Archive | Grammar RSS feed for this section

The Te Form Song

On June 14, 2011 in Grammar, Listening, Video, た・ち・つ・て・と

The Te-Form Song. What now?? A good question. This is a handy little mnemonic taught to me by my own teacher way back when I was still a beginning student of Japanese. It helped me immensely, so now I’m passing it on to you!

Read full story · Comments { 13 }

The Course of Events / 成り行き

On May 21, 2011 in Emails, Grammar, Reading, な・に・ぬ・ね・の

Nariyuki (成り行き) generally means something like ‘the natural scheme of things’, but it can be a bit of a surprise the first time you come across it in a given situation. This post looks at a few examples of its usage.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Not Necessarily / 訳ではない

On November 26, 2010 in Grammar, Products, Reading, わ・を・ん

Is that an Obama Bobble Head figurine I see? Why yes, it is! Some plucky employee has scrawled a message below it talking about black people. Do you know your grammar well enough to decipher it?

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

Pretending Not to Know / ふり

On November 5, 2010 in Grammar, Reading, Signs, は・ひ・ふ・へ・ほ

Have you ever come across the word ふり before? It’s used in a variety of situations to show pretense or false behaviour. Today’s phrase we’ll focus on then is 知らんぷり – pretending not to know something. You’ll also learn about the mysterious ん slotted in there!

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

Taking a Message / とのこと

On October 27, 2010 in Grammar, Notes, Reading, た・ち・つ・て・と

Office messages are known as 伝言 (でんごん) and a vital part of business life in Japan, or indeed many countries. Today we take a look at a simple example and a peculiar piece of grammar that is often used when taking messages.

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Do Not! / べからず

On October 4, 2010 in Grammar, Reading, Signs, は・ひ・ふ・へ・ほ

In the same way that we have different variations of the same words in English (synonyms), Japanese usually has at least a few ways of expressing a grammar point, depending on the situation. Since we are only taught the most popular methods, old Japanese tends to trip us up sometimes!

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Do Without Asking / 勝手ながら

On October 2, 2010 in Grammar, Keigo, Notes, Reading, か・き・く・け・こ

Here’s a nice little piece of grammar that you can use instantly to convey a polite message. How to write a note telling someone you’re taking the day off with Katte Nagara (勝手ながら).

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

No Smoking / にて

On September 25, 2010 in Grammar, Reading, Signs, な・に・ぬ・ね・の

Here’s a quick and easy chunk of Japanese for beginners/intermediate learners to digest. You’ll see no smoking signs everywhere in Japan, but the particular little morsel of grammar in this one stood out for me: にて. Heard of it?

Read full story · Comments { 3 }