【Important】Basic Japanese Grammar

JPN_Teacher explains the basics of the Japanese language that you should know when studying Japanese!

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【Basic Japanese Grammar 1】Structure of a sentence

Three basic sentence patterns

Japanese has a subject(主語：しゅご) and a predicate(述語：じゅつご).

In the sentence below, “田中さん” is the subject and “行きました” is the predicate.

These sentences containing subjects and predicates are divided into the following three basic sentence types.

1．Sentence types in which verbs(動詞：どうし) are predicates
2．Sentence types in which adjectives(形容詞：けいようし) are predicates
3．Sentence types in which nouns(名詞：めいし) are predicates

Types of Sentence Clauses

The words “友達と(ともだちと)” and “学校へ(がっこうへ)” in the sentence below are called modifiers.

It is the modifier(修飾語：しゅうしょくご) that describes other sentence clauses in detail.

Next are conjunctions(接続語：せつぞくご), which serve to connect sentences.

In the sentence below, “だから”, “そして”, “しかし”, etc. are conjunctions.

The last is an independent word(独立語：どくりつご) in which the phrase is isolated from other clauses.

It expresses a greeting, an appeal, an emotion, etc. In the sentence below, “Hello” and “Come on” are independent words.

In the sentence below, “Hello” and “Come on” are independent words.

【Basic Japanese Grammar 2】Adjectives／Adjectival verb

Adjectives(形容詞：けいようし) express states, properties, etc.

Adjectives end with “い” when they say it.

And like adjectives, adjectival verbs(形容動詞：けいようどうし) express states, properties, etc.

Adjectives verbs end with “だ” when they say something.

In Japan, they are called “い形容詞” and “な形容詞” respectively, and both are classified as adjectives.

When modifying a noun, “い形容詞” end in “い” and “な形容詞” end in “な”.

【Basic Japanese Grammar 3】Conjugation of verbs

3 groups of verbs

In Japan, verbs are divided into three groups.

When the negative form is used, it is classified according to whether the part preceding “～ない” is in the 50-note “あ段(あだん)” or “い段(いだん)・え段(えだん)” form.

Verbs that fall into the “あ段” category are divided into Group 1, verbs that fall into the “い段” and “え段” categories are divided into Group 2, and only “来る(くる)” and “する” are divided into Group 3.

How to think about grouping

Some verbs ending in “-iる” or “-eる” belong to Group 1, but I would like to skip the detailed rules for now in order to give a rough explanation.

【Basic Japanese Grammar 4】Transitive verb／Intransitive verb

Transitive verbs require an object, while intransitive verbs do not.

【Basic Japanese Grammar 5】Tense of テンス

There are two forms of Japanese tense: “present tense(現在形：げんざいけい)” and “past tense(過去形：かこけい)” of the predicate.

Present tense indicates “present(現在：げんざい)” and “future(未来：みらい)”

Before the present is “past tense(過去形：かこけい)”

【Basic Japanese Grammar 6】Aspects represent stages of operation

Aspect is a grammatical form that indicates the stage of an action, such as “before(開始前：かいしまえ)”, “at the beginning(開始したところ：かいししたところ)”, “in the middle of(動作の最中：どうさのさいちゅう)” or “at the end of an action(終了したところ：しゅうりょうしたところ)”.

Each stage can be expressed as an aspect as follows.

【Basic Japanese Grammar 7】Verb form/voice

When describing an action performed, the concept of “Verb form(態：たい)/voice(ヴォイス)” refers to the person on whom the action is focused.

There are active voice, passive voice, and causative voice, etc. Depending on who the focus is on, the expression changes as follows.

【Basic Japanese Grammar 8】Modalities that express feelings

Sentences used in communication include “the content of the topic(話題の内容：わだいのないよう)” and “the subjective mental attitude of the speaker(話し手の主観的な心的態度：はなしてのしゅかんてきなしんりたいど)”.

“今日は雨が降るだろう。(きょうはあめがふるだろう。)” in the sentence “今日は雨が降る(きょうはあめがふる)” is the “content of the topic(話題の内容：わだいのないよう)” and “だろう” is the “speaker’s subjective mental attitude(話し手の主観的な心的態度：はなしてのしゅかんてきなしんりたいど)”.

【Basic Japanese Grammar 9】Particle

A “particle(助詞：じょし)” follows a noun and indicates its semantic relationship to a verb or adjective.

There are “が(ga)”, “を(wo)”, “に(ni)”, “の(no)”, “と(to)” etc.

For example, the meaning changes depending on which particle is placed in each (　　).

Thus, “particle(助詞：じょし)” play an important role in determining the semantic relationship between nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

【Basic Japanese Grammar 10】Honorific expression

Honorific expressions(敬語表現：けいごひょうげん) are classified into the following five categories.