Vocabulary lists

The rounded, flowing kana. Hiragana writes native Japanese words, grammar endings, and anything without (or alongside) kanji — it's the first script you learn. Each character stands for one syllable.

The sharp, angular kana. The same sounds as hiragana, but used for foreign loanwords, names, sound effects, and emphasis — a bit like italics in English.

The 'fifty sounds' — the basic kana laid out in a grid of five vowels (a i u e o) crossed with consonant rows (k, s, t…). It's the kana syllabary in order, and the layout of the trainer's main board.

The two small strokes ゛added to a kana's top-right to 'voice' it — turning a soft sound into a hard one. か (ka) becomes が (ga); さ (sa) becomes ざ (za).

The small circle ゜added to the は-row to make the p-sounds. It appears only on は ひ ふ へ ほ, turning them into ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ.

Contracted sounds made by adding a small ゃ ゅ ょ to an i-row kana, blending two characters into one syllable. き plus a small ゃ becomes きゃ (kya).

A word that names a person, place, thing or idea. Japanese nouns don't change for number or gender, and there are no articles like 'a' or 'the'.

A word that stands in for a noun, like 'I', 'you' or 'this'. Japanese uses pronouns far less than English — the subject is usually dropped when it's clear from context.

Japanese counts things with a number plus a counter word that matches the kind of object — flat things, long things, animals and so on. Plain number words live here too.

A proper name — a given name, surname, place, company or other named entity. These come from Shirabe's dedicated name dictionary rather than the general word list.

An action or state-of-being word. Japanese verbs come at the end of the clause and conjugate for tense, politeness and negation — but never for person or number.

A 'group 2' verb with a stable stem: drop the final る and add endings directly. Most verbs ending in -iru or -eru are ichidan, which makes them the easy ones to conjugate.

A 'group 1' verb whose final sound shifts across the five vowel rows as it conjugates. The largest and most varied verb group.

A noun that becomes a verb by adding する ('to do'). A hugely productive pattern — most borrowed and abstract actions work this way.

A verb that acts on a direct object, marked with を. It often has an intransitive twin — for example 開ける (to open something) pairs with 開く (to open by itself).

A verb that describes something happening on its own, with no direct object. Its subject is marked with が.

A word that describes a noun. Japanese has two main kinds — い-adjectives and な-adjectives — that conjugate differently, plus a few rarer types that simply attach to a noun.

An adjective ending in い that conjugates on its own — including for past tense and negation — without needing です to do the work. Also called keiyoushi.

An adjective that takes な to attach to a noun and otherwise behaves much like a noun. Also called keiyodoshi or adjectival noun.

The dictionary form — present and future tense in one. It's how words are listed here, and the base every other form is built from. Plain on its own; add ます for the polite form.

Says something already happened. Plain past ends in た or だ (the 'ta-form'); the polite past swaps ます for ました. The same form also makes the conditional and the 〜たり list.

The connector form, ending in て or で. It joins clauses ('do this and…'), makes requests with 〜てください, and powers the continuous 〜ている and many other patterns. The single most useful form to master.

An 'if/when' conditional ending in 〜ば, used for general or hypothetical conditions — 'if you do X, then Y'. Often paired with the potential to mean 'if only…'.

Expresses ability — 'can do' or 'is able to'. The object it acts on is usually marked with が rather than を. Ichidan verbs and 〜られる also overlap with the passive.

Recasts the sentence so the action is done to the subject — 'is eaten', 'was told'. Japanese also uses it for the 'suffering passive', where something happens to your detriment.

Means make or let someone do something. Endings in 〜せる / 〜させる. The person made to act is marked with を or に depending on nuance.

The causative and passive stacked together — 'was made to do' something, usually unwillingly. Built from the causative plus the passive ending.

The 'let's' / 'shall we' form expressing intention or invitation. Plain ends in 〜おう / 〜よう; the polite version is 〜ましょう. Add と思う to say 'I think I'll…'.

A blunt command — 'eat!', 'do it!'. Strong and rough, mostly heard in orders, signs, sports and rendered speech; everyday requests use 〜てください instead.

The 〜たら conditional, built from the past form. The most flexible 'if/when' — 'once X happens, then Y'. Works for specific one-off situations where 〜ば feels too general.

Lists representative actions without implying order — 'do things like A and B'. Built from the past form plus り, usually ending the list with する.

The verb stem you reach by dropping ます — the joint that builds polite forms, 〜たい (want to), 〜ながら (while), compound verbs and noun-like uses.

A word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb — describing how, when or to what degree something happens.

A short grammatical marker that shows a word's role in the sentence — subject, object, topic, direction and so on. Particles are the glue of Japanese grammar.

A word that links clauses or sentences, like 'and', 'but' or 'so'.

An exclamation or filler that expresses emotion or reaction, standing apart from the sentence's grammar.

A fixed phrase, idiom or set expression whose meaning is best learned as a whole rather than word by word.

An element attached to the front of a word to change its meaning, like お for politeness or 不 for negation.

An element attached to the end of a word to change its meaning or role, like 〜的 ('-ish/-al') or the honorific 〜さん on a name.

A helper word that attaches to a verb or adjective to add meaning — tense, negation, politeness, desire and so on.