What is the difference between the following sentences? わたしは日本語(にほんご)とすうがくをべんきょうします。 わたしは日本語(にほんご)やすうがくをべんきょうします。 The only difference is the first sentence has と (to)…
"only"
When you want to say “only” in Japanese, there are usually 2 different ways. There is only one person.…
Question words + ka
On Monday this week, I talked about adding “も / mo” or “でも / demo” after a question word but…
も
Last Wednesday, I talked about “も/mo” meaning “too” or “also” but if used in a negative sentence with a question…
“You” and “I/me” in Japanese songs
When I teach Japanese to adults, I usually teach “わたし / watashi” for “I/me” as it is the most generic…
“Me too”
How do you say “me too” in Japanese? The correct answer is “わたしも / watashi mo”. “も /…
AからBまで
Today’s Grammar Point: ~から~まで “Aから” means “from A” or “since A” and it can be used for both time and place.…
Take and Bring
On Monday this week, I talked about verbs, いきます/きます/かえります, which can be used with another verb stem and the particle…
Go and See
いきます きます かえります These verbs mean “to go,” “to come” and “to return” respectively and they can be used in…
“will” in Japanese
As you may already know, Japanese does not have a future tense, so when you want to say something like…
Diplomatic way of saying “I don’t like…”
What would you say if you are asked なっとうがすきですか (do you like nattou?)? If you like it, then you…
Frequency Expressions
If you get asked, よくコーヒーをのみますか。(Do you drink coffee often?), how would you answer that? I would say: はい、まいにちのみます。(yes, I drink…
ワインをのみながら、ディナーをたべます
I said I will make this week a food week, so I have to find a grammar topic related to…
きのう、食べすぎました。
Last week, I talked about “easy to …” and “difficult to …” using a verb “stem.” Today’s expression is another…
さかなはたべにくいです
にくい is written as 難い and it means “difficult”, so the above sentence means “Fish is difficult to eat.”…
あめがふりはじめました。
The above sentence says “it started to rain.” “Verb stem (polite form verb minus “ます”) + はじめます" means “start to…
~から and ~ので connection difference
The expressions for giving a reason and/or stating a cause, ~から and ~ので are almost interchangeable except for… This post explains when they are not.
~から vs ~ので
Both ~から and ~ので are used to add a reason or cause. The difference between the two is getting smaller but their nuances are not the same. Find out here.
こどもらしい vs こどもみたい
~らしい and ~みたい have a similar meaning but when they are used with a noun in front of it, the nuances are quite different. This post explains how.
Aさんはおとこらしいです。
When you read the above sentence, what kind of person did you think A is? らしい has two different…