Japanese Grammar N5
Learn N5 grammar through meanings, translated examples, and comparisons.
Study N5 grammar in a useful order
Use these groups to connect individual lessons. The level label is a study guide, not an official exhaustive JLPT syllabus.
0. Build the verb and adjective forms
Learn the verb group before changing tense, then build noun and adjective predicates.
- Japanese Verb Groups: Godan, Ichidan, and Irregular Verbs
- Japanese Masu Form: Polite Present, Negative, and Past
- Japanese Nai Form: Verb Negatives and Exceptions
- Japanese Ta Form: Plain Past Conjugation
- Desu and Da: Noun Sentences, Negatives, and Past
- Japanese I-Adjectives: Negative and Past Forms
- Japanese Na-Adjectives: Na, Da, and Conjugation
Check: Change a new verb into polite, negative, and past forms, and explain your choice.
Practise and check explanations1. Give each noun a role
Distinguish a topic, an identified subject, an object, and a destination.
- Japanese Self-Introduction Practice: A Short Script and Follow-Up Questions
- Ask Directions in Japanese: Questions, Route Words, and Reply Practice
- Wa vs Ga: Topic, Subject, Contrast, and Practice
- The Japanese Particle を: Objects, Contrasts, and Practice
- Ni vs E: Japanese Destination Particles Explained
- Ni vs De: Location, Destination, Time, and Means
Check: Explain the particles in a sentence about who goes where and does what.
Practise and check explanations2. Describe existence and location
Choose あります or います and locate something with a reference point.
- Describe a Room in Japanese with Arimasu, Imasu, and Position Words
- Arimasu vs Imasu: Existence, Location, and に vs で
- Japanese Position Words: No Ue, Shita, Naka, and More
- 場所に〜があります／います
Check: Answer both ‘What is in the room?’ and ‘Where is the bag?’
Practise and check explanations3. Express wishes, requests, and rules
Form the verb first, then choose the ending that matches who should act.
- Describe Your Day in Japanese: Times, Places, and Connected Actions
- Asking Permission in Japanese: Te Mo Ii Desu Ka in Everyday Situations
- Ordering Food in Japanese: A Café Dialogue and Practice Questions
- Shopping in Japanese: Prices, Choices, and a Short Store Exchange
- Japanese Short Message Practice: Propose, Confirm, and Rearrange a Plan
- Japanese Te-Form: Conjugation Table, Uses, and Practice
- Japanese Tai Form: Wants, Negatives, Past Forms, and Practice
- Te Kudasai: Japanese Requests, Formation, and Practice
- Naide Kudasai: Please Don’t, Negative Forms, and Practice
- Te Mo Ii: Asking Permission, Replies, and Practice
- Te Wa Ikenai: Prohibition, Requests, and No Obligation
Check: Say what you want to do, ask another person for help, and ask permission for your own action.
Practise and check explanations
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 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.
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 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.
〜があります
〜があります (ga arimasu) means that a thing, place, or non-living noun exists. It is often translated as there is or there are.
Desu and Da: Noun Sentences, Negatives, and Past
Use です or だ to say what something is or to give a noun description. 本です identifies something as a book; 本があります says a book exists. These statements answer different questions.
Te Kudasai: Japanese Requests, Formation, and Practice
Make polite action requests, identify who should act, compare permission and item requests, and practise six questions.
Japanese I-Adjectives: Negative and Past Forms
An i-adjective changes its own final い for negatives and past statements. 高い becomes 高くない or 高かった. Adding です makes the resulting sentence polite; it does not replace the adjective’s conjugation.
Japanese Na-Adjectives: Na, Da, and Conjugation
A na-adjective uses な directly before a noun: 静かな部屋. At the end of a polite sentence it uses です without な: 部屋は静かです. Keep these two positions separate.
Put Japanese Adjectives Before Nouns
Build the whole noun phrase before adding its particle. 新しい本を means the new book as an object; 静かな部屋で means in a quiet room as the place of an activity.
Ku and Ni: Use Adjectives to Describe Actions
To say how an action happens, use the adverbial form of an adjective. I-adjectives change final い to く; na-adjectives use に. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Kute and De: Connect Japanese Descriptions
To link descriptions, use くて for an i-adjective and で for a na-adjective or noun. The last predicate supplies the final tense and politeness. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ku Naru and Ni Naru: Describe a Change
なる describes becoming or changing into a state. Use くなる with an i-adjective and になる with a na-adjective or noun. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Yori and Hou Ga: Compare Two Things
In a comparison, より marks the reference point and ほう identifies the side being highlighted. Read the whole structure before choosing which thing is larger, cheaper, or preferred. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ichiban: Say Which Is the Most Within a Group
いちばん highlights the highest degree within a relevant set. Name that set with a phrase such as この中で or 果物の中で so the comparison is useful. Practise with 10 explained questions.
〜がいます
〜がいます (ga imasu) means that a person or animal exists somewhere. It is used for living beings such as teachers, friends, dogs, and cats.