Japanese/Grammar

From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

This page is being restructured to contain a grammar points list for the first set of lessons. These are compiled from various sources to correspond roughly to the JLPT 4 exam. See Japanese/Contents for existing pages (grammar overview, lessons, etc.). The sub-pages of this page are listed at Special:PrefixIndex/Japanese/Grammar/ but these do not represent where this book is going, and there are pages listed as "lessons" but hold little other than a grammatical overview and should therefore be moved here.

Contents 1 Sentence Patterns/Expressions 1.1 Phrases 1.1.1 Entering a house 1.1.2 Eating 1.2 Greetings 1.3 Requests 1.4 Suggesting activities 1.5 Stating wishes 1.6 Adverbial clauses 1.7 Change 1.8 Relative clause 2 Copula use 3 Existence 4 Pro-forms 4.1 Demonstrative 4.2 Interrogatives 4.3 Quantifier 5 Verbs 5.1 The plain and polite, past and present, polite and negative. 5.2 Other forms 6 Adjectives 6.1 basic い-adjective forms 6.2 basic な-adjective forms 6.3 Unsorted 7 Miscellaneous grammatical structures 8 Particles 9 Suffixes

[edit] Sentence Patterns/Expressions

[edit] Phrases

ごめんなさい	Excuse me./I'm sorry.
すみません	Excuse me.
おねがいします	Please.
どうもありがとうございました	Thank you very much (very polite)
こちらこそ	No, thank you! (used when responding to someone saying "Thank you!")
いいえどういたしまして	no problem at all.

[edit] Entering a house

ごめんください	may i come in?
しつれいしました	Excuse me. (used usually while leaving a room.)
しつれいします	Excuse me. (used usually while entering a room.)

[edit] Eating

いただきます	thanks for this meal! (before eating)
ごちそうさまでした	a thanks said after meals

[edit] Greetings

はじめまして	nice to meet you. how do you do?
どうぞよろしく	pleased to meet you. please favor me with your friendship/kindness
ではおげんきで	well then, take care.
ではまた	See ya later.
こんにちは	Hello. (daytime greeting)
こんばんは	Good evening, Hello
さよなら	Goodbye
おはようございます	good morning
おやすみなさい	good night
いらっしゃいませ	Welcome to the store! (merchant greeting)

[edit] Requests

N+をください	please give me N
V+てください	please do V. (polite request)
V+ないでください	please do not do V. (polite request-neg)
N+を/V+てくださいませんか	won't you please do

[edit] Suggesting activities

V+ましょう	"Let's do V." volitional, polite
V+ませんか	Why don't we do V?

[edit] Stating wishes

N+がほしい	I want N
V+たい	"I want to V"

[edit] Adverbial clauses

...とき	adverbial clause, when ... , ...
V+ながら	adverbial clause, While V, ...
V+てから	adverbial clause, After/Since V, ...
V+たあとで	ta instead of te, adverbial clause, After V, ...
V+まえに	adverbial clause, Before V

[edit] Change

まだ implies no change (or that something is still under way):

まだ+Positive	still
まだ+Negative	not yet

もう implies a change has occurred (or that something has been completed):

もう+Positive	already
もう+Negative	no longer

[edit] Relative clause

[V/+Adj/+Adj-Na]+N

relative clause modifying a noun

[edit] Copula use

N+です	noun + copula, polite present positive
N+ではありません	noun + copula, polite present negative
N+でした	noun + copula, polite past positive
N+ではありませんでした	noun + copula, polite past negative
N+だ	noun + copula, plain present positive
N+ではない	noun + copula, plain present negative
N+だった	noun + copula, plain past postitive
N+ではなかった	noun + copula, plain-past negative
N+で	te-form of desu

[edit] Existence

N+は+Place+にある/いる	existence of an item in a place using a topic marker
Place+に+N+がある/いる	existence of an item in a place using subject marker
Place+に+N+が+Q+ある/いる	existence of Q items in a place using subject marker

[edit] Pro-forms

[edit] Demonstrative

これ/それ/あれ/どれ	this / that / that over there / which?
この/その/あの/どの	this one / that one / that one over there / which one?
ここ/そこ/あそこ/どこ	this place / that place / that place over there/ where?
こちら/そちら/あちら/どちら (こっち/そっち/あっち/どっち)	this person / that person / that person over there / who

[edit] Interrogatives

なに/なん	what
だれ/どなた	who
いつ	when or how soon
いくつ	how many?
いくら	how much?
どれ/どの/どこ/どちら	which / which one / where / who
どう/いかが	how, in what what, how about
どんな	what kind of
どのぐらい/どれぐらい	how far, how long, how much
なぜ/どうして/なんで	why

[edit] Quantifier

なにか/だれか/どこかへ/...	someone, something, somewhere, etc.,
なにも/だれも/どこへも/...	no one, nothing, nowhere, etc.,

[edit] Verbs

• V - verb, plain form

[edit] The plain and polite, past and present, polite and negative.

V + ます	verb, polite present positive
V + ました	verb, polite past positive
V + ません	verb, polite present negative
V + ませんでした	verb, polite past negative
V + ない	verb, plain present negative
V + た	verb, plain past positive
V + なかった	verb, plain past negative

[edit] Other forms

structure	Description	Relevant pages
N + が + Vit / N + を + Vt	intransitive and transitive verb use	Japanese/Grammar/Transitivity
V+て	verb, te-form
V+てある	verb, te-form "completed" state
V+ている	verb, te-form progressive
V+ないで	verb, negative request

[edit] Adjectives

Adj	adjective without desu

[edit] basic い-adjective forms

<adjective>		( です )*	present positive
	くない		present negative
	かった		past positive
	くなかった		past negative

Polite with copula, plain without.

[edit] basic な-adjective forms

<adjective>		<copula>
	な <noun>

The copula determines tense and politeness, but is dropped for the plain present positive.

[edit] Unsorted

Adj + くて	i-adj, te-form
Adj + く + V	adverb
Adj + の	adj+pronoun/one/thing (e.g., white thing)
Adj + N + で	na-adj te-form
Adj + N + に + V	n-adj adverb
Adj + N + な + N	n-adj + noun
Adj + N + の	na-adj + pronoun

[edit] Miscellaneous grammatical structures

〜 + は + Q	topic particle using questions
Q + が + 〜	subject particle using WH-questions
〜 は 〜 が	using both subject and topic particle in the same sentence
N + の + N	noun modifying another noun or possessive.
N + の	possessive
〜 が 〜	〜 but 〜
〜でしょう	〜, eh? / 〜, right? (requesting confirmation)
一つ, 二つ, ..., １０	numbers
V+ たり ... V+たり	conjunction for multiple actions
{ Adj+く / Adj+N+に / N+に } なる	becomes { Adj / N }
する	equating or making, (e.g., I made A from B)
〜という	called this 〜
〜て	because 〜 / since 〜
〜から	because 〜 / since 〜

[edit] Particles

が	subject marker
を	direct object marker, starting point of the action, place of the action
に	location marker, object marker for some verbs (e.g., to meet at), time marker, goal marker, intervals
で	location marker for action verbs, by means marker (e.g., I went to the school by bus.), cause and effect marker, totals marker
へ	direction marker,
と	noun conjunction "and", "together" or "with"
から/まで	AからBまで - from A to B.
や	list particle, but can be used to mean "and so forth" (e.g., AやBなど will mean A and B and so forth. など is optional.)
は	topic marker, contrast marker
も	also/too
格助詞+は/も	combination of particles and は/も
か	question marker
など	etc/so forth. see や.
ぐらい	about/almost/approx
だけ	only / just
しか	only or nothing but
ね	sentence end marker, applies emphasis, or a quest for confirmation
よ	sentence end marker, applies certainty or request
わ	feminine form of ね

[edit] Suffixes

〜中 - all/ entire / throughout (time)
〜たち/がた	makes the attached noun plural (plain/polite)
〜あまり〜ない	not very, negative sentences
〜枚/冊/本...	counters
〜月/〜日/〜曜日	calendar
〜時/〜時半/〜時〜/〜分/〜時〜分前/〜ごろ	time
〜時間/〜分/〜ぐらい	minutes, hours
〜がる	to feel (used with adj)
〜がわ	side of something, or taking someone's side
〜語(ご)	language
〜人(じん)	person
〜すぎ	too much, over
〜ずつ	apiece
〜たち	plural suffix
〜ちゅう	during
〜屋(や)	〜 shop