Japanese Grammar Dictionary

Japanese Nouns

Learn the essentials of Japanese nouns. Includes usages, examples, nouns vs pronouns, and verbal nouns.

「だ」Declare the state-of-being

だ combines with nouns and adjectives to declare state-of-being in Japanese—that something “is” something.

「じゃない」Declare something is not

じゃない combines with nouns and adjectives to say that X is not Y in Japanese. For example, nounじゃない.

「が」(1) Mark the subject

が, the subject particle, is used to mark the subject of Japanese sentences—the doer of an action.

「は」Mark the topic

は, the topic particle, is used to mark the topic of Japanese sentences (and several other things). We also briefly cover は vs が.

「も」(1) Being inclusive

The particle も is used in inclusive sentences to express the idea of “too” and “also” in Japanese.

「の」(1) Being possessive

The particle の is used to show possession in Japanese sentences. Structure → possessorのpossession.

Names in Japanese

Japanese names are family name first, first name last. Here's a few common ones and how they work.

「さん」Refer to someone politely

さん is one of the most common Japanese honorific suffixes, and roughly corresponds to English's Mr. or Mrs.

「ちゃん」Refer to someone in a cute way

ちゃん is an endearing/intimate Japanese honorific suffix and means “little” or “dear”. It is primarily used with women.

「これ」For this

これ is the Japanese word for “this”. There are a few “こ-” words, and they all refer to things physically close to the speaker.

「それ」For that

それ is the Japanese word for “that”. There are a few “そ-” words, and they all refer to things physically closer to the listener than the speaker.

い-Adjectives Basics

い-adjectives all end in い and can either come directly before a noun (高い山) or after a noun+particle combination (映画は面白い).

い-Adjectives, but negative

To make the negative form of an い-adjective, simply replace い with くない. For example, 速い→速くない.

Verb Basics - U

う-verbs, one of Japanese's three types of verbs, are verbs that end with -す、-く、-ぐ、-ぶ、-つ、-む、-う or -ぬ. Here's how they work!

Verb Basics - Ru

る-verbs, one of Japanese's three types of verbs, are those that end with -る. Be careful, though: some words that end with -る are actually -う verbs!

Verb Basics - Irregular

Japanese has only four irregular verbs: する、来る、ある、 and 行く. Here's an example sentence for each one.

「を」(1) Marking the direct object

The particle を is used to indicate the direct object in a Japanese sentence. Structure → Weは pizzaを eat.

Writing Kanji Words In Hiragana

Many Japanese words can be written in either hiragana *or* kanji. This is done for 5 main reasons, which we'll discuss.

「で」(1) Indicate a location where an action takes place

The particle で is used to indicate where an action takes place. Structure → weは cafeteriaで eat.

「に」(1) Indicate a destination or direction of an action

The particle に is used to mark your destination and/or the direction of an action. You can think of it as meaning “to”.

「に」(2) Show the location of existence

When you say or “there is something at/on/in” in English, attach the particle に to the place where that thing exists or is located.

Sentence structure in Japanese

English is a “subject verb object” language. Japanese is a “subject object verb” language. English says “he eats pizza”, Japanese says “he pizza eats”.

「ここ・そこ・あそこ」Here, there and over there

The words ここ, そこ, and あそこ translate to here, there, and over there. Thankfully, there's nothing tricky about these Japanese words!

「が」(2) Something has a quality

The particle が has several uses. One of these uses is to assign a quality (adjective) to something. Structure → bookが expensive.

「この・その・あの」This, that and that over there

この, その, and あの translate to this, that, and that over there. Whereas the ~れ words stand alone, these ~の words must attach to a noun: not この, but この本.

「と」(1) List things

One use of the particle と is to make a list of nouns: AとB means A and B. と lists are exhaustive, so AとB implies “A and B (and nothing else)”.

「へ」Show a direction

The particle へ is similar to に, but it shows direction, not destination. Tokyoへ means “toward” Tokyo, but doesn't necessarily mean you arrive to Tokyo.

「だけ」Show a limit

The particle だけ can be used with many types of words to show limitations. For example, 学生だけ means “only students”.

Verb Negatives - U

To make the negative form of an -う verb, replace the final -u sound with an -a and then add 「ない」. For example: 聞く (to listen) → 聞か → 聞かない.

Verb Negatives - Ru

To make the negative form of a -る verb, simply replace 「る」 with 「ない」. For example, 食べる (to eat) becomes 食べない (to not eat).

Verb Negatives - Irregulars

The negative form of する、来る、行く、and ある all end with ない, but their construction is a bit unique. Here's how that works.

「か」(1) Ask questions

To turn a statement into a question in Japanese, simply attach か to the very end of the sentence. It's that easy!

「から」(1) Show the reason for something

The basic structure for showing reasons in Japanese is AからB, in which A represents the reason and B the result.

「けど」Express contradiction

The particle けど is used to show that something is somehow not in line with what you expected. For example, おいしいけど means “it's delicious, but...”

「だけど」However

だけど means the same thing as けど, but the addition of だ enables it to begin a sentence. In this way, it is similar to “however”.

「たち」Refer to multiple people

The suffix たち attaches to words that represent a person to make them plural. For example, 私 (I) becomes 私たち (we).

な-Adjectives Basics

Whereas い-adjectives can connect directly to a noun, な-adjectives require な to come between the adjective and noun. Here's how they work!

な-Adjectives, but negative

To turn a な-adjective into a negative な-adjective, simply replace な with じゃない. For example, きれいな becomes きれいじゃない.

「する」(1) Use nouns as verbs

Many Japanese nouns can be turned into verbs simply by attaching する to them. For example: 勉強 (studies) → 勉強する (to study).

Using い-adjectives to describe verbs

Replace the い in an い-adjectives with く to turn it into an adverb. This lets you use い-adjectives to describe verbs. 早い (quick) → 早く(quickly)

Using な-adjectives to describe verbs

Replace the な in a な-adjectives with に to turn it into an adverb. This lets you use な-adjectives to describe verbs. 静かな (quiet) → 静かに (quietly)

Using other adverbs to describe verbs

While most adverbs are created from い- or な-adjectives, Japanese does have “true” adverbs. Some directly proceed verbs, some connect to verbs via に.

「〜さ」Indicate an amount with adjectives

Add さ to an な-adjective or replace the い in an い-adjective with it to turn the adjective into a noun. さ nouns feel “concrete” and can usually be measured.

「〜み」Show subjective quality with adjectives

Add み to an な-adjective or replace the い in an い-adjective with it to turn the adjective into a noun. み nouns emphasize a subjective quality somehow beyond measurement.

「なら」Make a supposition about the truth

AならB means “if the actual circumstances (A) were like that, then B”. It can be attached directly to verbs, adjectives, and nouns.

「それなら」If that is the case

それなら is a fixed phrase meaning “in that case”. It is used to introduce a conclusion or decision made in response to something that was just said.

「に」(3) Mark an indirect object

An indirect object is the recipient of the action, and Japanese indirect objects are marked with に. For example: Johnは friendに letterを send.

「の」(2) The indefinite pronoun

In English, we replace nouns with “one” to remove redundancy: Which car do you want? The red one. In Japanese, you can replace nouns with の to the same effect.

「なる」The state or condition changes

なる means “to become”, and it can be combined with the adverbial form (くor に) of adjectives to show a change in state: 大きくなる means “get bigger”.

「より」(1) Compare things

より roughly means “more than”, and it is one of Japanese's tools for making comparisons. It goes after the word that would follow “than” in English.

「方」Compare things

方 can be used with verbs, adjectives, and nouns to make comparisons. Its basic structure is A方B, meaning “A is more/comparatively B”.

「～方が～より」Compare things

A combination of the 方 and より structures, ～方が～より lets you say that thing A is more (something) than thing B.

「一番」Express a superlative

English superlatives are adjectives that end in -est or are preceded by “the most”. To make Japanese superlatives, simply place 一番 before an adjective.

「である」Say something 'is'

である is used to say what something is, like だ, but is used in formal writing and can be used in a few grammatical structures that だ can not.

「こと」(1) Nominalize things

こと attaches directly to verbs and adjectives to turn them into nouns. It has a nuance along the lines of “the act of ~ing”.

「の」(3) Nominalize things

の attaches directly to verbs and adjectives to turn them into nouns. It functions similarly to こと, but is used in some structures that こと isn't.

「のは～だ」Give new and important information

AのはBだ is used to introduce new information that the speaker feels is significant. Particles other than を and が can be used in the B phrase.

「こっち・そっち・あっち」Here, there and over there

こっち, そっち, and あっち are contracted forms of こちら, そちら, and あちら. They mean the same thing as ここ, そこ, and あそこ but can also refer to people.

「か」(2) Mark alternatives

The question particle か can also be used to introduce alternatives mid-sentence in “X or Y” fashion. It can attach to nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

「あまり」Indicate a low degree of something

あまり (and あんまり) is an adverb that means “not very” or “not much”. It is primarily used in negative sentences a la あまりしない (I don't do it much).

「くん」Refer to people

くん is a Japanese honorific suffix someone higher in status can use when addressing someone lower in status. It is usually applied to mens' names.