A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns

In addition to its extensive lexicon of so-called particles, word order is another thing that differs in Japanese from English, and this book will help you master this important aspect of Japanese grammar. Supposedly, English has only 20 basic sentence patterns because of its fairly regular word order, and according to the author, there are only really 3 in Japanese--Noun, Verb, and Adjective sentences. This book covers 50 basic patterns and 69 variations. The variations are set off by little text boxes throughout the book in which the pattern is illustrated, and then it is discussed in more detail in the text. Polite and informal patterns are shown along with discussions of various issues. The similarities and differences from other patterns are discussed. The intro says the book contains all the patterns needed for the Levels 3 and 4 Japanese Language Proficiency Test. In addition, there is a brief section where terms are defined, and also there is an appendix convering conjugation patterns of 103 verbs. There is a similar chart showing inflections for dozens of adjectives and also "na" adjectives. Adjectives are another major area where Japanese differs from English, and adjectives are conjugated to agree with verbs, rather than declined to agree with nouns as in most Indo-European languages. Here are some examples of what some of the patterns look like, ranging from easy to complex:1) Noun sentences with N2 mo as predicate2) Negative verbs of existence with mo after the subject3) Adjective sentence with topic wa and subject ga4) The subjunctive with V-tara, as in: (Moshi) N1 ga V1-tara (N2 wa) N3 desu/V2-masu5) Indicating habitual action with V koto ga/mo arimasu6) Indirect passive: N ni [intrasitive] / V [passive] - masuThe book is over 300 pages and so should contain considerable material for even the intermediate and advanced student of Japanese. Overall, this is an excellent grammar on Japanese syntax that should help you with this important aspect of the language.

Being determined to learn Japanese on my own, I find this book on sentence patterns invaluable. I like the easy lookup, and I use it contantly when trying to hold a conversation with Japanese friends online! If you are learning Japanese, I think this book is an excellent help!

I'd highly recommend this book to beginning / intermediate students of Japanese. Although it's not suitable as a stand-alone introduction to Japanese, it's an excellent supplement to whatever text or course you're using (I'm using Jorden's Japanese - The Spoken Language).It recognizes that there are only 3 basic sentence types in Japanese (Nominal, Adjectival, and Verbal), and even the most complex sentences are just an elaboration of one or another of these sentence types. The author presents 50 sentence patterns, with over 60 variations. Each pattern and variation is explained (in English!), and for each pattern, there are a number of sample sentences in Japanese script, romanization (Hepburn), and an English translation. Included in these representative sentences are many short dialogues, as well. The majority use the distal-style, but there are a good number illustrating the plain / direct style as well.By internalizing these basic patterns, I think the learner will develop a sound basis for continued progress in Japanese. I'm glad I bought it.

This is one of the best Japanese grammar books that I have seen! I'm teaching myself Japanese, so this book is very useful for me. I especially like the way the example sentences are shown: Japanese script on the top, roomaji in the middle, and the English translation of the example sentence on the bottom. Formal and informal sentence patterns are shown, which is another reason why I like this book. (Most Japanese grammar books that I've seen only show the formal sentences.) The author gives detailed explanations of the sentence patterns. The formulas that she uses to clarify the sentence patterns are especially useful. This book is a must-have for anyone studying Japanese!