~ made

6.4.1 Times of the day: ni

6.5 Contrasting sentences: ga

7. Verbs: The -te Form

7.1 Progressive tense: -te iru

7.2 Deliberate ongoing states: -te aru

7.3 Nothing but an action: -te bakari iru

7.4 Done in advance: -te oku

7.5 To try something: -te miru

7.6 Actions during a set period: -te aida / aida ni

7.7 Towards/away from a subject: -te kuru / -te iku

7.8 Linking actions: -te kara and -te

7.9 Finality and regret: -te shimau

8. Temporal Events

8.1 Just before/after an action: tokoro da

8.2 Simultaneous actions: -nagara

8.3 One state for a second action: mama

8.4 Beginning/ending an action: -hajimeru / -owaru

8.5 Before an action/event: mae ni

8.6 Specifying a general point in time: toki ni

8.7 Until/by a point in time: made / made ni

8.8 Not only … but also: bakari de naku

8.9 Listing indefinite activities: -tari

8.10 Relative clauses

9. Reason and Intent

9.1 For the purpose of X: tame ni

9.2 To do X, and what it involves: noni

9.3 Motion verbs with actions

9.4 Subjective and objective reasons: kara and node

9.5 Marking a noun as the cause of an action: de

9.6 Stating the intent of an action: you ni

9.7 Asking for and giving reasons

9.7.1 Why/how: Naze and doushite

9.7.2 Explanations: no desu

10. Capability and Experience

10.1 Describing capability

10.1.1 Able to do X: koto ga dekiru

10.1.2 The potential form: -eru and -rareru

10.2 To come to be that: you ni naru

10.3 Portraying ability: Predicative adjectives

10.4 Past and occasional experiences: koto ga aru

11. Likes, Wants, and Intentions

11.1 Likes and dislikes: suki and kirai

11.2 Wanting to do something: -tai and -tagatte iru

11.3 Wanting something: hoshii and hoshigatte iru

11.4 Requesting an action: -te hoshii

11.5 Expressing volition

11.5.1 The positive volitional form: Let’s do X

11.5.2 The negative volitional form: Let’s not do X

11.5.3 I think …: to omou

11.6 Stating intention: tsumori

11.7 Describing decisions and routines

11.7.1 Deciding to do something: koto ni suru

11.7.2 Having something decided by others: koto ni naru

12. Requests and Suggestions

12.1 Asking please: kudasai

12.1.1 Casual/polite requests

12.1.2 Polite/respectful requests

12.1.3 Honorific requests

12.1.4 Please tell X to do Y: you ni

12.2 Giving commands: The imperative form

12.2.1 The plain imperative

12.2.2 The polite imperative: -nasai

12.3 Making suggestions

12.3.1 The volitional form

12.3.2 Negative questions

12.3.3 How about doing X?: -tara dou desu ka

12.4 Offering advice: hou ga ii

13. Permission and Obligation

13.1 Asking for permission: -te mo ii (no) desu ka

13.2 Giving and having permission: -te mo ii (no) desu

13.3 Denying permission: -te wa ikenai

13.4 Have to do X: -nakereba naranai

14. Conditionals

14.1 The -tara conditional

14.2 The -ba conditional

14.3 The to conditional

14.4 Even if: -te mo / demo

15. Conjecture and Reported Speech

15.1 Making guesses

15.1.1 The presumptive copula: darou / deshou

15.1.2 May possibly: kamoshirenai

15.1.3 I am sure/undoubtedly: ni chigainai

15.2 Describing expectations

15.2.1 Bound to be so: hazu

15.2.2 Sensory/feeling-based expectations: sou da

15.2.3 Information-based expectations: rashii

15.2.4 Likelihood and likeness: you da / mitai da

15.3 Relaying information: sou da

15.4 Quoting speech

16. Exchanges and Favors

16.1 To give: Yaru, ageru, and sashiageru

16.2 To be given to the speaker: Kureru and kudasaru

16.3 To receive: Morau and itadaku

17. Types of Voice

17.1 The causative form

17.2 The passive form

17.3 The causative-passive form

Vocabulary List

About This Book

Japanese is an incredibly rich and fascinating language. Anyone who begins the journey of studying it will quickly see how easy it is to communicate in a very simple yet nuanced way. Unfortunately, there is a common belief that Japanese is one of the world’s most difficult languages—a myth that is reinforced by the fact that its writing system can look a bit intimidating. To the untrained eye, kanji characters can seem bewildering, and many people quickly decide that the whole language must be overly complex and confusing to learn.

However, much like kanji characters actually have a logical structure once you understand the building blocks that lend them meaning, the Japanese language is also surprisingly easy to master—if you take the right approach. By starting with basic grammar and progressing in a sensible way, you will quickly grow familiar with why the language works like it does, allowing you to apply its rules in a wide range of situations. A major benefit of this is that by the time you reach the more complex sections, you will already understand the logic behind them: you will know why certain verb forms are different, and why one situation might require a different speech pattern than another.

At its heart, this book was designed to provide students of Japanese with a clear guide through all the foundational aspects of grammar, as well as through many that fall beyond the early stages of learning. The hope is that students of all levels will be able to use this book as both a study guide itself and as a reference for specific points of grammar. Each section builds on the last by expanding on the preceding rules and introducing new vocabulary, so progressing through the chapters in order is certainly of value. The use of kanji might be intimidating to new learners, but I believe that it will stand their studies in better stead to have these characters visible from the beginning. More advanced students will benefit from being able to read the example sentences in natural Japanese, while beginners can rely on the rōmaji and English translations that are provided to slowly grow their knowledge and familiarity with the various Japanese writing systems. You aren’t expected to understand all (or any!) of the kanji from the outset, so please don’t let that discourage you if this is your first experience in reading Japanese. The natural language is simply here to boost your studies as you progress at your own pace.

I’m grateful to share this journey with you, and I hope that you find this grammar guide to be a helpful resource in learning Japanese as smoothly as possible.

Maki Hayasaka

International Language Study Center

1. Simple Sentences

1.1 Topics and subjects

Every language has a small number of basic rules that can help you understand the more complex aspects of its grammar. In learning Japanese, the first concept that you need to grow familiar with is the difference between marking the topic and subject of a sentence. The easiest way to demonstrate this is by looking at two standard ways that a person can introduce themselves. (Notice in the translations below that a Japanese person’s surname is given first, followed by their given name.)

a) I am Sakura Nakagawa.

私は中川さくらです。

Watashi wa Nakagawa Sakura desu.

b) I am Sakura Nakagawa.

私が中川さくらです。

Watashi ga Nakagawa Sakura desu.

In example (a), the subject of the sentence (watashi, meaning I) is followed by wa. This particle serves as a topic marker and can be loosely thought of as meaning as for the preceding element. Let’s apply that to (a):

a) As for me, I am Sakura Nakagawa.

The topic is normally given at the beginning of a sentence in order to give it a general sense of context (although you will often hear the topic being tacked on at the end of a sentence in spoken Japanese, when the speaker decides to quickly clarify what they’re talking about). Importantly, this topic must be something that the speaker and listener are both familiar with, at least to the extent of understanding its basic context.

The subject of a sentence, marked by the particle ga, works differently from the topic. In this case, the speaker is either presenting new information to the listener or drawing their focus to something specific. Most of the time, the subject is the doer of an action, or the person or thing that is under discussion and which plays a role in what the sentence is describing. What often causes trouble early on for learners of Japanese is the overlap between topics and subjects. This is because simple sentences that use them can often be translated in the same way. Look at examples (a) and (b) above: both can be read as meaning I am Sakura Nakagawa. But it isn’t really as simple as that: Japanese sentences tend to have a lot of nuance, and the intended meaning will influence whether the particle wa or ga should be used. This is something that will return to our focus throughout this book, as particles play an important role in Japanese grammar, and mastering them will enable you to express yourself and understand others correctly.

In example (a), wa is used to mark a topic, whereas in example (b), ga is used to mark a subject. This ga in the latter example adds emphasis to the information: it draws attention to that particular part of the sentence, almost like you’re pointing it out for the listener. As a result, the choice of when to use which particle depends very heavily on context. If Sakura needed to be specifically identified, then the use of ga would be best: the emphasis it lends would single her out the most clearly. On the other hand, if Sakura were simply introducing herself to someone, then using the broader wa would be preferable, as no emphasis would be needed to make her identity clear.

This might seem a bit confusing at first, especially since there are many different patterns in which wa and ga are used. For example, topics and subjects can (and often do) overlap, and—depending on the grammatical rule in play—the role of wa might change from marking a topic to marking a subject. However, by slowly building our way up from simple statement sentences, it will be easy for us to learn these particles and to appreciate how they are used to signpost each part of a sentence.

1.1.1 Referring to people: Pronouns and plurals

Japanese, both the language and the culture, is grounded in a philosophy of expressing politeness through being indirect. This can often make things a little vague and ambiguous, described in Japanese as aimai (曖昧), which is reflected in how various parts of speech and grammar are used for the sake of being polite. As a starting point for this, and to help naturalize your conversations, it is important to look specifically at Japanese pronouns and to learn how they are used in different social situations.

Unlike many other languages, Japanese makes use of a wide variety of personal pronouns (such as I/me, he/she, and you), which vary according to both the gender of the speaker and the level of politeness they wish to convey. Here is an overview of the most common pronouns and when they are appropriate to use:

First-person pronouns: I

Formal: Neutral

Watakushi: 私

Polite: Neutral

Watashi: 私

Plain: Masculine

Boku: 僕

Plain: Feminine

Atashi: 私

Informal: Masculine

Ore: 俺

Second-person pronouns: You

Polite: Neutral

Anata: あなた

Plain: Masculine

Kimi: 君

Informal: Masculine

Omae: お前

Although Japanese has a rich variety of pronouns, the general practice is actually to avoid using them whenever it is practical to do so. There are several factors that influence this: first, it is common to omit parts of a sentence that are already clear to the listener from context; and second, it is regarded as less polite to refer to someone with a pronoun than it is to simply use their surname or title, with the appropriate honorific attached.

Be especially cautious about using omae (お前), even in informal situations. This pronoun requires a good understanding of your social relationship with the listener, and it can easily cause offense if used inappropriately. If you need to use a second-person pronoun, err on the side of safety and stick to using anata (あなた), which is quite polite and suitable to use with someone of equal or lower status.

As a side note, wives will use anata to address their husbands, and husbands will use omae to address their wives. This pronoun usage conveys their intimate relationship and can often be regarded as terms of endearment for the couple.

Third-person pronouns: He/she

Informal–polite: He

Kare: 彼

Informal–polite: She

Kanojo: 彼女

Although kare (彼) and kanojo (彼女) can be used in either casual or polite situations, they are not used to refer to children or anyone higher up than you in terms of social status. For the latter, a person’s job title or surname plus a polite honorific, such as -san (さん), is much preferred over using a pronoun. For young children, their given name plus a casual honorific, such as -kun (君) for boys and -chan (ちゃん) for girls, is suitable in most situations. For older children and teenagers, their surname plus a polite or casual honorific becomes the standard form of address. In such environments as schools and workplaces, note that superiors will commonly use either -kun or -san for both males and females, since -chan is a diminutive and would be inappropriate for the context and the formal relationship structure that is being upheld. In fact, it would often qualify as harassment.

Plural markers: We/us/they

Forming plurals in Japanese is a simple matter, thanks to the use of suffixes. For pronouns, such as those we discussed above, all that you need to do is attach either -tachi (達) or, a bit more colloquially, -ra (ら) to the end of them in order to make them plural.

Polite: We

Watashi-tachi: 私達

Plain: We

Boku-ra: 僕ら

Plural/plain: You

Kimi-tachi: 君達

Plural/colloquial: You

Kimi-ra: 君ら

Plural/rough: You

Omae-ra: お前ら

There is also a pluralizing suffix that is used as an honorific: -gata (方). This usually attaches to the second-person pronoun anata as a

Reviews for Total Japanese Grammar

[The Motivator · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully written. Love the Description and Exercise formats. I now have an understanding of how Japanese Grammar works.