This website started as a hobby to explain photography (posts listed here), but over time expanded to provide (hopefully) useful information about Japan and the Japanese language. I also run edonoyu.com with a friend—a site that covers onsen in the Tokyo region.
Supposition: だろう & でしょう
The volitional form of the auxiliary verb was briefly introduced before when we looked at the volitional. Form…
Comparing the Ways to Express Similarity & Hearsay
よう, みたい, そう, らしい, and っぽい can all seem like much of a muchness at first. They are…
Unwanted Similarity: ～っぽい
っぽい is typically used with adjectives and nouns to give your verdict on something based on how something…
Hearsay & Behaviour: ～そう & ～らしい
Although using そう with the standard form of the verb rather than the stem looks similar, the meaning…
Expected Outcomes: ～そう
When used with the verb stem そう expresses that something is likely to happen or be true based…
Expressing Similarity in Japanese (よう) & (みたい)
Although the grammar for よう and みたい is slightly different their meaning is essentially the same. You can…
Similarity & Hearsay in Japanese
There are numerous ways to express “seems like” in Japanese and what makes each of these expressions tricky…
Expressing a Way or Method: ～方
To recap, the verb stem is the polite form of the verb with the ます removed. Verb Dictionary Polite…
Phrasal Verbs
There are many verbs in Japanese formed by thought a combination of two verbs—the equivalent of phrasal verbs…
The Imperative for Honorifics
Dependency
JLPT N3. Used in both conversation and writing depending on the usage. よる is a grammatically versatile verb…
Place of Action
JLPT N3. Formal. Typically used only in writing. における and において you the more formal versions での and…
