Category: Grammar

Grammar / N3 Grammar / N3 Nouns and Adjectives

December 17, 2022

向き and 向け

向く and 向ける向く and 向ける are a intransitive and transitive pair of verbs meaning “facing”. Originally, they referred to physically facing something: 道路に向いている窓A window facing the road カメラを海に向けたFaced the camera towards the ocean...

Grammar / N3 Grammar / N3 Verb Forms and Expressions / Verbs / て form

December 17, 2022

はじめて

はじめて The first timeはじめる→はじめてはじめる is a transitive verb meaning “Start”, but when used as はじめて, it is an expression that means “First time”.Grammatically, it is treated like an adverb, but modifies nouns with...

Grammar / N3 Grammar / N3 Verb Forms and Expressions / Verbs / Volitional

December 16, 2022

ようとする

ようとする Attempt toPlain volitional “よう” form + とするようとする is formed from the volitional (Intent) form of a verb. It literally means something like “Act with intent” in other words “Attempt to“. It does...

Grammar / N3 Grammar / N3 Verb Forms and Expressions / Verbs / ます Stem conjugations

December 16, 2022

かける and たて

かける, かけ, and たてかける About toます Stem + かけるかける can be used with almost any transitive verb ます stem; meaning “about to” or “Just started to“. This かける is usually past tense; and...

Grammar / Conditionals / N3 Grammar / N3 Verb Forms and Expressions / Verbs

December 16, 2022

ば＋ほど

ば＋ほど The more you…Word ば form + Same word dictionary + ほど Although ば＋ほど sounds like a mouthful, its relatively easy and quite useful.It is formed by the ば form of a word +...

Grammar / N3 Grammar / N3 Verb Forms and Expressions / Verbs

December 15, 2022

べき

べき Appropriate to/Best toVerb Dictionary form + べきな Adjectives/Nouns: + であるべきい Adjectives: く form ＋あるべきする→すべきべき describes the appropriate or best course of action.Weblio defines べき as describing “Obvious“, “Appropriate“, or “Obligated” courses...

Grammar / N3 Grammar / N3 Verb Forms and Expressions / Verbs

December 14, 2022

きる and ぬく

きる and ぬく This page explains expressions involving きる (to finish) and ぬく (to do through to the end). ～きる To Finish doing, To do completelyVerb ます stem + きる切る (きる) may attach...

Grammar / N3 Grammar / N3 Verb Forms and Expressions / Verbs

December 14, 2022

ず

ずずVerb ない stem + ずする→せずくる→こず The ず form of a verb has the exact same meaning as the ないで form, which means without doing.The ず form of a verb will always be paired...

Grammar / N5 Grammar / N5 Other

December 12, 2022

のだ

のだ Explanationだ・です ending sentence: Add の before だ・ですNouns/な Adjectives: なのだVerbs/い Adjectives: + のだのだ or のです generally speaking, marks known or new information. It’s kind of like “you know?” in English. The basic usages and meanings...

Grammar / N4 Grammar / N4 Keigo

December 9, 2022

Keigo Apologies

Keigo Apologies もうしわけございません The good news is, apologies with Keigo are simple, in that you will use 申もうし訳わけございません (literally: there is no excuse) basically 100% of the time. ご迷惑をおかけして、申し訳ございません – Sorry for causing you...