１　About the readings of Kanji

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　This site contains pages with and without kanji furigana. As the Japanese often present continuous kanji or hiragana without clear word boundaries, I have adopted the notation shown in the example.

 

　　|線香　せんこう||花火　はなび|は最後こそが美しい。

　　Place the kanji and its reading between lines.

 

Japanese words typically contain both Kanji/Katakana and hiragana within a single word. While textbooks often only add hiragana to the kanji, this site encloses the entire word within |　　|.

　ex. |拾いました　ひろいました|

 

　Often, people think this word is just the kanji 拾（ひろ）, but this is only part of the word. The word 拾う（ひろう） is formed by the combination of Kanji and Hiragana. 拾いました（ひろいました） similarly combines kanji and hiragana to form a single meaning. When written as a single kanji character, it usually uses a different reading (on'yomi). If you skip the hiragana and read only the kanji, you won't understand the sentence structure.

 

　If I only add Hiragana to kanji characters like in a standard textbook, it becomes difficult to discern where one word ends and another begins, making misunderstandings likely. Therefore, on this site, I have deliberately placed entire words or complete phrases containing inflected forms within the |　　| brackets. One of this site's objectives is to enable users to read Japanese sentences independently while consulting a dictionary, hence the emphasis on word-level cohesion.

 

　The readings of kanji characters vary depending on their meaning. Whilst there are several possible readings for a kanji character, we cannot choose whichever one we prefer. For example, the sound 富士山　ふじさん“Fujisan” denotes the meaning “Mount Fuji”, while the sound 富山　とやま“Toyama” denotes the meaning “the name of Toyama Prefecture”. Kanji characters carry meaning, but hiragana spellings also connect to meaning much like the alphabet. Avoid memorising kanji or hiragana in isolation; instead, look for “words” such as 山登り　やまのぼり and 危ない　あぶない.

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２　About Units

　In the explanations, slashes are inserted between each unit. However, some parts have been slightly modified to make studying easier or to facilitate dictionary lookups. There are other approaches to dividing sentences into phrases besides the one used on this site, and above all, once you become accustomed to reading, it won't be necessary.

　例　私は／先週の／土曜日に／友達と／公園に／行った。

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Let's review the types of units.

 

　A unit is the smallest unit for constructing sentence structure. While the order of units can be changed, a single unit itself cannot be broken down. For example, the unit “公園へ” can be swapped in order with other units as a whole unit, but ‘公園’ and “へ” cannot be separated.

 

(1) Noun+Particle

 　The “noun + particle” structure is the most fundamental unit. This unit cannot be split in the middle. While textbooks may explain grammatical points under titles like “particle + verb,” these are merely groupings for explanatory purposes and do not constitute a unit.

 

　By placing particles after nouns, readers can understand how those nouns connect to other units. While particles are often omitted in spoken dialogue, they are rarely omitted in writing.

 

(2)Predicate (述語)

 　The predicate is the most important clause in a sentence. There are three of them.

　彼女は　学生だ。　→「学生だ」The final unit of a noun sentence

　彼女は　美しい。　→「美しい」Predicate adjective in an adjective sentence

　彼女は　走った。　→「走った」Predicate verb in a verb sentence

　Form a single unit including the conjugation ending. Examples include 学生だった and 走らなかった.

 

　When helping verbs are attached to the てform, such as in 走っている、食べてみる、読んでしまう, the helping verb is treated as a single unit. This is because いる, みる, and しまうetc. are single verbs. On this site, constructions like 食べて＋いる (to be eating) are treated as a single predicate. A slash is inserted between the units, and the semantic grouping is indicated with an underline, as in 食べて／いる.

 

　Even when a (final) particle follows the predicate, it is considered a single unit including the particle.

　明日は／休みだよ。

　私の／ケーキは／おいしかったけど。

 

(3) Unit connecting to a noun

 

　Japanese allows you to change the order of units. This is because, by looking at the form of the units, you can understand which unit connects to which in terms of meaning. Don't just look at the kanji; look at the particles and conjugated forms, and think about which units connect to which.

 

　For example, consider the sentences 大きい宇宙船が動いた。and 大きく宇宙船が動いた。 大きい is an いadjective that connects to a noun, so the first sentence means “a large spaceship moved.” On the other hand, 大きく is an adverb form that connects to a verb, meaning “the spaceship moved greatly.” Never forget that Japanese structure is determined by the form of the unit, not word order.

 

　There are several units that connect to nouns.

・この　その　あの　どの

・大きな　小さな　These words are terms where an old mistake became established as a single word. While their meaning is the same as an いadjective, grammatically they are distinguished as separate words. These words do not conjugate and always describe a noun. Examples like おかしな or ある（＋名詞） (a certain +NOUN) frequently appear in novels.

・いAdjective　いadjectives connect to nouns in the form of 大きい. Remember that adjectives have two uses: one is to form sentences as predicates, and the other is to describe nouns.

・なAdjective　なadjectives connect to nouns in the form of 元気な.

・NOUN＋の

・Short forms of Verbs／Sentences

　【私が食べた】【ケーキ】

　【走って／いる】【猫】

・Words formed by adding various parts to verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc.

　Basically, since they have the same form as いadjectives and なadjectives, you can see how they connect.

　おもしろそうな／本

　雨が／降りそうな／天気

　わたあめのような／雲

 

　When the semantic connections between units are unclear, this site uses “→” to explain them.

　　今日は／うんざりするような／暑い／日だった。

　　　うんざりするような　→　日だった

　In the colored explanations, these are indicated in yellow.

 

(4) Unit connecting to a verb, an adjective

 

There are several units that connect to verbs. adjectives

・Noun+ Various Particles　There are many units that connect to verbs and adjectives, such as 公園に／行く、ごはんを／食べる、and 彼女は／美しい. However, there are various types of particles. Many particles, such as の, conjunctive particles, and final particles, do not fit into this category, so we need to consider them one by one.

・Adverb

　とても／おもしろい。

　たぶん／行く。

　決して／行かない。

　もし／疲れたら、（休みましょう）。

・The “～く” form of いadjectives

　おもしろく／なる。

　速く／走る。

・The “～に” form of なadjectives

　元気に／なる

　静かに／眠る。

・Words formed by adding various parts to verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc.

Basically, since they have the same form as Adverb forms, you can see how they connect.

　おもしろそうに／笑う。

　石が／弾丸のように／飛んできた。

 

　When the semantic connections between units are unclear, this site uses “→” to explain them.

　男の子は、／素直に／ボールを／お母さんに／渡しました。

　　　素直に　→　渡しました

　In the colored explanations, these are indicated in green.

 

(5) Conjunctive

　Words that connect sentences, such as すると or ところが, form a unit on their own.

 

(6)Free-standing word

　Words like 「お母さん！」 or 「こら！」that people use to address someone in conversation, or words that pop out when deep in thought, form their own units.

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３　About Sentence Patterns

・There are essentially three types of Japanese sentence patterns.

　　SN　　Noun Sentence    (Subject  Noun)

　　SA　　Adjective Sentence    (Subject  Adjective)

　　SV　　Verb Sentence     (Subject  Verb)

　This site provides more detailed information.

　　SOV　　Verb Sentence with an Object

　　S　《　　　》と　V　→　S V(say, tell, think, etc.)that 《　　　》

 

・Furthermore, for sentences containing sentence-final expressions, the sentence pattern is written according to the most important word. For example, in the case of the sentence この／映画は／おもしろいかも／しれない, the ending is the expression ～かも／しれない. Although しれない is a verb, it is treated as the sentence-ending expression ～かも／しれない and classified as an adjective sentence, derived from the ending of おもしろい. Each sentence is accompanied by an explanation, so please refer to these.

・In Japanese, when the subject can be inferred from context or verb form, it is omitted. On this site, where such “implicit subjects” may be difficult to discern, they are added in explanations as (S)SUBJECT.

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４　About Types of Sentences

　There are three types of Japanese sentences.

(1) Simple Sentences

　SN, SA, SV, each set of sentences.

　When supporting verbs are attached to the main verb, the entire construction is treated as a single verb.

 

　例　昨日は／12時間も／寝て／しまった。　寝て＋しまう

　　　妹は／ずっと／本を／読んで／いる。　読んで＋いる

 

(2) Compound Sentences

　A sentence consisting of two or more simple sentences

　This sentence structure typically consists of two sentences juxtaposed, such as ‘S1N, S2V.’ However, when the subject of the second sentence is the same as that of the first, it may appear as ‘SN, V’, ‘N, SV’,

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(3) Complex Sentences　

　A sentence containing a subordinate clause

(a)　Sentence1なら、Sentence2。

​​　　Sentence1ので、Sentence2。etc.

　A sentence with a subordinate clause + main clause structure

(b)　Sが《Sentence》と　言った。

　A sentence containing a quoted clause within the main clause

(c)　私は　【昨日／妹が／買った】【ケーキ】を／食べた。

　A sentence containing a clause describing a noun preceding the noun itself​​

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５　About Context

　Besides the subject, another tricky aspect is demonstrative pronouns. Regarding what これ and それ refer to, →← explains.

　ex.　昨日、／私は／ある／手帳→を／拾った。←それは／汚れて／いて、／中には／びっしりと／書き込みが／あった。

　Demonstrative pronouns generally refer to the last noun in the preceding sentence, but there are numerous exceptions. The necessary explanations for understanding the context are provided for each one.

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　For more on context, please refer to the page.

   Grammar for Creating Context.

 

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