This book uses Japanese characters. To display these, you will need the proper fonts. If the following displays as non-characters, you'll have to configure your computer to handle these.日本語の表示テストです。
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.
sentence end marker, applies emphasis, or a quest for confirmation
よ
sentence end marker, applies certainty or request
わ
feminine form of ね
The following particles are not covered anywhere.
格助詞+は/も
combination of particles and は/も
ぐらい
about/almost/approx
だけ
only / just
しか
only or nothing but
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
language
〜人
person
〜すぎ
too much, over
〜ずつ
apiece
〜屋
〜 shop
Other stuff that we should work in
Praise
おめでとう(ございます) - Congratulations.
よく出来ました。 - Good job. (You did well.)
Please and Thank You
おねがいします - please (Slightly more polite)
どうぞ - please (Casual)
どうも - Thanks.
ありがとう - Thank you. (Casual)
どうもありがとう - Thank you very much. (Casual)
ありがとうございます - Thank you. (Polite)
どうもありがとうございます - Thank you very much. (Very Polite)
すみません - excuse me.
どうもすみません - Thanks a lot. (Usually when someone goes out of their way to help)
どういたしまして - You are welcome.
いいえ - Not at all/No problem.
Getting Attention
すみません - Excuse me.
あのうすみません - Ah, excuse me ...
すみませんが - Excuse me, but ...
おい - Hey (Somewhat rude)
Apology
ごめん - Sorry.
ごめんなさい - I am really sorry. (more formal)
ごめんね - Sorry (soft/fem.).
ごめんな - Sorry (masc.).
ごめんよ - Sorry (masc. or Kansai dialect).
すみません - I'm sorry.
Farewells
しつれいします。- goodbye for use with social superiors
さようなら - Goodbye. (Primarily before a long absence.)
じゃまた - See you later.
じゃ - Bye! See you soon. (Mostly used by men )
じゃね - Bye! See you soon.(Mostly used by women)
また明日 (またあした) - See you tomorrow.
またね - Later.
また会いましょう (またあいましょう) See you again.
またどうぞ - Please come again.
バイバイ - Borrowed from English, Bye Bye.
いってきます - I'm leaving (said when leaving the house)
いってらっしゃい - Have a safe trip (response to いってきます)
ただいま - I'm home (said when returning home)
おかえりなさい - Welcome back
おかえり - Less formal than the above
Finding the bathroom
トイレ (といれ) - Toilet
お手洗い (おてあらい) - Restroom (variants are 御手洗い and 手洗い)
便所 (べんじょ) - Lavatory
化粧室 (けしょうしつ) - Powder room
すみません。トイレはどこですか。 - Excuse me. Where is the bathroom?
すみません。お手洗いはどちらですか。 - Excuse me. Which way is the restroom?
Hesitation noises
Hesitation noises, or vocal pauses, are the "uh" and "um" of a language, filler sounds we produce when we pause to think while speaking. Using the correct hesitation noises can make the difference between natural sounding Japanese, and awkward foreign sounding speech.
They are:
あのう - Usually when you are about to say something.
ええと - When you are just thinking.
まぁ - "Well..." used for considering, reconsidering, etc...
さぁ - Another thinking sound) Used for when you're not sure of the information.
何だっけ (なんだっけ) - "What's it called..." used when trying to remember something specific.
そうですね - Acknowledges what was previously said. More of a staller than a hesitation noise. Somewhat more formal. Also used to show you care what the speaker is saying.