# Japanese grammar

Japanese is an agglutinative, synthetic, mora-timed language with simple phonotactics, a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent. Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, and sentence structure is topic–comment. Its phrases are exclusively head-final and compound sentences are exclusively left-branching. Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or make questions. Nouns have no grammatical number or gender, and there are no articles. Verbs are conjugated, primarily for tense and voice, but not person. Japanese adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has a complex system of honorifics with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of the speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned.
In language typology, it has many features different from most European languages.

## Distinctive aspects of modern Japanese sentence structure
### Word order: head-final and left-branching

The modern theory of constituent order ("word order"), usually attributed to Joseph Harold Greenberg, identifies several kinds of phrases. Each one has a head and possibly a modifier. The head of a phrase either precedes its modifier (head-initial) or follows it (head-final). Some of these phrase types, with the head marked in boldface, are:
* genitive phrase, i.e., noun modified by another noun ("the cover of the book", "the book's cover");
* noun governed by an adposition ("on the table", "underneath the table");
* comparison ("[X is] bigger than Y", i.e., "compared to Y, X is big").
* noun modified by an adjective ("black cat").
Some languages are inconsistent in constituent order, having a mixture of head-initial phrase types and head-final phrase types. Looking at the preceding list, English for example is mostly head-initial, but nouns follow the adjectives which modify them. Moreover, genitive phrases can be either head-initial or head-final in English. By contrast, the Japanese language is consistently head-final:
* genitive phrase:
猫
neko
cat
の
no
GEN
色
iro
color
猫 の 色
neko no iro
cat GEN color
"the cat's (neko no) color (iro)"
* noun governed by an adposition:
日本
nihon
Japan
に
ni
in
日本 に
nihon ni
Japan in
"in Japan"
* comparison:
Y
Y
Y‍
より
yori
than
大きい
ookii
big
Y より 大きい
Y yori ookii
Y‍ than big
"bigger than Y"
* noun modified by an adjective:
黒い
kuroi
black
猫
neko
cat
黒い 猫
kuroi neko
black cat
Head-finality in Japanese sentence structure carries over to the building of sentences using other sentences. In sentences that have other sentences as constituents, the subordinated sentences (relative clauses, for example), always precede what they refer to, since they are modifiers and what they modify has the syntactic status of phrasal head. Translating the phrase "the man who was walking down the street" into Japanese word order would be "street down walking was man".
Head-finality prevails also when sentences are coordinated instead of subordinated. In the world's languages, it is common to avoid repetition between coordinated clauses by optionally deleting a constituent common to the two parts, as in "Bob bought his mother some flowers and his father a tie", where the second bought is omitted. In Japanese, such "gapping" must proceed in the reverse order: "Bob mother for some flowers and father for tie bought". The reason for this is that in Japanese, sentences (other than occasional inverted sentences or sentences containing afterthoughts) always end in a verb (or other predicative words like adjectival verbs, adjectival nouns, auxiliary verbs)—the only exceptions being a few sentence-ending particles such as ka, ne, and yo. The particle ka turns a statement into a question, while the others express the speaker's attitude towards the statement.

### Word class system

Japanese has five major lexical word classes:
* nouns (名詞, meishi)
* verbal nouns (correspond to English gerunds like 'studying', 'jumping', which denote activities)
* adjectival nouns (形容動詞, keiyō dōshi) (names vary, also called na-adjectives or "nominal adjectives")
* verbs
* adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) (so-called i-adjectives)
More broadly, there are two classes: uninflectable (nouns, including verbal nouns and adjectival nouns) and inflectable (verbs, with adjectives as defective verbs). To be precise, a verbal noun is simply a noun to which the light verb suru (する, "do") can be appended, while an adjectival noun is like a noun but uses -na (〜な) instead of -no (〜の) when acting attributively. Adjectives (i-adjectives) inflect identically to the negative form of verbs, which end in na-i (ない). Compare tabe-na-i (食べない, don't eat) → tabe-na-katta (食べなかった, didn't eat) and atsu-i (熱い, is hot) → atsu-katta (熱かった, was hot).
Some scholars, such as Eleanor Harz Jorden, refer to adjectives instead as adjectivals, since they are grammatically distinct from adjectives: they can predicate a sentence. That is, atsui (熱い) is glossed as "hot" when modifying a noun phrase, as in atsui gohan (熱いご飯, hot food), but as "is hot" when predicating, as in gohan wa atsui (ご飯は熱い, [the] food is hot).
The two inflected classes, verb and adjective, are historically considered closed classes, meaning they do not readily gain new members—but see the following paragraphs. Instead, new and borrowed verbs and adjectives are typically conjugated periphrastically as verbal noun + suru (e.g. benkyō suru (勉強する, do studying; study)) and adjectival noun + na. This differs from Indo-European languages, where verbs and adjectives are open classes, though analogous "do" constructions exist, including English "do a favor", "do the twist" or French "faire un footing" (do a "footing", go for a jog), and periphrastic constructions are common for other senses, like "try climbing" (verbal noun) or "try parkour" (noun). Other languages where verbs are a closed class include Basque: very few Basque verbs (albeits very common ones) have synthetic conjugation, all the others are only formed periphrastically. Conversely, pronouns are closed classes in Western languages but open classes in Japanese and some other East Asian languages.
In a few cases historically, and much more commonly recently, new verbs are created by appending the suffix -ru (〜る) to a noun or using it to replace the end of a word. This is most often, but not exclusively, done with borrowed words, and results in a word written in a mixture of katakana (stem) and hiragana (inflectional ending), which is otherwise very rare. This is typically casual, with the most well-established example being sabo-ru (サボる, skip class; play hooky) (circa 1920), from sabotāju (サボタージュ, sabotage), with other common examples including memo-ru (メモる, write a memo), from memo (メモ), and misu-ru (ミスる, make a mistake) from misu (ミス, mistake). In cases where the borrowed word already ends with or even contains a ru (ル) or ri (リ), this may be rebracketed as a verb ending and changed to a ru (る), as in gugu-ru (ググる, to google), from gūguru (グーグル, Google); dabu-ru (ダブる, to double), from daburu (ダブル, double); and fabo-ru> (ファボる, to favorite (e.g. a tweet)), from faboriito (ファボリート, favorite). New verbs coined in this fashion are uniformly group 1 verbs and, at least in the Tokyo accent, consistently are stressed immediately before the final る.
New adjectives are extremely rare; one example is kiiro-i (黄色い, yellow), from adjectival noun kiiro (黄色), and a more casual recent example is kimo-i (きもい, gross), by contraction of kimochi waru-i (気持ち悪い, bad-feeling). By contrast, in Old Japanese -shiki (〜しき) adjectives (precursors of present i-adjectives ending in -shi-i (〜しい), formerly a different word class) were open, as reflected in words like ita-ita-shi-i (痛々しい, pitiful), from the adjective ita-i (痛い, painful, hurt), and kō-gō-shi-i (神々しい, heavenly, sublime), from the noun kami (神, god) (with sound change). Japanese adjectives are unusual in being closed class but quite numerous – about 700 adjectives – while most languages with closed class adjectives have very few. Some believe this is due to a grammatical change of inflection from an aspect system to a tense system, with adjectives predating the change.
The conjugation of i-adjectives has similarities to the conjugation of verbs, unlike Western languages where inflection of adjectives, where it exists, is more likely to have similarities to the declension of nouns. Verbs and adjectives being closely related is unusual from the perspective of English, but is a common case across languages generally, and one may consider Japanese adjectives as a kind of stative verb.
Japanese vocabulary has a large layer of Chinese loanwords, nearly all of which go back more than one thousand years, yet virtually none of them are verbs or "i-adjectives" – they are all nouns, of which some are verbal nouns (suru) and some are adjectival nouns (na). In addition to the basic verbal noun + suru form, verbal nouns with a single-character root often experienced sound changes, such as -suru (〜する) → -zuru (〜ずる) (rendaku) → -jiru (〜じる), as in kin-jiru (禁じる, forbid), and some cases where the stem underwent sound change, as in tassuru (達する, reach), from tatsu (達).
Verbal nouns are uncontroversially nouns, having only minor syntactic differences to distinguish them from pure nouns like 'mountain'. There are some minor distinctions within verbal nouns, most notably that some primarily conjugate as -o suru (〜をする) (with a particle), more like nouns, while others primarily conjugate as -suru (〜する), and others are common either way. For example, keiken o suru (経験をする, to experience) is much more common than keiken suru (経験する), while kanben suru (勘弁する, to pardon) is much more common than kanben o suru (勘弁をする). Adjectival nouns have more syntactic differences versus pure nouns, and traditionally were considered more separate, but they, too, are ultimately a subcategory of nouns.
There are a few minor word classes that are related to adjectival nouns, namely the taru adjectives and naru adjectives. Of these, naru adjectives are fossils of earlier forms of na adjectives (the nari adjectives of Old Japanese), and are typically classed separately, while taru adjectives are a parallel class (formerly tari adjectives in Late Old Japanese), but are typically classed with na adjectives.

#### Different classifications

The first structured description of the Japanese parts of speech (品詞, hinshi) was in Gogaku Shinsho (語學新書), an 1831 grammar by Tsurumine Shigenobu. It was based on earlier Dutch grammars such as Shizuki Tadao's Oranda Shihin Kō (和蘭詞品考, lit. 'Study of the Dutch Parts of Speech', 1798) and Rango Kyūhin Shū (蘭語九品集, lit. 'Compilation of the Nine Dutch Parts of Speech', date unknown). The words hinshi and shihin also came about from these early late-Edo and early-Meiji grammars. Since then, there have been multiple conflicting classifications of the parts of speech of Japanese.
| Grammarian | Year | Count | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) | Parts of speech (詞品／品詞, shihin / hinshi) |
| Tsurumine Shigenobu | 1831 | nine parts of speech (九品, kyūhin) | nouns (實體言／ヰコトバ, jittaigen / ikotoba) | nouns (實體言／ヰコトバ, jittaigen / ikotoba) | pronouns (代名言／カヘコトバ, daimeigen / kaekotoba) | adjectives (虚體言／ツキコトバ, kyotaigen / tsukikotoba) | adjectives (虚體言／ツキコトバ, kyotaigen / tsukikotoba) | verbs (活用言／ハタラキコトバ, katsuyōgen / hatarakikotoba) | verbs (活用言／ハタラキコトバ, katsuyōgen / hatarakikotoba) | | | | postpositions (指示言／サシコトバ, shijigen / sashikotoba) | adverbs (形容言／サマコトバ, keiyōgen / samakotoba) | conjunctions (接續言／ツヾケコトバ, setsuzokugen / tsuzukekotoba) | interjections (感動言／ナゲキコトバ, kandōgen / nagekikotoba) | attributives (連體言／ツヾキコトバ, rentaigen / tsuzukikotoba) |
| Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture | 1872 | eight parts of speech | nouns (名（ナ）詞（コトバ）, nakotoba) | nouns (名（ナ）詞（コトバ）, nakotoba) | pronouns (代詞, kawarikotoba) | adjectives (樣詞, samakotoba) | adjectives (樣詞, samakotoba) | verbs (働詞, hatarakikotoba) | verbs (働詞, hatarakikotoba) | particles (後詞, atokotoba) | | | | adverbs (副詞, soekotoba) | conjunctions (接詞, tsugikotoba) | interjections (歎詞, nagekikotoba) |
| Tanaka Yoshikado | 1874 | seven parts of speech (七品詞, shichihinshi) | nouns (名詞／ナコトバ, meishi / nakotoba) | nouns (名詞／ナコトバ, meishi / nakotoba) | pronouns (代名詞／カハリコトバ, daimeishi / kawarikotoba) | adjectives (形容詞／サマコトバ, keiyōshi / samakotoba) | adjectives (形容詞／サマコトバ, keiyōshi / samakotoba) | verbs (動詞／ハタラキコトバ, dōshi / hatarakikotoba) | verbs (動詞／ハタラキコトバ, dōshi / hatarakikotoba) | | | | | adverbs (副詞／ソヘコトバ, fukushi / soekotoba) | conjunctions (接續詞／ツギコトバ, setsuzokushi / tsugikotoba) | interjections (感詞／ナゲキコトバ, kanshi / nagekikotoba) |
| Tanaka Yoshikado | 1877 | eight parts of speech (八品詞, happinshi) | nouns (名詞／ナコトバ, meishi / nakotoba) | nouns (名詞／ナコトバ, meishi / nakotoba) | pronouns (代名詞／カハリコトバ, daimeishi / kawarikotoba) | adjectives (形容詞／サマコトバ, keiyōshi / samakotoba) | adjectives (形容詞／サマコトバ, keiyōshi / samakotoba) | verbs (動詞／ハタラキコトバ, dōshi / hatarakikotoba) | verbs (動詞／ハタラキコトバ, dōshi / hatarakikotoba) | particles (後詞／アトコトバ, kōshi / atokotoba) | | | | adverbs (副詞／ソヘコトバ, fukushi / soekotoba) | conjunctions (接續詞／ツギコトバ, setsuzokushi / tsugikotoba) | interjections (感詞／ナゲキコトバ, kanshi / nagekikotoba) |
| Nakane Kiyoshi | 1876 | eight parts of speech (八品詞, happinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | particles (後詞, kōshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) |
| Yasuda Keisai | 1877 | eight parts of speech (八品／八品詞, happin / happinshi) | nouns (名詞／ナコトバ, meishi / nakotoba) | nouns (名詞／ナコトバ, meishi / nakotoba) | pronouns (代名詞／カハリコトバ, daimeishi / kawarikotoba) | adjectives (形容詞／サマコトバ, keiyōshi / samakotoba) | adjectives (形容詞／サマコトバ, keiyōshi / samakotoba) | verbs (動詞／ハタラキコトバ, dōshi / hatarakikotoba) | verbs (動詞／ハタラキコトバ, dōshi / hatarakikotoba) | particles (後詞／アトコトバ, kōshi / atokotoba) | | | | adverbs (副詞／ソヘコトバ, fukushi / soekotoba) | conjunctions (接續詞／ツギコトバ, setsuzokushi / tsugikotoba) | interjections (歎息詞／ナゲキコトバ, tansokushi / nagekikotoba) |
| Hori Hidenari | 1877 | three parts of speech | nouns (言（コト）, koto) | nouns (言（コト）, koto) | nouns (言（コト）, koto) | verbs (詞（コトバ）, kotoba) | verbs (詞（コトバ）, kotoba) | verbs (詞（コトバ）, kotoba) | auxiliaries (辭（テニヲハ）, tenioha) | auxiliaries (辭（テニヲハ）, tenioha) | auxiliaries (辭（テニヲハ）, tenioha) | auxiliaries (辭（テニヲハ）, tenioha) | auxiliaries (辭（テニヲハ）, tenioha) | auxiliaries (辭（テニヲハ）, tenioha) | auxiliaries (辭（テニヲハ）, tenioha) | auxiliaries (辭（テニヲハ）, tenioha) |
| Nakajima Misao | 1879 | eight parts of speech (八品詞, happinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | | | | postpositions (後置詞, kōchishi) | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感詞, kanshi) |
| Ōya Tōru | 1880 | seven parts of speech (七種, shichishu) | nouns (體言／名詞, taigen / meishi) | nouns (體言／名詞, taigen / meishi) | pronouns (代名言, daimeigen) | adjectives (形狀言／形容詞, keijōgen / keiyōshi) | adjectives (形狀言／形容詞, keijōgen / keiyōshi) | verbs (用言／働詞, yōgen / dōshi) | auxiliaries (助辭／弖爾波, joji / teniha) | auxiliaries (助辭／弖爾波, joji / teniha) | | | | adverbs (接續言, setsuzokugen) | adverbs (接續言, setsuzokugen) | interjections (感動言, kandōgen) |
| Ōya Tōru | 1899 | seven parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助辭, joji) | auxiliaries (助辭, joji) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Basil Hall Chamberlain | 1887 | nine parts of speech (九品の詞, kyūhin no kotoba) | nouns (實名詞, jitsumeishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (働詞, dōshi) | verbs (働詞, dōshi) | particles (關係詞／後置詞, kankeishi / kōchishi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (間投詞, kantōshi) |
| Ōtsuki Fumihiko | 1889 | eight parts of speech (八品詞, happinshi) | nouns (名（メイ）詞（シ）, meishi) | nouns (名（メイ）詞（シ）, meishi) | nouns (名（メイ）詞（シ）, meishi) | adjectives (形（ケイ）容（ヨウ）詞（シ）, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形（ケイ）容（ヨウ）詞（シ）, keiyōshi) | verbs (動（ドウ）詞（シ）, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助（ジヨ）動（ドウ）詞（シ）, jodōshi) | particles (天（テ）爾（ニ）遠（ヲ）波（ハ）, tenioha) | | | | adverbs (副（フク）詞（シ）, fukushi) | conjunctions (接（セツ）續（ゾク）詞（シ）, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感（カン）動（ドウ）詞（シ）, kandōshi) |
| Ōtsuki Fumihiko | 1897 | eight parts of speech (八品詞, happinshi) | nouns (名（メイ）詞（シ）, meishi) | nouns (名（メイ）詞（シ）, meishi) | nouns (名（メイ）詞（シ）, meishi) | adjectives (形（ケイ）容（ヨウ）詞（シ）, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形（ケイ）容（ヨウ）詞（シ）, keiyōshi) | verbs (動（ドウ）詞（シ）, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助（ジヨ）動（ドウ）詞（シ）, jodōshi) | particles (弖（テ）爾（ニ）乎（ヲ）波（ハ）, tenioha) | | | | adverbs (副（フク）詞（シ）, fukushi) | conjunctions (接（セツ）續（ゾク）詞（シ）, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感（カン）動（ドウ）詞（シ）, kandōshi) |
| Ochiai Naobumi | 1890 | nine parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形狀言, keijōgen) | adjectives (形狀言, keijōgen) | verbs (作用言, sayōgen) | auxiliaries (動助辭, dōjoji) | particles (靜助辭, seijoji) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (歎詞, tanshi) |
| Ochiai Naobumi | 1893 | nine parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (作用詞, sayōshi) | auxiliaries (動辭／動助辭, dōji / dōjoji) | particles (體辭, taiji) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (歎詞, tanshi) |
| Ochiai Naobumi | 1895 | eleven parts of speech (十一品詞, jūippinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞／形狀言, keiyōshi / keijōgen) | adjectives (形容詞／形狀言, keiyōshi / keijōgen) | verbs (動詞／作用言, dōshi / sayōgen) | auxiliaries (助動詞／動助辭, jodōshi / dōjoji) | particles (助辭／靜助辭／弖爾乎波, joji / seijoji / tenioha) | affixes (助語, jogyo) | affixes (助語, jogyo) | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞／間投詞／嘆詞／感嘆詞, kandōshi / kantōshi / tanshi / kantanshi) |
| Ochiai Naobumi | 1897 | eleven parts of speech (十一品詞, jūippinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助辭, joji) | affixes (助語, jogyo) | affixes (助語, jogyo) | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) |
| Ochiai Naobumi | 1915 | twelve parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助辭, joji) | prefixes (接頭語, settōgo) | suffixes (接尾語, setsubigo) | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) |
| Tejima Haruji | 1890 | seven parts of speech (七種, shichishu) | nouns (名言, meigen) | nouns (名言, meigen) | pronouns (代名言, daimeigen) | verbs (用言, yōgen) | verbs (用言, yōgen) | verbs (用言, yōgen) | verbs (用言, yōgen) | particles (後置言, kōchigen) | | | | adverbs (副言, fukugen) | conjunctions (接續言, setsuzokugen) | interjections (感歎言, kantangen) |
| Tejima Haruji | 1899 | eight parts of speech (八種, hasshu) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | particles (後置詞, kōchishi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) | attributives (形容詞, keiyōshi) |
| Takada Utarō | 1899 | nine parts of speech (九種の詞, kyūshu no kotoba) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | verbs (形狀言／形容動詞, keijōgen / keiyō dōshi) | verbs (形狀言／形容動詞, keijōgen / keiyō dōshi) | verbs (作用言／作用動詞, sayōgen / sayō dōshi) | auxiliaries (助用辭, joyōji) | particles (助體辭／助躰辭, jotaiji) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) |
| Ōwada Takeki | 1891 | seven parts of speech (七品詞, shichihinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | particles (後詞, kōshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感詞, kanshi) |
| Ōwada Takeki | 1901 | eight parts of speech (八（はつ）品（ぴん）詞（し）, happinshi) | nouns (名（めい）詞（し）, meishi) | nouns (名（めい）詞（し）, meishi) | pronouns (代（だい）名（めい）詞（し）, daimeishi) | adjectives (形（けい）容（よう）詞（し）／形（けい）狀（じやう）言（げん）, keiyōshi / keijōgen) | adjectives (形（けい）容（よう）詞（し）／形（けい）狀（じやう）言（げん）, keiyōshi / keijōgen) | verbs (動（どう）詞（し）, dōshi) | verbs (動（どう）詞（し）, dōshi) | particles (後（こう）詞（し）／後（こう）置（ち）詞（し）, kōshi / kōchishi) | | | | adverbs (副（ふく）詞（し）, fukushi) | conjunctions (接（せつ）續（ぞく）詞（し）, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感（かん）詞（し）／感（かん）嘆（たん）詞（し）, kanshi / kantanshi) |
| Takatsu Kuwasaburō | 1891 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (補助詞, hojoshi) | particles (關係詞, kankeishi) | affixes (附加詞, fukashi) | affixes (附加詞, fukashi) | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Okakura Yoshisaburō | 1891 | nine parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (指詞, shishi) | adjectives (形狀詞, keijōshi) | adjectives (形狀詞, keijōshi) | verbs (動作詞, dōsashi) | auxiliaries (助辭, joji) | auxiliaries (助辭, joji) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接詞, sesshi) | interjections (感詞／喚詞, kanshi) |
| Hayama Hisanori | 1891 | eight parts of speech (八品（ぴん）詞（し）, happinshi) | nouns (名（めい）詞（し）, meishi) | nouns (名（めい）詞（し）, meishi) | pronouns (代（だい）名（めい）詞（し）, daimeishi) | adjectives (形（けい）容（よう）詞（し）, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形（けい）容（よう）詞（し）, keiyōshi) | verbs (動（どう）詞（し）, dōshi) | verbs (動（どう）詞（し）, dōshi) | particles (後（こう）詞（し）, kōshi) | | | | adverbs (副（ふく）詞（し）, fukushi) | conjunctions (接（せつ）續（ぞく）詞（し）, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感（かん）歎（たん）詞（し）, kantanshi) |
| Hirata Moritane | 1893 | eight parts of speech | nouns (實名詞, jitsumeishi) | nouns (實名詞, jitsumeishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | particles (助成詞, joseishi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) |
| Shinbo Iwaji | 1896 | eight parts of speech (八品詞, happinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | particles (後詞, kōshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, teishi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) |
| Shiratori Kikuji | 1893 | nine parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | adjectives (形容動詞, keiyō dōshi) | adjectives (形容動詞, keiyō dōshi) | verbs (作用動詞, sayō dōshi) | auxiliaries (動辭, dōji) | particles (靜辭, seiji) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) | | adverbial forms (添詞／發語, tenshi / hatsugo) |
| Shiratori Kikuji | 1898 | ten parts of speech (十種, jisshu) | nouns (名詞／体言, meishi / taigen) | nouns (名詞／体言, meishi / taigen) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞／作用言, dōshi / sayōgen) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (弖爾乎波／弖爾波, tenioha / teniha) | affixes (冠詞, kanshi) | affixes (冠詞, kanshi) | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Matsushita Daizaburō | 1898 | eight parts of speech (八品詞, happinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形狀詞, keijōshi) | adjectives (形狀詞, keijōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | | | | postpositions (後置詞, kōchishi) | adverbs (程詞, teishi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Matsushita Daizaburō | 1901 | eight parts of speech (八品詞, happinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形狀詞, keijōshi) | adjectives (形狀詞, keijōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | | | | postpositions (後置詞, kōchishi) | adverbs (接用詞, setsuyōshi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (間投詞, kantōshi) |
| Matsushita Daizaburō | 1924 | five parts of speech (五品詞, gohinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) | attributives (形容詞, keiyōshi) |
| Matsushita Daizaburō | 1928 | five parts of speech (五品詞, gohinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) | attributives (副體詞, fukutaishi) |
| Morishita Matsue | 1900 | eight parts of speech (八品詞, happinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助詞, joshi) | auxiliaries (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Matsudaira Shizuka | 1900 | nine parts of speech (九品／九品詞, kyūhin / kyūhinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Matsudaira Shizuka | 1908 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Mitsuchi Chūzō | 1901 | nine parts of speech (九品詞, kyūhinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Kanai Yasuzō | 1901 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (てにをは, tenioha) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感詞, kanshi) |
| Ishikawa Kuraji | 1901 | nine parts of speech (九ひんし) | nouns (なことば, nakotoba) | nouns (なことば, nakotoba) | pronouns (かえことば, kaekotoba) | adjectives (さまことば, samakotoba) | adjectives (さまことば, samakotoba) | verbs (わざことば, wazakotoba) | auxiliaries (すけことば, sukekotoba) | particles (あとことば, atokotoba) | | | | adverbs (そえことば, soekotoba) | conjunctions (つなぎことば, tsunagikotoba) | interjections (なげきことば, nagekikotoba) |
| Suzuki Nobuyuki | 1902 | ten parts of speech (十種, jisshu) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (テニヲハ, tenioha) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Suzuki Nobuyuki | 1904 | ten parts of speech (十種, jisshu) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | | affixes (接辭, setsuji) | affixes (接辭, setsuji) | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞／歎詞, kantanshi / tanshi) |
| Suzuki Nobuyuki | 1906 | ten parts of speech (十種, jisshu) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | affixes (辭, ji) | affixes (辭, ji) | affixes (辭, ji) | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞／感嘆詞, kantanshi) |
| Haga Yaichi | 1905 | ten parts of speech (十品詞, jippinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Yoshioka Kyōsuke | 1906 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (天爾乎波, tenioha) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) |
| Yoshioka Kyōsuke | 1933 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感歎詞, kantanshi) |
| Mitsuya Shigematsu | 1908 | nine parts of speech (七詞二辭, shichishi niji) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞／動助辭／助用言, jodōshi / dōjoji / joyōgen) | particles (てにをは／靜助辭／助體言, tenioha / seijoji / jotaigen) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Hoshina Kōichi | 1909 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Hoshina Kōichi | 1917 | nine parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Tsuge Zenzō | 1916 | six parts of speech (六品詞, roppinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助辭, joji) | auxiliaries (助辭, joji) | | | | adverbs (語辭, gyoji) | adverbs (語辭, gyoji) | adverbs (語辭, gyoji) |
| Yamada Yoshio | 1917 | nine parts of speech (九品詞, kyūhinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Yamada Yoshio | 1922 | ten parts of speech (十品詞, jippinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Yamada Yoshio | 1938 | nine parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Fujimura Tsukuru and Shimazu Hisamoto | 1921 | nine parts of speech (九品詞, kyūhinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Yoshizawa Yoshinori | 1923 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Hashimoto Shinkichi | 1935 | nine parts of speech (九品詞, kyūhinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Tōjō Misao | 1937 | eleven parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | numerals (數詞, sūshi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectival verbs (形容動詞, keiyō dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Hiroshima Higher Normal School | 1937 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectival verbs (形容動詞, keiyō dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Iwai Yoshio | 1937 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectival verbs (形容動詞, keiyō dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) |
| Kindaichi Kyōsuke | 1939 | nine parts of speech (九品詞, kyūhinshi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (間投詞, kantōshi) |
| Iwabuchi Etsutarō | 1943 | ten parts of speech | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | nouns (名詞, meishi) | adjectives (形容詞, keiyōshi) | adjectival verbs (形容動詞, keiyō dōshi) | verbs (動詞, dōshi) | auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi) | particles (助詞, joshi) | | | | adverbs (副詞, fukushi) | conjunctions (接續詞, setsuzokushi) | interjections (感動詞, kandōshi) | attributives (連體詞, rentaishi) |
The term keiyō dōshi (形容動詞, lit. 'adjectival verb') assumed different meanings, such as a verb form (ren'yōkei (連用形) or rentaikei (連体形)) that precedes a noun, or as a proposed alternative to keiyōshi (形容詞), because Japanese "adjectives" are verb-like in nature, unlike European adjectives. As shown in the table, Matsushita Daizaburō (1924) used keiyōshi explicitly for the Eurocentric idea of adjectives as words that precede nouns, while reserving keiyō dōshi for Japanese "adjectives" as verb-like words (although later in 1928, he swapped out keiyōshi for fukutaishi (副體詞) to avoid confusion, on the model of fukushi (副詞) as words that precede verbs). Ochiai Naobumi (1895) defined keiyō dōshi not as a grammatical category, but as a semantic one with meanings similar to those of stative verbs (rakka yuki-ni nitari (落花雪に似たり, lit. 'as for falling flowers, they are like snow'), yama-wa enpō-ni ari (山は遠方に在り, lit. 'as for the mountain, it is far away')). It was not until Haga Yaichi's usage in 1905 that keiyō dōshi came to be refer to adjectival words whose shūshikei (終止形) ended with nari (なり) or tari (たり) (in modern Japanese, they end with da (だ)).
The gakkō bunpō (学校文法, lit. 'school grammar') of today has followed Iwabuchi Etsutarō's model outlined in his 1943 grammar, Chūtō Bunpō (中等文法), compiled for the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (文部省, Monbushō). It recognizes 10 parts of speech as shown in the table.
Among historical classifications, the grammarian Matsushita Daizaburō notably compared his own terminology to the terminologies translated from and modeled after European ones at the time. In particular, he rejected the equation of what were dubbed keiyōshi (形容詞) in Japanese to the concept of "adjectives" in European grammars, although he revised his systems over the years, which ended up conforming to the popular usage of the term keiyōshi. According to Matsushita (1930):
| Matsushita Daizaburō's own terminology | Matsushita Daizaburō's own terminology | Matsushita Daizaburō's own terminology | European-based terminology for Japanese grammar | European-based terminology for European grammars | English terminology |
| meishi (名詞) | jisshitsu meishi (實質名詞) | honmeishi (本名詞) | meishi (名詞) | meishi (名詞) | noun |
| meishi (名詞) | jisshitsu meishi (實質名詞) | daimeishi (代名詞) | daimeishi (代名詞) | daimeishi (代名詞) | pronoun |
| meishi (名詞) | jisshitsu meishi (實質名詞) | mitei meishi (未定名詞) | daimeishi (代名詞) | daimeishi (代名詞) | pronoun |
| meishi (名詞) | keishiki meishi (形式名詞) | keishiki meishi (形式名詞) | | daimeishi (代名詞) | pronoun |
| fukutaishi (副體詞) | fukutaishi (副體詞) | fukutaishi (副體詞) | | keiyōshi (形容詞) | adjective |
| dōshi (動詞) | keiyōshi (形容詞) | keiyōshi (形容詞) | keiyōshi (形容詞) | |
| dōshi (動詞) | dōsashi (動作詞) | dōsashi (動作詞) | dōshi (動詞) | dōshi (動詞) | verb |
| fukushi (副詞) | jisshitsu fukushi (實質副詞) | jisshitsu fukushi (實質副詞) | fukushi (副詞) | fukushi (副詞) | adverb |
| fukushi (副詞) | keishiki fukushi (形式副詞) | setsuzokushi (接續詞) | setsuzokushi (接續詞) | setsuzokushi (接續詞) | conjunction |
| fukushi (副詞) | keishiki fukushi (形式副詞) | kichaku fukushi (歸著副詞) | | zenchishi (前置詞) | preposition |
| kandōshi (感動詞) | kandōshi (感動詞) | kandōshi (感動詞) | kandōshi (感動詞) | kantōshi (間投詞) | interjection |

### Japanese as a topic-prominent language

In discourse pragmatics, the term topic refers to what a section of discourse is about. At the beginning of a section of discourse, the topic is usually unknown, in which case it is usually necessary to explicitly mention it. As the discourse carries on, the topic need not be the grammatical subject of each new sentence.
Starting with Middle Japanese, the grammar evolved so as to explicitly distinguish topics from nontopics. This is done by two distinct particles (short words which do not change form). Consider the following pair of sentences:
犬
inu
dog
が
ga
NONTOPIC
サンド
sando
sandwich
を
o
OBJ
食べている。
tabeteiru
eat
犬 が サンド を 食べている。
inu ga sando o tabeteiru
dog NONTOPIC sandwich OBJ eat
犬
inu
dog
は
wa
TOPIC
サンド
sando
sandwich
を
o
OBJ
食べている。
tabeteiru
eat
犬 は サンド を 食べている。
inu wa sando o tabeteiru
dog TOPIC sandwich OBJ eat
In the first sentence the dog (犬, inu) is not a discourse topic—not yet; in the second sentence it is a discourse topic. In linguistics (specifically, in discourse pragmatics) a sentence such as the second one (with wa) is termed a presentational sentence because its function in the discourse is to present dog as a topic, to "broach it for discussion". Once a referent has been established as the topic of the current monolog or dialog, then in (formal) modern Japanese its marking will change from ga to wa.
To better explain the difference, the first sentence can be translated to "There's a dog eating a sandwich", while the second sentence can be translated to "You know the dog? It's eating a sandwich"; these renderings reflect a discourse fragment in which "the dog" is being established as the topic of an extended discussion. The first sentence answers the question "What is going on?," whereas the second sentence answers the question "What is the dog doing?"

### Liberal omission of the subject of a sentence

The grammatical subject is commonly omitted in Japanese, as in
日本
nihon
Japan
に
ni
LOC
行きました
ikimashita
go-POL-PFV
日本 に 行きました
nihon ni ikimashita
Japan LOC go-POL-PFV
went to Japan
Subjects are mentioned when a topic is introduced, or in situations where an ambiguity might result from their omission. The preceding example sentence would most likely be uttered in the middle of a discourse, where who it is that "went to Japan" will be clear from what has already been said (or written).

## Sentences, phrases and words

Text (文章, bunshō) is composed of sentences (文, bun), which are in turn composed of phrases (文節, bunsetsu), which are its smallest coherent components. Like Chinese and classical Korean, written Japanese does not typically demarcate words with spaces; its agglutinative nature further makes the concept of a word rather different from words in English. The reader identifies word divisions by semantic cues and a knowledge of phrase structure. Phrases 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.
太陽が
taiyō ga
sun SBJ
東の
higashi no
east POSS
空に
sora ni
sky LOC
昇る。
noboru
rise
太陽が 東の 空に 昇る。
{taiyō ga} {higashi no} {sora ni} noboru
{sun SBJ} {east POSS} {sky LOC} rise
The sun rises in the eastern sky.
Some scholars romanize Japanese sentences by inserting spaces only at phrase boundaries (i.e., "taiyō-ga higashi-no sora-ni noboru"), treating an entire phrase as a single word. This represents an almost purely phonological conception of where one word ends and the next begins. There is some validity in taking this approach: phonologically, the postpositional particles merge with the structural word that precedes them, and within a phonological phrase, the pitch can have at most one fall. Usually, however, grammarians adopt a more conventional concept of word (単語, tango), one which invokes meaning and sentence structure.

### Phrasal movement

In Japanese, phrasal constituents can be moved to the beginning or the end of the sentence. Leftward movement of a phrasal constituent is referred to as "scrambling".

## Word classification

In linguistics generally, words and affixes are often classified into two major word categories: lexical words, those that refer to the world outside of a discourse, and function words—also including fragments of words—which help to build the sentence in accordance with the grammar rules of the language. Lexical words include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and sometimes prepositions and postpositions, while grammatical words or word parts include everything else. The native tradition in Japanese grammar scholarship seems to concur in this view of classification. This native Japanese tradition uses the terminology jiritsugo (自立語, independent words), for words having lexical meaning, and fuzokugo (付属語, auxiliary words), for words having a grammatical function.
Classical Japanese had some auxiliary verbs (i.e., they were independent words) which have become grammaticized in modern Japanese as inflectional suffixes, such as the past tense suffix -ta (which might have developed as a contraction of -te ari).
Traditional scholarship proposes a system of word classes differing somewhat from the above-mentioned. The "independent" words have the following categories.
    katsuyōgo (活用語), word classes which have inflections
       dōshi (動詞), verbs
       keiyōshi (形容詞), i-type adjectives
       keiyōdōshi (形容動詞), na-type adjectives
    hikatsuyōgo (非活用語) or mukatsuyōgo (無活用語), word classes which do not have inflections
       meishi (名詞), nouns
       daimeishi (代名詞), pronouns
       fukushi (副詞), adverbs
       setsuzokushi (接続詞), conjunctions
       kandōshi (感動詞), interjections
       rentaishi (連体詞), prenominals
Ancillary words also divide into a nonconjugable class, containing grammatical particles (助詞, joshi) and counter words (助数詞, josūshi), and a conjugable class consisting of auxiliary verbs (助動詞, jodōshi). There is not wide agreement among linguists as to the English translations of the above terms.

### Controversy over the characterization of adjectival nouns

Uehara (1998) observes that Japanese grammarians have disagreed as to the criteria that make some words inflectional and others not, in particular, the adjectival nouns – keiyōdōshi (形容動詞) or na-adjectives. (It is not disputed that nouns like hon 'book' are non-inflectional and that verbs and i-adjectives are inflectional.) The claim that adjectival nouns are inflectional rests on the claim that the element da, regarded as a copula by proponents of non-inflectional adjectival nouns, is really a suffix—an inflection. That is, kireida ('it is pretty') is a one-word sentence, not a two-word sentence, kirei da. However, numerous constructions show that da is less bound to the roots of nouns and adjectival nouns than -i and -(r)u are to the roots of i-adjectives and verbs, respectively.
    (1) Reduplication for emphasis
       Hora! Hon, hon! ('See! It is a book!')
       Hora! Kirei, kirei! ('See! It is pretty!')
       Hora! Furu-i, furu-i! ('See! It is old!') (the adjectival inflection -i cannot be left off)
       Hora! Ik-u, ik-u! ('See! It does go!') (the verbal inflection -u cannot be left off)
    (2) Questions. In Japanese, questions are formed by adding the particle ka (or in colloquial speech, just by changing the intonation of the sentence).
       Hon ka? ('Is it a book?')
       Kirei ka? ('Is it pretty?')
       Furu-i ka? ('Is it old?) (-i cannot be left off)
       Ik-u ka? ('Does it go?') (-u cannot be left off)
    (3) Several epistemic modality predicates, e.g., mitai ('seem like')
       Hon mitai da ('It seems to be a book')
       Kirei mitai da ('It seems to be pretty')
       Furu-i mitai da ('It seems to be old') (-i cannot be left off)
       Ik-u mitai da ('It seems to go') (-u cannot be left off)
On the basis of such constructions, Uehara finds that the copula da is not suffixal and that adjectival nouns pattern with nouns in being non-inflectional.
Similarly, Eleanor Jorden considers this class of words a kind of nominal, not adjective, and refers to them as na-nominals in her textbook Japanese: The Spoken Language.

## Nouns

Japanese has no grammatical gender, number, or articles; though the demonstrative sono (その, "that, those"), is often translatable as "the". Thus, linguists agree that Japanese nouns are noninflecting: neko (猫) can be translated as "cat", "cats", "a cat", "the cat", "some cats" and so forth, depending on context. However, as part of the extensive pair of grammatical systems that Japanese possesses for honorification (making discourse deferential to the addressee or even to a third party) and politeness, nouns too can be modified. Nouns take politeness prefixes (which have not been regarded as inflections): o- for native nouns, and go- for Sino-Japanese nouns. A few examples are given in the following table. In a few cases, there is suppletion, as with the first of the examples given below, '飯(meal/rice)'. (Note that while these prefixes are almost always written in hiragana as o- (お〜) or go- (ご〜), the 御 kanji represents both o and go in formal writing.)
Respectful forms of nouns :
| meaning | plain | respectful |
| meal | meshi (飯) | go-han (ご飯) |
| money | kane (金) | o-kane (お金) |
| body | karada (体) | o-karada (お体)onmi (御身) |
| word(s) | kotoba (言葉) | o-kotoba (お言葉)mikotonori (詔) |
Lacking number, Japanese does not differentiate between count and mass nouns. A small number of nouns have collectives formed by reduplication (possibly accompanied by voicing and related processes (rendaku)); for example: hito (人, 'person') and hitobito (人々, 'people'). Reduplication is not productive. Words in Japanese referring to more than one of something are collectives, not plurals. Hitobito, for example, means "a lot of people" or "people in general"; it is never used to mean "two people". A phrase like edo no hitobito would be taken to mean "the people of Edo", or "the population of Edo", not "two people from Edo" or even "a few people from Edo". Similarly, yamayama means "many mountains".
A limited number of nouns have collective forms that refer to groups of people. Examples include watashi-tachi (私たち, 'we'); anata-tachi (あなたたち, 'you' [plural]); bokura (僕ら, 'we' (less formal, more masculine)). One uncommon personal noun, ware (我, 'I', or in some cases, 'you'), has a much more common reduplicative collective form: wareware (我々, 'we').
The suffixes -tachi (達) and -ra (等) are by far the most common collectivizing suffixes. These are, again, not pluralizing suffixes: tarō-tachi does not mean "some number of people named Taro", but instead indicates the group including Taro. Depending on context, tarō-tachi might be translated into "Taro and his friends", "Taro and his siblings", "Taro and his family", or any other logical grouping that has Taro as the representative. Some words with collectives have become fixed phrases and (commonly) refer to one person. Specifically, kodomo (子供, 'child') and tomodachi (友達, 'friend') can be singular, even though -[t]omo and -[t]achi were originally collectivizing in these words; to unambiguously refer to groups of them, an additional collectivizing suffix is added: kodomo-tachi (子供たち, 'children') and tomodachi-tachi (友達たち, 'friends'), though tomodachi-tachi is somewhat uncommon. Tachi is sometimes applied to inanimate objects, kuruma (車, 'car') and kuruma-tachi (車たち, 'cars'), for example, but this usage is colloquial and indicates a high level of anthropomorphisation and childlikeness, and is not more generally accepted as standard.

### Grammatical case

Grammatical cases in Japanese are marked by particles placed after the nouns. A distinctive feature of Japanese is the presence of two cases which are roughly equivalent to the nominative case in other languages: one representing the sentence topic, other representing the subject. The most important case markers are the following:
* Nominative – ga (が) for subject, wa (は) for the topic
* Genitive – no (の)
* Dative – ni (に)
* Accusative – o (を)
* Lative – e (へ), used for destination direction (like in "to some place")
* Ablative – kara (から), used for source direction (like in "from some place")
* Instrumental/Locative – de (で)

### Pronouns

Common pronouns :
| person | very informal | plain, informal | polite |
| first | ore (俺, male)atashi (あたし, female) | boku (僕, male)watashi (私, gender neutral) | watashi (私)watakushi (私) |
| second | anta (あんた)omae (お前) | kimi (君)anata (あなた) | anata (貴方)sochira (そちら) |
| third | aitsu (あいつ, pejorative) | kare (彼, referring to males)kanojo (彼女, referring to females)ano hito (あの人) | ano kata (あの方) |
Although many grammars and textbooks mention pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi), Japanese lacks true pronouns. (Daimeishi can be considered a subset of nouns.) Strictly speaking, linguistic pronouns do not take modifiers, but Japanese daimeishi do. For example, se no takai kare (背の高い彼, lit. "tall he") is valid in Japanese. Also, unlike true pronouns, Japanese daimeishi are not closed-class; new daimeishi are introduced and old ones go out of use relatively quickly.
A large number of daimeishi referring to people are translated as pronouns in their most common uses. Examples: kare (彼, he); kanojo (彼女, she); watashi (私, I); see also the adjoining table or a longer list. Some of these "personal nouns" such as onore (己, I (exceedingly humble)), or boku (僕, I (young male)), also have second-person uses: onore (おのれ) in second-person is an extremely rude "you", and boku in second-person is a diminutive "you" used for young boys. Kare and kanojo also mean "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" respectively, and this usage of the words is possibly more common than the use as pronouns.
Like other subjects, personal daimeishi are seldom used and are de-emphasized in Japanese. This is partly because Japanese sentences do not always require explicit subjects, and partly because names or titles are often used where pronouns would appear in a translation:
「木下さん
"Kinoshita-san
は、
wa,
背
se
が
ga
高い
takai
です
desu
ね。」
ne."
「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?"
「専務、
"Senmu,
明日
asu
福岡市
Fukuoka-shi
西区
nishi-ku
の
no
山本商事
Yamamoto-shōji
の
no
社長
shachō
に
ni
会って
atte
いただけます
itadakemasu
か？」
ka?"
「専務、 明日 福岡市 西区 の 山本商事 の 社長 に 会って いただけます か？」
"Senmu, asu Fukuoka-shi nishi-ku no Yamamoto-shōji no shachō ni atte itadakemasu ka?"
(addressing the managing director) "Would it be possible for you to meet the president of Yamamoto Trading Co. in West Ward, Fukuoka tomorrow?"
The possible referents of daimeishi are sometimes constrained depending on the order of occurrence. The following pair of examples from Bart Mathias illustrates one such constraint.
本田君
Honda-kun
に
ni
会って、
atte,
彼
kare
の
no
本
hon
を
o
返した。
kaeshita
本田君 に 会って、 彼 の 本 を 返した。
Honda-kun ni atte, kare no hon o kaeshita
(I) met Honda and returned his book. ("His" here can refer to Honda.)
彼
Kare
に
ni
会って、
atte,
本田君
Honda-kun
の
no
本
hon
を
o
返した。
kaeshita
彼 に 会って、 本田君 の 本 を 返した。
Kare ni atte, Honda-kun no hon o kaeshita
(I) met him and returned Honda's book. (Here, "him" cannot refer to Honda.)

### Reflexive pronouns

English has a reflexive form of each personal pronoun (himself, herself, itself, themselves, etc.); Japanese, in contrast, has one main reflexive daimeishi, namely jibun (自分), which can also mean 'I'. The uses of the reflexive (pro)nouns in the two languages are very different, as demonstrated by the following literal translations (*=impossible, ??=ambiguous):
| example | reason |
| ＊*歴史Rekishiはwa自分jibunをo繰り返す。kurikaesu.＊ 歴史 は 自分 を 繰り返す。* Rekishi wa jibun o kurikaesu.History repeats itself. | the target of jibun must be animate |
| ひろしHiroshiはwa健司Kenjiにni自分jibunのnoことkotoをo話した。hanashita.ひろし は 健司 に 自分 の こと を 話した。Hiroshi wa Kenji ni jibun no koto o hanashita.Hiroshi talked to Kenji about himself (=Hiroshi). | there is no ambiguity in this translation, as explained below |
| ？？??誠Makotoはwa静子Shizukoがga自分jibunをo大事daijiにniするsuruことkotoをo期待kitaiしてshiteいる。iru.？？ 誠 は 静子 が 自分 を 大事 に する こと を 期待 して いる。?? Makoto wa Shizuko ga jibun o daiji ni suru koto o kitai shite iru.*Makoto expects that Shizuko will take good care of himself (=Makoto; note that Shizuko is female). Either "Makoto expects that Shizuko will take good care of him", or "Makoto expects that Shizuko will take good care of herself." | jibun can be in a different sentence or dependent clause, but its target is ambiguous |
If the sentence has more than one grammatical or semantic subject, then the target of jibun is the subject of the primary or most prominent action; thus in the following sentence jibun refers unambiguously to Shizuko (even though Makoto is the grammatical subject) because the primary action is Shizuko's reading.
誠
Makoto
は
wa
静子
Shizuko
に
ni
自分
jibun
の
no
家
uchi
で
de
本
hon
を
o
読ませた。
yomaseta.
誠 は 静子 に 自分 の 家 で 本 を 読ませた。
Makoto wa Shizuko ni jibun no uchi de hon o yomaseta.
Makoto made Shizuko read book(s) in her house.
In practice the main action is not always discernible, in which case such sentences are ambiguous. The use of jibun in complex sentences follows non-trivial rules.
There are also equivalents to jibun such as mizukara. Other uses of the reflexive pronoun in English are covered by adverbs like hitorideni which is used in the sense of "by oneself". For example,
機械
kikai
が
ga
ひとりでに
hitorideni
動き出した。
ugokidashita.
機械 が ひとりでに 動き出した。
kikai ga hitorideni ugokidashita.
The machine started operating by itself.
Change in a verb's valency is not accomplished by use of reflexive pronouns (in this Japanese is like English but unlike many other European languages). Instead, separate (but usually related) intransitive verbs and transitive verbs are used. There is no longer any productive morphology to derive transitive verbs from intransitive ones, or vice versa.

### Demonstratives

Demonstratives :
| | ko- | so- | a- | do- |
| -re | korethis one | sorethat one | arethat one over there | dorewhich one? |
| -no | kono(of) this | sono(of) that | ano(of) that over there | dono(of) what? |
| -nna | konnalike this | sonnalike that | annalike that over there | donnawhat sort of? |
| -ko | kokohere | sokothere | asoko $^1$over there | dokowhere? |
| -chira $^2$ | kochirathis way | sochirathat way | achirathat way over there | dochirawhich way? |
| -u $^3$ | kōin this manner | sōin that manner | ā $^1$in that (other) manner | dōhow? in what manner? |
| -itsu | koitsuthis person | soitsuthat person | aitsuthat (other) person | doitsuwho? |
* irregular formation
* colloquially contracted to -cchi
* -ou is represented by -ō
Demonstratives occur in the ko-, so-, and a- series. The ko- (proximal) series refers to things closer to the speaker than the hearer, the so- (medial) series for things closer to the hearer, and the a- (distal) series for things distant to both the speaker and the hearer. With do-, demonstratives turn into the corresponding interrogative form. Demonstratives can also be used to refer to people, for example
「こちら
"Kochira
は
wa
林さん
Hayashi-san
です。」
desu."
「こちら は 林さん です。」
"Kochira wa Hayashi-san desu."
"This is Mr. Hayashi."
Demonstratives limit, and therefore precede, nouns; thus kono hon (この本) for "this/my book", and sono hon (その本) for "that/your book".
When demonstratives are used to refer to things not visible to the speaker or the hearer, or to (abstract) concepts, they fulfill a related but different anaphoric role. The anaphoric distals are used for shared information between the speaker and the listener.
A：
A:
先日、
Senjitsu,
札幌
Sapporo
に
ni
行って
itte
来ました。
kimashita.
A： 先日、 札幌 に 行って 来ました。
A: Senjitsu, Sapporo ni itte kimashita.
A: I visited Sapporo recently.
B：
B:
あそこ
Asoko
（＊そこ）
(*Soko)
は
wa
いつ
itsu
行って
itte
も
mo
いい
ii
所
tokoro
です
desu
ね。
ne.
B： あそこ （＊そこ） は いつ 行って も いい 所 です ね。
B: Asoko (*Soko) wa itsu itte mo ii tokoro desu ne.
B: Yeah, that's a great place to visit whenever you go.
Soko instead of asoko would imply that B does not share this knowledge about Sapporo, which is inconsistent with the meaning of the sentence. The anaphoric medials are used to refer to experience or knowledge that is not shared between the speaker and listener.
佐藤：
Satō:
田中
Tanaka
と
to
いう
iu
人
hito
が
ga
昨日
kinō
死んだ
shinda
ん
n
だ
da
って。
tte...
佐藤： 田中 と いう 人 が 昨日 死んだ ん だ って。
Satō: Tanaka to iu hito ga kinō shinda n da tte...
Sato: I heard that a man called Tanaka died yesterday...
森：
Mori:
えっ、
E',
本当？
hontō?
森： えっ、 本当？
Mori: E', hontō?
Mori: Oh, really?
佐藤：
Satō:
だから、
Dakara,
その
sono
（＊あの）
(*ano)
人、
hito,
森さん
Mori-san
の
no
昔
mukashi
の
no
隣人
rinjin
じゃ
ja
なかった
nakatta
っけ？
kke?
佐藤： だから、 その （＊あの） 人、 森さん の 昔 の 隣人 じゃ なかった っけ？
Satō: Dakara, sono (*ano) hito, Mori-san no mukashi no rinjin ja nakatta kke?
Sato: It's why I asked... wasn't he an old neighbour of yours?
Again, ano is inappropriate here because Sato does not (did not) know Tanaka personally. The proximal demonstratives do not have clear anaphoric uses. They can be used in situations where the distal series sound too disconnected:
一体
Ittai
何
nan
です
desu
か、
ka,
これ
kore
（＊あれ）
(*are)
は
wa?
一体 何 です か、 これ （＊あれ） は
Ittai nan desu ka, kore (*are) wa?
What on earth is this?

## Conjugable words
### Stem forms

Conjugative suffixes and auxiliary verbs are attached to the stem forms of the affixee. In modern Japanese, there are six stem forms, ordered following from the -a, -i, -u, -e, -o endings that these forms have in 5-row (五段) verbs (according to the あ、い、う、え、お collation order of Japanese), where terminal and attributive forms are the same for verbs (hence only 5 surface forms), but differ for nominals, notably na-nominals.

#### Irrealis form (未然形, mizenkei) -a (and -ō)

    is used for plain negative (of verbs), causative and passive constructions. The most common use of this form is with the -nai auxiliary that turns verbs into their negative (predicate) form. (See Verbs below.) The -ō version is used for volitional expression and formed by a euphonic change (音便, onbin).

#### Continuative form (連用形, ren'yōkei) -i

    is used in a linking role (a kind of serial verb construction). This is the most productive stem form, taking on a variety of endings and auxiliaries, and can even occur independently in a sense similar to the -te ending. This form is also used to negate adjectives.

#### Terminal form (終止形, shūshikei) -u

    is used at the ends of clauses in predicate positions. This form is also variously known as plain form (基本形, kihonkei) or dictionary form (辞書形, jishokei) – it is the form that verbs are listed under in a dictionary.

#### Attributive form (連体形, rentaikei) -u

    is prefixed to nominals and is used to define or classify the noun, similar to a relative clause in English. In modern Japanese it is practically identical to the terminal form, except that verbs are generally not inflected for politeness; in old Japanese these forms differed. Further, na-nominals behave differently in terminal and attributive positions; see Adjectival verbs and nouns, below.

#### Hypothetical form (仮定形, kateikei) -e

    is used for conditional and subjunctive forms, using the -ba ending.

#### Imperative form (命令形, meireikei) -e

    is used to turn verbs into commands. Adjectives do not have an imperative stem form.
The application of conjugative suffixes to stem forms follow certain euphonic principles (音便, onbin).

### Verbs

Verbs (動詞, dōshi) in Japanese are rigidly constrained to the end of a clause. This means that the predicate position is always located at the end of a sentence.
猫
Neko
Cat
は
wa
TOPIC
魚
sakana
fish
を
o
OBJECT
食べる
taberu
eat
猫 は 魚 を 食べる
Neko wa sakana o taberu
Cat TOPIC fish OBJECT eat
"A cat eats fish"
The subject and objects of the verb are indicated by means of particles, and the grammatical functions of the verb (primarily tense and voice) are indicated by means of conjugation. When the subject and the dissertative topic coincide, the subject is often omitted; if the verb is intransitive, the entire sentence may consist of a single verb. Verbs have two tenses indicated by conjugation, past and non-past. The semantic difference between present and future is not indicated by means of conjugation. Usually there is no ambiguity as context makes it clear whether the speaker is referring to the present or future. Voice and aspect are also indicated by means of conjugation, and possibly agglutinating auxiliary verbs. For example, the continuative aspect is formed by means of the continuative conjugation known as the gerundive or -te form, and the auxiliary verb iru ("to be"); to illustrate, miru (見る, "to see") → mite iru (見ている, "to be seeing").
Verbs can be semantically classified based on certain conjugations.

#### Stative verbs

    indicate existential properties, such as "to be" (いる, iru), "to be able to do" (出来る, dekiru), "to need" (要る, iru), etc. These verbs generally do not have a continuative conjugation with -iru because they are semantically continuative already.

#### Continual verbs

    conjugate with the auxiliary -iru to indicate the progressive aspect. Examples: "to eat" (食べる, taberu), "to drink" (飲む, nomu), "to think" (考える, kangaeru). To illustrate the conjugation, taberu (食べる, "to eat") → tabete iru (食べている, "to be eating").

#### Punctual verbs

    conjugate with -iru to indicate a repeated action, or a continuing state after some action. Example: shiru (知る, "to know") → shitte iru (知っている, "to be knowing"); utsu (打つ, "to hit") → utte iru (打っている, "to be hitting (repeatedly)").

#### Non-volitional verb

    indicate uncontrollable action or emotion. These verbs generally have no volitional, imperative or potential conjugation. Examples: konomu (好む, "to like / to prefer" [emotive]), mieru (見える, "to be visible" [non-emotive]).

#### Movement verbs

    indicate motion. Examples: aruku (歩く, "to walk"), kaeru (帰る, "to return"). In the continuative form (see § Verbal adverbs) they take the particle ni to indicate a purpose.
There are other possible classes, and a large amount of overlap between the classes.
Lexically, nearly every verb in Japanese is a member of exactly one of the following three regular conjugation groups (see also Japanese godan and ichidan verbs).

#### Group 2a (上一段, kami ichidan, lit. upper 1-row)

    verbs with a stem ending in -i. The terminal stem form always rhymes with -iru. Examples: miru (見る, "to see"), kiru (着る, "to wear").

#### Group 2b (下一段, shimo ichidan, lit. lower 1-row)

    verbs with a stem ending in -e. The terminal stem form always rhymes with -eru. Examples: taberu (食べる, "to eat"), kureru (くれる, "to give" (to someone of lower or more intimate status)). (Some Group 1 verbs resemble Group 2b verbs, but their stems end in r-, not -e.)

#### Group 1 (五段, godan, lit. 5-row)

    verbs with a stem ending in a consonant. When this is r- and the verb ends in -eru, it is not apparent from the terminal form whether the verb is Group 1 or Group 2b, e.g. kaeru (帰る, "to return"). If the stem ends in w-, that consonant sound only appears in before the final -a of the irrealis form.
The "row" in the above classification means a row in the gojūon table. "Upper 1-row" means the row that is one row above the center row (the u-row) i.e. i-row. "Lower 1-row" means the row that is one row below the center row (the u-row) i.e. e-row. "5-row" means the conjugation runs through all 5 rows of the gojūon table. A conjugation is fully described by identifying both the row and the column in the gojūon table. For example, miru (見る, "to see") belongs to ma-column i-row conjugation (マ行上一段活用), taberu (食べる, "to eat") belongs to ba-column e-row conjugation (バ行下一段活用), and kaeru (帰る, "to return") belongs to ra-column 5-row conjugation (ラ行五段活用).
One should avoid confusing verbs in ra-column 5-row conjugation (ラ行五段活用) with verbs in i-row conjugation (上一段活用) or e-row conjugation (下一段活用). For example, kiru (切る, "to cut") belongs to ra-column 5-row conjugation (ラ行五段活用), whereas its homophone kiru (着る, "to wear") belongs to ka-column i-row conjugation (カ行上一段活用). Likewise, neru (練る, "to knead") belongs to ra-column 5-row conjugation (ラ行五段活用), whereas its homophone neru (寝る, "to sleep") belongs to na-column e-row conjugation (ナ行下一段活用).
Historically, Classical Japanese had upper and lower 1-row groups (上・下一段, kami/shimo ichidan), upper and lower 2-row groups (上・下二段, kami/shimo nidan) and a 4-row group (四段, yodan). The nidan verbs became most of the ichidan verbs in modern Japanese (only a handful of kami ichidan verbs and a single shimo ichidan verb existed in classical Japanese). The yodan group was reclassified as the godan group during the post-WWII writing reform in 1946, to write Japanese as it is pronounced. Since verbs have migrated across groups in the history of the language, the conjugation of classical verbs cannot be ascertained from knowledge of modern Japanese alone.
Of the irregular classes, there are two:

#### sa-group

    which has only one member, suru (する, "to do"). In Japanese grammars these words are classified as sa-hen (サ変), an abbreviation of sa-gyō henkaku katsuyō (サ行変格活用), sa-row irregular conjugation).

#### ka-group

    which also has one member, kuru (来る, "to come"). The Japanese name for this class is ka-gyō henkaku katsuyō (カ行変格活用) or simply ka-hen (カ変).
Classical Japanese had two further irregular classes, the na-group, which contained shinu (死ぬ, "to die") and inu (往ぬ, "to go"/"to die"), the ra-group, which included such verbs as ari (あり), the equivalent of modern aru, as well as quite a number of extremely irregular verbs that cannot be classified.
The following table illustrates the stem forms of the above conjugation groups, with the root indicated with dots. For example, to find the hypothetical form of the group 1 verb kaku (書く), look in the second row to find its root, kak-, then in the hypothetical row to get the ending -e, giving the stem form kake. When there are multiple possibilities, they are listed in the order of increasing rarity.
| Group | 1 | 1 | 2a | 2b | sa | ka |
| Example | tsuka(w). (使・) | kak. (書・) | mi. (見・) | tabe. (食べ・) | sa | ka |
| Irrealis form$^1$ (未然形, mizenkei) | tsukaw.a (使わ)$^2$tsuka.o (使お) | kak.a (書か)kak.o (書こ) | mi. (見) | tabe. (食べ) | sa (さ)shi (し)se (せ) | ko (来) |
| Continuative form (連用形, ren'yōkei) | tsuka.i (使い) | kak.i (書き) | mi. (見) | tabe. (食べ) | shi (し) | ki (来) |
| Terminal form (終止形, shūshikei) | tsuka.u (使う) | kak.u (書く) | mi.ru (見る) | tabe.ru (食べる) | suru (する) | kuru (来る) |
| Attributive form | Same as terminal form | Same as terminal form | Same as terminal form | Same as terminal form | Same as terminal form | Same as terminal form |
| Hypothetical form (仮定形, kateikei) | tsuka.e (使え) | kak.e (書け) | mi.re (見れ) | tabe.re (食べれ) | sure (すれ) | kure (来れ) |
| Imperative form (命令形, meireikei) | tsuka.e (使え) | kak.e (書け) | mi.ro (見ろ)mi.yo (見よ) | tabe.ro (食べろ)tabe.yo (食べよ) | shiro (しろ)seyo (せよ)sei (せい) | koi (来い) |
* The -a and -o irrealis forms for Group 1 verbs were historically one, but since the post-WWII spelling reforms they have been written differently. In modern Japanese the -o form is used only for the volitional mood and the -a form is used in all other cases; see also the conjugation table below.
* The unexpected ending is due to the verb's root being tsukaw- but w- only being pronounced before -a in modern Japanese.
The above are only the stem forms of the verbs; to these one must add various verb endings in order to get the fully conjugated verb. The following table lists the most common conjugations. Note that in some cases the form is different depending on the conjugation group of the verb. See Japanese verb conjugations for a full list.
| | formation rule | group 1 | group 2a | group 2b | sa-group | ka-group |
| | formation rule | kaku (書く) | miru (見る) | taberu (食べる) | suru (する) | kuru (来る) |
| politeimperfective | cont. + masu (ます) | kaki.masu (書き・ます) | mi.masu (見・ます) | tabe.masu (食べ・ます) | shi.masu (し・ます) | ki.masu (来・ます) |
| plainperfective | cont. + ta (た) | kai.ta (書い・た)$^2$ | mi.ta (見・た) | tabe.ta (食べ・た) | shi.ta (し・た) | ki.ta (来・た) |
| plainnegativeimperfective | irrealis + nai (ない) | kaka.nai (書か・ない) | mi.nai (見・ない) | tabe.nai (食べ・ない) | shi.nai (し・ない) | ko.nai (来・ない) |
| plainnegativeperfective | irrealis + nakatta (なかった) | kaka.nakatta (書か・なかった) | mi.nakatta (見・なかった) | tabe.nakatta (食べ・なかった) | shi.nakatta (し・なかった) | ko.nakatta (来・なかった) |
| -te form (gerundive) | cont. + -te (て) | kai.te (書いて)$^2$ | mi.te (見て) | tabe.te (食べて) | shi.te (して) | ki.te (来て) |
| provisionalconditional | hyp. + ba (ば) | kake.ba (書け・ば) | mire.ba (見れ・ば) | tabere.ba (食べれ・ば) | sure.ba (すれ・ば) | kure.ba (来れ・ば) |
| pastconditional | cont. + tara (たら) | kai.tara (書いたら)$^2$ | mi.tara (見たら) | tabe.tara (食べたら) | shi.tara (したら) | ki.tara (来たら) |
| volitional | irrealis + u (う) | kako.u (書こ・う) | | | | |
| volitional | irrealis + yō (よう) | | mi.yō (見・よう) | tabe.yō (食べ・よう) | shi.yō (し・よう) | ko.yō (来・よう) |
| passive | irrealis + reru (れる) | kaka.reru (書か・れる) | | | sa.reru (さ・れる) | |
| passive | irrealis + rareru (られる) | | mi.rareru (見・られる) | tabe.rareru (食べ・られる) | | ko.rareru (来・られる) |
| causative | irrealis + seru (せる) | kaka.seru (書か・せる) | | | sa.seru (さ・せる) | |
| causative | irrealis + saseru (させる) | | mi.saseru (見・させる) | tabe.saseru (食べ・させる) | | ko.saseru (来・させる) |
| potential | hyp. + ru (る) | kake.ru (書け・る) | | | dekiru (出来る)$^1$ | |
| potential | irrealis + rareru (られる) | | mi.rareru (見・られる) | tabe.rareru (食べ・られる) | | ko.rareru (来・られる) |
* This is an entirely different verb; suru (する) has no potential form.
* These forms change depending on the final syllable of the verb's dictionary form (whether u, ku, gu, su, etc.). For details, see Euphonic changes, below, and the article Japanese verb conjugation.
The polite ending -masu conjugates as a group 1 verb, except that the negative imperfective and perfective forms are -masen and -masen deshita respectively, and certain conjugations are in practice rarely if ever used. The passive and potential endings -reru and -rareru, and the causative endings -seru and -saseru all conjugate as group 2b verbs. Multiple verbal endings can therefore agglutinate. For example, a common formation is the causative-passive ending: -sase-rareru.
僕
Boku
は
wa
姉
ane
に
ni
納豆
nattō
を
o
食べさせられた。
tabesaserareta.
僕 は 姉 に 納豆 を 食べさせられた。
Boku wa ane ni nattō o tabesaserareta.
I was made to eat nattō by my (elder) sister.
As should be expected, the vast majority of theoretically possible combinations of conjugative endings are not semantically meaningful.

#### Transitive and intransitive verbs

Japanese has a large variety of related pairs of transitive verbs (that take a direct object) and intransitive verbs (that do not usually take a direct object), such as the transitive hajimeru (始める, someone or something begins an activity), and the intransitive hajimaru (始まる, an activity begins).
| transitive verb | intransitive verb |
| One thing acts out the transitive verb on another Usually uses o (を) to link to the direct object | The intransitive verb passively happens without direct intervention. Usually uses ga (が) or wa (は) to link subject and verb. |
| 先生Senseiがga授業jugyōをo始める。hajimeru.先生 が 授業 を 始める。Sensei ga jugyō o hajimeru.The teacher starts the class. | 授業Jugyōがga始まる。hajimaru.授業 が 始まる。Jugyō ga hajimaru.The class starts. |
| 車Kurumaにni何naniかkaをo入れるireru車 に 何 か を 入れるKuruma ni nani ka o ireruTo put something in the car | 車Kurumaにni入るhairu車 に 入るKuruma ni hairuTo enter the car |
| dasu (出す, 'to take/put out') | deru (出る, 'to exit') |
| kesu (消す, 'to extinguish') | kieru (消える, 'to go out') |
| akeru (開ける, 'to open [something]') | aku (開く, 'to open'/'to be open') |
| tsukeru (付ける, 'to attach [something]') | tsuku (付く, 'to attach'/'to be attached') |
| shimeru (閉める, 'to close [something]') | shimaru (閉まる, 'to close'/'to be closed') |
| mitsukeru (見つける, 'to find') | mitsukaru (見つかる, 'to be found') |
| nuku (抜く, 'to extract') | nukeru (抜ける, 'to come out') |
| okosu (起こす, 'to wake [someone] up') | okiru (起きる, 'to wake up') |
| umu (生む, 'to give birth') | umareru (生まれる, 'to be born') |
Note: Some intransitive verbs (usually verbs of motion) take what looks like a direct object, but is not. For example, hanareru (離れる, to leave):
私
Watashi
は
wa
東京
Tōkyō
を
o
離れる。
hanareru.
私 は 東京 を 離れる。
Watashi wa Tōkyō o hanareru.
I leave Tokyo.

### Adjectival verbs and nouns

Semantically speaking, words that denote attributes or properties are primarily distributed between two morphological classes (there are also a few other classes):
* adjectival verbs (形容詞, keiyōshi, conventionally called "i-adjectives")– these have roots and conjugating stem forms, and are semantically and morphologically similar to stative verbs.
* adjectival nouns (形容動詞, keiyōdōshi, lit. "adjectival verb", conventionally called "na-adjectives")– these are nouns that combine with the copula.
Unlike adjectives in languages like English, i-adjectives in Japanese inflect for aspect and mood, like verbs. Japanese adjectives do not have comparative or superlative inflections; comparatives and superlatives have to be marked periphrastically using adverbs like motto ('more') and ichiban ('most').
Every adjective in Japanese can be used in an attributive position, and nearly every Japanese adjective can be used in a predicative position. There are a few Japanese adjectives that cannot predicate, known as rentaishi (連体詞, attributives), which are derived from other word classes; examples include ōkina (大きな, "big"), chiisana (小さな, "small"), and okashina (おかしな, "strange") which are all stylistic na-type variants of normal i-type adjectives.
All i-adjectives except for ii (いい, good) have regular conjugations, and ii is irregular only in the fact that it is a changed form of the regular adjective yoi (良い) permissible in the terminal and attributive forms. For all other forms it reverts to yoi.
Stem forms for adjectives :
| | i-adjectives | na-adjectives |
| | yasu. (安・い) | shizuka- (静か-) |
| Irrealis form (未然形, mizenkei) | .karo (安かろ) | -daro (静かだろ) |
| Continuative form (連用形, ren'yōkei) | .ku (安く) | -de (静かで) |
| Terminal form¹ (終止形, shūshikei) | .i (安い) | -da (静かだ) |
| Attributive form¹ (連体形, rentaikei) | .i (安い) | -na (静かな)/-naru (静かなる) |
| Hypothetical form (仮定形, kateikei) | .kere (安けれ) | -nara (静かなら) |
| Imperative form² (命令形, meireikei) | .kare (安かれ) | -nare (静かなれ) |
* The attributive and terminal forms were formerly .ki (安き) and .shi (安し), respectively; in modern Japanese these are used productively for stylistic reasons only, although many set phrases such as nanashi (名無し, anonymous) and yoshi (よし, [general positive interjection], sometimes written yosh), derive from them.
* The imperative form is extremely rare in modern Japanese, restricted to set patterns like osokare hayakare (遅かれ早かれ, 'sooner or later'), where they are treated as adverbial phrases. It is impossible for an imperative form to be in a predicate position.
Common conjugations of adjectives are enumerated below. ii is not treated separately, because all conjugation forms are identical to those of yoi.
| | i-adjectivesyasui (安い, "cheap") | i-adjectivesyasui (安い, "cheap") | na-adjectivesshizuka (静か, "quiet") | na-adjectivesshizuka (静か, "quiet") |
| informal nonpast | root + -i(Used alone, without the copula) | yasui (安い, "is cheap") | root + copula da | shizuka da (静かだ, "is quiet") |
| informal past | cont. + atta (あった)(u + a collapse) | yasuk.atta (安かった, "was cheap") | cont. + atta (あった)(e + a collapse) | shizuka d.atta (静かだった, "was quiet") |
| informal negative nonpast | cont. + (wa) nai ((は)ない)¹ | yasuku(wa)nai (安く(は)ない, "isn't cheap") | cont. + (wa) nai ((は)ない) | shizuka de (wa) nai (静かで(は)ない, "isn't quiet") |
| informal negative past | cont. + (wa) nakatta ((は)なかった)¹ | yasuku(wa)nakatta (安く(は)なかった, "wasn't cheap") | cont. + (wa) nakatta ((は)なかった) | shizuka de (wa) nakatta (静かで(は)なかった, "wasn't quiet") |
| polite nonpast | root + -i + copula desu (です) | yasui desu (安いです, "is cheap") | root + copula desu (です) | shizuka desu (静かです, "is quiet") |
| polite negative nonpast | arimasen (ありません)¹ | yasuku arimasen (安くありません) | inf. cont + (wa) arimasen ((は)ありません) | shizuka de wa arimasen (静かではありません) |
| polite negative nonpast | inf. neg. non-past + copula desu (です)¹ | yasukunai desu (安くないです) | inf. cont + (wa) nai desu ((は)ないです) | shizuka de wa nai desu (静かではないです) |
| polite negative past | inf. cont + arimasen　deshita (ありませんでした) | yasuku arimasen deshita (安くありませんでした) | inf. cont + (wa) arimasen deshita ((は)ありませんでした) | shizuka de wa arimasen deshita (静かではありませんでした) |
| polite negative past | inf. neg. past + copula desu (です)¹ | yasukunakatta desu (安くなかったです) | inf. neg. past + nakatta desu (なかったです)¹ | shizuka de wa nakatta desu (静かではなかったです) |
| -te form | cont. + te (て) | yasuku.te (安くて) | cont. | shizuka de (静かで) |
| provisional conditional | hyp. + ba (ば) | yasukere.ba (安ければ) | hyp. (+ ba (ば)) | shizuka nara(ba) (静かなら(ば)) |
| past conditional | inf. past + ra (ら) | yasukatta.ra (安かったら) | inf. past + ra (ら) | shizuka datta.ra (静かだったら) |
| volitional² | irrealis + u (う) /root + darō (だろう) | yasukarō (安かろう) / yasuidarō (安いだろう) | irrealis + u (う)= root + darō (だろう) | shizuka darō (静かだろう) |
| adverbial | cont. | yasuku. (安く) | root + ni (に) | shizuka ni (静かに) |
| degree (-ness) | root + sa (さ) | yasu-sa (安さ) | root + sa (さ) | shizuka-sa (静かさ) |
* Note that these are just forms of the i-type adjective nai (ない)
* Since most adjectives describe non-volitional conditions, the volitional form is interpreted as "it is possible", if sensible. In some rare cases it is semi-volitional: yokarō (良かろう, 'OK', lit: "let it be good") in response to a report or request.
Adjectives too are governed by euphonic rules in certain cases, as noted in the section on it below. For the polite negatives of na-type adjectives, see also the section below on the copula da (だ).

### Copula (だ da)

The copula da behaves very much like a verb or an adjective in terms of conjugation.
Stem forms of the copula :
| Irrealis form (未然形, mizenkei) | de wa (では) |
| Continuative form (連用形, ren'yōkei) | de (で) |
| Terminal form (終止形, shūshikei) | da (だ, informal)desu (です, polite)de gozaimasu (でございます, respectful) |
| Attributive form (連体形, rentaikei) | de aru (である) |
| Hypothetical form (仮定形, kateikei) | nara (なら) |
| Imperative form (命令形, meireikei) | deare (であれ) |
Note that there are no potential, causative, or passive forms of the copula, just as with adjectives.
The following are some examples.
   ジョンは学生だ。
   JON wa gakusei da
   "John is a student."
   明日も晴れなら、ピクニックしよう。
   Ashita mo hare nara, PIKUNIKKU shiyō
   "If tomorrow is clear too, let's have a picnic."
In continuative conjugations, de wa (では) is often contracted in speech to ja (じゃ); for some kinds of informal speech ja is preferable to de wa, or is the only possibility.
Conjugations of the copula :
| nonpast | informal | da (だ) |
| nonpast | polite | desu (です) |
| nonpast | respectful | de gozaimasu (でございます) |
| past | informal | cont. + atta (あった)datta (だった) |
| past | polite | deshita (でした) |
| past | respectful | de gozaimashita (でございました) |
| negative nonpast | informal | cont. + wa nai (はない) | ja nai (じゃない) |
| negative nonpast | polite | cont. + wa arimasen (はありません) | (じゃありません, ja arimasen) |
| negative nonpast | respectful | cont. + wa gozaimasen (はございません) | (じゃございません, ja gozaimasen) |
| negative past | informal | cont. + wa nakatta (はなかった) | ja nakatta (じゃなかった) |
| negative past | polite | cont. + wa arimasen deshita (はありませんでした) | ja arimasen deshita (じゃありませんでした) |
| negative past | respectful | cont. + wa gozaimasen deshita (はございませんでした) | ja gozaimasen deshita (じゃございませんでした) |
| conditional | informal | hyp. + ba (ば) |
| conditional | polite | cont. + areba (あれば) |
| conditional | respectful | cont. + areba (あれば) |
| provisional | informal | nara (なら) |
| provisional | polite | same as conditional |
| provisional | respectful | same as conditional |
| volitional | informal | darō (だろう) |
| volitional | polite | deshō (でしょう) |
| volitional | respectful | de gozaimashō (でございましょう) |
| adverbial and -te forms | informal | cont. |
| adverbial and -te forms | polite | cont. + arimashite (ありまして) |
| adverbial and -te forms | respectful | cont. + gozaimashite (ございまして) |

### Euphonic changes (音便, onbin)
#### Historical sound change

Spelling changes :
| Archaic | Modern |
| a + u (あ＋う)a + fu (あ＋ふ) | ō (おう) |
| i + u (い＋う)i + fu (い＋ふ) | yū (ゆう)$^1$ |
| u + fu (う＋ふ) | ū (うう) |
| e + u (え＋う)e + fu (え＋ふ) | yō (よう) |
| o + fu (お＋ふ) | ō (おう) |
| o + ho (お＋ほ)o + wo (お＋を) | ō (おお) |
| auxiliary verb mu (む) | n (ん) |
| medial or final ha (は) | wa (わ) |
| medial or final hi (ひ), he (へ), ho (ほ) | i (い), e (え), o (お)(via wi, we, wo, see below) |
| any wi (ゐ), we (ゑ), wo (を) | i (い), e (え), o (お)$^1$ |
* Usually not reflected in spelling
Modern pronunciation is a result of a long history of phonemic drift that can be traced back to written records of the 13th century, and possibly earlier. However, it was only in 1946 that the Japanese ministry of education modified existing kana usage to conform to the standard dialect (共通語, kyōtsūgo). All earlier texts used the archaic orthography, now referred to as historical kana usage. The adjoining table is a nearly exhaustive list of these spelling changes.
Note that the palatalized morae ゆ and よ (yu and yo) combine with the initial consonant (if present) yielding a palatalized syllable. The most basic example of this is modern kyō (今日（きょう）, today), which historically developed as kefu (けふ) → kyō (きょう), via the efu (えふ) → yō (よう) rule.
A few sound changes are not reflected in the spelling. Firstly, ou merged with oo, both being pronounced as a long ō. Secondly, the particles は and を are still written using historical kana usage, though these are pronounced as wa and o respectively, rather than ha and wo.
Among Japanese speakers, it is not generally understood that the historical kana spellings were, at one point, reflective of pronunciation. For example, the modern on'yomi reading yō (よう) (for leaf (葉, yō)) arose from the historical efu (えふ). The latter was pronounced something like [ʲepu] by the Japanese at the time it was borrowed (compare Middle Chinese [jiɛp̚]). However, a modern reader of a classical text would still read this as, the modern pronunciation.

#### Verb conjugations

Conjugations of some verbs and adjectives differ from the prescribed formation rules because of euphonic changes. Nearly all of these euphonic changes are themselves regular. For verbs the exceptions are all in the ending of the continuative form of group when the following auxiliary starts with a t-sound (i.e. -ta (-た), -te (-て), -tari (-たり), etc.).
| Continuative ending | Changes to | Example |
| i (い), chi (ち) or ri (り) | っ (double consonant, sokuon, sokuonbin) | *kaite (＊買いて) → katte (買って)*uchite (＊打ちて) → utte (打って)*shirite (＊知りて) → shitte (知って) |
| bi (び), mi (み) or ni (に) | syllabic n (ん) (hatsuon, hatsuonbin), with the following t (タ) sound voiced | *asobite (＊遊びて) → asonde (遊んで)*sumite (＊住みて) → sunde (住んで)*shinite (＊死にて) → shinde (死んで) |
| ki (き) | i (い) (i-onbin) | *kakite (＊書きて) → kaite (書いて) |
| gi (ぎ) | i (い), with the following t (タ) sound voiced | *oyogite (＊泳ぎて) → oyoide (泳いで) |
* denotes impossible/ungrammatical form.
There is one other irregular change: iku (行く, to go), for which there is an exceptional continuative form: iki (行き) + te (て) → itte (行って), iki (行き) + ta (た) → itta (行った), etc.
There are dialectical differences, which are also regular and generally occur in similar situations. For example, in Kansai dialect the -i + t- conjugations are instead changed to -ut- (u-onbin), as in omōta (思うた) instead of omotta (思った), as perfective of omou (思う, think). In this example, this can combine with the preceding vowel via historical sound changes, as in shimōta (しもうた) (au → ō) instead of standard shimatta (しまった).

#### Polite forms of adjectives

The continuative form of proper adjectives, when followed by polite forms such as gozaru (ござる/御座る, be) or zonjiru (存じる, know, think), undergoes a transformation; this may be followed by historical sound changes, yielding a one-step or two-step sound change. Note that these verbs are almost invariably conjugated to polite -masu (〜ます) form, as gozaimasu (ございます) and zonjimasu (存じます) (note the irregular conjugation of gozaru, discussed below), and that these verbs are preceded by the continuative form – -ku (〜く) – of adjectives, rather than the terminal form – -i (〜い) – which is used before the more everyday desu (です, be).
The rule is -ku (〜く) → -u (〜う) (dropping the -k-), possibly also combining with the previous syllable according to the spelling reform chart, which may also undergo palatalization in the case of yu, yo (ゆ、よ).
Historically there were two classes of proper Old Japanese adjectives, -ku (〜く) and -shiku (〜しく) ("-ku adjective" means "not preceded by shi"). This distinction collapsed during the evolution of Late Middle Japanese adjectives, and both are now considered -i (〜い) adjectives. The sound change for -shii adjectives follows the same rule as for other -ii adjectives, notably that the preceding vowel also changes and the preceding mora undergoes palatalization, yielding -shiku (〜しく) → -shū (〜しゅう), though historically this was considered a separate but parallel rule.
| Continuative ending | Changes to | Example |
| -aku (〜あく) | -ō (〜おう) | *ohayaku gozaimasu (＊おはやくございます) →ohayō gozaimasu (おはようございます) |
| -iku (〜いく) | -yū (〜ゆう) | *ōkiku gozaimasu (＊大きくございます) →ōkyū gozaimasu (大きゅうございます) |
| -uku (〜うく) | -ū (〜うう) | *samuku gozaimasu (＊寒くございます) →samū gozaimasu (寒うございます) |
| *-eku (＊〜えく) | *-yō (＊〜よう) | (not present) |
| -oku (〜おく) | -ō (〜おう) | *omoshiroku gozaimasu (＊面白くございます) →omoshirō gozaimasu (面白うございます) |
| -shiku (〜しく) | -shū (〜しゅう) | *suzushiku gozaimasu (＊涼しくございます) →suzushū gozaimasu (涼しゅうございます) |

#### Respectful verbs

Respectful verbs such as kudasaru (くださる, 'to get'), nasaru (なさる, 'to do'), gozaru (ござる, 'to be'), irassharu (いらっしゃる, 'to be/come/go'), ossharu (おっしゃる, 'to say'), etc. behave like group 1 verbs, except in the continuative and imperative forms.
| | Change | Example |
| continuative | -ri (〜り) changed to -i (〜い) | *gozarimasu (＊ござります) → gozaimasu (ございます)*irassharimase (＊いらっしゃりませ) → irasshaimase (いらっしゃいませ) |
| imperative | -re (〜れ) changed to -i (〜い) | *kudasare (＊くだされ) → kudasai (ください)*nasare (＊なされ) → nasai (なさい) |

#### Colloquial contractions

In speech, common combinations of conjugation and auxiliary verbs are contracted in a fairly regular manner.
Colloquial contractions :
| Full form | Colloquial | Example |
| -te shimau (〜てしまう) | -chau/-chimau (〜ちゃう/-ちまう)group 1 | 負けてmaketeしまうshimau→ 負けちゃうmakechau//負けちまうmakechimau負けて しまう → 負けちゃう / 負けちまうmakete shimau makechau / makechimau'lose' |
| -de shimau (〜でしまう) | -jau/-jimau (〜じゃう/〜じまう)group 1 | 死んでshindeしまうshimau→ 死んじゃうshinjau//死んじまうshinjimau死んで しまう → 死んじゃう / 死んじまうshinde shimau shinjau / shinjimau'die' |
| -te wa (〜ては) | -cha (〜ちゃ) | 食べてtabeteはwaいけないikenai→ 食べちゃtabechaいけないikenai食べて は いけない → 食べちゃ いけないtabete wa ikenai tabecha ikenai'must not eat' |
| -de wa (〜では) | -ja (〜じゃ) | 飲んでnondeはwaいけないikenai→ 飲んじゃnonjaいけないikenai飲んで は いけない → 飲んじゃ いけないnonde wa ikenai nonja ikenai'must not drink' |
| -te iru (〜ている) | -teru (〜てる)group 2b | 寝てneteいるiru→ 寝てるneteru寝て いる → 寝てるnete iru neteru'is sleeping' |
| -te oku (〜ておく) | -toku (〜とく)group 1 | してshiteおくoku→ しとくshitokuして おく → しとくshite oku shitoku'will do it so' |
| -te iku (〜て行く) | -teku (〜てく)group 1 | 出てdete行けike→ 出てけdeteke出て 行け → 出てけdete ike deteke'get out!' |
| -te ageru (〜てあげる) | -tageru (〜たげる)group 2a | 買ってkatteあげるageru→ 買ったげるkattageru買って あげる → 買ったげるkatte ageru kattageru'buy something (for someone)' |
| -ru no (〜るの) | -nno (〜んの) | 何naniしてshiteいるiruのno→ 何naniしてんのshitenno何 して いる の → 何 してんのnani shite iru no nani shitenno'what are you doing?' |
| -rinasai (〜りなさい) | -nnasai (〜んなさい) | やりなさいyarinasai→ やんなさいyannasaiやりなさい → やんなさいyarinasai yannasai'do it!' |
| -runa (〜るな) | -nna (〜んな) | やるなyaruna→ やんなyannaやるな → やんなyaruna yanna'don't do it!' |
| -re wa or -reba (〜れは or 〜れば) | -rya (〜りゃ) | どうdouすればsurebaいいiiのnoだろうdarou→ どうdouすりゃ(あ）suryaいいんiinだろうdarouどう すれば いい の だろう → どう すりゃ(あ） いいん だろうdou sureba ii no darou dou surya iin darou'what should I do?' |
There are occasional others, such as -aranai → -annai as in wakaranai (分からない, don't understand) → wakannai (分かんない) and tsumaranai (つまらない, boring) → tsumannai (つまんない) – these are considered quite casual and are more common among the younger generation.
Contractions differ by dialect, but behave similarly to the standard ones given above. For example, in the Kansai dialect, -te shimau (〜てしまう) → -temau (〜てまう).

## Other independent words
### Adverbs

Adverbs in Japanese are not as tightly integrated into the morphology as in many other languages; adverbs are not an independent class of words, but the role of an adverb is played by other words. For example, every adjective in the continuative form can be used as an adverb; thus, yowai (弱い, 'weak' [adj]) → yowaku (弱く, 'weakly' [adv]). The primary distinguishing characteristic of adverbs is that they cannot occur in a predicate position, just as it is in English. The following classification of adverbs is not intended to be authoritative or exhaustive.

#### Verbal adverbs

    verbs in the continuative form with the particle ni. E.g. miru (見る, 'to see') → mi ni (見に, 'for the purpose of seeing'), used for instance as: mi ni iku (見に行く, 'go to see (something)').

#### Adjectival adverbs

    adjectives in the continuative form, as mentioned above. Example: yowai (弱い, 'weak' [adj]) → yowaku (弱く, 'weakly' [adv])

#### Nominal adverbs

    grammatical nouns that function as adverbs. Example: ichiban (一番, 'most highly').

#### Sound symbolism

    words that mimic sounds or concepts. Examples: kirakira (きらきら, 'sparklingly'), pokkuri (ぽっくり, 'suddenly'), surusuru (するする, 'smoothly' (sliding)), etc.
Often, especially for sound symbolism, the particle to (と, 'as if') is used. See the article on Japanese sound symbolism.

### Conjunctions and interjections

Although called "conjunctions", conjunctions in Japanese are – as their English translations show – actually a kind of adverb:
Examples of conjunctions: soshite (そして, 'and then'), mata (また, 'and then/again'), etc.
Interjections in Japanese differ little in use and translation from interjections in English:
Examples of interjections: hai (はい, yes/OK/uh), hē (へえ, wow!), iie (いいえ, no/no way), oi (おい, hey!), etc.

## Ancillary words
### Particles

Particles in Japanese are postpositional, as they immediately follow the modified component. Both the pronunciation and spelling differs for the particles wa (は), e (へ) and o (を), and are romanized according to pronunciation rather than spelling. Only a few prominent particles are listed here.

#### Topic, theme, and subject: は wa and が ga

The complex distinction between the so-called topic, wa (は), and subject, ga (が), particles has been the theme of many doctoral dissertations and scholarly disputes. The clause zō-wa hana-ga nagai (象は鼻が長い) is well known for appearing to contain two subjects. It does not simply mean "the elephant's nose is long", as that can be translated as zō-no hana-wa nagai (象の鼻は長い). Rather, a more literal translation would be "(speaking of) the elephant, its nose is long"; furthermore, as Japanese does not distinguish between singular and plural the way English does, it could also mean "as for elephants, their noses are long".
Two major scholarly surveys of Japanese linguistics in English, clarify the distinction. To simplify matters, the referents of wa and ga in this section are called the topic and subject respectively, with the understanding that if either is absent, the grammatical topic and subject may coincide.
As an abstract and rough approximation, the difference between wa and ga is a matter of focus: wa gives focus to the action of the sentence, i.e., to the verb or adjective, whereas ga gives focus to the subject of the action. However, when first being introduced to the topic and subject markers wa and ga, most are told that the difference between the two is simpler. The topic marker, wa, is used to declare or to make a statement. The subject marker, ga, is used for new information, or asking for new information.

##### Thematic wa

The use of wa to introduce a new theme of discourse is directly linked to the notion of grammatical theme. Opinions differ on the structure of discourse theme, though it seems fairly uncontroversial to imagine a first-in-first-out hierarchy of themes that is threaded through the discourse. However, the usage of this understanding of themes can be limiting when speaking of their scope and depth, and the introduction of later themes may cause earlier themes to expire. In these sorts of sentences, the steadfast translation into English uses constructs like "speaking of X" or "on the topic of X", though such translations tend to be bulky as they fail to use the thematic mechanisms of English. For lack of a comprehensive strategy, many teachers of Japanese emphasize the "speaking of X" pattern without sufficient warning.
ジョン
JON
は
wa
学生
gakusei
です。
desu
ジョン は 学生 です。
JON wa gakusei desu
(On the topic of) John, (he) is a student.
A common linguistic joke shows the insufficiency of rote translation with the sentence boku wa unagi da (僕はウナギだ), which per the pattern would translate as "I am an eel." (or "(As of) me is eel"). Yet, in a restaurant this sentence can reasonably be used to say "My order is eel" (or "I would like to order an eel"), with no intended humour. This is because the sentence should be literally read, "As for me, it is an eel," with "it" referring to the speaker's order. The topic of the sentence is clearly not its subject.

##### Contrastive wa

Related to the role of wa in introducing themes is its use in contrasting the current topic and its aspects from other possible topics and their aspects. The suggestive pattern is "X, but…" or "as for X, …".
雨
ame
は
wa
降って
futte
います
imasu
が…
ga…
雨 は 降って います が…
ame wa futte imasu ga…
The rain is falling, but…
Because of its contrastive nature, the topic cannot be undefined.
＊誰か
*dareka
は
wa
本
hon
を
o
読んで
yonde
いる。
iru
＊誰か は 本 を 読んで いる。
*dareka wa hon o yonde iru
*Someone is reading the book.
In this use, ga is required.
In practice, the distinction between thematic and contrastive wa is not that useful. There can be at most one thematic wa in a sentence, and it has to be the first wa if one exists, and the remaining was are contrastive. The following sentence illustrates the difference;
僕
boku
が
ga
知って
shitte
いる
iru
人
hito
は
wa
誰も
daremo
来なかった。
konakatta
僕 が 知って いる 人 は 誰も 来なかった。
boku ga shitte iru hito wa daremo konakatta
(1) Of all the people I know, none came. (2) (People came but), there weren't any of the people I know.
The first interpretation is the thematic wa, treating "the people I know" (boku ga shitte iru hito) as the theme of the predicate "none came" (dare mo konakatta). That is, if the speaker knows A, B, ..., Z, then none of the people who came were A, B, ..., Z. The second interpretation is the contrastive wa. If the likely attendees were A, B, ..., Z, and of them the speaker knows P, Q and R, then the sentence says that P, Q and R did not come. The sentence says nothing about A', B', ..., Z', all of whom the speaker knows, but none of whom were likely to come. In practice, the first interpretation is the likely one.

##### Exhaustive ga

Unlike wa, the subject particle ga nominates its referent as the sole satisfier of the predicate. This distinction is famously illustrated by the following pair of sentences:
ジョンさん
Jon-san
は
wa
学生
gakusei
です。
desu
ジョンさん は 学生 です。
Jon-san wa gakusei desu
John is a student. (There may be other students among the people we're talking about.)
(この
(Kono
グループ
gurūpu
の
no
中
naka
で)
de)
ジョン
Jon
が
ga
学生
gakusei
です。
desu
(この グループ の 中 で) ジョン が 学生 です。
(Kono gurūpu no naka de) Jon ga gakusei desu
(Of all the people we are talking about) it is John who is the student.
The distinction between each example sentence may be made easier to understand if thought of in terms of the question each statement could answer. The first example sentence could answer the question:
ジョンさん
Jon-san
の
no
仕事
shigoto
は
wa
何
nan
です
desu
か。
ka
ジョンさん の 仕事 は 何 です か。
Jon-san no shigoto wa nan desu ka
What is John's occupation?
Whereas the second example sentence could answer the question:
どちら
Dochira
の
no
方
kata
が
ga
学生
gakusei
です
desu
か。
ka
どちら の 方 が 学生 です か。
Dochira no kata ga gakusei desu ka
Which one (of them) is the student?
Similarly, in a restaurant, if asked by the waitstaff who has ordered the eels, the customer who ordered it could say:
僕
Boku
が
ga
ウナギ
unagi
だ。
da
僕 が ウナギ だ。
Boku ga unagi da
The eels are for me (not these other people).

##### Objective ga

For certain verbs, ga is typically used instead of o to mark what would be the direct object in English:
ジョンさん
Jon-san
は
wa
フランス語
furansu-go
が
ga
出来る。
dekiru
ジョンさん は フランス語 が 出来る。
Jon-san wa furansu-go ga dekiru
John knows French.
There are various common expressions that use verbs in English, often transitive verbs, where the action happens to a specific object: "to be able to do something", "to want something", "to like something", "to dislike something". These same ideas are expressed in Japanese using adjectives and intransitive verbs that describe a subject, instead of actions that happen to an object: "to be possible" (出来る, dekiru), "to be desired/desirable" (ほしい, hoshii), "to be liked" (好きだ, suki da), "to be disliked" (嫌いだ, kirai da). The equivalent of the English subject is instead the topic in Japanese and thus marked by wa, reflecting the topic-prominent nature of Japanese grammar.
Since these constructions in English describe an object, whereas the Japanese equivalents describe a subject marked with ga (が), some sources call this usage of ga (が) the "objective ga". Strictly speaking, this label may be misleading, as there is no object in the Japanese constructions.
As an example, the Japanese verb wakaru (分かる) is often glossed as transitive English verb "to understand". However, wakaru is an intransitive verb that describes a subject, so a more literal gloss would be "to be understandable".
ジョンさん
Jon-san
は
wa
日本語
nihongo
が
ga
分かる。
wakaru.
ジョンさん は 日本語 が 分かる。
Jon-san wa nihongo ga wakaru.
* John understands Japanese. → translating into idiomatic English, using the transitive verb "to understand" * As for John, Japanese is understandable. → translating more closely to the Japanese, with "Japanese" as the subject of an intransitive descriptive verb

#### Objects, locatives, instrumentals: を o, で de, に ni, へ e

The direct object of transitive verbs is indicated by the object particle o (を).
ジョンさん
Jon-san
は
wa
青い
aoi
セーター
sētā
を
o
着て
kite
いる。
iru
ジョンさん は 青い セーター を 着て いる。
Jon-san wa aoi sētā o kite iru
John is wearing a blue sweater.
This particle can also mean "through" or "along" or "out of" when used with motion verbs:
メアリ
MEARI
が
ga
細い
hosoi
道
michi
を
o
歩いて
aruite
いた。
ita
メアリ が 細い 道 を 歩いて いた。
MEARI ga hosoi michi o aruite ita
Mary was walking along a narrow road.
国境
kokkyō
の
no
長い
nagai
トンネル
TONNERU
を
o
抜ける
nukeru
と
to
雪国
yukiguni
で
de
あった。
atta
国境 の 長い トンネル を 抜ける と 雪国 で あった。
kokkyō no nagai TONNERU o nukeru to yukiguni de atta
(The train) came out of the long border tunnel into the snow country.
The general instrumental particle is de (で), which can be translated as "using" or "by":
肉
niku
は
wa
ナイフ
NAIFU
で
de
切る
kiru
こと。
koto
肉 は ナイフ で 切る こと。
niku wa NAIFU de kiru koto
Meat must be cut with a knife.
電車
densha
で
de
行きましょう。
ikimashō
電車 で 行きましょう。
densha de ikimashō
Let's go by train.
This particle also has other uses: "at" (temporary location):
町角
machikado
で
de
先生
sensei
に
ni
会った。
atta
町角 で 先生 に 会った。
machikado de sensei ni atta
(I) met my teacher at the street corner.
"In":
海
umi
で
de
泳ぐ
oyogu
の
no
は
wa
難しい。
muzukashii
海 で 泳ぐ の は 難しい。
umi de oyogu no wa muzukashii
Swimming in the sea is hard.
"With" or "in (the span of)":
劇
geki
は
wa
主人公
shujinkō
の
no
死
shi
で
de
終る。
owaru
劇 は 主人公 の 死 で 終る。
geki wa shujinkō no shi de owaru
The play ends with the protagonist's death.
俺
ore
は
wa
二秒
nibyō
で
de
勝つ。
katsu
俺 は 二秒 で 勝つ。
ore wa nibyō de katsu
I'll win in two seconds.
The general locative particle is ni (に).
東京
Tōkyō
に
ni
行きましょう。
ikimashō
東京 に 行きましょう。
Tōkyō ni ikimashō
Let's go to Tokyo.
In this function it is interchangeable with e (へ). However, ni has additional uses: "at (prolonged)":
私
watashi
は
wa
大手町
Ōtemachi
一丁目
itchōme
99
99
番地
banchi
に
ni
住んで
sunde
います。
imasu
私 は 大手町 一丁目 99 番地 に 住んで います。
watashi wa Ōtemachi itchōme 99 banchi ni sunde imasu
I live at Ōtemachi ichōme 99 banchi.
"On":
氷
kōri
は
wa
水
mizu
に
ni
浮く。
uku
氷 は 水 に 浮く。
kōri wa mizu ni uku
Ice floats on water.
"In (some year)", "at (some point in time)":
春
haru
の
no
夕暮れ
yūgure
に……
ni…
春 の 夕暮れ に……
haru no yūgure ni…
On a spring eve…

#### Quantity and extents: と to, も mo, か ka, や ya, から kara, まで made

To conjoin nouns, と to is used.
かばん
Kaban
に
ni
は、
wa
教科書
kyōkasho
三冊
san-satsu
と
to
漫画本
manga-bon
五冊
go-satsu
を
o
入れて
irete
います。
imasu
かばん に は、 教科書 三冊 と 漫画本 五冊 を 入れて います。
Kaban ni wa kyōkasho san-satsu to manga-bon go-satsu o irete imasu
I have three textbooks and five comic books in the bag.
The additive particle mo (も) can be used to conjoin larger nominals and clauses.
ヨハン
YOHAN
は
wa
ドイツ人
DOITSU-jin
だ。
da.
ブリゲッタ
BURIGETTA
も
mo
ドイツ人
DOITSU-jin
だ。
da
ヨハン は ドイツ人 だ。 ブリゲッタ も ドイツ人 だ。
YOHAN wa DOITSU-jin da. BURIGETTA mo DOITSU-jin da
Johann is a German. Brigitte is a German too.
彼
kare
は
wa
映画
eiga
スター
SUTĀ
で
de
あり、
ari,
政治家
seijika
で
de
も
mo
ある。
aru
彼 は 映画 スター で あり、 政治家 で も ある。
kare wa eiga SUTĀ de ari, seijika de mo aru
He is a movie star and also a politician.
For an incomplete list of conjuncts, ya (や) is used.
ボリス
BORISU
や
ya
イバン
IBAN
を
o
呼べ。
yobe
ボリス や イバン を 呼べ。
BORISU ya IBAN o yobe
Call Boris, Ivan, etc.
When only one of the conjuncts is necessary, the disjunctive particle ka (か) is used.
寿司
sushi
か
ka
刺身
sashimi
か、
ka,
何か
nanika
注文
chūmon
して
shite
ね。
ne
寿司 か 刺身 か、 何か 注文 して ね。
sushi ka sashimi ka, nanika chūmon shite ne
Please order sushi or sashimi or something.
Quantities are listed between 'from' (から, kara) and 'to' (まで, made).
華氏
Kashi
92
92
度
do
から
kara
96
96
度
do
まで
made
の
no
熱
netsu
は
wa
心配
shinpai
する
suru
もの
mono
で
de
は
wa
ない。
nai
華氏 92 度 から 96 度 まで の 熱 は 心配 する もの で は ない。
Kashi 92 do kara 96 do made no netsu wa shinpai suru mono de wa nai
A temperature between 92 Fahrenheit and 96 is not worrisome.
This pair can also be used to indicate time or space.
    朝9時(午前9時)から11時まで授業があるんだ。
    asa ku-ji kara jūichi-ji made jugyō ga aru n da
    You see, I have classes between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Because kara indicates starting point or origin, it has a related use as "because", analogously to English "since" (in the sense of both "from" and "because"):
スミスさん
SUMISU-san
は
wa
とても
totemo
積極的
sekkyokuteki
な
na
人
hito
です
desu
から、
kara,
いつも
itsumo
全部
zenbu
頼まれて
tanomarete
いる
iru
の
no
かもしれません。
kamoshiremasen
スミスさん は とても 積極的 な 人 です から、 いつも 全部 頼まれて いる の かもしれません。
SUMISU-san wa totemo sekkyokuteki na hito desu kara, itsumo zenbu tanomarete iru no kamoshiremasen
Mr. Smith, because you're so assertive, you may always be asked to do everything.
The particle kara and a related particle yori are used to indicate lowest extents: prices, business hours, etc.
私たち
Watashitachi
の
no
店
mise
は
wa
7時
shichi-ji
より
yori
営業
eigyō
して
shite
おります。
orimasu
私たち の 店 は 7時 より 営業 して おります。
Watashitachi no mise wa shichi-ji yori eigyō shite orimasu
Our shop is open for business from 7 onwards.
Yori is also used in the sense of "than".
お前
omae
は
wa
姉ちゃん
nē-chan
より
yori
うるさい
urusai
ん
n
だ!
da
お前 は 姉ちゃん より うるさい ん だ!
omae wa nē-chan yori urusai n da
You are louder/more talkative than my elder sister!

#### Coordinating: と to, に ni, よ yo

The particle to (と) is used to set off quotations.
「殺して…
"koroshite…
殺して」
koroshite"
と
to
あの
ano
子
ko
は
wa
言っていた。
itteita
「殺して… 殺して」 と あの 子 は 言っていた。
"koroshite… koroshite" to ano ko wa itteita
The girl was saying, "Kill me… kill me."
猫
neko
が
ga
ニャー
NYĀ
ニャー
NYĀ
と
to
鳴く。
naku
猫 が ニャー ニャー と 鳴く。
neko ga NYĀ NYĀ to naku
The cat says meow, meow.
It is also used to indicate a manner of similarity, "as if", "like" or "the way".
彼
kare
は
wa
「愛してる
"aishiteru
よ」
yo"
と
to
言って、
itte,
ぽっくり
pokkuri
と
to
死んだ。
shinda
彼 は 「愛してる よ」 と 言って、 ぽっくり と 死んだ。
kare wa "aishiteru yo" to itte, pokkuri to shinda
He said "I love you," and dropped dead.
In a related conditional use, it functions like "after/when", or "upon".
雨
ame
が
ga
上がる
agaru
と、
to,
子ども達
kodomo-tachi
は
wa
授業
jugyō
を
o
忘れて、
wasurete,
日
hi
の
no
当たっている
atatteiru
水たまり
mizutamari
の
no
誘惑
yūwaku
に
ni
夢中
muchū
に
ni
なる。
naru
雨 が 上がる と、 子ども達 は 授業 を 忘れて、 日 の 当たっている 水たまり の 誘惑 に 夢中 に なる。
ame ga agaru to, kodomo-tachi wa jugyō o wasurete, hi no atatteiru mizutamari no yūwaku ni muchū ni naru
Rain stops and then: children, forgetting their lessons, give in to the temptation of sun-faced puddles.
国境
kokkyō
の
no
長い
nagai
トンネル
TONNERU
を
o
抜ける
nukeru
と
to,
雪国
yukiguni
で
de
あった。
atta
国境 の 長い トンネル を 抜ける と 雪国 で あった。
kokkyō no nagai TONNERU o nukeru to, yukiguni de atta
(The train) came out of the long border tunnel (and then) into the snow country.
Finally it is used with verbs like to meet (with) (会う, au) or to speak (with) (話す, hanasu).
ジョン
JON
が
ga
メアリー
MEARI
と
to
初めて
hajimete
会った
atta
の
no
は、
wa,
1942
1942
年
nen
の
no
春
haru
の
no
夕暮れ時
yūguredoki
の
no
こと
koto
だった。
datta
ジョン が メアリー と 初めて 会った の は、 1942 年 の 春 の 夕暮れ時 の こと だった。
JON ga MEARI to hajimete atta no wa, 1942 nen no haru no yūguredoki no koto datta
John met Mary for the first time on a dusky afternoon of spring in 1942.
This last use is also a function of the particle ni (に), but to indicates reciprocation which ni does not.
    ジョンはメアリーと恋愛している。(usually say ジョンはメアリーと付き合っている。)
    JON wa MEARI[II] to ren'ai shite iru (JON wa MEARI[II] to tsukiatte iru)
    John and Mary are in love.
    ジョンはメアリーに恋愛している。(usually say ジョンはメアリーに恋している。)
    JON wa MEARI[II] ni ren'ai shite iru (JON wa MEARI[II] ni koi shite iru)
    John loves Mary (but Mary might not love John back).
Finally, the particle yo (よ) is used in a hortative or vocative sense.
可愛い
kawaii
娘
musume
よ、
yo,
私
watashi
に
ni
顔
kao
を
o
しかめるな。
shikameruna
可愛い 娘 よ、 私 に 顔 を しかめるな。
kawaii musume yo, watashi ni kao o shikameruna
Oh my beloved daughter, don't frown at me so!

#### Final: か ka, ね ne, よ yo and related

The sentence-final particle ka (か) turns a declarative sentence into a question.
そちら
sochira
は
wa
アメリカ人
amerika-jin
でしょう
deshō
か?
ka?
そちら は アメリカ人 でしょう か?
sochira wa amerika-jin deshō ka?
Are you perchance an American?
Other sentence-final particles add emotional or emphatic impact to the sentence. The particle ne (ね) softens a declarative sentence, similar to English "you know?", "eh?", "I tell you!", "isn't it?", "aren't you?", etc.
彼
kare
に
ni
電話
denwa
しなかった
shinakatta
の
no
ね。
ne
彼 に 電話 しなかった の ね。
kare ni denwa shinakatta no ne
You didn't call him up, did you?
近々
chikajika
ロンドン
rondon
に
ni
引っ越される
hikkosareru
そう
sō
です
desu
ね。
ne.
近々 ロンドン に 引っ越される そう です ね。
chikajika rondon ni hikkosareru sō desu ne.
I hear you're moving to London soon. Is that true?
A final yo (よ) is used in order to soften insistence, warning or command, which would sound very strong without any final particles.
嘘
uso
なんか
nanka
ついて
tsuite
ない
nai
よ！
yo!
嘘 なんか ついて ない よ！
uso nanka tsuite nai yo!
I'm not lying!
There are many such emphatic particles; some examples: ze (ぜ) and zo (ぞ) usually used by males; na (な) a less formal form of ne; wa (わ) used like yo by females (and males in the Kansai region), etc. They are essentially limited to speech or transcribed dialogue.

#### Compound particles

Compound particles are formed with at least one particle together with other words, including other particles. The commonly seen forms are:
* particle + verb (term. or cont. or -te form)
* particle + noun + particle
* noun + particle
Other structures are rarer, though possible. A few examples:
その
sono
件
ken
に
ni
関して
kan-shite
知っている
shitte-iru
限り
kagiri
の
no
こと
koto
を
o
教えて
oshiete
もらいたい。
moraitai
その 件 に 関して 知っている 限り の こと を 教えて もらいたい。
sono ken ni kan-shite shitte-iru kagiri no koto o oshiete moraitai
Kindly tell me everything you know concerning that case. (particle + verb in cont.)
外国語
gaikokugo
を
o
学習
gakushū
する
suru
上
ue
で
de
大切
taisetsu
な
na
こと
koto
は
wa
毎日
mainichi
の
no
努力
doryoku
が
ga
もの
mono
を
o
言う
iu
と
to
いう
iu
こと
koto
で
de
ある。
aru
外国語 を 学習 する 上 で 大切 な こと は 毎日 の 努力 が もの を 言う と いう こと で ある。
gaikokugo o gakushū suru ue de taisetsu na koto wa mainichi no doryoku ga mono o iu to iu koto de aru
In studying a foreign language, daily effort gives the most rewards. (noun + particle)
兄
ani
は
wa
両親
ryōshin
の
no
心配
shinpai
を
o
よそ
yoso
に、
ni,
大学
daigaku
を
o
やめて
yamete
しまった。
shimatta
兄 は 両親 の 心配 を よそ に、 大学 を やめて しまった。
ani wa ryōshin no shinpai o yoso ni, daigaku o yamete shimatta
Ignoring my parents' worries, my brother dropped out of college. (particle + noun + particle)

### Auxiliary verbs

All auxiliary verbs attach to a verbal or adjectival stem form and conjugate as verbs. In modern Japanese there are two distinct classes of auxiliary verbs:

#### Pure auxiliaries (助動詞, jodōshi)

    are usually just called verb endings or conjugated forms. These auxiliaries do not function as independent verbs.

#### Helper auxiliaries (補助動詞, hojodōshi)

    are normal verbs that lose their independent meaning when used as auxiliaries.
In classical Japanese, which was more heavily agglutinating than modern Japanese, the category of auxiliary verb included every verbal ending after the stem form, and most of these endings were themselves inflected. In modern Japanese, however, some of them have stopped being productive. The prime example is the classical auxiliary -tari (たり), whose modern forms -ta (た) and -te (て) are no longer viewed as inflections of the same suffix, and can take no further affixes.
Some pure auxiliary verbs :
| auxiliary | group | attaches to | meaning modification | example |
| masu (ます) | irregular$^1$ | continuative | makes the sentence polite | kaku (書く, 'to write') → kakimasu (書きます) |
| rareru (られる)$^2$ | 2b | irrealis of grp. 2 | makes V passive/honorific/potential | miru (見る, 'to see') → mirareru (見られる, 'to be able to see') taberu (食べる, 'to eat') → taberareru (食べられる, 'to be able to eat') |
| reru (れる) | 2b | irrealis of grp. 1 | makes V passive/honorific | nomu (飲む, 'to drink/swallow') → nomareru (飲まれる, 'to be drunk') (Passive form of drink, not a synonym for intoxicated.) |
| saseru (させる)$^3$ | 2b | irrealis of grp. 2 | makes V causative | kangaeru (考える, 'to think') → kangaesaseru (考えさせる, 'to cause to think') |
| seru (せる) | 2b | irrealis of grp. 1 | makes V causative | omoishiru (思い知る, 'to realize') → omoishiraseru (思い知らせる, 'to cause to realize/to teach a lesson') |
* masu (ます) has stem forms: irrealis ませ and ましょ, continuative まし, terminal ます, attributive ます, hypothetical ますれ, imperative ませ.
* rareru (られる) in potential usage is sometimes shortened to reru (れる) (group 2); thus tabereru (食べれる, 'to be able to eat') instead of taberareru (食べられる). However, it is considered non-standard.
* saseru (させる) is sometimes shortened to sasu (さす) (group 1), but this usage is somewhat literary.
Much of the agglutinative flavour of Japanese stems from helper auxiliaries, however. The following table contains a small selection of many such auxiliary verbs.
Some helper auxiliary verbs :
| auxiliary | group | attaches to | meaning modification | example |
| aru (ある, 'to be' [inanimate]) | 1 | -te form only for trans. | indicates state modification | hiraku (開く, 'to open') → hiraite-aru (開いてある, 'opened and is still open') |
| iru (いる, 'to be' [animate]) | 2a | -te form for trans. | progressive aspect | neru (寝る, 'to sleep') → nete-iru (寝ている, 'is sleeping') |
| iru (いる, 'to be' [animate]) | 2a | -te form for intrans. | indicates state modification | shimaru (閉まる, 'to close (intransitive)') → shimatte-iru (閉まっている, 'is closed') |
| oku (おく, 'to put/place') | 1 | -te form | "do something in advance" | taberu (食べる, 'to eat') → tabete-oku (食べておく, 'eat in advance') |
| oku (おく, 'to put/place') | 1 | -te form | "keep" | akeru (開ける, 'to open') → akete-oku (開けておく, 'keep it open') |
| iku (行く, 'to go') | 1 | -te form | "goes on V-ing" | aruku (歩く, 'to walk') → aruite-iku (歩いて行く, 'keep walking') |
| kuru (くる, 'to come') | ka | -te form | inception, "start to V" | furu (降る, 'fall') → futte-kuru (降ってくる, 'start to fall') |
| kuru (くる, 'to come') | ka | -te form | perfection, "have V-ed" (only past-tense) | ikiru (生きる, 'live') → ikite-kita (生きてきた, 'have lived') |
| kuru (くる, 'to come') | ka | -te form | conclusion, "come to V" | kotonaru (異なる, 'differ') → kotonatte-kuru (異なってくる, 'come to differ') |
| hajimeru (始める, 'to begin') | 2b | continuative non-punctual | "V begins", "begin to V" | kaku (書く, 'to write') → kaki-hajimeru (書き始める, 'start to write') |
| hajimeru (始める, 'to begin') | 2b | continuative punctual & subj. must be plural | "V begins", "begin to V" | tsuku (着く, 'to arrive') → tsuki-hajimeru (着き始める, 'have all started to arrive') |
| dasu (出す, 'to emit') | 1 | continuative | "start to V" | kagayaku (輝く, 'to shine') → kagayaki-dasu (輝き出す, 'to start shining') |
| miru (みる, 'to see') | 1 | -te form | "try to V" | suru (する, 'do') → shite-miru (してみる, 'try to do') |
| naosu (なおす, 'to correct/heal') | 1 | continuative | "do V again, correcting mistakes" | kaku (書く, 'to write') → kaki-naosu (書きなおす, 'rewrite') |
| agaru (あがる, 'to rise') | 1 | continuative | "do V thoroughly" / "V happens upwards" | tatsu (立つ, 'to stand') → tachi-agaru (立ち上がる, 'stand up') dekiru (出来る, 'to come out') → deki-agaru (出来上がる, 'be completed') |
| eru/uru (得る, 'to be able') | (see note at bottom) | continuative | indicates potential | aru (ある, 'to be') → ariuru (あり得る, 'is possible') |
| kakaru/kakeru (かかる・かける, 'to hang/catch/obtain') | 1 | continuative only for intrans., non-volit. | "about to V", "almost V", "to start to V" | oboreru (溺れる, 'drown') → obore-kakeru (溺れかける, 'about to drown') |
| kiru (きる, 'to cut') | 1 | continuative | "do V completely" | taberu (食べる, 'to eat') → tabe-kiru (食べきる, 'to eat it all') |
| kesu (消す, 'to erase') | 1 | continuative | "cancel by V" "deny with V" | momu (揉む, 'to rub') → momi-kesu (揉み消す, 'to rub out, to extinguish') |
| komu (込む, 'to enter deeply/plunge') | 1 | continuative | "V deep in", "V into" | hanasu (話す, 'to speak') → hanashi-komu (話し込む, 'to be deep in conversation') |
| sageru (下げる, 'to lower') | 2b | continuative | "V down" | hiku (引く, 'to pull') → hiki-sageru (引き下げる, 'to pull down') |
| sugiru (過ぎる, 'to exceed') | 2a | continuative | "overdo V" | iu (言う, 'to say') → ii-sugiru (言いすぎる, 'to say too much, to overstate') |
| tsukeru (付ける, 'to attach') | 2b | continuative | "become accustomed to V" | iku (行く, 'to go') → iki-tsukeru (行き付ける, 'be used to (going)') |
| tsuzukeru (続ける, 'to continue') | 2b | continuative | "keep on V" | furu (降る, 'to fall') (e.g. rain) → furi-tsuzukeru (降り続ける, 'to keep falling') |
| tōsu (通す, 'to show/thread/lead') | 1 | continuative | "finish V-ing" | yomu (読む, 'to read') → yomi-tōsu (読み通す, 'to finish reading') |
| nukeru (抜ける, 'to shed/spill/desert') | 2b | continuative only for intrans. | "V through" | hashiru (走る, 'to run') → hashiri-nukeru (走り抜ける, 'to run through') |
| nokosu (残す, 'to leave behind') | 1 | continuative | "by doing V, leave something behind" | omou (思う, 'to think') → omoi-nokosu (思い残す, 'to regret', lit: to have something left to think about) |
| nokoru (残る, 'to be left behind') | 1 | continuative only for intrans. | "be left behind, doing V" | ikiru (生きる, 'live') → iki-nokoru (生き残る, 'to survive', lit: to be left alive) |
| wakeru (分ける, 'to divide/split/classify') | 2b | continuative | "the proper way to V" | tsukau (使う, 'use') → tsukai-wakeru (使い分ける, 'to indicate the proper way to use') |
| wasureru (忘れる, 'to forget') | 2b | continuative | "to forget to V" | kiku (聞く, 'to ask') → kiki-wasureru (聞き忘れる, 'to forget to ask') |
| au (合う) 'to come together' | 1 | continuative | "to do V to each other", "to do V together" | daku (抱く, 'to hug') → daki-au (抱き合う, 'to hug each other') |
* Note: eru/uru (得る) is the only modern verb of shimo nidan type (and it is different from the shimo nidan type of classical Japanese), with conjugations: irrealis え, continuative え, terminal える or うる, attributive うる, hypothetical うれ, imperative えろ or えよ.