ぶんぽう (Grammar)

おすし and おさしみ both contain the honorific prefix お. Adding お before certain nouns makes an expression sound more polite, refined, or courteous. Common examples include おさかな ("fish") and おみず ("(cold) water"). However, not all nouns can take this prefix. In particular, most 外来語(がいらいご) (loanwords of foreign origin) do not normally take お. Some exceptions: トイレ and ビール can take お as in おトイレ and おビール, etc. but never おコーヒー, おパソコン, etc. ✅ Note: Besides making an expression more polite, お may also make it sound softer, more refined, or more service-oriented. For example, おビール is commonly used by restaurant staff when serving customers. In ordinary conversation, however, many speakers simply say ビール.

The particles と and や are used to connect two or more nouns (e.g., おすしとおさしみ, おすしやおさしみ). They are used only with nouns and cannot connect verbs or adjectives. The particle と functions as an exclusive "and." XとY means X and Y (and nothing else). In contrast, や functions as an inclusive "and." XやY means X and Y (among other possible items) or X, Y, and so on.

• テニス と バスケットボールが　すきです。
  I like tennis and basketball (and nothing else).
• テニス や バスケットボールが　すきです。
  I like tennis and basketball (among other sports).

When asking someone to choose from a set of alternatives ("Which one...?"), the choices are linked with the particle と.

• バスケットボールと フットボールと、どちらが すきですか。
  Which do you like, basketball or football?
• コーヒーと こうちゃと おちゃで、どれが すきですか。
  Which do you like—coffee, black tea, or green tea?

✅ Note 1: Use どちら ("which of the two?") when there are exactly two choices, and どれ ("which one?") when there are three or more choices.
✅ Note 2: When ordering food at a restaurant, you should use と, as in XとYを ください. Using や, as in XやYを ください, suggests that X and Y are only part of your order and that additional items may follow. As a result, the server will likely ask ほかには？ ("Anything else?").

To express the idea of likes and dislikes, Japanese uses な-adjectives, not verbs. Both すき ("liked") and きらい ("disliked") are な-adjectives. Because the objects of likes and dislikes are not the object of verbs, they are marked by the particle が, not を.

• ＳＦえいがが すきです。
  I like Sci Fi movies.
• ホラーえいがが きらいです。
  I dislike horror movies.

To make these expressions negative, replace です with じゃありません (e.g., すきじゃありません and きらいじゃありません). With negative predicates, however, the object is often marked by はわ instead of が. This はわ adds contrast and indicates that the statement applies specifically to that object.

• SFえいがは すきじゃありません。
  I don't like Sci Fi movies.
• ホラーえいがは きらいじゃありません。
  I don't dislike horror movies.

This use of はわ is explained further below.

Earlier, we learned that the particle はわ marks the topic of a sentence. We also saw that はわ is often used in negative statements, as shown in Sentence 1 below. In addition to marking the topic, は わ functions as a contrast marker, highlighting a contrast between two people, things, places, or actions. When はわ marks contrast, it may replace the subject particle が (Sentences 2 and 3) or the object particle を (Sentence 4).

1. ホラーえいがはわ すきじゃありません。(が → はわ)
   I don't like horror movies.
2. SFえいがはわ すきですけど、ホラーえいがはわ きらいです。(が → はわ)
   I like science fiction movies, but I dislike horror movies.
3. 田中さんはわ きますけど、スミスさんはわ かえります。(が → はわ)
   Mr. Tanaka is coming, but Mr. Smith is going home.
4. コーヒーはわ のみますけど、こうちゃはわ のみません。 (を → はわ)
   I drink coffee, but I don't drink tea.

Unlike が and を, particles such as に and で are not replaced by the contrast marker はわ. Instead, はわ is added after them.

5. 日本にはわありますけど、アメリカにはわありません。
   It is in Japan, but not in the United States.
6. カラオケではわうたいますけど、がっこうではわうたいません。
   I sing at karaoke, but not at school.

Finally, the contrast marker は わcan also be used in a single sentence without an explicit contrasting phrase. In such cases, the contrast is understood from the context.

7. A: えいごを はなしますか。 Do you speak English?
   B: いいえ、ドイツごは わはなします。 No, I speak German (though).
8. A: 毎日(まいにち) おふろに はいりますか。 Do you take a bath every day?
   B: いいえ、シャワーはわ あびます。 No, I take a shower (instead).
9. A: 毎日(まいにち) 何時間(なんじかん)ねますか。How many hours do you sleep every day?
   B: ７時間(じかん)はわねます。 I sleep for seven hours (at least).

どんな is a question word that means "What kind of." どんな おんがく means "What kind of music." どんな りょうり means "What kind of food."

1. A: どんなおんがくを よく ききますか。 What kind of music do you often listen to?
   B: Youtubeで J-Popを よく ききます。I often listen to J-Pop on Youtube.
2. A: どんなりょうりを つくりますか。 What kind of food do you cook?
   B: 日本りょうりを よく つくります。 I often cook Japanese food.

In Dialogue 2, Robert’s response (R5) カラオケですか (You mean Karaoke?) is an example of an echo question. An echo question repeats part of the original question in the Xですか form (roughly, You mean X? or Is that what you’re asking about?). In conversation, echo questions are often used as a speech filler to buy time before giving an answer or to confirm what was just said. It is also common to use expressions such as 私(わたし)ですか (You mean me? or Are you asking me?) as echo questions. Optionally, phrases like そうですねぇ (Let me see...; Well...) can be added to buy additional time.

A:	どんな りょうりを つくりますか。	What kind of food do you cook?
B1:	りょうりですか。そうですねぇ…	You mean "food"? Let me see...
B3:	私ですか。そうですねぇ…	You are asking me? Well...

The particle も adds the meaning "also" or "too" to the noun it marks (e.g., 私もジャズをききます: I also listen to jazz.). Like the contrast marker は, わも replaces the particles が, を, and は, わbut it is added after other particles such as に, と, で, へ, えから, and まで.

1. てんぷらがすきです。さしみもすきです。
   I like tempura. I like sashimi, too.
2. 土曜日(どようび)にいきます。日曜日(にちようび)にもいきます。月曜日(げつようび)にはわいきません。
   I go there on Saturday. I go there on Sunday, too. I don't go there on Monday.
3. 田中さんがきます。スミスさんもきます。ブラウンさんはわきません。
   Tanaka is coming. Smith is coming, too. Brown is not.
4. いえでうたいます。カラオケでもうたいます。がっこうではわうたいません。
   I sing at home. I sing at Karaoke, too. I don't sing at school.
5. こうちゃをのみます。コーヒーものみます。ワインはわのみません。
   I drink tea. I drink coffee too. I don't drink wine.
6. えいがはわ1時(じ)からあります。3時からもあります。5時からはわありません。
   The movie starts at 1 o'clock. It also starts at 3. But, it won't start at 5.

When だれ ("who") or なに ("what") is used with すき or きらい, the interpretation depends on which information is unknown in the conversation. For example, the J-Pop singer who is liked or disliked is unknown in the following conversation, だれ asks for that singer.

A: J-Popの中(なか)で だれが いちばん すきですか。: Who do you like the most among J-Pop?
B: Radwimpsが すきです。: I like Radwimps.

In the following example, however, the person being liked (Radwimps) is already known. What is unknown is who likes them. Here, だれ asks for the person who has that preference.

A: だれが Radwmipsが すきですか。: Who likes Radwimps?

B: アリスさんがすきです。: Alice likes them.

✅ Note: Although two が particles may look unusual, this structure is grammatical in Japanese. The first が marks the subject (だれ or アリスさん), while the second が marks the object of liking (Radwimps). This is possible because すき and きらい are adjectives, not verbs.

By combining いちばん ("the most") with an adjective, you can express the superlative, such as いちばんいい (“the best”) and いちばんかんたん (“the easiest”).

1. J-Popシンガーの中(なか)で だれが いちばん すきですか。
   Who do you like the most among J-Pop singers?
2. A: この中で どれが いちばん おいしいですか。
   　　Among these, which one is the most delicious?
   B: すしが いちばん おいしいです。
   　　Sushi is the most delicisous.
   　　(or すしです。 Sushi is.)

When talking about how often an activity is performed, use いちばん よく + verb. Here, よく is く-form (adverbial form) of いい).

A: ラーメンの中で なに (or どれ) を いちばん よく たべますか。
　　Which kind of ramen do you eat most often?

B: とんこつラーメンを いちばん よく たべます。
　　I eat tonkotsu ramen most often.

You can also state the exact list of items to choose from using the particle と.

A: りんごと オレンジと バナナの中で、どれが いちばん すきですか。
　　Which one do you like most among apples, oranges and bananas?
B: バナナが いちばんすきです。
　　I like bananas most.

If you are asking someone to choose between two items, use the question word どちら (which one [of the two]) instead of どれ (which one [of the three or more]).　✅ Note: Japanese does not have a special comparative form of adjectives such as better or more delicious. Instead, comparisons are expressed with より ("than") and のほう ("the side of"). The expression のほう is optional.

A: りんごと オレンジと、どちら(のほう)が おいしいですか。
　　Which one is more delicious between apples and oranges?
B: りんごより オレンジ(のほう)が おいしいです。
　　Oranges are more delicious than apples.

The same comparison pattern can be used with verbs. In these sentences, the particle following どちら（のほう）depends on the verb (e.g., を, に, で). When comparing how often or how much an activity is performed, よく ("more often") is commonly used.

A: ジャズと ロックと、どちら(のほう)を よくききますか。
　　Which one do you listen to more often, jazz and rock?
B: ジャズより ロック(のほう)を よくききます。
　　I listen to rock more often than jazz.

A: カフェテリアと うちと どちら(のほう)で よく たべますか。
　　Where do you eat more often, at the cafeteria or at home?
B: カフェテリア(のほう）で よく たべます。
　　I eat more often at the cafeteria.

If you have no preferences between the two choices, you can answer with ＸもＹも or どちらも. ✅ Note: も replaces the particles は, わが, を but it is added after particles such as に and で.

B: りんごも オレンジも おいしいです。: Both apples and oranges are delicious.
　　= どちらも おいしいです。: Both are delicious.

B: ジャズも ロックも よくききます。: I listen to jazz and rock equally often.
　　= どちらも よく ききます。: I listen to both.

B: カフェテリアでも うちでも よくたべます。: I eat both at the cafeteria and at home.
　　= どちらでも よくたべます。: I eat at both places.

In this lesson, we introduce the plain form of Japanese verbs. For example, ききます is the polite form of the verb, while きく is its plain form. The plain form can be followed by の to turn an action into a noun phrase. This is similar to adding "-ing" to an English verb, as in listening, eating, and doing.

Polite Verb		Plain Verb	の	Meaning
ききます	→	きく	の	listening
たべます	→	たべる	の	eating
します	→	する	の	doing

The resulting noun phrase can be used wherever a noun can be used.

• わたしは ジャズを きくのが すきです。
  I like listening to jazz.

Once an action has been turned into a noun phrase, it can be used in many of the same ways as an ordinary noun.

✅ Note 1: This の is the same の introduced in Lesson 4 (e.g., あかいの "the red one"). In both cases, の stands in place of a noun that is understood from the context.

✅ Note 2: The の can only follow the plain form of a verb. It cannot follow the polite ...ます form.

• ジャズを きく → ジャズをきくの
• ジャズを ききます → ジャズをききますの [Ungrammatical]

There are three types of verbs in Japanese: 1. う-verbs, 2. る-verbs and 3. irregular verbs.

11A. う-Verbs

The ～ます form of a verb without ます is called the verb stem. Based on each verb stem, you can form a plain verb form of う-verbs as follows.

If verb stem ends with	change it to...	Examples
…き	く	かきます かく	write
…ぎ	ぐ	およぎます およぐ	swim
…し	す	はなします はなす	speak
…り	る	つくります つくる	make
…い	う	かいます かう	buy
…ち	つ	まちます まつ	wait
…み	む	のみます のむ	drink
…び	ぶ	よびます よぶ	call/summon
…に	ぬ	しにます しぬ	die

Here is another way to look at the same changes. Polite う-verbs use the い-row (the second row) of the hiragana chart (e.g., いいます, かきます, はなします). Plain う-verbs use the う-row (the third row). This is illustrated in the following video.

11B. る-Verbs

To form the plain form of る-verbs, simply change ～ます to ～る.

Polite	Plain
おきます	おきる	wake up
みます	みる	see/look/watch
たべます	たべる	eat
います	いる	be/stay
ねます	ねる	go to bed/lie down

11C. Irregular Verbs

There are only two irregular verbs: します and きます. The plain forms of these verbs are as follows:

Polite	Plain
します	する	do
きます	くる	come

We can now change these plain-form verbs into their noun phrases with の to state one's preferences for activities:

• 毎日(まいにち) こうえんで いぬと ジョギングするのが すきです。
  I like jogging with my dog in the park every day.
• 日本りょうりをたべるのも、つくるのも すきです。
  I like both eating and cooking Japanese food.
• J-Popのうたを きくのはわ すきですけど、うたうのはわ すきじゃありません。
  I like listening to J-Pop songs, but I don't like singing them.
• A: シャワーをあびるのと おふろにはいるのと、どちらが すきですか。
  　　Which do you like more, taking a shower or taking a bath?
  B: シャワーをあびるのはわすきですけど、おふろにはいるのはわきらいです。
  　　I like taking a shower, but I dislike taking a bath.

✅ Note 3: In comparison expressions using より and ほう, the plain verb is used directly. The の introduced in this section is not used before ほう, because ほう is already a noun that the plain verb modifies.

• J-Popのうたを うたうより きくほうが すきです。
  I like listening to J-Pop songs more than singing them.