Japanese grammar
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Featured Grammar
Japanese Verb Groups: Godan, Ichidan, and Irregular Verbs
Learn a verb’s group alongside its dictionary form. 食べる and 帰る both end in る, but 食べる becomes 食べます while 帰る becomes 帰ります. The group tells you which change to make.
Japanese Te-Form: Conjugation Table, Uses, and Practice
The te-form connects a verb to another action or to an ending such as ください. It is not a past ending. First identify the verb group, then apply its sound change.
Arimasu vs Imasu: Existence, Location, and に vs で
Use あります to describe ordinary objects and plants, and います for people and animals in the basic existence pattern. 木があります is therefore normal even though a tree is alive.
Japanese Masu Form: Polite Present, Negative, and Past
Use ます to make a verb polite, then choose an ending for the time and whether the statement is positive or negative. 明日行きます is a future plan; 毎日行きます is a habit. Neither needs a separate future ending.
Japanese Nai Form: Verb Negatives and Exceptions
To say that an action does not happen, form the plain negative from the verb’s dictionary form. 買う becomes 買わない, not 買あない. Check the group before changing a verb ending in る.
Japanese Ta Form: Plain Past Conjugation
The ta-form is the plain affirmative past: 食べた means ate, and 行った means went. The final sound changes follow the same groups as the te-form, with た replacing て and だ replacing で.
Plain and Polite Japanese: Forms, Tense, and Context
Plain and polite forms can describe the same event. 行った and 行きました both refer to going in the past. Changing politeness should not accidentally change the sentence’s time or turn a negative into a positive.
Te Iru: Ongoing Actions, Resulting States, and Habits
ている does not always mean “is doing.” Depending on the verb and context, it can describe an action in progress, a state left by a change, or a repeated activity. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Te Kara: Do One Action Before the Next
Use てから to make one action the starting point for another: finish the first, then do the second. The final predicate gives the sentence its tense. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Tari Tari Suru: Give Examples of Activities
たり lists representative actions rather than promising a complete list or a fixed order. It is useful for describing a weekend or giving examples of what you do. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ta Koto Ga Aru: Talk About Experience
Use a た-form verb with ことがある to say that an experience has occurred at least once before the reference time. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Koto Ga Dekiru: Say What Is Possible
A dictionary-form verb followed by ことができる presents an action as possible. It can describe ability or what a place or situation allows. Practise with 10 explained questions.