Japanese Grammar

Words for people, things, places, concepts. No gender/number/case changes.

Words for actions/states/changes. Three types: Godan, Ichidan, Irregular.

Words for qualities/states. Two types: い-adj and な-adj.

Words modifying verbs/adjectives/adverbs for degree/manner/time/frequency. No conjugation.

Words replacing nouns for people/things/places. Vary by formality/gender. Japanese often omits pronouns.

Words connecting sentences/clauses expressing logical relationships: addition/contrast/cause/condition

Words expressing numbers/quantities. Japanese has native Japanese (和語) and Sino-Japanese (漢語) reading systems.

Japanese follows SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) order. Verb always at sentence end. Modifiers come before modified words.

Modifiers always precede modified words. Relative clauses directly modify nouns without relative pronouns. Adjectives and nouns can modify nouns.

Nouns that lost lexical meaning serving grammatical functions: の(nominalizer)、こと(thing/fact)、もの(thing)、ところ(place/time)、わけ(reason)、はず(expectation)、つもり(intention)

Sentences with two が-marked subjects: outer=topic/possessor, inner=real subject. Common with adjectives and potential forms.

Verbs conjugate for tense (non-past/past), polarity (affirmative/negative), politeness (plain/polite), and voice (passive/causative/potential).

Action is received by the subject. Formed by adding れる/られる to verb stem. Direct passive: subject receives action. Indirect passive: subject is adversely affected by action.

Subject causes/makes/lets someone do something. Formed by adding せる/させる to verb stem.

Expresses ability/possibility to do something. Godan: う→える (書ける)。Ichidan: る→られる (食べられる)。Irregular: する→できる、来る→こられる

Action occurs naturally/spontaneously without volition. Formed by adding れる/られる. Often used with 思う感じる for natural thoughts/feelings.

Verbs expressing giving and receiving with social directionality: あげる(give out)、くれる(give in)、もらう(receive)。Reflect social relationships and in-group/out-group dynamics.

Elevates the status of the listener or third party. Uses special verb forms: いらっしゃる(来ている/行く/来る)、おっしゃる(言う)、なさる(する)、召し上がる(食べる/飲む)

Lowers the speaker's status to show respect to the listener. Uses special forms: 参る(行く/来る)、申す(言う)、いたす(する)、いただく(もらう)、拝見する(見る)

Adds politeness marker です/ます to show respect to the listener. Does not elevate or lower anyone's status. Base level of formal Japanese.

Japanese has gender-associated speech patterns. Male: 俺僕、〜だぜ〜だぞ。Female: 私あたし、〜わよ〜かしら。Modern Japanese shows less gender distinction.

Japanese has distinct written (文語) and spoken (口語) styles. Written: である調、漢語多、文法形式厳格。Spoken: だ/です調、和語多、省略・倒置多

Japanese often uses indirect/ambiguous expressions to maintain harmony and avoid direct confrontation. Includes hedging, omission, and softening language.