Japanese grammar notes (full)
Takoboto grammar reference Maggie Senseiの substituting for a noun
A noun can be left out of a sentence where it can be implied.
| あれは だれの かばんですか。 | Whose bag is that? |
| …わたしのです | It's mine. |
Demonstratives
| こ | そ | あ | ど | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| close to the speaker | near the other person or not far | far from the speaker/listener | question | |
| Thing | これ | それ | あれ | どれ |
| Thing/Person | この N | その N | あの N | どの N |
| Place | ここ | そこ | あそこ | どこ |
| Direction (or polite Place) | こちら | そちら | あちら | どちら |
〜も and 〜か
何も（なにも） means nothing (or anything), 何か（なにか） means something (or anything). 何も 食べません = "I'm not going to eat anything."
も can be used this way with all interrogatives. e.g. どこも/どこへも 行きません = "not going anywhere", だれも 話しません = "nobody speaks".
な and い adjectives
Inflections
な-adjectives are treated the same as nouns.
| な-adj. | い-adj. | |
|---|---|---|
| Non-past affirmative | しずかです | たかいです |
| Non-past negative | しずかじゃ ありません/じゃ ない | たかくないです |