adjectives

A short sentence to put the adjectives in context and help us memorize them:

verbs

The verb ‘to be’ – desu, is special. Its formal form is ‘desu’ and its casual form is ‘da’.
For the other verbs, the ‘masu’ form is formal, and the dictionary form is casual.

A short sentence to put the verbs in context and help us memorize them:

• sumi-masen, which is used as an expression, is always written in hiragana
• both the kanji and the hiragana versions of wakari-masu are common
• only the hiragana version of shi-masu is common

verb groups

There are three Japanese verb groups:

• group 1 – u verbs, which end in:
  • u, tsu, [a/u/o]ru
  • nu, bu, mu
  • ku
  • gu
  • su
• group 2 – ru verbs, which end in:
  • [i/e]ru
• group 3 – irregular verbs:
  • kuru (to come)
  • suru (to do)

Some -[i/e]ru verbs are exceptions and belong in group 1 instead of group 2:

dict. → masu

To change the form of a verb from dictionary to masu:

• group 1 – u verbs: replace -u with -imasu
  exceptions: there is no ‘tsi’ nor ‘si’, so -tsu → -chimasu, and -su → -shimasu.
  • hanasu → hanashimasu (exception: -su → -shimasu)
  • wakaru → wakarimasu
  • nomu → nomimasu
  • kau → kaimasu
  • aru → arimasu
• group 2 – ru verbs: -ru → -masu
  • taberu → tabemasu
  • miru → mimasu
• group 3 – irregular verbs: no rule, memorize them
  • kuru → kimasu
  • suru → shimasu

dict. → negative

To change the form of a verb from dictionary to negative:

• group 1 – u verbs: replace -#u with -#anai (e.g., -mu → -manai)
  exceptions: ‘-u’ turns to ‘-wanai’ and the verb ‘aru’ becomes ‘nai’.
  • hanasu → hanasanai
  • wakaru → wakaranai
  • nomu → nomanai
  • kau → kawanai (exception: -u → -wanai)
  • aru → nai (exception: aru → nai)
• group 2 – ru verbs: -ru → -nai
  • taberu → tabe-nai
  • miru → mi-nai
• group 3 – irregular verbs: no rule, memorize them
  • kuru → konai
  • suru → shinai

dict. → masu/negative

With the above knowledge under our belt, let’s see the masu and casual negative forms of the verbs in units 1-8:

Kanjis

last names

There are many common Japanese last names that use the elementary kanjis from 1st grade:

For example:

The stats for how common a surname is are from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2009/10/11/lifestyle/japans-top-100-most-common-family-names/#.W5U95IbjW50.

Although all the last names above can be spelled as described, most names can be spelled in many different ways. For example, ‘Tanaka’ can be spelled as 田中, as we spelled it, or as 田仲, because both 中 (middle) and 仲 (relation) are pronounced ‘naka’. We can spell most first and last names in many ways to spell. We can use a tool like that in “hi!Penpal!” to see the different spellings.

The specific kanjis in a first or last name give a meaning to the name. The following snap of the manga ‘Kimi ni todoke’, #109, shows the three spellings of the name ‘Kazehaya Shouta’ that his father had considered when Shouta was born:

• 将太 – ‘leader’
• 勝太 – ‘victory’
• 翔太 – ‘to soar’

In the end, Shouta’s father decided to spell Shouta’s name as 翔太 (‘to soar’).

All in all, the result is that knowing the name of a person doesn’t necessarily help us to write it down in kanjis; in most cases, the person would have to tell us how s/he spells his or her name. This is a particular problem when looking for someone’s address in the white pages; without knowing the kanjis the person uses to write his/her name, we cannot even search for it.