Japanese Grammar 1

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I'm planning to visit Japan this year, so I thought it would be a good idea to learn some Japanese. Learning a new language as a programmer who has used an wide range of programming languages, it is interesting to see how different languages are structured.

Language is essentially using sounds and images to convey meaning, it can be used to instruct, inform, persuade, entertain, express feelings, and much more. Now, something like Japanese, a language very different from English, I would like to think as a new framework.

For example, if I want to describe what the weather is like, I can say "It is sunny today" in English. The main words here are "sunny" (noun) and "today" (noun), and the other words are just there to describe the relationship between the two.

In Japanese, the main words will be 今日 （きょう / today / noun） and 晴れ （はれ / sunny / noun）, and the sentence will be 今日は晴れです. The main words are the same, but the structure is different.

From experience learning other things, I understand that having a solid foundation is important, otherwise you end up trying to connect the dots, sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't.

Learn the characters

  • Hiragana (2 hours)
  • Katakana (2 hours)
  • Kanji (? hours)

Kanji will be an ongoing process, use a dictionary to look up the meaning of the kanji you encounter.

Grammar

Read the whole book on Japanese Grammar: Grammar

Syntax Differences with English:

  • Japanese does not use articles (a, an, the)
  • There is no distinction between future action and a general statement

1.1 State of being

State of being is declarative in Japanese.

Vocabulary

  • 学生 【がく・せい】 - student

Declare something is

  • Use だ
  • 学生だ

Declare something is not

  • Use じゃない
  • 学生じゃない

Declare something was

  • Use だった
  • 学生だった

Declare something was not

  • Use じゃなかった; drop the 「い」 from 「じゃない」 and adding 「かった」
  • 学生じゃなかった
PositiveNegative
Non-Past学生（だ）Is student学生じゃないIs not student
Past学生だったWas student学生じゃなかったWas not student

1.2 Particles

Vocabulary

  • 今日 【きょう】 - today
  • 明日 【あした】 - tomorrow
  • 試験 【しけん】 - exam
  • うん - yes (casual)
  • でも - but
  • ううん - no (casual)
  • 誰 【だれ】 - who
  • 学生 【がく・せい】 - student
  • 私 【わたし】 - me; myself; I

Particles are used to associate a noun with another noun.

「は」

  • topic particle
  • Used to indicate the topic of the sentence
  • Pronounced as wa when used as a particle

アリス：今日は試験だ。

Alice: Today is exam.

​

ボブ：ジョンは？

Bob: What about John?

​

アリス：ジョンは明日。

Alice: John is tomorrow. (As for John, the exam is tomorrow.)

「も」

  • also, too
  • Inclusive particle

ボブ：アリスは学生？

Bob: Is Alice (you) student?

​

アリス：うん、トムも学生。

Alice: Yeah, and Tom is also student.

Negative:

ボブ：アリスは学生？

Bob: Is Alice (you) student?

​

アリス：ううん、トムも学生じゃない。

Alice: No, and Tom is also not student.

「が」

  • In japanese "Is who the student" is not grammatically correct.
  • Use が to indicate the subject of the sentence, where the topic is not known.

誰が学生？ Who is the one that is student? 学生は誰？ (The) student is who?

1.3 Adjectives

Vocabulary

  • 静か 【しず・か】 (na-adj) - quiet
  • 好き 【す・き】 (na-adj) - likable; desirable
  • 魚 【さかな】 - fish
  • 人 【ひと】 - person

「な」

  • Between adjective and noun
  • A - な - N

静かな人。

Quiet person.

​

きれいな人。

Pretty person.

  • Can be used as N - は - a
  • A is kind

友達は親切。

Friend is kind.

  • In Japanese "like" is an adjective - can think of as desirable

ボブは魚が好きだ。

Bob likes fish.

​

ボブは魚が好きじゃない。

Bob does not like fish.

​

ボブは魚が好きだった。

Bob liked fish.

​

ボブは魚が好きじゃなかった。

Bob did not like fish.

There's strange ways to describe things in Japanese

魚が好きな人

Person that likes fish.

If you break down the sentence, it is: "fish - desiring - person"

魚が好きじゃない人。

Person that does not like fish.

​

魚が好きだった人。

Person that liked fish.

​

魚が好きじゃなかった人。

Person that did not like fish.