Grammar basics

Japanese grammar operates on fundamentally different principles from English, but once you understand the logic, it's remarkably consistent. The two biggest adjustments: verbs come at the end of sentences, and small words called "particles" mark the role of each noun. Japanese also lacks articles (a/the), often omits subjects when they're obvious, and doesn't distinguish singular from plural in most cases.

Sentence structure

Japanese uses Subject-Object-Verb order, meaning the verb always comes last. Where English says "I eat sushi", Japanese says the equivalent of "I sushi eat". This takes practice, but it means you can add information in any order before the verb — the particles tell you what's what:

English	Japanese	Literally
I eat sushi.	私はすしを食べます	I (topic) sushi (object) eat

Particles

Particles are perhaps the most important concept in Japanese grammar. These small words (usually one or two hiragana characters) attach after nouns to show their function — whether something is the topic, the subject, the object, a location, a destination, etc. English relies on word order to convey this information, but Japanese uses particles. Master these nine particles and you can understand most Japanese sentences:

Particle	Function	Example
は (wa)	Topic marker	私は学生です (As for me, I'm a student)
が (ga)	Subject marker	猫がいます (There is a cat)
を (o)	Object marker	すしを食べます (I eat sushi)
に (ni)	Location, time, direction	東京に行きます (I go to Tokyo)
で (de)	Location of action, means	電車で行きます (I go by train)
の (no)	Possession	私の本 (my book)
と (to)	And, with	友達と行きます (I go with a friend)
も (mo)	Also	私も行きます (I also go)
か (ka)	Question marker	学生ですか (Are you a student?)

Basic sentence patterns

These patterns are the building blocks of Japanese sentences. Learn them as templates, then swap in different vocabulary. The copula "です" (desu) is like "is/am/are" but comes at the end of the sentence.

A は B です (A is B)

This is the most fundamental pattern: "A is B". The topic (A) is marked with は (wa), and the sentence ends with です (desu). Notice there's no word for "a" or "the" — context determines whether you mean "a student" or "the student":

• 私は学生です (Watashi wa gakusei desu) — I am a student
• これは本です (Kore wa hon desu) — This is a book

Negative: A は B じゃないです

To negate "A is B", replace です with じゃないです (ja nai desu). The more formal version is ではありません (de wa arimasen). Both mean "is not":

• 私は学生じゃないです — I'm not a student

Questions: Add か

Forming questions is simple: add the particle か (ka) to the end of a statement. No need to change word order or intonation — か turns any statement into a question:

• 学生ですか — Are you a student?
• これは何ですか — What is this?

This/That

Like Korean, Japanese has three levels of distance for demonstratives. "This" (これ/kore) is near you, "that" (それ/sore) is near the listener, and "that over there" (あれ/are) is far from both. There's also a question form (どれ/dore = which one):

Japanese	Meaning	Distance
これ (kore)	this	Near speaker
それ (sore)	that	Near listener
あれ (are)	that over there	Far from both
どれ (dore)	which	Question

Also: この (this ~), その (that ~), あの (that ~ over there)

Adjectives

Japanese has two types of adjectives that behave differently. Understanding which type you're dealing with is essential because they conjugate differently. The names come from their endings in dictionary form.

い-adjectives

These adjectives end in い (i) and conjugate like verbs — they change form for past tense and negation without needing です. Drop the final い and add the appropriate ending:

• 高い (takai) — expensive/tall
• 高くない (takakunai) — not expensive
• 高かった (takakatta) — was expensive

な-adjectives

These adjectives need な (na) when placed before a noun, which is why they're called な-adjectives. They don't conjugate themselves — instead, you change the です/じゃない that follows them. Many な-adjectives are borrowed from Chinese or other languages:

• 静か (shizuka) — quiet
• 静かな部屋 (shizuka na heya) — quiet room
• 静かじゃない (shizuka ja nai) — not quiet

There is/are

Japanese distinguishes between animate and inanimate objects when expressing existence. Living things that can move on their own (people, animals) use います (imasu), while inanimate objects use あります (arimasu). This distinction doesn't exist in English but is essential in Japanese:

Animate (people, animals)	Inanimate (objects, plants)
います (imasu)	あります (arimasu)

• 猫がいます — There is a cat (animate, so います)
• 本があります — There is a book (inanimate, so あります)

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