Japanese Grammar N5
Learn N5 grammar through meanings, translated examples, and comparisons.
Kore, Sore, Are, and Dore: Point to Things
これ, それ and あれ stand in for things. In a face-to-face situation, choose according to where the thing is relative to the speaker and listener, not who owns it.
Naide Kudasai: Please Don’t, Negative Forms, and Practice
Build negative requests for each verb group and distinguish ‘please do not’ from prohibition and no obligation.
Kono, Sono, Ano, and Dono: Point with a Noun
Use この, その or あの immediately before a noun. この本 is this book; これ is this one. The choice involves both position and whether you name the object.
Koko, Soko, Asoko, and Doko: Point to Places
ここ, そこ and あそこ refer to places. どこ asks where. After selecting the place word, choose a particle according to what the rest of the sentence says.
Nani or Nan: Read and Use 何 in Questions
何 has more than one reading. Learn common combinations such as 何ですか, 何時, and 何を rather than trying to pronounce every written 何 in the same way. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Dare, Donata, and Dare No: Ask Who and Whose
だれ asks who a person is; だれの asks who owns or is associated with something. どなた is a more polite alternative to だれ in many identity questions. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Itsu, Nanji, and Nanyoubi: Ask About Time
Choose the time question before choosing an answer. いつ asks broadly when, 何時 asks a clock time, and 何曜日 asks a weekday. An answer can contain a correct number yet answer the wrong question.
Ikutsu and Nansai: Ask How Many and How Old
いくつ can ask how many things or, with the right context, how old someone is. 何歳 asks age more explicitly. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Japanese Counters: Ko, Hon, Mai, and Nin
Japanese commonly pairs a number with a counter suited to what is counted. Learn the object category and the spoken number together. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Japanese Frequency: Mainichi, Yoku, and Shuu Ni Nankai
Frequency expressions tell you how often an activity happens. Some are approximate, such as よく and ときどき; others give a count within a period, such as 週に三回. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Question Words with Ka and Mo: Something, Someone, and Nothing
A question word changes meaning when followed by か or by も with a negative predicate. だれか means someone; だれも来ません means no one is coming. Read the whole expression, including the ending.
〜は〜にあります
〜は〜にあります is used to say where a known thing, building, or place is located. It often translates as is at or is in.
Te Mo Ii: Asking Permission, Replies, and Practice
Form permission questions, compare who acts, understand refusal and conversational ていい, and practise six questions.
To: List Nouns and Say Who You Act With
と can join nouns into a list or mark a companion in an action. 本とノート names two items; 友だちと行く says who goes with someone. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ya and Nado: Give Examples in a Noun List
や links representative items: 本やノート means books, notebooks, and similar things. など can make the “and so on” meaning explicit. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Kara and Made: Starting and Ending Points
から marks a starting point and まで marks an endpoint. They work with times and places: 九時から五時まで, 家から駅まで. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ka: Ask Questions and Offer Alternatives
か can mark a polite question at the end of a sentence or connect alternatives inside it. 学生ですか asks a question; お茶か水 names a choice between tea and water. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ne and Yo: Shared Information and New Information
Sentence-final ね and よ help show how you relate the message to the listener. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Kara for Reasons: Explain Why
Reason から follows a proposition and connects it to a result, decision, or request. In 雨ですから、行きません, rain is the reason for not going. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Ga and Kedo: Contrast and Conversation Openings
が and けど can connect contrasting ideas, but they also introduce background before a question or request. 日本語を勉強していますが、質問があります does not need a strong “but” contrast. Practise with 10 explained questions.
〜は〜にいます
〜は〜にいます is used to say where a known person or animal is. It is the living-being version of the location pattern.
Masen Ka: Invite Someone to Do Something
A polite negative question can function as an invitation: 一緒に食べませんか. The speaker is proposing an activity, not merely stating that it will not happen. Practise with 10 explained questions.
Te Wa Ikenai: Prohibition, Requests, and No Obligation
State a prohibition, compare negative requests and no obligation, recognise ちゃ・じゃ, and practise six explained questions.
Mashou and Mashou Ka: Suggestions and Offers
ましょう suggests doing something, often together. ましょうか can offer the speaker’s help or ask about a proposed joint action. Practise with 10 explained questions.