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n5
Read hiragana words
Read each kana as part of a word. Keep a full-sized や separate from a small ゃ.
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n5
Read katakana words
Use katakana for these loanwords. Notice the direction of the strokes in シ and ツ.
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n5
Small kana and long vowels
A small っ holds the following consonant. A long vowel changes the word; do not drop it when typing.
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n5
Noun sentences with desu
Use です after a noun for a polite statement. Change the predicate ending to express past time or negation.
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n5
Ask with ka; add with mo
Put か at the end of a polite question. Use も instead of は when adding another person to the same statement.
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n5
This, that, and that over there
これ, それ and あれ stand alone as nouns. Choose according to the positions of the speaker and listener.
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n5
Put kono before a noun
この, その and あの must be followed by a noun. Do not use これ directly before a noun.
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n5
Locate people and things
Use います for people and animals, あります for ordinary objects. Mark the location of existence with に.
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n5
Topic and focused information
は establishes what the sentence is about. が can identify the answer to a who-question. Read the context before choosing.
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n5
Connect a place and its position
Use の between a reference object and a location word such as 上 or 下. Then choose the particle for the whole location.
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n5
Mark an object with wo
For these transitive actions, を marks what you read, eat or drink. The written particle を is usually pronounced o.
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n5
Existence and action locations
Use に for where someone exists and で for where an activity happens. A location alone does not determine the particle.
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n5
Destinations and exact times
Both に and へ can mark a destination with 行く. An exact departure time takes に; it is not a direction.
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n5
Complete and open-ended lists
と joins the items in a complete list for the sentence. や presents examples, leaving room for other items.
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n5
Change i-adjective endings
For a regular い-adjective, replace final い with くない for a negative and かった for a past statement.
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n5
Describe a noun with na
な-adjectives use な directly before a noun. Words such as きれい belong to this pattern even though they end in the sound i.
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n5
Connect two descriptions
Connect a regular い-adjective with くて and a な-adjective with で. Keep the final predicate at the end.
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n5
Recognise verb groups
Learn a verb with its group. A final る does not by itself tell you whether a verb belongs to the ichidan group.
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n5
Use polite verb forms
Use the correct stem before ます, ません and ました. These endings mark politeness and tense separately from the verb group.
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n5
Match plain and polite verbs
Match the same tense and meaning across plain and polite style. Adding です to a dictionary verb does not make its normal polite form.
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n5
Make plain negatives
For godan verbs, use the a-row before ない; verbs ending in う use わない. Ichidan verbs drop る.
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n5
Form te correctly
The て-form changes according to the verb ending. Learn the special form 行って alongside the regular patterns.
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n5
Form plain past verbs
The plain past follows the sound changes of the て-form. Replace て with た and で with だ.
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n5
Describe an ongoing action
Attach いる or います to the て-form. Depending on the verb, the pattern can describe an action in progress or a resulting state.
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n5
Ask someone to act
A てください request asks the listener to do the action. First make the verb into its て-form.
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n5
Ask permission to act
Use てもいいですか to ask whether an action is allowed. Identify who will do the action before choosing a request or permission question.
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n5
Order actions in time
Use the dictionary form before 前に and the た-form before 後で. The verb form helps express the order of the actions.
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n5
Read a changed opening time
Read the whole notice before extracting a time. Contrast the usual schedule with the special schedule for today. This is fictional practice material.
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n5
Find a place in a message
Separate where someone is from where you will meet. Follow the final instruction instead of copying the first place name. This message is fictional.
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n5
Read a request and its exception
Find both the requested action and anything excluded from it. Negative requests often change what you should bring. These messages are fictional.
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n4
Potential form: 読める and 食べられる
Distinguish doing an action from being able to do it. Practise verb groups and the exceptions する and 来る.
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n4
ことができる: ability and possibility
Use the dictionary form + ことができる. Compare this with a noun directly followed by ができる.
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n4
Volitional form: invitations and resolve
Form a casual invitation or personal resolve. Compare it with the polite invitation ましょう.
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n4
ようと思う: expressing an intention
Attach と思う to the volitional form. Distinguish intention from an opinion or prediction using a dictionary form.
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n4
つもりだ: plans and intentions
Use dictionary or ない forms before つもり. Compare a personal intention with a scheduled event.
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n4
予定だ: scheduled events
Attach 予定 to a dictionary form or noun + の. Focus on a schedule rather than a wish.
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n4
ことにする: making a decision
Use dictionary or ない forms to express a decision. Compare with something being decided through ことになる.
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n4
てあげる: doing something for someone
Describe an action done for someone else. Identify the person acting and the person benefiting.
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n4
てくれる: someone does something for us
Describe help directed towards you or your side. Compare the direction with あげる.
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n4
てもらう: the recipient’s point of view
Make the recipient the topic. Identify the person doing the action before に.
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n4
たら: conditions and what happens next
Form conditions with た form + ら. Check adjective and noun forms, and distinguish hypothetical conditions from sequence.
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n4
ば: forming a condition
Practise ば forms for verbs and い adjectives. Some contexts do not allow a simple replacement with たら.
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n4
なら: advice based on a premise
Respond to a plan or premise. Unlike some uses of たら, it does not necessarily mean after an event is finished.
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n4
と: regular results and how things work
Use conditional と for regular results, directions and mechanisms. Distinguish it from quotation と.
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n4
ので: explaining a reason
Connect verbs and い adjectives in plain form; nouns and な adjectives take な before ので.
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n4
ながら: two actions at the same time
Attach ながら to the ます stem. The main action usually follows it.
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n4
Noun modification: descriptions before nouns
Place a plain-form clause before a noun. Identify the central noun and the tense of its description.
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n4
と思う: opinions and predictions
Use plain forms before と思う. Positive nonpast nouns and な adjectives need だ.
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n4
と言う and という: quoting and naming
Use と for reported speech and という before a noun for a name. Separate direct quotation from plain-form reports.
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n4
の and こと: turning actions into nouns
Use の or こと to treat a verb phrase as a noun. Check fixed expressions as well as overlapping uses.
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