grammar

What does "koko" mean in Japanese? There are multiple ways to use "koko" in the Japanese language, but native speakers normally use it to refer to a place physically close to them, the point in time where they are, or a certain time period to or from now. In this blog post, I will explain this word in detail based …

[Read more...] about Koko can work mainly in the three different ways in Japanese, explained

How to make nouns from adjectives in Japanese Japanese people make nouns from adjectives by using the suffixes, "sa" and "mi". These can work in very similar ways that English suffixes like "-ness", "-tion", and the like do. In this blog post, I will explain how to use them to make nouns from adjectives in Japanese. …

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What is Japanese te form? To tell the truth, Japanese native speakers do not know what the te form is. They don’t learn the Japanese language in the same way as Japanese learners do. In general, however, when we say “te form”, it refers to a combination of a verb and the conjunctive particle, “te”, or a combination …

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Confusing verbs: "suru" and "yaru" I know that Japanese learners quite often confuse the two widely-used verbs: "suru" and "yaru". Both are very similar and, in fact, can be used interchangeably in many cases. Yet, they are not the same. So, in this blog post, I will explain their differences with examples. Honestly …

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What does "da" mean in Japanese? Honestly speaking, the Japanese auxiliary verb, "da", doesn't have any big impact on a meaning of a sentence. Certainly, we can use it to make a declarative sentence. Often, however, a sentence with this auxiliary verb has the same meaning as a sentence without it. So, Japanese …

[Read more...] about Da in Japanese: the key to conjugating na-adjectives