|> Newsgroups: sci.lang.japan  
|> From: Tad Perry (address now out of date)  
|> Subject: THE QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE GRAMMAR (Posted)  
|> Message-ID: <1992Dec22.001355.16497@u.washington.edu>  
|> Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 00:13:55 GMT  
|>   
|> There was pretty strong interest in my guide, so I decided to post it.  
|> I didn't know so many people were reading this group. They sure haven't  
|> been *posting* to it lately. Anyway, spin-off threads are welcome as  
|> this group needs some life pumped into it.  
|>   
|> Thanks go to a recent friend I made on the net named Jeff Friedl for  
|> providing the final impetus to produce this. There was another person  
|> I talked with via e-mail who said he was interested in such a thing,  
|> but the discussion occured between the last time gibdo was backed up  
|> and the day gibdo's hard disk bit the big one, so I lost his name and  
|> address and can't give proper credit.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------  

The latest version:  

             THE QUICK AND DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE  
                         by Tad Perry  
   

PREFACE  

Many students of Japanese just want to communicate. Sure, they want to  
say things correctly as often as possible, but they also want to get  
into the language quickly and start mixing it up early. This QUICK AND  
DIRTY GUIDE TO JAPANESE was meant to help you do just that. It makes  
no pretense of being complete, but tries to pack the most *useful  
information* necessary to achieve the *goal of using Japanese* in the  
*shortest possible space*. This article covers four basic things: word  
order, particles, how to deletions work, and verb conjugation.  That  
pretty much covers what you need to know to make a Japanese sentence  
that sounds more or less natural.  

What you need is very brief grammatical rules that are presented  
clearly so you don't get confused. Memorize the grammar! I've reduced  
it to the absolute lowest common denominator so that it's not  
overwhelming but it still needs to be memorized.  

After you get the rules down pat, you need a vocabulary. Again this is  
just a matter of memorization. For nouns you can look in a dictionary  
or ask a native speaker. They almost never inflect (in any true  
meaning of the word) and are therefore easy to remember and  
manipulate. For verbs, it is usually possible to derive all  
inflections (you must know the rules for inflection though) after  
memorizing just one form. Sometimes you need to know two forms. You'll  
learn more about this later in this guide.  

As for rules on inflecting verbs and adjectives, I've tried to put  
together the most compact rules conceivable for allowing you to  
manipulate every verb you ever encounter and hopefully you can take it  
from there. The less mental overhead for remembering how to do  
inflect, the less painful it will be for you. But it still requires a  
certain amount of memorization. After you know the conjugation rules  
pat, you can add new verbs to your vocabulary almost as easily as  
nouns: look in a dictionary or ask a native speaker.  

Now that you have a bunch of nouns and a bunch of verbs and adjectives  
(that you can inflect), you need to know how to piece them together.  
That's where word order, particles and deletions come in.  Remember,  
this is a *Quick and Dirty* guide so don't expect these  
generalizations to *always* work, just expect them to work in as many  
cases as possible based on what I know, and trust me that you'll at  
least be understood if your pronunciation is acceptable.  

Now, in compiling this guide, I noticed that the descriptions are  
pretty comprehensive. So why aren't these things presented this way in  
class?  There are several reasons. First of all, I assume you are  
intelligent and motivated enough to use the information yourself. No  
drills, no tests.  I present a fact exactly ONCE and move on. So pay  
attention. Also, an educational institution obviously has a financial  
stake in dragging out your language learning as long as possible (and  
confusing you along the way), now doesn't it? They also feel  
obligated, since you are paying them, to teach you every little detail  
so you feel like you're getting your money's worth. But in this guide  
I don't go into ever detail and exception. That's why correspondence  
with the author with comments such as: "You made generalization X, but  
forgot to mention exceptions Y and Z." won't be appreciated very  
much. This is a *quick and dirty* guide, remember?  So be forewarned  
that there are exceptions. Even so, I have tried to be as accurate as  
possible, but compactness takes precedence over detail. Got it? Okay,  
let's go.  

WORD ORDER  

Before talking about particles let's get into word order. In general,  
standard word order for Japanese when using an action verb is as shown  
below. SUBJECTs are put in brackets to stress that they are very often  
deleted.  

   [SUBJECT]+TIME+PLACE/IMPLEMENT+INDIRECT OBJECT+OBJECT+ACTION VERB  

   "[Watakushi wa] ashita gakkou de sensei ni purezento wo agemasu."  
   ("[I'm] going to give a present to [my] teacher tomorrow.")  

For an existence verb it is:  

   [SUBJECT]+TIME+LOCATION+EXISTENCE VERB  

   "Takahashi wa ima honsha ni iru."  
    ("Takahasi is in the main office right now.")  

For a motion verb it is:  

   [SUBJECT]+TIME+ORIGIN+ROUTE+DESTINATION+MOTION VERB  

   "[Watakushi wa] ashita paatii ni iku."  
   ("[I'm] going to a party tomorrow.")  

IMPORTANT: Word order before the verb and the particles that nouns  
take depend on the verb type: action, existence or motion.  

PARTICLES  

SUBJECT  ga:が  wa:は 

In general, if a new subject is introduced where another had  
been previously understood, signal the change by placing "wa" after  
the subject. If a subject is understood, but for some reason not  
deleted (that's rare) use "ga" or nothing. Often you can move a  
subject out after the verb when things start piling up before the  
verb.  Like: "Ashita boku ga kooen de utau." (I'm singing at the park  
tomorrow.) often becomes: "Ashita kooen de utau, boku." For more on  
SUBJECTs, see the longer description in the next section, "Subjects  
and Deletion". Knowing how to delete is a key to sounding natural.  

TIME  ni:に 

A time word or time phrase is usually followed by "ni". In general,  
use "ni" for specific points in time or specific spans of time. So  
"jyuu gatsu [ni]" (October), "san gatsu mikka [ni]" (March 3rd) take  
"ni". A word like "ashita" (tomorrow) that can only be understood by  
context (it changes depending on when you say it). These types of  
words are called "deictic" time words and don't take "ni".  "Ashita  
iku" ("I'm going tomorrow."), but: "sanji ni iku" ("I'm going at 3.")  
Even if you have trouble making the distinction between these two  
types of time words, don't worry: Japanese people can understand what  
you mean even if you get it backwards.  

PLACE/IMPLEMENT  de:で 

By PLACE, I mean the location that a volitional *action* occurrs. If  
you're eating at home, that's "ouchi de shokuji suru". By implement, I  
mean a tool or item you use to perform an action. If you're eating  
with chopsticks, that's "ohasi de taberu". The place you do something  
or the thing you use to do something takes "de". If you're going  
somewhere by car, you say "kuruma de iku". It's not that hard to  
understand really.  

DESTINATION  ni:に  he:へ 

In Japanese, a DESTINATION is not an indirect object. You must think  
of it as a destination belonging to a verb of motion.  Verbs of motion  
that give a DESTINATION, or ones of existence that tell the LOCATION  
of something take "ni". (DESTINATIONs can also take "he".) Try to  
distinguish PLACE from LOCATION by thinking of it this way: PLACE is  
WHERE SOMETHING IS DONE, LOCATION is WHERE SOMETHING OR SOMEONE  
EXISTS.  

ORIGIN and ROUTE  wo:を 

Use "kara" ("from") after an ORIGIN and "wo" after a ROUTE. "Gakkoo  
kara, kooen wo totte, ouchi ni kaeru."  (Lit. "I'm going home from  
school through the park.") There's usually an intermediate verb in  
this type of usage. This covers the seemingly odd construction in  
Japanese of "mado wo magaru". You see you turn *through* the corner.  
It's not the ORIGIN. It's not the DESTINATION. It's along the way.  
Therefore it's the ROUTE you take. Therefore, you need "wo"  

OBJECT  wo:を 

Objects are followed by "wo" or nothing. "Hon wo yonde iru" (I'm  
reading a book.) This is a really simple one in most cases.  I really  
don't know many Japanese learners who can't understand this concept.  

INDIRECT OBJECT  ni:に 

Indirect objects are followed by "ni". By INDIRECT OBJECT, I mean a  
sort of secondary object that some verbs take. "Kono hon wo anata ni  
ageru." ("I'm going to give this book to you.") You have "this book"  
and you have "to you". The "this book" part is the OBJECT. The "to  
you" part is the INDIRECT OBJECT. "Wo" and "ni" are used to  
distinguish these two. In English, a preposition tends to come before  
the indirect object. (Like the "to" before "you" in this example.)  
This is the one that in Japanese needs to take "ni".  

VERB  yo:よ  ka:か 

Even a verb can take particles. You can use "yo" for exclamations and  
"ka" for questions. Most people find this easy. But the real problem  
with verbs is that they need to be inflected. There's a big section at  
the end of this guide that gives the rules on how to inflect Japanese  
verbs. Useful colloquial English equivalents of what those inflections  
mean are also given.  

IMPORTANT:  

To boil this section down, remember it this way:  

SUBJECT+wa/ga/nothing (Delete subject if possible, show changes with "wa".)  
TIME+ni/nothing       (Use nothing if it's a deictic time word.)  
PLACE/IMPLEMENT+de    (A place where you *do* something or a thing you use.)  
LOCATION+ni           (A location where someone or something *is*.)  
ORIGIN+kara  
ROUTE+wo              (Part of the path you follow to get somewhere.)  
DESTINATION+ni/he     (Use "ni" over "he" but be aware that both are okay.)  
INDIRECT OBJECT+ni    (Use this if you're out of choices. It's often right!)  
DIRECT OBJECT+wo  

After understanding the descriptions given earlier, these nine lines  
are the key to knowing what particle to use 90% of the time. Even if  
these rules cause you to make a mistake you're definitely being  
understood.  

DELETIONS  

Usually, you don't have to worry about whether to use wa or ga,  
because most subjects can usually be deleted. "You can't get something  
wrong, if you leave it out in the first place." That's my philosophy.  
So we'll work on the parts of sentences that you can delete, starting  
with subjects.  

If you turn to a Japanese and suddenly make a statement:  

  "Ashita paatii ni iku."  
  ("[I'm] going to the party tomorrow.")  

The listener will *naturally* assume the subject is you. So don't  
bother supplying any subject. To do so, in fact, is not natural; a  
Japanese wouldn't normally do it.  

If you turn to a Japanese and suddenly ask a question:  

  "Ashita paatii ni iku?"  
  ("[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?")  

The listener will assume the subject is himself or herself. Easy! Most  
one-on-one conversations where you or the listener is the subject  
*don't need an explicit subject*. No chance of screwing up wa/ga here.  

If you suddenly turn to a Japanese and want to make a statement or ask  
a question about some other person altogether, use "wa" after that  
person's name or title the first time you mention that person:  

  "Shachoo wa, ashita paatii ni iku?"  
  ("Is the shachoo going to the party tomorrow?")  

Let's just say the "wa" introduces a change in subject. This time it  
signals a change from the default "you the listener" to the "shachoo".  
After you establish that you're talking about the president you can  
go back to dropping subjects again:  

   "Sono ato wa, kaeru ka na?"  
   ("Is he going home after that?"--again some vagueness added with  
    "ka na" ("I wonder"). Don't be too forward making assumptions  
    about other people. This trick also stops the listener from  
    thinking the question is back to being about themself. There's a  
    strong tendency for questions to erase understood info and you  
    have to signal that things are unchanged. Usually you play with  
    the verb a little bit to get this across. Note that the change in  
    time being talked about was also signaled with a "wa".)  

Note that this tendency to delete in Japanese parallels the point  
where an English native speaker would use plain pronouns like, I, you,  
he, she, they. When you start a comment about yourself, you use "I"  
(Japanese people delete). When you ask about the listener, you use  
"you" (Japanese people delete). When you've first established someone  
and then keep going with that person, you use "he" or "she" (Japanese  
people delete). See?  Simple. So don't go around using "watakushi",  
"anata", "kare" and "kanojo" all the time. Okay? Use them the first  
time only and then get rid of them.  

Deleting other Established Info  

Just like with subjects, any info that's been established can be  
deleted, and any changes in established info can be signalled using  
"wa":  

  "Ashita paatii ni iku?"  
  ("[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?")  

  "Un, anata wa?"  
  ("Yeah, how about you?"--info about "paatii ni" and "iku" unchanged,  
   therefore deleted. Subject changed to original questioner, so the  
   change is signaled with "wa".)  

  "Un-n, ikanai"  
  ("No, I'm not going."--info about "paatii ni" still deleted, "iku"  
   comes back as "ikanai" because it has changed form.)  

  "Sono ato no eiga wa?"  
  ("How about the movie afterwards?"--the established info "paatii"  
   changed to "eiga" so we use "wa" to establish the change in  
   understood information. Understood info that *hasn't* changed is  
   still left out, like the subject "boku" and the action "iku".)  

  "Un-n, ikanai."  

This is pretty much how deletions work whether it be subjects or  
something else. In general, always go for deletions if possible. This  
section also serves the purpose of giving you a feel for "wa".  

Particle Ga  

In general, you don't need it. In the instances where you do, you  
can slowly build a feel for it. Basically, you need it in situations  
where you're not expressing a change in subject, but where you want  
to state the subject even though it is established info. Usually,  
this is to add emphasis or avoid ambiguity.  

  "Shacho wa, ashita paatii ni iku?"  
  ("Is the shachoo going to the party tomorrow?")  

  "Un-n, ikanai mitai."  
  ("No, it doesn't look like it."--throw in a "mitai" because you  
   don't wan't to act too sure of the actions of others in Japanese.  
   We're not really covering that though, it's just a side note.)  

  "Nande?"  
  ("Why not?")  

  "Sore ga wakaranai"  
  ("I don't know why not."--there's no real ambiguity in this case,  
   and "wakaranai" alone would have worked, but it is a case where  
   you're not changing an understood subject to another, you're  
   restating the understood subject as such for some emphasis. If  
   you're stating an established subject, for whatever reason, use  
   "ga". But you could've deleted, and if you were following my  
   philosophy you would have. This one sentence also helps dispell  
   the huge MYTH that "wa" is for negative sentences. Wipe that myth  
   from your mind. As a mental exercise, stop and think about why  
   negative sentences and changes in subject often go hand in hand. In  
   that you're admitting other possible subjects that might be  
   construed at that point, but you need to point out the subject that  
   *you're* talking about to avoid confusion. When you can get your  
   head around this concept, you will have come to understand "wa"  
   and "ga".)  

Particle Mo  も 

Use mo when you're adding more info on a list of established info. It  
may be used alone when marking subjects and objects, and can follow  
other particles (like ni, de, and he). Put it this way: if "wa" clears  
the understood info and replaces it, "mo" adds extra info on top of  
what's already there without clearing out anything.  

  "Ashita paatii ni iku?"  
  ("[Are you] going to the party tomorrow?")  

  "Un, iku yo. Kimi wa?"  
  ("Yeah, I'm going. Are you?"--note what was deleted and why.  
  Look at deletions in the English, too. See any similarities?)  

  "Boku mo iku."  
  ("I'm going too."--add yourself to the understood subject.)  

Mo is easy, so we won't waste any more time with it. Just trying to be  
complete and it only took a few lines to do.  

VERB CONJUGATIONS  

Another thing that many Japanese learners need is an easy method of  
arriving at all the verb conjugations and a highly reduced set of  
rules for how to get them right on the different types of verbs.  
That's easy enough really because there are only three major verb  
types: -ru verbs, -u verbs, and -aru verbs (a polite type not much  
used except for "gozaru/gozaimasu"). People really hate Eleanor Jorden  
for this kind of naming, but in language learning you take what's easy  
and go with it; there's no need to worry about theoretical linguistics  
here. Also note that I changed romanization styles at this point to  
one that makes the changes in verbs appear much more uniform.  

-Ru verbs are those that end in -ru like taberu and ireru. There is  
always an "i" or an "e" before "ru". "-u" verbs end in u, ku, gu, bu,  
mu, nu, su, tu, or [a,i,u,e,o]+ru.  See the overlap? It's where "i" or  
"e" comes before "ru". Luckily, an ambiguous verb is *usually* a -ru  
verb. But to be sure, you should memorize two forms for all "e+ru" and  
"i+ru" verbs (e.g. ireru/irete and hairu/haitte), so you can keep them  
straight. So here's the process of picking up a new verb. You look in  
the dictionary or ask a native speaker.  

Q. How do you say "kick"?  
A. "keru"  

If it had ended in u, ku, gu, bu, mu, nu, su or tu that would be all  
the information you need to come up with every inflection. But this  
one is "e+ru" so you need to know if it's a -ru verb or an -u verb.  
Check by asking for another form.  

Q. Do you say "kemasu" or "kerimasu"?  
A. You say "kerimasu".  

Well, now you know it's an -u verb. If you drop -ru to add -masu,  
that's always a -ru verb. If you change -u to -i that's always an -u  
verb. Once you know which it is you can make all the inflections you  
need just from knowing "keru".  

-Ru Verbs  

For these verbs, everything is done by dropping or replacing -ru with  
something else.  Just remember the different uses of each conjugation.  

drop -ru to add extensions like -masu (polite), -yasui (easy to):    tabe+X  
 ("Tabeyasui". This is easy to eat.)  

replace with "-te" for gerund:          tabete  
 (The gerund form is for "and"-ing verbs (eat and go, "tabete iku") and  
 also for simple orders: Eat that. "Are tabete".)  

replace with "-ta" for past tense:      tabeta  
 (I ate it.)  

replace with "-tara" for meaning "if":  tabetara  
 (If I/someone eats. often has the feel of "once". once it happens, then...)  

replace with "-tari" for meaning "do things like":  tabetari  
 (I did things like eating--"tabetari sita". not really used much)  

replace with "-reba" for another "if":  tabereba  
 (If I/someone eats. Much more like an "if" than "-tara" but don't worry  
 to much about the difference, they're pretty much interchangeable.)  

replace with "-yoo" for "let's":        tabeyoo  
 (Let's eat.)  

replace with "-ro" for rude orders:     tabero  
 (Eat dammit!)  

replace with "-nai" for negative:       tabenai  
 (Note that to order someone *not* to do something you add "de" here.  
 Don't eat that! "Are tabenai de yo!")  

replace with "-rareru" for "can":       taberareru <- these are now -ru verbs   
 (I can't eat this! "kore taberarenai yo!" Good in cafeteria's.)  

replace with "-saseru" for "make (someone) do": tabesaseru <- now a -ru verb  
 ("Kore tabesasenai de yo!" Don't make me eat this. A negative request  
 equal in level to "tabete" is "nai" plus "de", remember?)  

replace with "-rareru" for passive "was X-ed":  taberareru <- now a -ru verb  
 (Looks exactly like "can" for this type verb. "Raion ni taberareta."  
 I was eaten by a lion. Use "ni" for "by" to show the agent of a passive verb.)  

replace with "-rareru" for potential "can do X":  taberareru <- now a -ru verb  
 (Looks exactly like passive for this type verb. "natto taberaru?"  
 Can you eat natto? Get used to this question!!)  

replace with "-saserareru" for "be made to":    tabesaserareru <- a -ru verb  
 (This follows from just putting two separate types above together.  
 My mom made me eat chicken. "Okaasan ni chikin wo tabesaserareta."  
 Putting it in passive makes you seem like you didn't want to and you  
 feel sorry for yourself.)  

-U Verbals  

-RU verbs are by far the easiest to conjugate: you drop -ru and add  
something else. Simple. -U verbs aren't that easy but almost.  
Typically you drop -u and add something else. The problem is that  
there might be a phonetic change (such as when ha becomes pa, or ta  
becomes da) for some of the types. See -ru verbs above for simple  
English examples of what the conjunctions mean. This part will cover  
the conjunction rules for -u verbals only.  

Remember, there are some -u verbs that end in -ru. Real -ru verbs  
(where -ru gets dropped) always end in "iru" or "eru". Anything else,  
like "aru"/be located, "oru"/break and "uru"/sell, must be an -u verb.  
For "iru" and "eru" you need to know two forms to be sure. If you see  
one that ends in "iru" or "eru", and -u changes to add -masu, or the  
"t" doubles to get a gerund (hairu->haitte), then you're dealing with  
an -u verb. Otherwise, it's a -ru verb.  

There are other verbs that end in -ru that aren't either type.  These  
are always super-polite oddball verbs like gozaru/gozaimasu and  
nasaru/nasaimasu. You can effectively forget about these because they  
are only a handful and you can see them coming a mile away.  Usually,  
just assume anything ending "aru", "uru" or "oru" is an -u verb.)  

IMPORTANT: Except for "iru/eru" verbs, every other type of verb  
can be identified by hearing only one form.  

Including -u verbs which might happen to end in -ru, these are all the  
types there are:  

-su  

-ku  (these two types conjugate similarly)  
-gu  

-bu  (these three types conjugate similarly)  
-mu  
-nu  

-ru  (these three types conjugate similarly)  
-tu  
-vowel+u  

-su is the only one that is well-behaved. That is, -u will change to  
-a, -i, -e or -o depending on the conjugation with no odd behavior to  
remember.  

Here are the replacements:  

replace -u with -i to add extensions like "-masu", "-yasui", etc.  
 (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)  

hanasu -> hanasi (talk)  
kiku   -> kiki   (walk)  
oyogu  -> oyogi  (swim)  
yobu   -> yobi   (call)  
nomu   -> nomi   (drink)  
sinu   -> sini   (die)  
tukuru -> tukuri (make)  
matu   -> mati   (wait)  
harau  -> harai  (pay)  

Replace -u with -ite for do "X and Y" and for simple commands.  
 (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)  

hanasu -> hanasite (talk)  

kiku   -> kiite   (walk)    (replace entire -ku, be sure to use -ite)  
oyogu  -> oyoide  (swim)    (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -ide)  

yobu   -> yonde    (call)   (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -nde)  
nomu   -> nonde    (drink)  (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -nde)   
sinu   -> sinde    (die)    (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -nde)   

tukuru -> tukutte  (make)   (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -tte)  
matu   -> matte    (wait)   (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -tte)   
harau  -> haratte  (pay)    (replace -u, be sure to use -tte)  

Replace -u with -ita for past tense.  
 (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)  

hanasu -> hanasita (talk)  

kiku   -> kiita   (walk)    (replace entire -ku, be sure to use -ita)  
oyogu  -> oyoida  (swim)    (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -ida)  

yobu   -> yonda    (call)   (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -nda)  
nomu   -> nonda    (drink)  (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -nda)   
sinu   -> sinda    (die)    (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -nda)   

tukuru -> tukutta  (make)   (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -tta)  
matu   -> matta    (wait)   (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -tta)   
harau  -> haratta  (pay)    (replace -u, be sure to use -tta)  

(In fact, I query search and replaced "e" with "a" on the gerunds to  
arrive at the past tense. This is good to know because the rule  
breakers are now breaking the rules in a predictable fashion.)  

Replace -u with -itara for "if". (Or, just add "ra" to the past.)  
 (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)  

hanasu -> hanasitara (talk)  

kiku   -> kiitara   (walk)    (replace entire -ku, be sure to use -itara)  
oyogu  -> oyoidara  (swim)    (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -idara)  

yobu   -> yondara    (call)   (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -ndara)  
nomu   -> nondara    (drink)  (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -ndara)   
sinu   -> sindara    (die)    (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -ndara)   

tukuru -> tukuttara  (make)   (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -ttara)  
matu   -> mattara    (wait)   (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -ttara)   
harau  -> harattara  (pay)    (replace -u, be sure to use -ttara)  

Replace -u with -itari for "do things like X". (Or just add "ri" to past.)  
 (types not strictly following the rule, but acting similarly, are grouped)  

hanasu -> hanasitari (talk)  

kiku   -> kiitari   (walk)    (replace entire -ku, be sure to use -itari)  
oyogu  -> oyoidari  (swim)    (replace entire -gu, be sure to use -idari)  

yobu   -> yondari    (call)   (replace entire -bu, be sure to use -ndari)  
nomu   -> nondari    (drink)  (replace entire -mu, be sure to use -ndari)   
sinu   -> sindari    (die)    (replace entire -nu, be sure to use -ndari)   

tukuru -> tukuttari  (make)   (replace entire -ru, be sure to use -ttari)  
matu   -> mattari    (wait)   (replace entire -tu, be sure to use -ttari)   
harau  -> harattari  (pay)    (replace -u, be sure to use -ttari)  

Replace -u with -eba for "if"  
 (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)  

hanasu -> hanaseba (talk)  
kiku   -> kikeba   (walk)  
oyogu  -> oyogeba  (swim)  
yobu   -> yobeba   (call)  
nomu   -> nomeba   (drink)  
sinu   -> sineba   (die)  
tukuru -> tukureba (make)  
matu   -> mateba   (wait)  
harau  -> haraeba  (pay)  

Replace -u with -oo for "let's do X".  
 (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)  

hanasu -> hanasoo (talk)  
kiku   -> kikoo   (walk)  
oyogu  -> oyogoo  (swim)  
yobu   -> yoboo   (call)  
nomu   -> nomoo   (drink)  
sinu   -> sinoo   (die)  
tukuru -> tukuroo (make)  
matu   -> matoo   (wait)  
harau  -> haraoo  (pay)  

Replace -u with -e for rude orders "do X dammit".  
 (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)  

hanasu -> hanase (talk)  
kiku   -> kike   (walk)  
oyogu  -> oyoge  (swim)  
yobu   -> yobe   (call)  
nomu   -> nome   (drink)  
sinu   -> sine   (die)  
tukuru -> tukure (make)  
matu   -> mate   (wait)  
harau  -> harae  (pay)  

Replace -u with -anai for negative. (This is now an adjective.)  
 (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one type)  

hanasu -> hanasanai (talk)  
kiku   -> kikanai   (walk)  
oyogu  -> oyoganai  (swim)  
yobu   -> yobanai   (call)  
nomu   -> nomanai   (drink)  
sinu   -> sinanai   (die)  
tukuru -> tukuranai (make)  
matu   -> matanai   (wait)  
harau  -> harawanai (pay)    (stick a wa in there, not just an "a". Makes  
                              it easier to say, too. Lucky us!)  

Replace -u with -eru for "can do X". This is now a -ru verb.  
 (works straight across, no phonetic changes in any of the types)  

hanasu -> hanaseru (talk)  
kiku   -> kikeru   (walk)  
oyogu  -> oyogeru  (swim)  
yobu   -> yoberu   (call)  
nomu   -> nomeru   (drink)  
sinu   -> sineru   (die)  
tukuru -> tukureru (make)  
matu   -> materu   (wait)  
harau  -> haraeru  (pay)  

Replace -u with -aseru for "make (someone) do X". This is now a -ru verb.  
 (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of the types)  

hanasu -> hanasaseru (talk)  
kiku   -> kikaseru   (walk)  
oyogu  -> oyogaseru  (swim)  
yobu   -> yobaseru   (call)  
nomu   -> nomaseru   (drink)  
sinu   -> sinaseru   (die)  
tukuru -> tukuraseru (make)  
matu   -> mataseru   (wait)  
harau  -> harawaseru (pay)  (Don't forget to throw a wa in there!)  

Replace -u with -areru for "X is done (often to someone)". This is now  
a -ru verb. (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of  
the types)  

hanasu -> hanasareru (talk)  
kiku   -> kikareru   (walk)  
oyogu  -> oyogareru  (swim)  
yobu   -> yobareru   (call)  
nomu   -> nomareru   (drink)  
sinu   -> sinareru   (die)  
tukuru -> tukurareru (make)  
matu   -> matareru   (wait)  
harau  -> harawareru (pay)  (Don't forget to throw a wa in there!)  

Replace -u with -aserareru for "be made to do X by someone". Same  
result as just doing the two conjunctions separately but is taught  
in most books as a specific conjunction. This is now a -ru verb.  
 (works straight across, only one phonetic change in one of the types)  

hanasu -> hanasaserareru (talk)  
kiku   -> kikaserareru   (walk)  
oyogu  -> oyogaserareru  (swim)  
yobu   -> yobaserareru   (call)  
nomu   -> nomaserareru   (drink)  
sinu   -> sinaserareru   (die)  
tukuru -> tukuraserareru (make)  
matu   -> mataserareru   (wait)  
harau  -> harawaserareru (pay)  (Don't forget to throw a wa in there!)  

Now that was long, but it was mostly cut-and-paste because even these  
are well-behaved when you organize them correctly. When you boil down  
what needs to be done to these verbs to conjugate them correctly, the  
information required is really minimal--even for the oddballs. That's  
all you need to be able to conjugate almost every verb in Japanese.  
Most books say that there are only two irregular verbs in all of  
Japanese: suru and kuru. Those you have to memorize separately, but  
they kind of make sense when you look at them. In fact, though,  
there's a third irregular verb: iku. The reason is that unlike kiita  
for kiku, you don't say iita, you say itta. You don't say, iite, you  
say itte. But it's regular in it's irregularity because it acts like  
tsukuru for some weird reason.  

kuru                     ("will come", or "comes (often, everyday, etc.)")  
ki                       (to add "-masu", note that "-yasui" isn't used)  
kite                     (casual command: "come here")  
kita                     (past tense: "someone came")  
kitara (add ra to past)  ("if(once) someone comes", some connotation of when)  
kitari (ad ri to past)   ("do things like come")  
kureba                   ("if someone comes", no connotation of when)  
koyoo                    ("let's come", no, it can't possibly mean orgasms)  
koi                      (rude request: "come here you")  
konai                    (negative: "won't come" or "doesn't come (very much)")  
korareru                 ("can come")  
kosaseru                 ("make (someone) come")  
korareru                 (passive--no example comes to mind)  
kosaserareru             ("be made to come (by someone)")  

suru                     ("will do", or "does (often, everyday, etc.)")  
si                       (to add "-masu", or "-yasui")  
site                     (casual command: "do this")  
sita                     (past tense: "someone did")  
sitara (add ra to past)  ("if(once) someone does", some connotation of when)  
X sitari (ad ri to past) ("do things like doing X")  
sureba                   ("if someone does", no connotation of when)  
X siyoo                  ("let's do X")  
siro                     (rude request: "do this dammit")  
sinai                    (negative: "won't do" or "doesn't do (very much)")  
dekiru (really "seru")   ("can do"--"someone I can love": "ai seru hito")  
saseru                   ("make (someone) do")  
sareru                   ("be done (by someone"))  
saserareru               ("be made to do (by someone)")  

A cool trick to remember suru is that many of the conjugations match  
what you would get if you conjugated a lone "su", so it's kind of like  
"hanasu". Hanasita--sita. Hanaseru--seru. Hanasaseru--saseru.  

ADJECTIVES  

These aren't that hard. They always end in [a,i,u,o]+i. They *never*  
end in e+i that would be a noun. Basically you replace "i" with a form  
of "ka" to inflect.  

yasashii                 ("It's nice")  
yasashiku nai            ("It's not nice")  
yasashikatta             ("It was nice")  
yasashikattara           ("If it's nice.")  
yasashikattari           (possible I suppose but not heard often)  
yasashikereba            ("If it's nice.")  

These inflections follow what a "ka+u" verb would do. If you can  
conjugate "kau" (to buy) you can conjugate every Japanese adjective.  
Just note that you don't say: "atsukaseru" for "make something hot"  
you say "atsuku suru". For a command, say: "yasashiku natte" ("be  
nice").  

Sometimes when you look in a dictionary or ask for an adjective you,  
you will find something that doesn't look like an adjective at  
all. It's a noun! If you come up with a noun for a word when you  
expected an adjective (like "kirei" for "pretty"), just remember that  
you use adjectival noun + na + noun to make it work. So, "kirei na  
ojoosan" is "pretty girl". Everything else is like a noun. "Kirei da".  
"Kirei ja nai", etc.  
   

------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Tad Perry      Internet:    tvp@eskimo.com  
               CompuServe:  70402,3020  
               NIFTY-Serve: GBG01266  
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