Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide | Bunpro

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Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide

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Chapter 3

Basic Grammar

だ

じゃない

だった・でした

Was, Were (Past tense)

じゃなかった

Was not, Wasn't

は

As for... (Highlights sentence topic)

も

Also, Too, As well, Even, Either, Neither

が

Subject marking particle, Identification particle

な-Adjective

Adjectives that are also nouns

好（す）き

い-Adjective

Adjectives ending in い

良（い）い

い-Adjective meaning 'good'

る-Verb (Dictionary)

る + ます (Ichidan Verbs)

う-Verb (Dictionary)

う + ます (Godan Verbs)

る-Verb (Negative)

Will/Does/Do (not)

う-Verb (Past)

う - Verbs (Past tense)

を

Object marking particle

に

In, At, To, For, On

へ

で

で

With, By (using)

他動詞（たどうし）・自動詞（じどうし）

Done through action vs. occurring on its own

～た + (Noun)

Verb modified noun, Relative clause

がある + (Noun)

Noun (B) that has Noun (A), Noun (B) with Noun (A)

と

や

Things like, And the like

とか

Among other things, For example, Such as

の

Indicates possession

のは・のが

Verb nominalizer, The one who..., That which...

の

Possessive use (Noun omission)

んだ・んです

Explanatory, Emphasis, The fact is

沢山（たくさん）

Many, A lot of, Plenty, Enough

全然（ぜんぜん）

結構（けっこう）

Quite, A lot, Fairly, Rather

ね

Isn't it?, Right? (Sentence ending particle)

よ

Emphasis (Sentence ending particle)

Chapter 4

Essential Grammar

～に行（い）く

To go ~, To go in order to ~

です

か

Question marking particle

(Question-Phrase) + か

Including questions within sentences

何（なに） + か

Something, Nothing, Anything, Not anything, Some kind of, Not any kind of

誰（だれ）か・どこか・誰（だれ）も・どこも

Someone, Somewhere, Not anyone, Not anywhere

でも

Or something, Any... (with question words), No matter (who)

～て (Adjectives and Nouns)

And... (Conjunctive)

～て (Qualities and States)

And..., Both and (Conjunctive)

～て (Sequence)

And, And then, After that (sequence)

から

ので

Because, So, Since, The reason being

のに

Despite, Although, Even though

が

けど

し (Reasons)

And, Giving reasons

たり～たりする

Things like ~ and ~

～ている ①

Is, Am, Are (~ing)

～ている ②

State of being, Has (have) done

～ている ③

Has/have done, Is ~ing (Repetition)

～てある

Something is done, Has been done, Remaining state

～ておく

To do something in advance

～ていく

To ~ and go, To go on, To start

～てくる

To come to, To become, To continue, To be starting to, Has been ~ing

れる・られる (Potential)

To be able, Can (Potential)

見（み）える

To be visible, To seem, To be in sight

聞（き）こえる

To be audible, To sound (like), (Can) hear, To be heard

ことが出来（でき）る

Can, Be able to

得（え）る

Is able to, Can, Possible

になる・くなる

To become (Adjective)

にする

To decide on, To choose, To make something into, To view something as

事（こと）になる

It will end up being, It is the result of, It has been decided that

様（よう）になる

To reach the point that, To come to be that, To turn into

事（こと）にする

To decide on, Have decided to

様（よう）にする

To try to, To make sure to, To endeavor to

と

If, When, Whenever, And, [Conditional]

なら

Were it, If, If it's the case, As for (Conditional)

ば

If… then, (Conditional)

たら

When, From when, Just when, If

ばいい

Can, Should, It'd be good if

といい

It would be nice if, It would be good if, Should, I hope

もし

If (For emphasis)

～てはいけない

Must not, May not

～ては成（な）らない

Must not, Cannot, Should not

なければいけない

Must do, Have to do

なければならない

Must do, Have to do

なくてはいけない

Must do, Have to do

なくてはならない

Must do, Have to do

ないと

なくちゃ・なきゃ

Must do, Have to do

～てもいい

It is alright/fine/okay even if, Can/may, ~ is also okay

～ても構（かま）わない

It doesn't matter if, I don't mind

たい

が欲（ほ）しい

To want something, To be in need of

う・よう (Volitional)

Let's, I shall (Casual volitional)

ましょう

Let's, Shall we (Polite volitional)

ましょうか

Shall we, Shall I

たらどう

Why don't you...?, What if you did...?

と

と聞（き）いた

と思（おも）う

って

Casual quotation

って

As for, Speaking of, Casual は (Sentence topic marker)

と言（い）う

Called, Named, Known as, As much as

と言（い）うのは

~ Known as ~ is, ~ Called ~ is, ~ Means ~, Because

そういう

Like that, Kind of

と言（い）う事（こと）

~ing, The ~ that ~ (Nominalization)

と言（い）う事（こと）だ

I heard that, Rumor has it that, It is said that, It means that

だって

I heard/was said, Because, But, Even or also, Even if or even though

んだって

I heard that, He or She said that

～てみる

う・よう + とする

Try to, Attempt to, To be about to

う・よう + と思（おも）う

I think I will, I think I shall, Going to, Gonna (Volitional + と思う)

あげる

To give (away), To present, To provide

～てあげる

To do something for someone, As a favor for

くれる

To give (me), To be given

～てくれる

To do something for someone (usually you)

貰（もら）う

To receive, To get, To obtain

～てもらう

To get someone to do, To have someone do

～て + くれない

Won't you?, Will you?, Could you?, Can you?, Would you?

～て下（くだ）さい

Please do (Polite request)

～ないで下（くだ）さい

Please don't (Polite request)

なさい

な (Prohibitive)

Do not, Don't (Prohibitive)

なんて

Such as, Things like, Emphasis

さ (Filler)

Like, You know, You see, Listen, Uhh

さ (Casual よ)

かな

かい

Question marker

かしら

Chapter 5

Special Expressions

せる・させる (Causative)

To make/let/have (somebody do something)

れる・られる (Passive)

Was done to ~ by ~, Done without consent, Done to one's dismay

させられる (Causative-Passive)

Verbs (Causative-passive voice), To be made to do something, To be forced to do

なさる

To do (Honorific)

いらっしゃる

To be (Honorific), To come (Honorific), To go (Honorific)

～ていただけませんか

Won't you, Could you please (Humble request)

致（いた）す

To do (Humble), To venerably do

で御座（ござ）います

To be, Polite copula

御座（ござ）います

To be, To exist (Polite)

お～になる

To do (Honorific)

お～ください

Please do (Honorific)

お〜する

I humbly do, I am obliged to do, Humble speech

お～願（ねが）う

Please, Could you please

～てしまう

To do something by accident, To finish completely・totally, Unfortunately

事（こと）がある

Something is possible, Sometimes, Occasionally, There are times when

～たことがある

Have done before

～る所（ところ）だ

About to, On the verge of

～た所（ところ）だ

Just finished doing, Was just doing

ところだった ②

Was just about to do something, Was in the middle of...

もの・もん

かもしれない

Might, Maybe, Probably

でしょう

Right?, Probably, Isn't it?

だろう

Right?, Probably, Isn't it?

だけ

だけで

Just by, Just with

しか～ない

There's only, Nothing but

しかない

Have no choice but, Only, Just

ばかり

Just, Only, Nothing but

ばかりだ

(Only) continue to, Keep on -ing, More and more

過（す）ぎる

Number + も

Emphasis, As ~ as, Not even

程（ほど）

The more, About, To the extent that, So much… that

程（ほど）～ない

Is not as…as, Isn't... like..., Not to the extent of...

ば～程（ほど）

The more…the more

さ

Converting adjectives to nouns

様（よう）だ

It seems that, It appears that, It looks like

の様（よう）に

Like (Noun), Similar to (Noun)

様（よう） + に・な

As・like, Just like

様（よう）な気（き）がする

Have a feeling that

みたい

Like, Similar to, Resembling

そう

Look like, Appear, Seem, Have a feeling that

そうだ

I heard that, It is said that

らしい ①

Seems like, Apparently, I heard

らしい ②

typical of, -ish・like, appropriate for, becoming of, befitting

っぽい

-ish, -like, Characteristic of, Typical of, Tendency to

より～の方（ほう）が

To be more ~ than ~

～た方（ほう）がいい

It'd be better to, Should do

ない方（ほう）がいい

It'd be better not to, Shouldn't do

より

More than, Over

方（かた）

Way of ~ing, How to ~, Manner of ~ing

による

By means of, According to, Depending on, Because of, Due to

によると

～易（やす）い

Easy to, Likely to

にくい

Difficult to, Hard to

がたい

Hard to, Difficult to

ないで

Without doing, Not ~ and ~

ずに

ぬ

Classical negative, Classical verb [ない]

訳（わけ）だ

For that reason, No wonder, As you'd expect, Naturally, Thus, This is why

訳（わけ）がない

There is no way, There is no reason, It is impossible, Cannot be

訳（わけ）には行（い）かない

Cannot afford to, No way, Impossible to do

とすると

If it were the case that, Assuming that...

として

As (i.e. in the role of), For

としては

As a, For a, As for

としても

Even if (we assume), Assuming, Also as

～たばかり

Just did, Something just happened

た途端（とたん）に

The instant or moment, As soon as, Just as

ながら

While ~ing, During, As

ながらも

But, Even while, Even though, Despite, Although

ままに (As Is)

As is, While remaining, Left in a state

っぱなし

Leaving something in a certain state, Left as is, Keep on -ing

Chapter 6

Advanced Topics

である

Formal or literary だ, Authoritative, Copula

連用形（れんようけい）

Formal Conjunctive

筈（はず）だ

Bound to (be), Expected to (be), Should be (able)

筈（はず）がない

Hardly possible, Cannot be, Highly unlikely, Improbable

べき

Must, Should , Ought to

べきではない

Should not, Must not , Ought not to

さえ

さえ～ば

If only…then, As long as..., Provided..., Only thing ... needs for ... is ...

どころか

Far from, Anything but

がる

To feel, To think, To act as if, To want, To desire

たがる

To want to (Third person)

ばかりに

Simply because, Only because, Just because, Simply on account of

ざるを得（え）ない

Can't help doing, Have no choice but

得（え）ない

Unable to, Cannot

兼（か）ねる

Cannot, Be unable to, Hard to, Hesitant to

兼（か）ねない

Might, Could be, Capable of, Possible

がち

Apt to do, Tend to do, Prone to do

つつ

つつも

Even while ~ing, Even though ~ing, Despite ~ing, Although ~ing

つつある

嫌（きら）いがある

Have a tendency to, Tend to, Be slightly~

まい

Won't, Intend not to, Probably not

じゃあるまいし

You are not ~ so..., it isn't ~ so...

う・よう + が～まいが

Even if, No matter what, Whether or not, [Emphatic], Volitional + が

だらけ

Completely covered in, Full of

塗（まみ）れ

Stained, Covered in, Smeared, Dirty with, Soaked in

挙句（あげく）

After, In the end, After all, Eventually

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