notes

polite verb conjugation

• all verbs end with an 「う」 syllable (not and 「う」 kana)
• possible endings include: 「う」、 「く」、 「す」、 「つ」、 「ぬ」、 「む」、 「ぐ」、 「ぶ」、 and 「る」
• Japanese polite present tense is created by adding 「ます」 to the 「ます」 verb stem
  • to make the godan 「ます」 verb stem: change the 「う」 syllable to an 「い」 syllable
  • to make the ichidan 「ます」 verb stem: drop the 「る」
  • 「する」 is irregular, it becomes 「します」
  • 「来る」 is irregular, it becomes 「きます」
• the negative Japanese polite present tense is created by adding 「ません」 to the 「ます」 verb stem

  present tense

• the Japanese present tense is used for habitual actions and future actions

  more on particles

• 「を」 marks direct objects
• 「で」 marks where an activity takes place
• 「に」 marks the time an activity takes place or movement towards a goal
• 「へ」 marks movement towards a goal

  time references

• use 「に」 with days of the week and numerical time expressions (like 「７時」)
• do note use 「に」 for “when”, regular intervals, and words like “today” and “tomorrow”
• 「に」 is optional for times of day and “weekend”

  polite invitations

• polite invitations are made with the「ます」 stem + 「ません」 + 「か」 (similar to “Won’t you?”)

  frequency adverbs

• 「毎日」 means “every day”
• 「よく」 means “often”
• 「時々」 means “sometimes”
• 「全然」 means “never”
• 「あまり」 means “not often”
• negative adverbs (like 「全然」 and 「あまり」) must be combined with negative conjugations

  word order

• Japanese is generally an “SOV” language, but “OV”, V”, O”, and “V” can also be grammatical

  more on the 「は」 particle

• 「は」 is not the subject marker (「が」 is the subject marker)
• 「は」 marks the topic of conversation

  resources

• youtube