Japanese Study Course

日語學習課程

In Lesson 1, we will study pronouns, which form the foundation of grammar.
Let’s take a look at the list of personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and interrogative pronouns.

In Lesson 2, we will learn how to modify nouns using pronouns, other nouns, to‑infinitives, participles, and relative pronouns. For example, in Japanese, the structure “noun + の + noun” is used, as in “先生の辞書” (“the teacher’s dictionary”).

In Lesson 3, the pattern “A は B です” is called a noun‑predicate sentence. The pattern “A は B が好きです” is called an adjective‑predicate sentence. The expression “好きです” is made up of an adjective plus an auxiliary verb — it is not a verb.

In Lesson 4, Japanese grammatical patterns such as “A は B を･･･。” are called verbal‑predicate sentences. In these sentences, the predicate part “･･･” is made up of a verb plus an auxiliary verb.

In Lesson 5, if you want to say “I bought two dictionaries” in Japanese, you would normally say 「私は2冊辞書を買った。」 To make it polite, it becomes 「私は2冊辞書を買いました。」 Here, 「ます」 changes to its past tense form 「ました」.

In Lesson 6, if you want to say “I am watching my favorite TV program” in Japanese, you would normally say 「私はお気に入りのテレビ番組を見ています。」 For the past tense, you can say 「私は昨日昼まで日本語を勉強していました。」 (“I was studying Japanese until noon yesterday.”)

In Lesson 7, verb expressions that describe a state or situation use the same form as the present progressive tense. However, in these cases, the form does not indicate an ongoing action—it expresses a situation or condition.

In Lesson 8, if you want to say “I can speak English” in Japanese, the polite expression is 「私は英語ができます。」 Another way to say it is 「私は英語を話すことができます。」

In Lesson 9, we will study verbs that express “possibility” in Japanese. You learned the verb 買う (“to buy”) in Lesson 5, so now let me introduce its potential form, 買える, which means “can buy.”

In Lesson 10, to say “Shohei Ohtani will not pitch in the baseball game tomorrow” in Japanese, you would normally say 「大谷翔平は明日の野球の試合で投げないだろう。」 In Japanese, the future tense is expressed using the same form as the present tense.

In Lesson 11, we will study the following expressions:
(1) Possibility / Guess (“may be”),
(2) Subjective Conviction (“must be”),
(3) Objective Conjecture (“should be”).

In Lesson 12, when you want to say “I want to go on a trip with my friends during the summer vacation” in Japanese, you say 「私は夏休みに友達と旅行がしたいです。」

In Lesson 13, we will study expressions of permission and prohibition. To say “Can I go to Shibuya with my friends tomorrow?” in Japanese, you can say 「私は明日、友達と渋谷に行ってもいいですか。」

In Lesson 14, we will study expressions of invitation and intention—such as “Would you like to…?” and “Let’s…” for inviting someone, and “I would like to…” and “I’m going to…” for expressing intention.

In Lesson 15, we will study request expressions such as “Please do …” and “Will you please …?” For example, to say “Please open the window” in Japanese, you say 「窓を開けてください。」

If you’d like, I can also help you expand this lesson with examples of 〜てください, 〜てくれませんか, and 〜てもらえますか to show different levels of politeness.

In Lesson 16, we will study expressions that use two objects, such as the S + V + O + O pattern—for example, “I will give her a birthday present.” In Japanese, you would say 「私は彼女に誕生日のプレゼントをあげようと思います。」

In Lesson 17, we will review the verb conjunctive‑form expressions we have already studied. We will also learn new usages such as “…していきます” and “…してきます.”

In Lesson 18, we will look at the two types of Japanese adjectives: i‑type and na‑type. In this lesson, we focus on the usage of i‑type adjectives, such as in 「赤いリンゴ」 (“a red apple”) and 「高い山」

In Lesson 19, we will study the usage of na‑type adjectives. For example: 「きれいな先生」 (“a beautiful teacher”) and 「静かな音楽」 (“quiet music”). They can also be used in predicate sentences, such as 「この音楽は静かだ／静かではない。」 (“This music is quiet / This music is not quiet.”)

In Lesson 20, we will study the usage of the particles 「が」 and 「は」. Because these two particles can seem similar, we will explain in detail how they are used differently.