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Minna No Nihongo Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Minna No Nihongo Grammar Cheat Sheet

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Talking about self

N1 wa N2 des
watashi wa ken des
I am Ken
ken to moushimas
I am Ken (polite)
watashi wa indo-jin des
I am an Indian
Casual form of des is da
Polite form of des is degoza­imasu

Asking something about someone unknown

[Sentence] ka?
ano-hito wa dare des ka
Who is that person?
ano-kata wa donata des ka
polite form
anohito -> that person
dare / donata (p) - who

Talking about age

maria-san wa nan-sai des ka
How old are you Maria-san?
maria-san wa oikutsu des ka
polite form
~sai -> ~years old

Inviting someone along (e particle)

Isshyoni eki e ikimasen ka
Won't you go to the station w/ me? (polite)
kyoto e ikimashou
Let's go to Kyoto (pushy)
isshyoni ocha o nomimasen ka
Won't you have tea with me (L10)
I've noticed e is used when subject is talking about going towards a destin­ation.
de is used when talking about being there

Reply to invita­tions can be - hai, ii des (Yes, sounds good)

nan vs nani

Usage of nan
Usage of nani
Before ta,da,na syllables (des,no)
Directly saying "­Wha­t?"
Before counters(sai,nin)
Before particles o and mo

Common phrases

Atsui des ne
It's hot isn't it?
Taihen des ne
That's tough, isn't it?
ikimas yo / oishi yo
I'm going! / This is tasty! (emphasise new info)

Is it A or B or both?

N1 ka, N2 ka
It is N1 or N2?
hon ka, jisho ka
Is it a book or a dictionary
dou-yobi to nichi-yobi hatara­kimasen
I don't work on Sat & Sun

Pronun­ciation inflec­tions

n + p = ~mp
sanposhi -> samposhi
n + k = ~ng
nankai -> nangkai

Demons­trative (Pointing) words

 
ko~
so~
a~
do~
thing
kore
sore
are
dore
thing/­person
kono
sono
ano
dono
place
koko
soko
asoko
doko
direct­ion­/pl­ace(p)
kochira
sochira
achira
dochira
Examples:
1. toire wa asoko des - Toilet is that way
2. pasokon uriba wa ikkai des - Computer dept is on the 1st floor
3. ken-san wa kaigis­hitsu des - Ken is in the conference room (Better - ken-san wa kaigis­hitsu ni imasu)

doko/d­ochira is also used to ask for country, organi­sation etc.
1. kuni wa dochira des ka

sochira also means "your place"

Did you do it already ?

mou tabema­shita ka
Did you eat already?
To confirm, say "hai, tabema­shi­ta"
To deny, say "iie, mada des" (no, not yet)

Interr­ogative words

dare / donata
who (person)
doko
where
dou (dou des ka)
how (is it)
donna
what kind of
nan / nani
what
dore
which one
dochira
which of the two
doushite
why

Explaining why you did something

jikan ga amari arimasen kara benkyo­shi­masen
I didn't have much time, that's why I didn't study
benkyo­shi­masen. jikan ga amari arimasen kara
I didn't study. I didn't have much time, that's why
kara is used as "­that's why" here

Adverbs of degree or quantity

 
Degree
Quantity
Affirm­ative
yoku
takusan
 
daitai
 
skoshi
skoshi
Negative
amari
amari
 
zenzen
zenzen
These are used before verbs or adjectives
yoku = very well | takusan = plenty
daitai = roughl­y/m­ostly | skoshi = little bit
amari = not very much | zenzen = not at all

Note: Use the negative form of the verb when the adverb is negative
Eg: skoshi wakarimas (I understand a little bit) | amari wakari­masen (I don't understand much)

Usage w/ adjectives
Eg: koko wa skoshi samui des (It's a little cold here)
  

Self Introd­uction (jiko-­shokai)

hajime­mashite
How do you do (lit. for the first time)
watashi wa ken des
I am Ken
indo-jin des
I'm Indian
indo kara kimashita
I am from India (polite)
daigakusai / kaishain des
I am a student / an employee
douzo yoroshiku onegai­shimas
Pleased to meet you
 
lit. Please be nice to me

Accept / Deny a statement

N1 wa N2 ja arimasen
watashi wa ken des
I am Ken
watashi wa maria ja arimasen
I am not Maria
watashi wa nihon-jin ja arimasen
I am not Japanese
maria-san wa sensei ja arimasen
Maria is not a teacher
sou des / sou des ka / sou des ne
Yes. it is / Is that so? / It is, isn't it?
sou ja arimasen / chigaimas
No. it isn't
The opposite of des is ja arimasen
The polite form of ja is denwa

Using also or too

N1 mo N2 des
maria-san mo enginia des
Maria is also an engineer
watashi mo
Me too

Counting

 
Hundreds
Thousands
1- ichi
hyaku
2- ni
~
3- san
sanbyaku
sanzen
4 - yon (shi)
5 - go
6 - roku
roppyaku
7 - nana (shichi)
8 - hachi
happyaku
hassen
9 - kyu (ku)
10 - juu
Inflec­tions:
ku-ji
shi-gatsu, shichi­-gatsu, ku-gatsu

Going places

[place] e ikimas­/ki­mas­/ka­erimas
Going to/Coming from/ Back to [place]
kyo-nen nihon e kimashita
I came to Japan last year
raishu doko e ikimas ka
Where are you going next week?
doko-mo ikimasen
I'm going nowhere
kare-no uchi e nan de ikimas ka
How do you go to his house?
densha de ikimas
I go by train
kare wa Maria-san to gakkou e ikimas
He goes to school with Maria *
dare to rondon e ikimashita ka
Who did you go to London with? *
kazoku wa itsu kimas ka
When is your family coming?
Kaerimas is usually used to say "­Going back home"
doko-mo means "­eve­ryw­her­e". adding ikimasen makes it "I'm going nowher­e". Other examples: dare-mo, nani-mo

Particle "­e" is used to denote direction i.e towards somethins (कडे)
Particle "­de" is used to medium of action (मध्ये)

* Sentence structure in Japanese is usually [subject] [with/­on/to] [verb] des
The order of [with/­on/to] indicates the primary focus

How to say a certain word in a language

"­Thank you" wa nihon-go de nan des ka?
What is "­Thank you" called in Japanese?

Using adjective in sentences

maria wa kirei des
Maria is beautiful
maria wa hima ja arimasen
Maria is not free
eiga wa omoshi­rokunai des
The movie is not intere­sting
kore wa suteki-na kaban des
This is a nice bag
osaka wa totemo nigiyaka des
Osaka is a lively city
osaka wa amari shizuka-na machi ja arimasen
Osaka is not a very quiet city
kore wa omoshi­ro-­kunai eiga des
This movie is not intere­sting
There are 2 types of adj: na & i adjectives
Adj. ending with -i are called i adj. (eg: omoshiroi)
Except­ions: kirei, yumei are na adj.

When we add adj. just before noun:
1. For na, we add -na suffix eg: kirei-na hito
2. For i, it remains the same

To negate:
1. For na, adjective inflects if before a noun, and we add ja arimasen
2. For i, we remove i and replace with kunai eg: takakunai, yokunai des

Adverbs are totemo (very) and amari (not very)

Asking for something

sumimasen, camera wa arimasen ka
Excuse me, do you have a camera­/ca­meras?
This can be used with a friend or in a store

Mentioning multiple similar things

yasai ya kudamono (nado) o kaimashita
I bought vegeta­bles, fruits and so on
nado can be optional. better to use it for now
  

Asking something about someone known

N1 wa N2 des ka
maria-san wa sensei des ka
Is Maria a teacher?
ano-hito wa maria des ka
Is that person Maria?
Adding ~ka to a statement turns it into a question
~ka is spoken with a rising intonation

Someone's something (no particle)

N1 no N2
ken wa apple no shain des
Ken is an employee of Apple
maria wa pune daigaku no gakusei des
Maria is a student of Pune University
kono kasa wa watashi-no des
This umbrella is mine
itaria no kutsu
Italian shoes

Express time

ima ni-ji juu-fun des
It's 9:10 now
ginko wa ni-ja kara go-ji made des
Bank is

Everyday habits

mai-nichi roku-ji ni okimas
I wake up at 6 everyday
kesa roku-ji ni okimashta
I woke up at 6 yesterday
hiru-y­asumi wa ichi-ji kara ni-ji made des
Lunch break is from 1 to 2
The present and future forms of verbs are the same. eg: okimas
Add ~masen to verbs to indicate the opposite. eg: okimasen
For past form, change mas to mashita | masen to masend­eshita

Talking about something nearby

kore wa / sore wa / are wa
this / that / that over there unknown thing
kono / sono / ano
this / that / that over there known thing
kore wa hon des ka?
Is this a book?
sono hon wa anata-no des ka?
Is that book yours?

Express time

ima ni-ji juu-fun des
It's 9:10 now
ginko wa ni-ji kara go-ji made des
Bank is (open) from 2 to 5

Describing actions (o/de particle)

mizu o nomimas
I drink water
sakka/­kai­gi/­denwa o shimas
I play soccer­/hold meetin­g/call
nani o shimas ka
What are you doing?
restoran de tabemas
I eat at a restaurant
doko de aimasu ka*
Where will you meet?
Structure of sentence is: Subject wa [ni/de] object o verb

Using something to do something (de particle)

hashi de tabemas
I eat with chopsticks
eigo de tegami o kakima­shita
I wrote the letter in English

Giving and receiving

anata ni kore o agemasu
I'll give this to you
ken wa maria ni okane o kashim­ashita
Ken lent money to Maria
gakko e denwa o kakemas *
I'll call the school
maria wa ken ni hana o moriam­ashita
Maria received flowers from Ken
If the verb denotes giving (eg: agemas, kashimas), we use ni in front of the receiver
* If receiver is a place/­org­ani­sation, we use e instead of ni

If the verb denotes receiving (eg: moraimas), we use ni in front of the giver

When to use ga particle

kuruma ga arimas
I have a car
nihongo ga wakarimas
I understand Japanese
dansu ga suki des
I like dancing
eiga ga kirai des
I hate the movie
spotsu ga jouzu des
I'm good at sports
ryori ga heta des
I'm bad at cooking
1. When verb is arimas­/wa­karimas
2. Expressing likes/­dis­likes
3. Expressing if you're good or bad at something

There is something at some place

inu ga arimas
There is a dog
uchi ni maria ga imasu
Maria is at home
ken wa jimusho ni imasu
Ken is in the office
inu wa doko ni imasu ka
Where is the dog?
imasu is used for living self-m­oving objects
you can use arimasu for inanimate objects

Words describing relative position

ue
above
shita
below
mae
in front of
ushira
behind
migi
right (side)
hidari
left (side)
naka
inside
soto
outside
tonari
next to
chikaku
near
hon wa terebi no ue ni arimasu
The book is on top of the tv
thing no position