The Japanese particle ni is one of the most frequently employed particles because it has so many different uses. There is no single English translation for the particle ni because much depends on the context in which the particle is…
Now that we’ve studied how to use Japanese adjectives to modify nouns as we do in English, we’re going to examine how Japanese, unlike English, can also treat adjectives like verbs. You should remember from Lesson 1 that –i adjectives…
In English, an adjective describes, or “modifies,” a noun. Japanese adjectives can do the same—but they can also function as verbs. You’ll learn more about adjectives as verbs in a future lesson. In this lesson, we’ll concentrate on using adjectives…
When you conjugate verbs in English, you have to consider the tense (present, past, future, etc.) and the subject (I, you, he/she/it, we, they). When conjugating verbs in Japanese, although you must still consider the tense, the subject is unimportant;…
Verbs are arguably more important in the Japanese language than they are in English. Japanese sentences require verbs—which typically come at the very end of the sentence—but they do not always require subjects, like English sentences do. A complete Japanese…
Particles can be a difficult subject to master in any language. Particles subtly mark the word they follow and indicate the association between that word and the rest of the sentence. (Unlike in English, in Japanese, a particle never precedes…
Ga The Japanese particle “ga” is a very versatile particle that can act as a subject marker, an object marker, and even a conjunction. “Ga” usually calls attention to a word or clause. When used as a subject marker, “ga”…
Once you’ve mastered basic counting in Japanese, you’re ready to start studying Japanese counters. What are counters? In Japanese, there are words that indicate what kind of object is being counted. These words most often have no English translation. In…
Learning how to count in Japanese is a basic, essential skill for anyone who wishes to speak Japanese! If you visit a Japanese store or even a store in a nearby Japanese-speaking community in your home country, how will you…
The Japanese language is structured quite differently from English. However, while it may take a little getting used to, basic Japanese sentence structure is simple to learn and eventually master—perhaps far more simple than English sentence structure! Subject + Object…