Changing Nouns to Adjectives: ～的 的てき as a noun means “target” or “objective”; however, this kanji has one particularly useful grammatical usage: by…
The Auxiliary Verb The usage のだ and んだ can be for: Expressing a reason or explanation Emphasis To express what should…
Listing Reasons in Japanese: し JLPT N4. Used in both conversation and writing, although it is a casual expression. し is used to…
Listing Actions & Descriptions (～たり) We can make partial lists nouns with the や and など particles, but what about verbs? Similarly to…
Expressing a Purpose: ため One of the meanings of the noun 為ため is “objective” or “purpose”. 学費がくひの為ための貯金ちょきん。 Savings for school fees. Literally:…
Too Much: すぎる To say something is “too much” or “too small” or that we drank “too much” and so forth,…
An Introduction to Conditionals in Japanese There are five main ways to form the conditional in Japanese and each has its own nuance or…
After: 後 We already know one way of saying “after” in Japanese: by using the te form. コーヒーを飲のんで、仕事しごとを始はじめました。 I drank…
Japanese Conjunctions: Before (前) The basic structure we use to say “before” is: 【Subsequent Action】前まえに【Prior Action】 Both the subsequent and prior actions…
Japanese Conjunctions: Or (か) We need the か particle to form “or”. In its simplest form: お茶ちゃかコーヒー。 Tea or coffee. For more…
Despite: のに JLPT N4. Core grammar used in both writing and conversation. The particle のに is used to express “despite”.…
Essential Conjunctions: But (が) We form a “but” in Japanese by appending the が particle to the end of the clause. 旅行りょこうに行いきたいですが、休やすみが取とれません。…