Sentence Types (文の種類)

You will learn a variety of sentence types, including statements, questions, suggestions, requests, and commands.

Statements (ステートメント)

A statement sentence expresses a fact. It ends with a predicate, which can be a verb, an adjective, or a copular verb, that is either affirmative or negative, in non-past or past tense, and in plain or informal style. For example:

この本は面白いです。Kono hon wa omoshiroi desu. This book is interesting.
昨日、映画を見ました。Kinō, eiga o mimashita. I watched a movie yesterday.

Questions (質問)

Question sentences can be either yes/no questions, for which agreement or disagreement is an answer, or content questions, for which the answer must provide some information. In either case, question sentences end in the question particle か ka in Japanese. A question mark (?) is not formally needed, but it is actually frequently used in personal letters and many literary works. Japanese question sentences maintain the word order in statement sentences, and question words are placed where the answers would be placed in a statement. For example:

田中さんは学生ですか。Tanaka-san wa gakusei desu ka. Is Mr. Tanaka a student? (yes/no question)
いつ日本へ行きますか。Itsu Nihon e ikimasu ka. When are you going to Japan? (content question)

Question words (疑問詞)

The following table shows basic question words in Japanese along with examples of their usage:

Tables & Flowchart (1080 x 1100 px) (13).png

The following are some additional question words:

どなた donata: who (polite version)
なぜ naze: why (formal version)
どれ dore: which one
どの dono: which
どちら dochira: which one of the two, which way, or who/where (honorific)
どんな donna: what kind of
何時 nan-ji: what time (o’clock)
何人 nan-nin: how many (people)
いくら ikura: how much (price)
いくつ ikutsu: how many (things)
どのくらい dono kurai: approximately how much

Negative pronouns (no one, etc.) (否定代名詞)

A negative pronoun negates the existence of some kind of item. You create a negative pronoun by adding the particle も mo after a question word and its associated structural particle and placing it in a negative sentence. Note that the particles が ga and を o must be deleted if they are followed by も mo. For example:

財布がどこにもありません。Saifu ga doko ni mo arimasen. I can’t find my wallet anywhere.
冷蔵庫になにもありません。Reizōko ni nani mo arimasen. There's nothing in the fridge.

Universal pronouns (everyone, etc.) (普遍代名詞)

By adding the particle も mo at the end of a question word and using it in an affirmative sentence, you can create a universal pronoun that refers to all of some kind of items. For example:

会社のだれもがその意見に賛成しました。Kaisha no naka de dare mo ga sono iken ni sansei shimashita. Everyone in the company agreed with that opinion.
この店はどこも閉まっています。zenbu no mise wa shimatte imasu. All the shops are closed.

Although it is not common in conversation, it is also possible to list verbs by using stem forms. For example:

人は食べ、寝、働き、生きる。Hito wa tabe, ne, hataraki, ikiru. People eat, sleep, work, and live.

Enriching statements (ステートメントを充実させる)

There are some elements you can use at the end of a sentence to express your certainty, intention, and feelings about the statement. In this section, you’ll learn some of these sentence-ending elements. Most of them follow a sentence that ends in verbs and adjectives in the plain form, but there are some exceptions. It is a good idea to summarise the plain forms of verbs and adjectives, as shown in this table:

Tables & Flowchart (1080 x 1100 px) (14).png