Japanese grammar

=Introduction=

The Japanese language yields readily to linguistic analysis. It has a generally regular agglutinative verb morphology, with both productive (tense) and fixed (voice and aspect) elements. Typologically, the most prominent feature of Japanese is topic creation; Japanese is neither topic-prominent, nor subject-prominent, but rather has mechanisms to handle both. Indeed, it is common for sentences to have distinct topics and subjects. Grammatically, Japanese is an SOV (subject-object-verb) language with verbs rigidly constrained to the sentence-final position. The word order is generally free as long as the order of dependent-head is maintained among all constituents: the adjective or relative clause precedes the modified noun, the adverb precedes the modified verb, the genitive nominal precedes the possessed nominal, and so forth. Thus, Japanese is a left-branching language.

=A brief history=

Historical periods in Japanese language. (dates common era>C.E)

710 - 1185	Old (上古 jouko) and Late Old (中古 chuuko)
1185 - 1603	Middle (中世 chuusei)
1603 - 1868	Early Modern (近世 kinsei)
1868 - present	Modern (現代 gendai)

Since the earliest written works from the Nara and Heian periods, the history of Japanese grammar is characterised by long periods of stasis punctuated by drastic changes. The Japanese of the Heian period is not intelligible to a speaker of modern Japanese without a certain amount of technical instruction; the extent of difference is comparable to that of Middle English and Modern English.

In modern Japanese, the grammar of Late Old Japanese, but usually containing anachronistic elements, is sometimes called classical or literary language (文語 bungo). Note that bungo is also used by scholars to refer to specific periods in the evolution of Japanese grammar. Modern writers sometimes affect a literary style (文語体, bungotai), mainly for theatrical effect; aspects of bungo are taught in Japanese schools as part of the kokugo (国語, national language) curriculum.

The most consistent syntactic feature throughout the history of Japanese has been word-order. Tense, aspect, and mood however have generally moved from richer to more impoverished systems. These have been counterbalanced with a richer system of nominative and case particles to obviate elements of agglutinative syntax. The same particle can have widely different meanings in classical and modern Japanese, to the extent that some linguists consider the particles of classical and modern Japanese to be incomparable. A major historical note in Japanese grammar is the rise of the honorific system, though it has seen an abrupt and still continuing decline after the abolishment of social classes during the Meiji restoration era.

=Structure of text= Text (文章, bunshou) is composed of sentences (文, bun), which are in turn composed of phrases (文節 bunsetsu), the smallest coherent components of a sentence. Like Chinese and classical Korean, Japanese does not demarcate words with spaces. The agglutinative nature of Japanese further makes the concept of a word rather different from words in English. Word divisions are informed by semantic cues and a knowledge of bunsetsu. Bunsetsu can be identified by the following rule of thumb: it must be natural to introduce pauses and particles at bunsetsu boundaries. More descriptively, bunsetsu have a single meaning-bearing word, followed by a string of suffixes, auxiliary verbs and particles to modify its meaning and designate its grammatical role. In the following example, bunsetsu are indicated by vertical bars:

太陽が｜東の｜空に｜登る。
''taiyou ga | higashi no | sora ni | noboru.
The sun rises in the eastern sky.

わたし｜は｜毎日｜学校｜まで｜歩いて｜行きます。
watashi wa mainichi gakkou made aruite ikimasu.
I walk to school every day.

単語 tango Words
自立語 jiritsugo Independent										付属語 fuzukogo Dependent
活用語 katsuyōgo Conjugables				無活用語 mukatsuyōgo Non-conjugables						活用語	無活用語
述語となるもの jutsugo-to naru mono Predicates				主語となるもの shugo-to naru mono Subjects		収束するもの shūsoku suru mono Modifiers		独立語となるもの dokoritsugo-to naru mono Independent
用言 yōgen Declinables				体言 taigen Nominals		用言 Of declinables	体言 Of nominals
動詞 dōshi Verbs		形容詞 keiyōshi Adjectives	形容動詞 keiyōdōshi Adjectivial nouns1	名詞 meishi Nouns	代名詞 daimeishi Pronouns	副詞 fukushi Adverbs	連体詞 rentaishi Adnouns2	接続詞 setsuzokushi Conjunctions	感動詞 kandōshi Interjections	助動詞 jodōshi Aux. verbs	助詞 joshi Particles
他動詞 tadōshi Transitive	自動詞 jidōshi Intransitive			形式名詞 keishikimeishi Pseudonouns

Notes:

1. Also known as -na adjective
2. Prenominal adjective

informal	distal	polite	formal
これは本だ。 kore wa hon da.	これは本です。 kore wa hon desu.	これは本でございます。 kore wa hon de gozaimasu.	これは本である。 kore wa hon de aru.

These levels of politeness apply to all expressions in Japanese, and are independent of respect (which is indicated in different ways). The informal style is used among friends, the distal style among strangers or casual acquaintances, the polite style by inferiors when addressing superiors, and the formal style generally in writing or prepared speeches. The formal and informal styles are often identical.

For each politeness level there are two types of respectful forms (敬語 keigo). The first form gives the most respect to the subject of the sentence; this is known as respect language (尊敬語 sonkeigo). The second form gives respect to the (direct or indirect) object by a variety of means, the most common being to humble the speaker; this is known as humble language (謙譲語 kenjougo). These respectful forms are represented by different forms of the noun, verb, adjective, etc.

Plain form	ジョンが佐藤を待つ。 jon ga satou wo matsu. John waits for Sato''
Respect for subject	先生が佐藤を待たれる。 sensei ga satou wo matareru. (The) teacher waits for Sato''
Respect for object	ジョンが先生をお待ちする。 jon ga sensei wo omachi-suru. John waits for (the) teacher.

Since respect is on a different axis as politeness, one obtains a style matrix. Consider the verb to wait (待つ matsu)

	plain	respect for subject	respect for object
informal	待つ matsu	お待ちだ omachi da お待ちになる omachi ni naru またれる matareru1	お待ちもうしあげる omachi moushi ageru お待ちする omachi suru
distal	待ちます machimasu	お待ちです omachi desu お待ちになります omachi ni narimasu	お待ちもうしあげます omachi moushi agemasu お待ちします omachi shimasu
polite	same as distal	お待ちでございます omachi de gozaimasu	missing
formal	same as informal	お待ちである omachi de aru	same as informal

¹ The passive form of the verb often plays this role.

some irregular polite forms

	yes	I (male)	be	do
informal	うん un	俺 ore, 僕 boku	ある aru	する suru
distal	ええ ee	僕 boku, 私 watakushi	あります arimasu	します shimasu
polite	はい hai	私 watakushi	ございます gozaimasu	いたします itashimasu
formal	しかり shikari	私 watakushi	ある aru	する suru

some irregular respectful forms

meaning	plain	respect for subject	respect for object
see	見る miru	御覧になる goran ni naru	お目にかかる o-me ni kakaru
be/come/go1	いる iru (be) 来る kuru (come) 行く iku (go)	いらっしゃる irassharu おいでになる oide ni naru	居る oru (be)
know	知る shiru	ご存知である go-zonji de aru	存じて居る zonjite oru
eat	食べる taberu	召しあがる meshi-agaru	いただく itadaku2
do	する suru	なさる nasaru	いたす itasu
say	言う iu	おっしゃる ossharu	申す mōsu

¹ The distinction between these three verbs is lost in some respectful forms.

² いただく itadaku is actually the humble form of receive (くれる kureru) and can also be used for drink (飲む nomu).

Needless to say, mastery of politeness and honorifics is critical for functioning in Japanese society. Not speaking politely enough can be insulting, and speaking too politely can be distancing (and therefore also insulting). Children generally speak using plain informal speech, but they are expected to master politeness and honorifics by the end of their teenage years. Recent trends indicate that the importance of proper politeness is not as high as before, particularly in metropolitan areas. The standards are inconsistently applied towards foreigners, though it is generally recommended for adult Japanese learners to master the distal style before attempting the others.

=Nouns, pronouns, other deictics=

Table of contents

1 Nouns (名詞 meishi) 2 Pronouns (代名詞 daimeishi) 2.1 The reflexive pronoun 自分 jibun 3 Demonstratives 4 Overview 5 Attributive form (連体形 rentaikei) 6 Terminal Form (終止形 shuushikei) 7 Continuative Form (連用形 ren'youkei) 8 Imperfective form (未然形 mizenkei) 9 Realis (已然形 izenkei) and hypothetical (仮定形 kateikei) forms 9.2 Provisional vs conditional 10 Imperative Form (命令形 meireikei) 11 Phonemic change (音便 onbin) 11.3 The case of verbs 11.4 The case of adjectives 11.5 The case of polite verbs 12 Adjectives 形容詞 13 Adjectivial nouns (na-adjective) 形容動詞 13.6 Declension 13.7 Using -na な or -no の 14 Honorific adjectives 15 Copula 16 Conjugation 16.8 Table of inflected forms 16.9 Table of stems 16.10 Conjugations of kuru 来る 16.11 Conjugations of suru する 16.12 Group 1 verbs ending in ~eru and ~iru 17 Other verb forms 17.13 -te form (gerund) 18 Honorific verbs 19 ka か (question) 20 wa は (topic, contrast) 21 ga が (subject, but) 22 o を (object) 23 no の (possession, apposition) 24 ni に (indirect object, time, location, direction) 25 e へ (direction) 26 de で (location, means) 27 kara から (starts at, from, because) 28 made まで (until) 29 mo も (also, as much as) 30 to と (together with, complete and, quotation) 31 ya や (incomplete and) 32 ne ね (emphasis or asking for agreement) 33 yo よ (used for emphasis or when offering an opinion) 34 See Also

Nouns (名詞 meishi)

In respectful speech, The o- prefix is used for native nouns, and go- for Sino-Japanese nouns. Some common nouns have unpredictable respectul forms. Examples:

meaning	plain	respectful
rice	飯 meshi	ご飯 go-han
money	金 kane	お金 o-kane
body	体 karada	お体 o-karada 御身 onmi
word(s)	言葉 kotoba	お言葉 o-kotoba 詔 mikotonori

Pronouns (代名詞 daimeishi)

「木下さんは、背が高いですね」
"Kinoshita-san wa se ga takai desu ne"
(addressing Mr. Kinoshita:) "You're pretty tall, aren't you?"

Japanese has many nouns that can be used as personal pronouns; see [1] for a long list. Some common ones:

person	plain	polite	respectful
First	僕 boku, 俺 ore (male) あたし atashi (female)	私 watashi	私 watakushi
Second	君 kimi (usu. male)	貴方 anata, そちら sochira	お宅 otaku
Third	彼 kare (male) 彼女 kanojo (female)	あの人 ano hito

Although Japanese nouns don't inflect for number, there are "plural" forms to indicate semantic number: watashitachi (私たち) for "we", anatatachi (あなたたち) for "you (plural)", bokura (僕等) for "we (inform. male)". (Tachi (たち) and ra (等) are the most common pluralizing suffixes.)

The reflexive pronoun 自分 jibun

Whereas in English there are many reflexive pronouns (himself, herself, itself, themself, etc.), in Japanese there is a single reflexvie pronoun 自分 jibun. The use of the reflexive pronouns in the two languages are very different. The following incorrect literal translations demonstrate the differences (*=impossible, ??=ambiguous)

English	Japanese	reason
History repeats itself.	*歴史は自分を繰り返す *rekishi wa jibun wo kurikaesu	the target of jibun must be animate
??John talked to Bill about himself.	ジョンがビルに自分のことを話した jon ga biru ni jibun no koto wo hanashita John talked to Bill about himself (=John)	jibun refers unambiguously to the subject1
*John expects that Mary will take good care of himself.	??ジョンは、メリーが自分を大事にすることを期待している ??jon wa meri- ga jibun wo daiji ni suru koto wo kitaishite iru either "John expects that Mary will take good care of him", or "John expects that Mary will take good care of herself."	jibun can be in a different sentence or dependent clause, but its target is ambiguous

¹ If the sentence has more than one grammatical or semantic subject, then the target is the subject of the main action; thus, the following is grammatical, even though John is the grammatical subject, because the main action is Mary's reading:

ジョンがメリーに自分の家で本を読ませた。
jon ga meri- ni jibun no uchi de hon wo yomaseta
John made Mary read book(s) in her (note: not his) house

In practice the main action is not always discernible, in which case such sentences are ambiguous.

Demonstratives

Overview

Attributive form (連体形 rentaikei)

Also known as the plain (基本形 kihonkei), or dictionary form. Though certain suffixes like -mai are applicable to this form of verbs, it is in general used before nouns (名詞 meishi) or pseudonouns (形式名詞 keishikimeishi) to classify for the noun. In this function, the word is said to be a prenominal adjective (連体詞 rentaishi).

type		連体形 rentaikei	examples
verbs	上一段	ends in イ-row kana + る	見る mi.ru, 着る ki.ru
	下一段	ends in エ-row kana + る	食べる tabe.ru, くれる kure.ru
	五段	ends in ウ-row kana, except ユ	書く ka.ku, 持つ ma.tsu, 買う ka.u, 知る shi.ru
	カ変	来る ku.ru
	サ変	する su.ru
adjectives	形容詞	ends in ーい	楽しい tanoshi.i, 高い taka.i, 良い i.i
	形容動詞	ends in ーな	大変な taihen-na, 様々な samazama-na

Terminal Form (終止形 shuushikei)

Also commonly known as predicate form. This form of the verb or adjective is used only in the ends of clauses. It is not restricted to the end of sentences, but can be followed by particles like to or nado. In modern Japanese, the terminal form is identical to the attributive form for all except the adjectival nouns, for which -na changes to the copula -da.

type	終止形 shuushikei	examples
形容動詞	ends in ーだ	大変だ taihen-da, きれいだ kirei-da

Continuative Form (連用形 ren'youkei)

This is the most productive form of the stem, taking on a variety of suffixes. It is also used suffixless to conjoin verbs in a continuative sense, similar to the -te suffix. This form is sometimes called the pre-masu form, because the -masu auxiliary verb is affixed to this form in polite speech.

type	連用形 ren'youkei	examples
上一段	ends in イ-row kana	見 mi-, 着 ki-
下一段	ends in エ-row kana	食べ tabe-, くれ kure-
五段	ends in イ-row kana	書き kaki-, 持ち machi-, 買い kai-, 知り shiri-
カ変		来 ki-
サ変		し shi-
形容詞	ends in ーく	楽しく tanoshiku-, 高く takaku-, 良く yoku-*
形容動詞	ends in ーで or ーに	大変で taihen de-, 簡単で kantan de-

This common form has seen a lot of phonemic drift (音便 onbin) over the years; see the subsection on it below.

Imperfective form (未然形 mizenkei)

This form is used for plain negative, causative or passive constructions. The most common occurrence of this form is with the -nai adjectival suffix, which turns verbs into their negative form. Important note: -nai is attached to the continuative form for adjectives.

type	未然形 mizenkei	examples
上一段	ends in イ-row kana	見 mi-, 着 ki-
下一段	ends in エ-row kana	食べ tabe-, くれ kure-
五段	ends in ア-row kana	書か kaka-, 持た mata-, 買わ kawa-1, 知ら shira-
カ変		来 ko-
サ変		し shi, せ se and さ sa are all possible
形容詞	ends in ーかろ	楽しかろ tanoshikaro-, 高かろ takakaro-, 良かろ yokaro-*
形容動詞	ends in ーだろ	大変だろ taihen daro-, 簡単だろ kantan daro-

¹ The final う -u of the attributive form becomes わ -wa in the imperfective form. The reason is that classically such verbs belonged to the ワ or ハ column instead of the ア column.

Realis (已然形 izenkei) and hypothetical (仮定形 kateikei) forms

These related forms are used with subjunctive suffixes -ba and -domo. Classically there was only one form, the 已然形 izenkei, which was used with -ba and domo for subjunctives, and also independently or with the interrogative particle -ya to indicate rhetorical questions (primarily in Nara poetry). This second use has disappeared, so in modern Japanese grammars hypothetical form (仮定形 kateikei) is preferred.

type	已然形 izenkei or 仮定形 kateikei	examples
上一段	ends in イ-row kana + れ	見れ mire-, 着れ kire-
下一段	ends in エ-row kana + れ	食べれ tabere-, くれれ kurere-
五段	ends in え-row kana	書け kake-, 持て mate-, 買え kae-, 知れ shire-
カ変		来れ kure-
サ変		すれ sure-
形容詞	ends in ーけれ	楽しけれ tanoshikere-, 高けれ takakere-, 良けれ yokere-*
形容動詞	ends in ーなら	大変なら taihen nara-, 簡単なら kantan nara-

Provisional vs conditional

The distinction between the provisional ~eba and conditional ~tara forms can be confusing. Compare these two sentences, identical except for the subordinating verb-ending that joins them:

彼女が来たら、家へ帰る

kanojo ga kitara, ie he kaeru

I'll go home, once/if she gets here

彼女が来れば、家へ帰る

kanojo ga kureba, ie he kaeru

If she comes here, I'm going home

Imperative Form (命令形 meireikei)

This form is used for commands. It is usually seen without any suffixes or auxiliaries. Adjectives don't have an imperative form.

type	命令形 meireikei	examples
上一段	ends in イ-row kana + [ろ・よ]	見ろ miro, 見よ miyo, 着ろ kiro, 着よ kiyo
下一段	ends in エ-row kana + [ろ・よ]	食べろ tabero, 食べよ tabeyo
五段	ends in え-row kana, same as irrealis form	書け kake, 持て mate, 買え kae, 知れ shire
カ変		来い koi
サ変		せ se, し shi, しろ shiro, and せい sei are all possible

Phonemic change (音便 onbin)

The above generally regular formation rules have a few phonemic exceptions, some of which can be traced back to the Late Old period. Luckily, there are only a few exceptions, and are easily learned.

The case of verbs

For verbs the exceptions are all in the ending of the continuative form of group 1 (五段 godan) verbs when the following auxiliary is た ta, て te, たり tari, etc. (which are, incidentally, stem forms of the same auxiliary verb たり tari of classical Japanese).

The case of adjectives

The continuative form of proper adjectives (形容詞 keiyoushi) when followed by polite forms such as ございます gozaimasu or 存じます zonjimasu undergo a transformation.

連用形 ren'youkei ending	description	examples
[not し] + く	う, with the previous kana changing to the オ line	*寒くございます *samuku gozaimasu → 寒うございます samuu gozaimasu *おはやくございます ohayaku gozaimasu → おはようございます ohayou gozaimasu
しく	しゅう	*涼しくございます *suzushiku gozaimasu → 涼しゅうございます suzushuu gozaimasu

The case of polite verbs

Polite verbs like くださる kudasaru, なさる nasaru, ござる gozaru, いらっしゃる irassharu, おっしゃる ossharu, etc. behave like group 1 (五段 godan) verbs, except in the continuative (連用形 ren'youkei) and imperative (命令形 meireikei) forms.

form	change	examples
連用形 ren'youkei	ーる changed to ーい	*ござります *gozarimasu → ございます gozaimasu *いらっしゃりませ *irassharimase → いらっしゃいませ irasshaimase
命令形 meireikei	ーれ changed to ーい	*くだされ *kudasare → ください kudasai *なされ *nasare → なさい nasai

Adjectives 形容詞

本は赤い

hon wa akai

The book is red (plain)

本は赤いです

hon wa akai desu

The book is red (polite)

Declension

未然形	Imperfective	noun + daro*	静かだろ shizuka daro*	*: See below.
連用形	Conjunctive	noun + dat*	静かだっ shizuka dat*	*: See below.
		noun + de*	静かで shizuka-de*	"calm, [and]" *: See below.
	Adverbal	noun + ni	静かに shizuka-ni	"calmly"
終止形	Sentence-final	noun + da	静かだ shizuka da	"[it] is calm"
連体形	Adjectival	noun + na	静かな shizuka-na	"calm [object]"
仮定形	Hypothetical	noun + nara*	静かなら*	*: See below

TODO: fill in the blanks

Additional forms

Conjectural	noun + darou	静かだろう shizuka darou	"[it] probably is calm"
Perfect	noun + datta	静かだった shizuka datta	"[it] was calm"
	noun + dattari	静かだったり shizuka dattari	"[it] was calm and"
	noun + datte	静かだって shizuka datte	"[it] was calm so
	noun + datte-mo	静かだっても shizuka datte-mo	"even if [it] is calm"
Positive	noun + de aru	静かである shizuka-de aru	"[it] is calm"
Negative	noun + de nai	静かでない shizuka-de nai	"[it] is not calm"
Provisional	noun + naraba	静かならば	"if [it] is calm"
			"calm, [and]"

Using -na な or -no の

When -na is used, the word is treated as an adjectivial noun, whereas when -no is used, the word is treated as a normal noun. Furthermore, the choice can change the meaning:

五千円相当の品物	相当な暮らし
gosen-en soutou-no shinamono	soutou-na kurashi
Goods valued at approximately 5,000 yen	Decent living

Honorific adjectives

Copula

			Contracted	Non-contracted	Meaning
Polite	Imperfect	Positive	desu	de gozaimasu	"to be", "is"
		Negative	de wa arimasen		"to not be", "is not"
	Perfect	Positive	deshita	de gozaimashita	"to have been", "was"
		Negative	de wa arimasen deshita	de wa gozaimasen deshita	"to have not been", "was not"
Plain	Imperfect	Positive	da	de aru	"to be", "is"
		Negative	ja nai	de wa nai	"to not be", "is not"
	Perfect	Positive	datta	de atta	"to have been", "was"
		Negative	ja nakatta	de wa nakatta	"to have not been", "was not"
Gerund		Positive	de		"being"

Conjugation

There are two main conjugation classes, "Group 1" (godandōshi) and "Group 2" (ichidandōshi; ending in "~iru" or "~eru"), five special polite verbs which share a conjugation class (irassharu, ossharu, kudasaru, *gozaru, nasaru), and a handful of irregular verbs (aru, iku, kuru, suru, and kureru). Kureru is irregular only in its imperative form, which is kure rather than *kurero, despite it otherwise conjugating like a Group 2 verb.

Table of inflected forms

Table of stems

¹ The infinitive and stem are formed regularly for group 1 verbs by replacing ~u with ~i and ~a respectively in the dictionary form, but this is somewhat obscured by the use of Hepburn romanization.

² These verbs are regular except for the form indicated in bold. Thus aru → nai (not *aranai); iku → itta (not *iita);

³ Derived forms of these verbs inflect in the same way. Thus mottekuru "bring" inflects like kuru and benkyōsuru "study" inflects like suru.

Conjugations of kuru 来る

	Positive		Negative
	Plain	Polite	Plain	Polite
Non-past	kuru	ki + masu	ko + nai	ki + masen
Past	kita	ki + mashita	ko + nakatta	ki + masen + deshita
Gerund	kite	ki + mashite	ko + nakute ko + nai + de	ki + masen + de
Conditional	kitara	ki + mashitara	ko + nakattara	ki + masen + deshitara
Provisional	kure + ba	ki + masu + nara [+ ba]	ko + nakere + ba	ki + masen + nara [+ ba]
Potential / Passive	ko + rare + ru	ko + rare + masu	ko + rare + nai	ko + rare + masen
Causative	ko + sase + ru	ko + sase + masu	ko + sase + nai	ko + sase + masen
Causative-Passive
Volitional	ko + you	ki + mashou	ki + mai	ki + masu + mai
Conjectural	kuru + darou	kuru + deshou	ko + nai + darou	ko + nai + deshou
Alternative
Imperative	ko + i	ki + nasai	kuru + na	ki + nasaruna

Conjugations of suru する

	Positive		Negative
	Plain	Polite	Plain	Polite
Non-past	suru	shi + masu	shi + nai	shi + masen
Past	shita	shi + mashita	shi + nakatta	shi + masen + deshita
Gerund	shite	shi + mashite	shi + nakute shi + nai + de	shi + masen + de
Conditional	shitara	shi + mashitara	shi + nakattara	shi + masen + deshitara
Provisional	sure + ba	shi + masu + nara [+ ba]	shi + nakere + ba	shi + masu + nara [+ ba]
Potential	dekiru	dekimasu	dekinai	dekimasen
Passive
Causative
Causative-Passive
Volitional	shi + you	shi + mashou
Conjectural
Alternative
Imperative	shi + ro se + yo

Group 1 verbs ending in ~eru and ~iru

These verbs look as though they should be in Group 2, but are actually in Group 1:

Other verb forms

-te form (gerund)

See [1] for a complete list of auxiliary verbs that follow a verb in the -te form.

Honorific verbs

(TODO: This list is far from complete.)

ka か (question)

• Japanese language
• Japanese language and computers
• Japanese language guide
• Japanese Language Proficiency Test
• Japanese counter word
• Japanese name
• Japanese numerals
• Wikipedia:Manual of Style for Japan-related articles