The most important thing to understand first: Japanese sentences are built in a completely different order from English. Where English says Subject → Verb → Object ("I eat an apple"), Japanese says Subject → Object → Verb ("I apple eat"). The verb always comes at the very end.
This isn't just a quirk — it's the foundation of everything. Every sentence you'll ever say in Japanese ends with a verb (or desu). Get used to holding the verb until the end.
watashi wa ringo o tabemasu
I (topic) apple (object) eat → I eat an apple.
The two small words wa and o are particles — they tag the role each noun plays. Wa says "this is what the sentence is about", o says "this is what the action is done to". You'll learn more particles below, but these two are the most essential.
Before verbs, let's cover the simplest sentence type: identifying things. Japanese uses desu where English uses "is / am / are". It sits at the end of the sentence.
| Form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| desu | is / am / are (present) |
| deshita | was / were (past) |
watashi wa Frido desu
I am Frido.
kore wa ringo desu
This is an apple. (kore = this)
kore wa Aya desu ka?
Is this Aya?
That last example introduces ka — stick it at the end of any sentence to make a yes/no question. No word order change, no "do" construction. Just ka.
Japanese verbs come in three groups. Every verb belongs to exactly one group, and the group determines how you conjugate it. You need to know the group before you can do anything with a verb.
These verbs end in -eru or -iru. To conjugate them, drop the -ru and add your ending directly. The stem never changes.
| Ending | Meaning | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| -masu | polite present/future | drop -ru + masu |
| -mashita | polite past | drop -ru + mashita |
| -nai | negative (plain) | drop -ru + nai |
| -tai | want to | drop -ru + tai |
| -rareru | can / able to | drop -ru + rareru |
| Base | Meaning | Polite | Past | Negative | Can | Want |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| taberu | eat | tabemasu | tabemashita | tabenai | taberareru | tabetai |
| miru | watch | mimasu | mimashita | minai | mirareru | mitai |
| neru | sleep | nemasu | nemashita | nenai | nerareru | netai |
These verbs end in a consonant + u (like -ku, -mu, -su, -u). Change the last vowel sound to match what you need:
| Base | Meaning | Polite | Past | Negative | Can |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nomu | drink | nomimasu | nomimashita | nomanai | nomeru |
| iku | go | ikimasu | ikimashita | ikanai | ikeru |
| kau | buy | kaimasu | kaimashita | kawanai | kaeru |
| hanasu | speak | hanashimasu | hanashimashita | hanasanai | hanaseru |
Note: hanasu → hanashimasu (not "hanshimasu") — the su shifts to shi in polite form.
Japanese has exactly two irregular verbs. Just memorise them.
| Base | Meaning | Polite | Past | Negative | Can |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| suru | do | shimasu | shimashita | shinai | dekiru |
| kuru | come | kimasu | kimashita | konai | korareru |
Suru's "can" form is dekiru — a completely different word. You'll use it a lot.
| Particle | Role | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| wa | topic | marks the main subject/topic of the sentence |
| o | object | marks what the verb acts on |
| ni | destination | where you're moving to |
| de | location of action | where something happens |
| ka | question | end of sentence — turns it into a question |
ni vs de: use ni for where you're going, de for where something happens.
Nihon ni ikimasu
I go to Japan. (moving towards Japan)
Tokyo de tabemashita
I ate in Tokyo. (eating happened there)
Add a question word + ka at the end. No word order change needed.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| nani | what |
| doko | where |
nani o tabemashita ka
What did you eat?
doko ni ikitai desu ka
Where do you want to go?
These sit at the start of the sentence. No particle needed.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| kinou | yesterday |
| kyou | today |
| ashita | tomorrow |
kyou anime o mimashita
I watched anime today.
ashita Nihon ni ikimasu
I'm going to Japan tomorrow.
| Form | Group 2 (RU) | Group 1 (U) | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| polite present | stem + masu | i + masu | tabemasu / ikimasu |
| polite past | stem + mashita | i + mashita | tabemashita / ikimashita |
| negative | stem + nai | a + nai | tabenai / ikanai |
| want to | stem + tai | i + tai | tabetai / ikitai |
| can | stem + rareru | e + ru | taberareru / ikeru |
Translate into Japanese:
| pronouns | watashi | I | |
| anata | you | ||
| questions | kore | this | |
| nani | what | ||
| doko | where | ||
| time | kinou | yesterday | |
| kyou | today | ||
| ashita | tomorrow | ||
| nouns | ringo | apple | |
| Nihon | Japan | ||
| Tokyo | Tokyo | ||
| anime | anime | ||
| sushi | sushi | ||
| biiru | beer | ||
| verbs | taberu | to eat | RU |
| miru | to watch | RU | |
| neru | to sleep | RU | |
| kau | to buy | U | |
| nomu | to drink | U | |
| kiku | to listen | U | |
| hanasu | to speak | U | |
| iku | to go | U | |
| tsukau | to use | U | |
| suru | to do | irr. | |
| kuru | to come | irr. |