Special Focus: Understanding 多くの vs 多い
Have you ever wondered why Japanese sometimes requires 多くの instead of just 多い when describing quantities? I certainly did, so…
Special Focus: Understanding 多くの vs 多い
Have you ever wondered why Japanese sometimes requires 多くの instead of just 多い when describing quantities? I certainly did, so…
「問題な日本語」The の and な Puzzle
If you’ve been studying Japanese for a while, you’ve probably encountered situations where both の and な seem to be…
The Many Faces of に: Understanding には
I’ve been asking myself why に can both be used with nouns and only non-past (dictionary form) clauses. That sparked…
Understanding ところ: All Usages Shown
The word tokoro (ところ/所), originating from the Old Japanese term “tokourayo” (とこうらよ/床裏世). Is a compound consisting of: Originally, it referred…
From Sitting to Existing: The Evolution of いる in Japanese
Origins in Old Japanese In Old Japanese (OJ), the ancestor of いる wasn’t an existential verb at all. Instead, it…
The Hidden Copula: What のbody tells you
This post draws heavily on research by Yu Fei (于 飛), a postdoctoral researcher at Beijing Normal University’s Faculty of…
ば: The Only Conditional In Japanese
The Japanese conditional system has really only one centerpiece, namely: ば (ba). To understand why it’s the fundamental conditional marker,…
Historical Evolution: How 好く Became 好き – A Linguistic Analysis
In modern Japanese, すき is one of the most commonly used words to express liking or preference. However, its grammatical…
Japanese And Politeness: Development Of です
In modern Japanese, です and ます are the cornerstone of polite speech, known as 丁寧語 (teineigo). While these expressions are…
They Are Not Adjectives: 形容動詞 A Historical Analysis
Japanese learners often encounter what textbooks call “adjectival nouns” or keiyōdōshi (形容動詞). While this term is widely accepted, research suggests…