Adding 〜さ to an adjective turns it into a noun, and gives it the nuance that the noun is objective and measurable.
〜そう can be added to adjectives to mark them as speculative, such as おいしそう = "looks delicious".
Adding 〜み to the end on an adjective turns it into a noun with a subjective or personally felt quality, such as the "warmth" of a perso…
い-adjectives can take the suffix 〜がる to describe how other people seem to feel, based on how they look or behave. This lets you state w…
〜かった allows you to make い-adjectives past tense, in a similar way to "was" in English.
Adding 〜くない to the end of an い-adjective makes it negative, kind of like how "not" functions in English.
Adding 〜ければ to the end of an い-adjective makes it conditional, similar to using "if" or "when" in English.
Using the て form of い-adjectives, you can combine words and clauses to express meanings such as "and" or "so".
い-adjectives are one type of adjective in Japanese. Their main function is to describe nouns, and they can take different ending to cha…
The く form of い-adjectives allows you to combine words and clauses together.
A few い-adjectives that relate to time or location can be used like nouns in their く form.
な-adjectives are one type of adjective in Japanese. Their main function is to describe nouns, but many can function as nouns themselves…
The く form can be used to turn い-adjectives into adverbs, in a similar way to "-ly" in English.
Used for both compliments and contradictions, さすが always adds the nuance that something is inevitable.
The primary function of だ is to mark nouns and な-adjectives as present tense and positive, but it can also add an emphatic nuance in so…
だった is a plain form past tense marker, typically used with nouns and な-adjectives.
でした is a polite past tense marker, typically used with nouns and な-adjectives.
です is used to mark words as polite if they cannot conjugate to show politeness themselves.
First-person pronouns are words that a speaker or a writer uses when they refer to themselves, like "I" or "we" in English.
Personal pronouns are used to refer to people from various perspectives: the first person (I, we), the second person (you), and the thi…
Second-person pronouns are words like "you" that a speaker uses to refer to their audience.
Third-person pronouns are words like "he" and "she." They are used for people who are neither "I" nor "you."
Adding 〜そう to a verb is the rough equivalent of "looks like (someone or something) is going to do something" in English. So for example…
The verb ending 〜させる is used to add the meaning of causing someone or something to do something. For this reason, verbs ending in 〜させる …
When verbs are given the ending 〜させられる, they are in the causative passive form. This gives them a meaning of "to be made to do somethin…
The suffix 〜ば puts verbs into the conditional form. It is also called the ば form, because all verbs end in this form end in 〜ば. This fo…
Verbs ending in 〜ている are often described as being the Japanese equivalent of the English "present continuous" or "-ing" form. Although …
When 〜ない appears on the end of a verb, it means it is in the negative plain form. In other words, it has a similar function to "not".
The past form 〜なかった is the past negative plain form of verbs. Verbs in this form always end in 〜なかった, like 食べなかった (did not eat), 飲まなかった…
The passive form 〜られる is used to give the broad meaning of something "being done" in English, so 食べる (to eat) becomes 食べられる (to be eate…
Verbs that end in 〜ていた or 〜でいた, like 食べていた (was eating), 飲んでいた (was drinking) and 来ていた (was coming) are in the past continuous form. Th…
The た form refers to verbs ending in 〜た or 〜だ, like 食べた (ate), 飲んだ (drank) and 来た (came). Verbs ending in 〜た and 〜だ describe things tha…
The volitional form 〜よう is used for propositions and invitations, similarly to "shall we?" and "let's" in English. There are other uses…
Verbs in the potential form show ability or possibility, similarly to "can" or "be able to" in English. However, there are cases where …
The て form is used to connect two (or sometimes more) actions or events in a sequence, similarly to how we use "and" in English. Depend…
Verbs in the て form can be used to make requests. It's often accompanied by other sentence endings, which give it different nuances. Us…
There are multiple ways to form an imperative in Japanese. This page will focus on how to use the stronger of the two, which we call th…
〜たい is a grammar formation that changes a verb so you can use it to say, "I want to do [this verb]." It’s a quick and easy way to expre…
The たがる form can be used when you want to say someone else wants to do something. Adding 〜がる to an adjective gives the meaning of "show…
ながら is used to indicate that two actions take place simultaneously. In many ways, it is similar to "while" in English grammar.
〜なさい is a suffix that creates the polite imperative form. While it is a polite way to make a command, 〜なさい still implies that the speak…
〜にくい is derived from an obsolete adjective 難い (difficult). It is used to describe the difficulty or hardship of doing something or achi…
Rooted in the adjective 易い (easy), 〜やすい is used to describe the ease of an action or achievement, in much the same way as we might say …
When と is used to show a "strong causal relationship," it shows either a condition and a result that always follows, or successive acti…
〜たら is used to provide a condition of events or situations. Depending on the context, 〜たら expresses different meanings such as time seq…
〜たりする is used to list actions and states. It indicates the list is incomplete, meaning that there are more things speakers could list.
ながら for contrasting clauses is used to describe two contradictory situations, and is often translated as "although."
Often translated as "probably," "I assume," or "I believe," だろう is used to speculate based on your interpretation of something. だろう and…
でしょう is used to speculate based on your interpretation of something, though you lack proof. Often translated as "perhaps," "I assume," …
なら is often translated as "if" and used to state the condition needed for a certain to take place. When using なら, speakers state their …
んです indicates that something is said based on background information or knowledge shared between the speaker and the listener. For this…
The causative form is a type of Japanese verb form that often ends in 〜させる. It gives the verb the meaning of "to cause someone or somet…
The command form, also known as "plain imperative form," is used to express a command or order. This is a more direct and assertive ver…
The conditional form of Japanese verbs is also often called the ば form because all verbs end in 〜ば in this form. This form is used when…
The negative form of Japanese verbs means verbs ending in 〜ない, like 食べない (not eat), 飲まない (not drink), and 来ない (not come).
The passive form is a type of Japanese verb form that often ends in 〜られる. This form can be used for to create passive sentences, and al…
The plain past form refers to the た form of verbs. Verbs in this form end in 〜た or 〜だ, like 食べた (ate), 飲んだ (drank), and 来た (came).
The potential form is a type of Japanese verb form that often ends in 〜られる. As the name suggests, it is used to express possibility or …
The stem form is a type of Japanese verb form also known as V-stem form, and 〜ます form—this last name comes from the fact that it can be…
The volitional form is a type of Japanese verb form, often called the よう form, which is used to make propositions and invitations.
The て form is a type of Japanese verb conjugation form used for many different purposes, including linking actions and making requests.…
Japanese verbs can be separated into three conjugation groups: godan verbs (五段動詞), ichidan verbs (一段動詞), and irregular verbs (変格動詞). Th…