Your Guide to Japanese

Pronunciation &
Grammar
 Quick Intro to Japanese

1 Japanese Pronunciation:
Deceptively Easy

There are 5 vowels in Japanese: {a, i, u, e, o}.

While {a, i, e, o} are pronounced similarly to many other languages,

{u} is pronounced significantly different.

At first glance, Japanese has relatively few vowels and a handful of consonants that

connect to those vowels. These vowels are very easily romanized as {a, i, u, e, o} and

actually have different positions in the mouth than the same vowels in English, Spanish,

German, or Italian. With {u}, please be careful and don't over-pronounce it.

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Japanese tends to be written with a syllabary, meaning that each character is a single

syllable. With one caveat -- some of these syllables combine to make larger complex

syllables:

(ki) + (yo) + (u)= (ky)

Japanese has relatively few, if any, consonant clusters -- this is a point of deception since

Japanese does in fact lose vowels in certain positions that in turn create clusters. We'll get

into this a little later.

(hi) + (to) = /hito/ which is likely to be pronounced [hto].

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Japanese Vowels
When we pronounce English vowels, we inherently pronounce them long: for example

when we describe what we write as {ee}, the long vowel "E," the part of the name labeled

"long" really has nothing to do with the method of pronouncing the vowel but rather the

articulation. Change the articulation and you get another vowel, for example a short "E."

"Long" is just a name. However, in reality, the method we use to pronounce all of our

vowels are "long." This means that our voice trails off.

So the question is, can we pronounce the same vowel "short" in English?

Yes, when this happens we need to close the syllable with an unvoiced consonant such

as in "meet." In this word, the long "E" has a short length rather than the long length

in the word "team." Stop and think about this difference for a moment, practice it and

understand it.

This long trailing off of vowels simply doesn't happen in Japanese. All vowels are

pronounced short and clip. The macrons you see over the vowels in names like "Tky"

are what actually indicate when vowels are pronounced long. But even in this case, they

are just a double length of the short version and may still sound a bit unnatural to the
English or Chinese ear.

The vowels {a, i, e, o} are actually very close to their Spanish or German counterparts. Even

closer to Finnish if you happen to know it. The big difference is in the letter {u}.

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If we look at the IPA table, the letter {u} is actually positioned extremely close to the

English short "I". There's a fine line here between what English speakers will perceive as {i}

or {u} and this Japanese letter straddles that line. Listen carefully to native speakers and

practice it.

English Hiragana katakana IPA

a [a]

i [i]

u []

e [e]

o [o]

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Japanese Consonants
Each of the vowels are paired with corresponding consonants, which in turn make up the

Japanese syllabary writing system. Most of these letters are the same as in English:

{k, s, t, n, h, m, y, w}

The following letters have limited vowels they pair with:

{s + a|i|e|o, t + a|e|o, h + a|i|e|o, y + a|u|o, w + a}

There are a few key differences from what we're familiar with as English speakers:

{si} is pronounced similar to English {shi} but with the tongue pressed against the lower

teeth. This is the same sound that appears in several other languages: Korean ( ),

Mandarin (xi), Polish (ji), Croatian (i), Russian ( ), Sanskrit ( ).

Likewise, {ti} is pronounced similar to English {chi} in the same manner as {si} above (with

the tongue pressed against the lower teeth). This same sound is also found in several

languages: Korean ( ), Mandarin (ji), Polish (ji), Croatian (i), Russian ( ), Sanskrit ( ).
The Japanese version will have slightly more aspiration than some of the other languages.

{f + u} is pronounced without the bottom lip touching the teeth. This is written in IPA as

//. This letter appears with the other {h} letters and can be considered a rather strong {h}.

{r + a|i|u|e|o}: the closest resemblance in English or other European languages is the flap.

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{n} is normally found at the end of a syllable, but in Japanese can also stand for a syllable

all by itself (meaning, it's given the same time length as other syllables). The letter

sometimes sounds like [m], sometimes [n], sometimes [] as in English "sing". Its actual

IPA symbol is [] which means that it's pronounced farther back in the throat than []. This

sound does not exist in English or neighboring languages Korean and Japanese, so it will

take some practice to get right.

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 Japanese Writing
Japanese is written with the following scripts:

Hiragana to write words of Japanese native origin

Katakana to write words of foreign origin

to give the written word visual meaning. Kanji also serves the

purpose of separating words. Each kanji can have more than

Kanji one pronunciation: the borrowed Chinese pronunciation

(Chinese characters) (several possible pronunciations depending on location and

time of borrowing) for example: san for (shan in Chinese);

and a native Japanese equivalent: yama for .

stands for Roman characters, used for transcribing to assist

Romaji
foreigners in pronouncing Japanese.

To learn hiragana, katakana, and kanji, please visit the Glossika website and play the

games for the script that you want to learn. The algorithm presents the letters in the best

logical order so that you can save time and effort in learning to read Japanese.

Be sure to download the Glossika infographics which introduce each of the letters of these

Japanese scripts. They will be sent to your inbox when youve completed each game.

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2
Introduction to Japanese

Grammar
Japanese is essentially a language isolate. This means that according to linguists and

scientists who study language, there is not enough evidence available today to prove the

existence of relation with any other language.

On the surface, Japanese resembles Korean in many ways, both syntactically and

stylistically. These two languages are theoretically grouped with a larger language family

called Altaic, which includes Turkic languages and Mongolian. For anybody who knows

Turkish, you'll probably find a lot of grammatical similarities with Japanese. However, as

linguists point out, there isn't enough evidence to prove that a relation exists.

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 Japanese is different from

English in virtually every

possible way. To learn Japanese

through an English construct

or English way of thinking

is misleading. Although

G lossika does teach yo u a

large number of sentences

and patterns via English,

you'll soon find that such a

crutch will have to be dropped

once you start getting into

real Japanese conversations.

For example, our sentences may introduce you to pronouns about who is doing what,

however Japanese isn't just a pronoun-drop language. It is actually a stylistic difference

as well, as there is no marking of who does an action on the verb (verbs don't conjugate

in the European sense). Stylistically speaking, the doer of the action is supposed to be

obvious based on the context of the conversation.

Therefore, in many of the sentences that you learn, much of the identifying information

can be dropped in real conversation.

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To learn to speak Japanese properly means that you need to start thinking about how

the Japanese construct a sentence from their way of thinking. We find that this is true for

most East Asian languages, including Chinese, which is just as different from Japanese as

it is from English. Because of this, it's important to learn Japanese by example as a native

speaker would speak rather than constructing what you think would be a valid Japanese

sentence. Saying something that you believe is a complete idea (both logically and

semantically) that a Japanese person may not be used to or may not have heard before

could result in a complete misunderstanding or just nonsense to the native speaker.

Rather than translating from your native language to Japanese, you'll have to "translate"

your translation into a Japanese way of speaking. This is why we recommend learning

through example sentences until you have a better sense of the grammar structure.

As a foreigner coming into contact with Japanese for the first time, a basic level of respect

would be expected -- after all, this is the first time you've met the person and feelings

can be offended quite easily with the wrong choice of words. A major difference with

how most western languages are becoming less and less formal: people are opting for

the informal you (tu, du, ty, ) over the formal you (Usted, vous, Lei, Sie, vy, ) as

quickly as possible when meeting someone. Take note: this is not a trend that you'll want

to continue in Japan. It is best to stick with the person's name followed by -san instead of
using "you".

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Despite these hurdles, let's start taking a look at how to construct basic sentences in

Japanese:

A Japanese sentence is in the order of Subject - Object - Verb and it prefers postpositions

attached to the ends of words rather than using prepositions.

Various things can be attached to the ends of sentences, and even make the whole

previous clause as part of a new embedded clause for something that is coming up.

To make a sentence into a question at the end of the sentence add "-ka"

( ) in polite speech and add "-no" ( ) in casual speech. Adding

"-ka" in casual speech will make the sentence sound sarcastic. The "-ka"

ending can be used in the middle of a sentence to indicate that a word

is unclear or uncertain, as in "somebody ( )."

End a sentence with "-yo" when putting emphasis on something

new that you're informing the listener about.

End a sentence with "-ne" as a tag question like "right?" or "isn't it?"

You can combine it with the previous particle to create "-yone."

Try to get into the habit of thinking about which particle every word will take.

This adding of postpositions means that every noun in a sentence is marked by some

particle. Let's begin with nouns.

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Nouns
The agent (usually the subject) gets the ending: "-ga" .

The topic (of what you're discussing) gets the ending: "-wa", spelled " " in

hiragana.

The direct object gets the ending: "-o", spelled " " in hiragana.

The indirect object gets the ending: "-e", spelled " " in hiragana.

The direction you're going towards also gets the ending: "-e." This is also used for

future goals and expectations.

The target location gets the ending: "-ni" .

The location where something is at gets the ending: "-de" .

The method or way in which you do something (by) also gets the ending: "-de."

You can also attach this to -ni, -wa, -de particles.

The genitive (belonging/possession) particle gets the ending: "-no" . This has multiple

uses. The particle can replace the position of an unknown noun after a verb to create

a phrase meaning "thing" or "the thing is that..." This particle can also be followed by

subject and topic particles.

All of something uses: "-mo" . To indicate "none" of which, simply change the sentence

into negative. You can also attach this to -ni, -wa, -de particles.

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Link multiple nouns together (inclusion) in a sentence with: "-to" . Also use -to to

indicate "with" whom you did an activity. A separate particle "-ya" is used when the

included articles are vague and the list is not necessarily complete. The colloquial version

of -ya is "-toka" .

The location from which something comes gets the ending: "-kara" . This is also attached

to "reasons" because it is from something (a reason) that something else happens.

You can change -kara into -node (softer form) when there is no explicit reason for

something happening.

You can change -node into -noni to mean despite (of doing) something. Other forms

that show this opposition in a sentence (where we might usually use "but" in English) are

-ga and -kedo .

Many nouns (especially of Chinese origin and consisting of kanji) can be made into verb

compounds and attach directly to verbs without any specific marker.

Verbs that become nouns and then attach to another verb in the sentence end in "-i" (the

actual hiragana letter depends on the consonant preceding the vowel).

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Verbs
Formality Levels

As a foreigner learning Japanese, it is safe to always use polite forms of speech without

being necessarily over-formal. There are also honorific and humble forms as well. All of

these forms usually appear at the end of the verb (at the end of the sentence) and they're

not difficult to switch between. In other words, everything else in the sentence will be the

same.

Stative Verbs: A State of Being

Several parts of speech can be considered a state of being. Take a look at the following

examples from English:

I want to be an engineer.

He is confident.

In this case, Japanese uses "desu ( )," where the final {u} is usually silent.

Remember that predicate adjectives in English are actually stative verbs.

For example:

I feel cold (I'm in the state of being cold).

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Japanese adjectives can end in either -i or -na, and they have different conjugations:

-i adjectives

Change the stative verb to negative: change -i to -kunai desu .

Change the stative verb to past tense: change -i to -katta desu .

Change the negative stative verb to past tense: change -kunai desu to -kunakatta

desu .

-na adjectives

Change the adjective into a stative verb: change -na to -ka desu .

Change the stative verb to negative: change -ka desu to -ka janai desu

. (ja is a shortened form of dewa )

Change the stative verb to past tense: change -ka desu to -ka deshita .

(the -i- is silent)

Change the negative stative verb to past tense: change -ka janai desu to -ka

janakatta desu .

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Action Verbs
All other verbs are action verbs, and these can be transitive (with an object) or intransitive

(without an object).

To change endings, remove -ru from the verb and add the ending (such as

-masu ).

For other verbs, remove the -u ending and add -i (for example: -gu becomes

-gi then add -masu ).

Change a verb to negative: change -masu to -masen .

Change a verb to past tense: change -masu to -mashita . (the -i- is silent)

Change a negative to past tense: change -masen to -masendeshita .

(the -i- is silent)

To chain verbs together (for example continuous tense), change the past tense

-ta to -te or -da to -de.

To list verbs or reasons together in a sentence, use: -shi .

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Modal Verbs
To express ability "can", change -ru to -rareru and -u to -eru. Important

exceptions: suru becomes dekiru, and kuru becomes korareru. These verbs

don't have direct objects, so you should change what you assume to be the

object to a -ga or -wa particle instead.

To express "must not" use -ikenai but change to -naranai for policies. For things

that you "must" do, simply negate the previous verb, in other words say: must

not - not do. It is quite common to use "-nakereba ikemasen." The informal and

much more common way to express these are "nakucha" (the -u- is silent) and

"nakya."

To express "want," use -tai as a verb ending.

Conjugations include: -takunai, -takatta, -takunakatta.

To describe volitional "let's," use -mashou as a verb ending. This changes to -you

or -ou in casual speech.

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Pronouns
Pronouns are a tricky subject in Japanese. To avoid sounding rude, it is best to avoid using

pronouns as much as you can. When Japanese do use pronouns, there is a great number

of them that differ in usage between men, women, children, and the elderly. They also

differ depending on your relation and age difference with the person you're speaking to.

When speaking to another person, avoid using "you," and instead use the person's name.

It may feel like you're speaking in the 3rd person which sounds indirect, but this is what is

socially expected.

The very act of asking and answering questions between people usually means that the

question implies "you" and the answer implies "I." When this is the case, pronouns are

unnecessary.

The proper way to address someone is by adding -san to their name.

You may use "kare" and "kanojo" for "he" and "she," but again it is best to keep using
people's names.

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Adjectives
We have already discussed adjectives (as predicates) under stative verbs.

The other kinds of adjectives are those that precede nouns which maintain their -i and -na

forms in front of the noun they describe.

To chain adjectives or nouns together, add -de to the noun or na-adjective, and

-kute to the i-adjective or negative form.

To describe "become" or "getting" + adjective, use "-ni naru".

Things that you "like" and "want" are actually adjectives in Japanese. Something that is

liked is "suki" (the -u- is silent), and want is "hoshii". You can add -hoshii to the end of a

verb for something you want done.

In English, relative clauses usually begin with ...that... or ...which... followed by a separate

clause. In Japanese, this whole clause becomes an adjective of the noun it is describing.

Sometimes this clause will end with a verb ending (-u or -ta), which you follow directly

with the noun.

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Other Common Particles
-te aku: do something in advance for the future

-te iru: in a state of being

Noun-ni suru: to decide on something

Clause (A) -to Clause (B): condition + result (using "if" in English)

Clause (A) -nara Clause (B): assumed context + result (using "if that's the case" in

English)

Clause (A) Verb-reba, Clause (B): If (verb), then Clause (B)

Clause (A) Verb-tara, Clause(B): if pre-existing condition, then B (or unexpected

result)

-to iu: meaning to refer to something, is also an abstract term frequently used

in sentences to describe the discussion of something. -iu can also be

combined with this and that to indicate a way in which something is

done.

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 Extend Your Learning
To learn the most common verbs for the Japanese L4 ~ L1 proficiency tests and their kanji

forms, we recommend downloading our ebook supplement for Japanese verbs.

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