Table Of ContentJapanese Grammar
by
HIDEICHI ONO
Assist. Professor of Tokyo University
of Foreign Studies
Lecturer at Takachiho College
of Commerce
Lecturer at the Association for
Overseas Technical Scholarship
1973
THE HOKUSEIDO PRESS
TOKYO
© Copyright, 1973, by Hideichi Ono
ISBN 0-89346-004-4
First Printing March, 1973
Twelfth Printing February, 1985
Presented to the
library of the
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
by
Mr. Daisaku Ikeda
President
Soka Gakkai International
Published by The Hokuseido Press
3-12, Kanda-NishUdciio, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
PREFACE
It is a fact that numerous books have been written on the Japanese
language, yet there have been no suitable, comprehensive texts for its
study—very few serve any grammatical and logical purpose. This
has led to the preparation of the present work “Japanese Grammar”
which is intended for both beginners and those who wish to pursue
the study of Japanese at a more advanced level. The author of this
grammar spent several years in research and inquiry into current
Japanese grammar, grammatical function, syntactical details, and the
grammar's scope of study. The result is the present volume—some
of the exclusive and important features of this volume may be sum-
marized as follows:
Following the Preface there is a special section, “An Outline of
the Japanese Language”， which provides useful and general infor
mation about Japanese pronunciation, sentence patterns, and verbal and
adjectival conjugations. First, the author is to take his readers on
a study tour of this section, the world of the Japanese language, before
departure. This volume is made up of fifty-four lessons and each lesson
follows a strictly grammatical order. The majority of the lessons in
the book, except Lessons 52, 53, and 54, consistently follow the same
system—rule, drill, and exercise. The author’s idea is, as it were, to
enable the readers to go hand in hand with the study of each of these
sections—the reason is that the study of the rule itself cannot be
independently brought to a successful end. Thus, the readers are
requested not to disregard this interrelated order—progress by degrees
based upon rule, drill, and exercise which are worth serious study.
In particular, the with grammatical explanations based on a
scientific description of the language, is written in both Japanese and
in Roman letters with their English translations, so that students of
the Japanese language, especially beginners, may learn the language
and its grammar with far greater ease and precision. The drill and
exercise sections, blended with all words and terms and reading matter
conforming to modem usage, have been given by the language symbol
ic characters (hiragana, katakana, and Kanji) only—each of these
sentences is also accompanied by its English translation; these latter
two sections, in conjunction with the former rule section, will, un
doubtedly, be welcomed by foreign students, research students, and
trainees whose intention is to probe more definitely and deeply into
iv Preface
the intricacies of that most difficult and complex of all languages—
Japanese. The sections drill and exercise are intended to help the
student concentrate on the study of reading, writing, and speaking
after his getting maximum benefit from grammar and structural
comprehension in the rule section.
The selection and arrangement of contents provides the student with
a well-rounded command of the Japanese language by fostering ability
to read a wide variety of materials. The series contains selections
from the pens of some writers. In view of the nature of this work
for non-native speakers studying Japanese, major or minor changes
in vocabulary, style, Kanji, etc. were inevitable. Drastic modifications
have been thoroughly necessary—therefore, the original authors’ names
have been purposely withheld to spare them annoyance. The author
wishes to record here his profound gratitude to these writers.
The author also expresses his sincere thanks to his American
friend Mr. Paul Craven who kindly gave valuable suggestions and
helpful criticism and looked over the manuscript of this book.
The author hopes that the readers will acquire, by using this
Grammar Book, a sound sense of Japanese grammar in current Japa
nese. Besides, it is the hope of the author that this book, as well as
facilitating the study of the Japanese language, will also contribute to
friendly understanding between the peoples of Japan and all other
countries.
Embracing the opportunity of this publication, the author has to
express his thanks to Mr. Junpei Nakatsuchi, the publisher of the
Hokuseido Press, for his kind help.
March 1973
Hideichi Ono
CONTENTS
Page
Preface ......................... iii
An Outline of the Japanese Language............................................1
Lesson
1 . Copula.................................................................................... 33
2. Connective Particle で （de).................................................... 36
3. The Use of も （mo), also .................................................. 38
4. The Use of の （no), of.......................................................... 40
" 5. Verb of Existence............................................................ 46
(C^Connective Form いて（ite) and あって（atte)..................... 50
8. The Difference of Function between は （wa) and が（ga) — 56
9. The Use of Place Words へ （e)，に （ni), and で （de)........... 61
10. The Use of Place Wordsに は（niwa), and では（dewa)-------65
11. Concession ........................................................................... 70
12. The •••は （wa) •••が（ga) Construction .............. 77
13. A Comparison of は （wa),が （ga),の （no),には（niwa),
and では（dewa)............. 82
14. An Objective Particle .......................................................... 93
15. Continuative or Participial Construction .......................... 98
f な （Na)-Adjective .................................................................107
Connective で （de) in the case of な （na)-Adjective.........113
ぃ （1)-Adjective .....................................................................117
丄冰 Connective て （te) in the case of い （i)-Adjective..............122
20. Direct and Indirect Objects ...............................................126
2 1 .Complement..........................................................................131
22. The Syntax “to become” ...................................................134
23. The Conjectural Form (1)...................................................138
24. The Conjectural (Appearance) Form (2).............................143
25. The Conjectural (Appearance) Form ⑶ .............................147
26. The Volitional Form..............................................................152
vi Contents
27. The Progressive Form...........................................................158
28. Common Courtesy in Requests.............................................165
29. Common Courtesy in Giving and Receiving ....................171
30. True Compound Verb (1)....................................................178
31. True Compound Verb (2)...................................................182
32. True Compound Verb (3)....................................................187
33. Some Auxiliary Verbs (may be; must be; to be+infini
tive; to intend to)..............................................................191
34. The Form of Necessity or Obligation (must)....................203
35. The Form of Permission and Prohioition (may; should
not) ...................................................................................211
36. Some Auxiliary Verbs Denoting “Judgement”，“Criti
cism”， “Emotion”， and “Suggestion” .............................217
37. The Form of an Auxiliary which Suggests a Rumor__226
38. The Use of Purpose, Parallel, and Paradox........................233
39. Expressions Denoting “an Experience in the Past”
and “Immediate Proximity in Time” .............................240
40. Some Idiomatic Expressions ................................................245
41. Hypothetical Subjunctive Condition (1)..............................248
42. Hypothetical Subjunctive Condition (2)...............................258
43. Intransitive and Transitive Verbs .....................................269
44. The Use of the Potential Auxiliary “Can” .......................275
45. The Voice...............................................................................282
46. The Causative Form..............................................................293
47. The Use of “After. . 299
48. The Use of “When. .......................................................304
49. Noun Phrases and Clauses...................................................311
50. Connective Particle Referring to Cause or Reason .........319
51. Conjunctions...........................................................................328
52. The Use of Important Particles, Conjunctions, etc............334
53. Common Adverbs .................................................................354
54. The Use of Particles at the End of Sentences ................357
An Outline of the Japanese Language
The nature of the combination of Japanese sounds is illuminated
through comparison with that of the English language. The former
ends entirely with vowels, with the exception of the syllabic nasal
sound ン [n], such as kaigan, a seashore and mikan， an orange. This
nasal sound ン [n] nearly corresponds to the English articulation [n];
but this articulation is, in fact, conducted m two ways in Japanese.
When the Japanese syllabic nasalン can be articulated just as the
phonetic sign [n] in English, the tip of the tongue is pressed against
the upper gum. On the other hand, in Japanese, when woras end
mainly with ン or some vowels follow it, the articulation of [n] used
in English is not adaptable. In this case, the tongue back is raised
up to the velum to close off the mouth. This is exemplified as follows:
(A) The same articulation as the English [n]:
sefisui, diving mefikai, an interview
hafttai, opposition shindai， a bed
(B) The Japanese ン unlike the English [n]:
k6gen, a plateau mon, the gate
san-en, three yen tan-i, a unit
Other than this nasal sound, all of the Japanese fifty sounds end
with vowels. That combination of sounds which ends with a vowel
evidenced in the Japanese language is regarded as an open syllable;
this syllable is formed of a consonant + a vowel. In English the
combination of sounds ends with either vowel or consonant — here
is a marked difference. The proportion of consonants to vowels in
this combination in English is high; in other words, the consonant
cluster, a series of consonants, figures heavily in the construction.
That combination of sounds ending with a consonant evinced in the
English language is called a closed syllable.
Note: The English phonetic symbols employed herein are according to the
International Phonetic Association.
In addition, as the main feature of the closed syllable, the combi
nation of sounds always ends on a consonant, with the exception of
such short vowels as [9] and [i]. That is, in English there are found
no terms ending with the sounds [ae], [a], [e], [o], or [u]. This case
is simply demonstrated as follows:
kokuban, blackboard [blsekboid]
daijin, minister [minista]
2 An Outline of the Japanese Language
chomen, notebook [noutbuk]
kakujitsu, surety [Juati]
shikai, dentist [dentist]
enpitsu， pencil [pensl]
jitensha， bicycle [bdisikl]
As to the difference of accent between Japanese and English, the
former is recognized as the pitch accent and the latter as the stress
accent.
When observing the Gothic words in the following sentences, the
form of a lower or higher pitch can be detected. In Hi ni atarimasho,
Let’s warm ourselves at the fire， and Hi ni atarimash5, Let’s bask in
the sun, the term hi ni, at the fire, is marked with the pitch accent
“_ hi ni ” and the term hi ni, in the sun, “ hi—ni.” Likewise, such
一 一
words as hashi, an edge, hashi, chopsticks, and hashi, a bridge, must
be pronounced respectively as “ hashi ”, an edge, “_ ha_ shl ”，chopsticks,
and “_ ha—shi ”， a bridge. Antithetic to this nature, in English those
words composed of more than two syllables are all to be accentuated
someplace; that is, the stress accent goes on, never permitting even
a word to be pronounced flat as in Japanese.
Such consonants as [f], [v], [0], and [5] in English cannot be found
in Japanese and are simulated by those consonants included in the
lines ノ、 (ha), ノ< (b丑 ),サ (sa), and if (za) of the J&paiiGS已 50 Sounds
Table. The consonant in the line ハ (h) corresponds to the English
[f] and [h], the consonant in the line < (b) to [v] and [b], and the
ノ
consonant in the lines サ （s) and ザ （z) to [0] and [s] and to [d] and
[z]. The consonant [s] found in the Japanese letters サ （sa),ス （su),
セべse), and ソ （so) is pronounced in such a way that the tip of the
tongue is let down, permitting to slightly touch the back of the lower
teeth; so, the sound of friction occurs between the front part of the
palate and the front of the tongue. But for the English consonant
[s] the upper and lower teeth are drawn close, nearly in touch with
each other. Then the left and right rim of the tongue must be pressed
against the upper gum; in this way the fricative sound [s] is brought
out from between the tip of the tongue and the teeth ridge. When
pronouncing ザ （za),ズ （zu),ゼ （ze), and ゾ （zo), the tip of the tongue
is once pressed against the gum and released as vocalization is initiated.
Therefore, these sounds have assumed the quality of [dz], and not of
the sound [z]. In the case of [z] in English, the tip of the tongue is
not in contact with the upper teeth ridge. Some Japanese terms with
the sound [dz] are zaibatsu, plutocracy, zuga, drawing, zeikan, the
An Outline of the Japanese Language 3
customs, and z5tei, presentation.
The Japanese consonants シ （sh),シヤ，シュ， and シヨ nearly cor
respond to the voiceless sound [/] in English. Also, the Japanese
consonants ジ （j),ジヤ，ジュ， and ジョ are similar to the voiced sound
[3J in English. The sounds シ （sh) and ジ（j) in Japanese are not made
from a hollow in the middle of the tongue by lifting up its left and
right rim as in pronouncing the English [J] and [3]; in Japanese it’s
also unnecessary to protrude the lips forward in a pucker. Particularly
the sound ジ （j)， in words like ジテンシヤ（jitensha)， a bicycle, can
be pronounced with the tongue touching the upper jaw.
The Japanese consonants チ ヤ （ch),チュ， and チョ are quite the
same as the English affricate [tj]; but they are less pronounced than
[tj] which strengthens the expiration by protruding the lips forward.
The Japanese consonants ハ （h)，へ， and ホ are less pronounced
than the English glottal[h] which has an intense vibration of the vocal
chords and an inward shift of its point of articulation.
The Japanese consonant in the line ラ （1)can be pronounced with
the tip of the tongue touching the upper gum as if rebounding, espe
cially when it is inserted between vowels. But the English fricative
[r] must be pronounced so that the tip of the tongue would absolutely
not touch the upper gum.
The Japanese consonant in the line 力 （k) and ガ （g) is slightly
different from the English plosive [k] and [g]; the latter is pronounced
in a stronger expiration, with the tongue much more emphatic, press-
ing against the upper jaw and also leaving the point of articulation
behind. The voiced form of 力 （k) is ガ （g). To ascertain the dif
ference, some of these words are given here:
kabin, a vase kettle [ketl], yakan
kome, rice couple [kXpl]，ffifu
gendai, the present day gauge [geid3], keiki
gunka, a war song good-bye [gtadbai], sayonara
The English nasal[q] is used in Japanese as well. As for the
plosive [g], respiration comes into the mouth whereas, in the nasal [13],
it enters the nose. Some of these words are given as follows:
gaikoku, a foreign country kage [kaqe], shade
gicho, the chairman kagaku [kaqaku], science
goji, a wrong word kagi [kaqi], a key
The Japanese consonant in the line 夕 （t) and ダ （d) approximates
the English plosive [t] and [d]. The sounds in Japanese generally
belong to those called the post dental and are pronounced in such a
