Learn to read Japanese
A short, active path into reading Japanese: decode seven real words from eleven kana, learn why the verb comes last and how nine particles carry the grammar, meet the plain past stories are told in, and read a short fable before opening your first book.
Verb lookup: the tails this path did not need
- Open this when a verb tail blocks you; neither of the closing readings needs any of it.
- たいtai glued to a verb means “want to do it”: のむnomu → のみたいnomitai.
- Japanese has two verbs for “give”, chosen by which way the thing is travelling.
- くださいkudasai on the end is the one lump of politeness worth having.
- “Must” is a double negative; read なくては いけないnakute wa ikenai as one lump.
Neither closing reading uses anything in this section. Open it when a verb tail you cannot place blocks a line, and leave it shut otherwise — these are shapes to recognise later, not homework now.
More everyday verbs, with their past
| English | Japanese | Past |
|---|---|---|
| eat | たべるtaberu | たべたtabeta |
| drink | のむnomu | のんだnonda |
| sleep | ねるneru | ねたneta |
| take | とるtoru | とったtotta |
| find | みつけるmitsukeru | みつけたmitsuketa |
| help | てつだうtetsudau | てつだったtetsudatta |
| flee | にげるnigeru | にげたnigeta |
A verb ending in むmu goes to んだnda. And note とるtoru taking the held beat while ねるneru and にげるnigeru do not, though all three end in るru.
Wanting, liking, being able to
| Japanese | Sound |
|---|---|
| できる“can do” | dekiru |
| みえる“can be seen” | mieru |
| すき“like” | suki |
| ほしい“want (a thing)” | hoshii |
Wanting and liking mark the thing rather than the person: 水が ほしいmizu ga hoshii“I want water” is really “water is desirable”. And seeing has a built-in “can”: 月が みえるかtsuki ga mieru ka“can you see the moon?” adds no word for “can”.
Wanting to do something
Giving, in two directions
水をmizu o“the water” くださいkudasai“please give”.
水を ください。
mizu o kudasai.
くださいkudasai on the end is the polite way to ask for something. It is a whole word, not an ending.
(I) いかなくては いけないikanakute wa ikenai“must go”.
いかなくては いけない。
ikanakute wa ikenai.
Japanese builds “must” out of a double negative — “not going will not do”. Do not decode it: recognise the tail なくては いけないnakute wa ikenai as “must”.
The て form: make the past, then swap た for て
Two jobs a story needs. Chaining: 水を のんで、ねたmizu o nonde, neta“drank water and slept” — only the last verb carries the tense. And ongoing: たべて いるtabete iru“is eating”, ねて いたnete ita“was sleeping”.