Japanese Grammar Primer

＊＊＊This page details many of the concepts and terminology necessary to use Wild Nihongo to its full potential.＊＊＊

　

The 3 Basic Japanese Verb Types

• (1) Group 1 Verbs (otherwise known as U-Verbs or Godan Verbs)
  • The dictionary form of Group 1 Verbs words ends in an “OOH” sound, as in 書かく [To write], 読よむ [To read], and 死しぬ [To die]. In romaji, these verbs would end with the letter U, as in “kaku“, “yomu“, and “shinu“, hence the nickname U-Verb.
  • Group 1 Verbs sometimes end in る, which makes them easily confusable with Group 2 Verbs. Luckily, there are only a handful of such verbs that are commonly used.
    • E.g. ある [To be]
    • E.g. 乗のる [To ride]
    • E.g. 走はしる [To run]
    • E.g. 帰かえる [To return]
    • E.g. 入はいる [To enter]
    • E.g. 要いる [To need]
    • E.g. 切きる [To cut]
    • E.g. しゃべる [To speak]
    • E.g. 知しる [To know]
  • The negative informal stem (i.e. the negative informal conjugation minus ない) of Group 1 Verbs always ends with an “Ah” sound. For example, the negative informal stem of 書かく is 書かか (i.e. kaka) and the negative informal stem of 走はしる is 走はしら (i.e. hashira).

• (2) Group 2 Verbs (otherwise known as RU-Verbs or Ichidan Verbs)
  • The dictionary form of Group 2 verbs ends with either “iru” (e.g. 見みる [To see] and 起おきる [To wake up]) or with “eru” (e.g. 寝ねる [To sleep] and 食たべる [To eat]).

• (3) Irregular Verbs
  • There are only two irregular verbs in Japanese that do not fall into the above two categories. These verbs are 来くる [To come] and する [To do]. Follow the hyperlinks for more details.

Group 1 Verb Conjugations

Dictionary Form (Informal Nonpast)	Masu-Form (Formal Nonpast)	Informal Negative Nonpast	Informal Past	Informal Negative Past	Te-Form	Conditional	Passive	Causative	Potential	Imperative	Volitional
話はなす [To speak]	話はなします	話はなさない	話はなした	話はなさなかった	話はなして	話はなせば	話はなされる	話はなさせる	話はなせる	話はなせ	話はなそう
行いく [To go]	行いきます	行いかない	行いった	行いかなかった	行いって	行いけば	行いかれる	行いかせる	行いける	行いけ	行いこう
乗のる [To ride]	乗のります	乗のらない	乗のった	乗のらなかった	乗のって	乗のれば	乗のられる	乗のらせる	乗のれる	乗のれ	乗のろう
呼ぶ [To call]	呼よびます	呼よばない	呼よんだ	呼よばなかった	呼よんで	呼よべば	呼よばれる	呼よばせる	呼よべる	呼よべ	呼よぼう
待まつ [To wait]	待まちます	待またない	待まった	待またなかった	待まって	待まてば	待またれる	待またせる	待まてる	待て	待とう
読よむ [To read]	読よみます	読よまない	読よんだ	読よまなかった	読よんで	読よめば	読よまれる	読よませる	読よめる	読よめ	読よもう
死しぬ [To die]	死しにます	死しなない	死しんだ	死しななかった	死しんで	死しねば	死しなれる	死しなせる	死しねる	死しね	死しのう
泳およぐ [To swim]	泳およぎます	泳およがない	泳およいだ	泳およがなかった	泳およいで	泳およげば	泳およがれる	泳およがせる	泳およげる	泳およげ	泳およごう
…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..

Group 2 Verb Conjugations

Dictionary Form (Informal Nonpast)	Masu-Form (Formal Nonpast)	Informal Negative Nonpast	Informal Past	Informal Negative Past	Te-Form	Conditional	Passive	Causative	Potential	Imperative	Volitional
見みる [To see]	見みます	見みない	見みた	見みなかった	見みて	見みれば	見みられる	見みさせる	見みられる	見みろ	見みよう
食たべる [To eat]	食たべます	食たべない	食たべた	食たべなかった	食たべて	食たべれば	食たべられる	食たべさせる	食たべられる	食たべろ	食たべよう
…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..

Irregular Verb Conjugations

Dictionary Form (Informal Nonpast)	Masu-Form (Formal Nonpast)	Informal Negative Nonpast	Informal Past	Informal Negative Past	Te-Form	Conditional	Passive	Causative	Potential	Imperative	Volitional
する [To do]	します	しない	した	しなかった	して	すれば	される	させる	できる	しろ	しよう
来くる [To come]	来きます	来こない	来きた	来こなかった	来きて	来くれば	来こられる	来こさせる	来こられる	来こい	来こよう
…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..

The Two Japanese Adjective Types

• (1) い-Adjectives
  • As the name suggests, い-Adjectives are adjectives that end with い, as in 青あおい [Blue], 大おおきい [Big], and 面白おもしろい [Interesting]. い-Adjectives can be used pre-nominally or in the predicate position.
    • E.g. Pre-nominal い-Adjective: 面白おもしろい映画えいが [Interesting movie]
    • E.g. Predicate い-Adjective: あの映画えいがは面白おもしろい [That movie is interesting.]
  • When used as a predicate, an い-Adjective may be followed by the formal copula です but NOT by the informal copula だ.
    • E.g. あの映画えいがは面白おもしろいです。[That movie is interesting.]
    • E.g. *あの映画えいがは面白おもしろいだ。[That movie is interesting.] い-Adjectives can not be followed by だ.

• (2) な-Adjectives
  • な-Adjectives serve the same grammatical function as い-Adjectives (i.e. to modify nouns), but they behave slightly differently. Most な-Adjectives are derived from Chinese or from other non-Japanese sources.
  • When used pre-nominally, な-Adjective stems must be followed by な (hence the name な-Adjectives). It would be ungrammatical to directly affix a な-Adjective to a noun.
    • E.g. 静しずかな町まち [Quiet town]
    • E.g. 有名ゆうめいな人ひと [Famous person]
    • E.g. *静しずか町まち [Quiet town] A な-Adjective must be followed by な when used pre-nominally (i.e. directly before a noun).
  • When used as predicates, な-Adjective may be followed either by the informal copula だ or by the formal copula です.
    • E.g. この町まちは静しずかです。[This town is quiet.]
    • E.g. この町まちは静しずかだ。[This town is quiet.]

い-Adjective Conjugations

Informal Nonpast	Informal Negative Nonpast	Informal Past	Informal Negative Past	Conditional	Te-Form	Adverbial Form	Pre-Nominal Form	Formal Nonpast	Formal Negative Nonpast	Formal Past	Formal Negative Past
大おおきい [Big]	大おおきくない	大おおきかった	大おおきくなかった	大おおきければ	大おおきくて	大おおきく	大おおきい	大おおきいです	大おおきくないです / 大おおきくありません	大おおきかったです	大おおきくなかったです / 大おおきくありませんでした
面白おもしろい [Interesting]	面白おもしろくない	面白おもしろかった	面白おもしろくなかった	面白おもしろければ	面白おもしろくて	面白おもしろく	面白おもしろい	面白おもしろいです	面白おもしろくないです / 面白おもしろくありません	面白おもしろかったです	面白おもしろくなかったです / 面白おもしろくありませんでした
高たかい [Expensive]	高たかくない	高たかかった	高たかくなかった	高たかければ	高たかければ	高たかく	高たかい	高たかいです	高たかくないです / 高たかくありません	高たかかったです	高たかくなかったです / 高たかくありませんでした
Exception: いい [Good]	よくない	よかった	よくなかった	よければ	よくて	よく	いい	いいです	よくないです / よくありません	よかったです	よくなかったです / よくありませんでした
…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	………………………………………………….	…………………………..	…………………………..

な-Adjective Conjugations

Informal Nonpast	Informal Nonpast	Informal Past	Informal Negative Past	Conditional	Te-Form	Adverbial Form	Pre-Nominal Form	Formal Nonpast	Formal Negative Nonpast	Formal Past	Formal Negative Past
静しずかだ [Quiet]	静しずかじゃない / 静しずかではない	静しずかだった	静しずかじゃなかった / 静しずかではなかった	静しずかなら(ば) / 静しずかであれば	静しずかで	静しずかに	静しずかな	静しずかです	静しずかじゃありません / 静しずかではありません	静しずかでした	静しずかじゃありませんでした / 静しずかではありませんでした
有名ゆうめいだ [Famous]	有名ゆうめいじゃない / 有名ゆうめいではない	有名ゆうめいだった	有名ゆうめいじゃなかった / 有名ゆうめいではなかった	有名ゆうめいなら(ば) / 有名ゆうめいであれば	有名ゆうめいで	有名ゆうめいに	有名ゆうめいな	有名ゆうめいです	有名ゆうめいじゃありません / 有名ゆうめいではありません	有名ゆうめいでした	有名ゆうめいじゃありませんでした / 有名ゆうめいではありませんでした
…………………………..	……………………………………….	…………………………..	…………………………………………………..	……………………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………..	…………………………………………………………..	…………………………..	……………………………………………………………………………

Useful Terminology

Agent: The living being who volitionally brings about the main action of a sentence. The subject and the agent are often one and the same (i.e. the subject of the sentence is often the one who performs the sentence’s main action), but there are special cases such as the passive voice in which the subject is NOT the agent of the main action.

Appositive Clause: A clause that is used to re-state a noun in different terms in order to provide further information or clarity about that noun. For example, in the sentence 私わたしは日本にほんへ行いく予定よていがあります [I have a plan to go to Japan], the clause 日本にほんへ行いく [Go to Japan] is an appositive clause that re-states the noun 予定よてい [Plan] and provides further clarity to the sentence.

Auxiliary Adjective: An adjective that attaches to the predicate of a clause or sentence in order to serve some special grammatical function. Auxiliary adjectives are dependent, meaning that they cannot be used on their own. Common examples of auxiliary adjectives include ~やすい, ~にくい, てほしい, and そうだ (Conjuncture).

Auxiliary Verb: A verb that attaches to the predicate of a clause or sentence in order to serve some special grammatical function. Auxiliary verbs are often special usages of ordinary verbs (e.g. てある is a special usage of ある [To be]). Other examples of auxiliary verbs include ている, てあげる, and ~すぎる.

Durative Verb: A verb whose action takes place over an extended period of time (rather than taking place instantaneously). For example, 読よむ [To read] and 書かく [To write] both take place over an indefinite duration of time.

Embedded Sentence: A complete sentence that is embedded into a larger sentence. Sentences that are nominalized by の or こと are embedded sentences, as are direct quotations.

Intransitive Verb: A verb that does NOT take direct or indirect objects and thus implies a lack of human agency. For example, neither 開あく [To open] nor 始はじまる [To begin] take objects, meaning that these verbs take place independent of human volition. When an electric door opens as I enter a supermarket, this action occurs automatically and is thus an intransitive action. Similarly, when the rain falls, there is no agent who causes this event; it occurs on its own and is thus an intransitive action. Intransitive verbs often (but not always) have corresponding transitive verbs, and these are referred to as “transitivity pairs”. For example, 開あける and 開あく form a transitivity pair, as do 始はじめる and 始はじまる. It is highly recommended to memorize commonly-used transitivity pairs.

Movement Verb: A verb that expresses a movement from one place to another. 行いく [To go] and 来くる [To come] are very common examples of movement verbs.

Non-Volitional Verb: A verb whose action is NOT performed purposefully or willingly by an active agent. Intransitive verbs such as 開あく [To open] and 始はじまる [To begin] are non-volitional verbs because they imply a lack of human agency over the action. Potential verb such as 分わかる [To understand] 聞きこえる [To be audible] are also non-volitional.

Nominalizer: A gramatical structure whose purpose is to transform a verb, adjective, or sentence into a noun phrase. の (Nominalizer) and こと / こと are common nominalizers.

Particle: A grammatical structure that defines the role that a noun serves within a sentence. There are numerous particles in Japanese, and they serve various purposes. One common example is を (Direct Object), which is used to identify a noun as the direct object of the sentence. For example, in the phrase マークは肉にくを食たべる [Mark eats meat], を (Direct Object) is used to identify 肉にく [Meat] as the direct object of the verb 食たべる [Eat].

Punctual Verb: A verb that takes place more or less instantaneously rather than taking place over an extended period of time. Punctual verbs may represent actions that can be repeated continuously, or they may represent momentary actions that bring about permanent states. For example, 飛とぶ [To jump] is a punctual verb that place place over a very brief period and can be repeated over and over. 死しぬ [To die] is also a punctual verb that takes places in an instant, but it represents the permanent action of transitioning from the state of being alive to the state of being dead and is clearly not a repeatable action.

Predicate: The end part of a clause or sentence that describes the subject’s state or activity. Generally speaking, the predicate expresses the crux of the sentence. The predicate can be a verb, adjective, or noun + copula.

Pronoun: Just as in English, there are various types of pronouns in Japanese. These include personal pronouns (e.g. 私わたし [I / Me], 彼かれ [He / Him]), demonstrative pronouns (e.g. これ [This] and それ [That]), interrogative pronouns (e.g. どち [Which?]), and reflexive pronouns (e.g. 自分じぶん [Oneself]).

Reciprocal Verb: A verb whose action is experienced reciprocally by two or more people. For example, 会あう [To meet] implies a reciprocal meeting between multiple people. If there is only one person, no meeting can occur. 結婚けっこんする is another example of a reciprocal verb. By definition, a marriage represents a union between two (or more?) people.

Relative Clause: A clause that is used to pre-nominally modify a noun. Here is a thorough discussion of relative clauses in Japanese.

Stative Verb: A verb that expresses a continuing state rather than an action. For example, いる [To be] expresses a state of existence, and 分わかる [To understand] expresses a state of understanding.

Transitive Verb: A verb that can take a direct or indirect object (or both). Transitive verbs involve human agency. For example, the transitive verb 食たべる [To eat] implies that some agent eats some object. Similarly, the transitive verb あげる [To give] implies that some agent gives some object to someone.

Volitional Verb: A verb whose action is performed purposefully and willingly (i.e. volitionally) by an active agent. Transitive verbs such as 食たべる [To eat] and 投なげる [To throw] are volitional verbs because they imply that some agent is purposefully acting upon some direct object.

WH-Question: In English, non-Yes / No questions are formed with WH-Question words such as “Who“, “What“, “Where“, “When“, “Which“, and “Why” (as well as “How“). The Japanese counterparts to these words are だれ [Who], なに [What], どこ [Where], いつ [When], なんで / なぜ [Why], and どう [How].