Japanese, explained word by word

An example breakdown

Politeness in Japanese

The 10 steps of the politeness dial, as the app names them for Japanese.

1. 1Abrasiveぞんざい — coarse, rough plain form, almost hostile
2. 2BluntRough plain form — curt and masculine
3. 3Intimateタメ口 among close friends — clipped plain form
4. 4CasualFriendly plain form — だ／じゃない endings
5. 5Soft casualPlain form softened with ね／よ and gentle phrasing
6. 6Politeです・ます — everyday polite register
7. 7PolishedCareful です・ます with courteous set phrases
8. 8Respectfulです・ます with first honorifics — お／ご, いただく
9. 9Honorific敬語 — 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 forms throughout
10. 10Ceremonial最敬語 — maximally humble and honorific, service speech

Japanese grammar guides

Each guide explains one point with word-by-word breakdowns and ends with exercises. The guides are in English.

• Japanese particles, explainedJapanese particles explained: は (wa) vs が (ga), に (ni) vs で (de), を, の and も, with word-by-word breakdowns, common mistakes and exercises.
• Japanese keigo levels, explainedJapanese keigo explained: polite teineigo, respectful sonkeigo, humble kenjōgo, the special verbs, inside and outside, and the classic mistakes.
• The Japanese te-form, explainedHow to make the Japanese te-form for every verb group and adjective, and what it does: linking actions, てください, ている, てもいい and てはいけない.
• Japanese transitive and intransitive verbs, explainedJapanese transitive and intransitive verb pairs (自動詞・他動詞): を vs が, the common pairs, how to tell them apart, and ている vs てある.
• から vs ので (kara vs node), explainedから vs ので (kara vs node): which Japanese "because" to use, だから and なので after nouns, requests, 〜からです, ますので, mistakes and exercises.
• Japanese conditionals: ば, たら, と and なら, explainedJapanese conditionals ば, たら, と and なら: how to form each, what may follow it, a step-by-step way to choose, common mistakes and exercises.

All grammar guides