Introduction
1 Introducing Japanese sounds, word order, and writing systems
   Basic sounds
   Pitch
   Basic hiragana
   Katakana
   Kanji
   Basic word order and particles
   Speech styles
2 Nouns
   Proper nouns
   Respectful titles
   Common nouns
   Compound nouns
   Demonstrative pronouns
   Personal pronouns
   The particle no
   Kinship terms
3 Numbers
   Bare numbers based on the Chinese system
   The native Japanese number system
   Class counters
   Ordinal counters
   Expressing time
   Expressing months and days
   Unit counters
   me
4 Basic verb forms
   Dictionary form
   Masu form
   Nai form
   Stem form
   Ru verbs and u verbs
   Irregular verbs
   Conjugation patterns
   Te form
   Ta form
   Nakatta form
   Conjugating verbs in the plain form
   Conjugating verbs in the polite form
   Progressive form
   Potential form
   Conjugating the copular verb desu
5 Verb types
   suru verbs
   Existential verbs aru and iru
   Transitive and intransitive verbs
   Inherently potential verbs
   Verbs with hidden become/get
   Verbs of giving and receiving
6 Auxiliaries that follow verbs in the te form
   te + ageru, etc. (helpfulness)
   te + iru (progressive, resulting, and habitual states)
   te + shimau (completion)
   te + oku (preparation)
   te + miru (trial)
   te + iku and kuru (progress)
   te + aru (resulting state)
   te + hoshii (desire)
7 Particles
   o (direct object)
   ga (subject)
   ni (at, in, to)
   de (at, by, in, with)
   e (toward, to)
   kara (from)
   made (until)
   no (of, ’s)
   to, ya, and ka (listing nouns)
   wa (topic)
   mo (addition)
   bakari (nothing but . . . )
   shika (only)
   dake (just/only)
   demo (even)
8 Adjectives and adverbs
   Adjective types
   Basic adjective forms
   Multiple subjects
   Te forms of adjectives
   Degree adverbs
   Frequency adverbs
   Adverbs derived from adjectives
   Adverb + naru (change)
   Adverbs made from onomatopoeia and mimetic words
   Comparing two items
   Equivalent-degree comparison
   Comparing activities
   Superlative comparison
9 Sentence types
   Statements
   Questions
   Sentences with indefinite pronouns
   Enriching statements
   Suggestions, requests, and commands
10 Complex words and phrases
   sugiru, etc. (verbal compound)
   yasui / nikui (toughness)
   tai (to want to do . . . )
   garu (to show the signs of . . . )
   Noun + rashii (typical)
   Noun + no yo na (simile)
   Noun + mitai na (simile)
   Stem form + so na (appearance)
   Volitional form + to omou (intention)
   Volitional form + to suru (attempt)
   yo ni suru/naru (change)
   koto ni + suru/naru (decision)
   koto ga dekiru (potential)
   koto ga aru (experience)
11 Clauses
   to and ka (verb complement clause)
   mae ni (adverbial clause before . . . ) and ato ni (adverbial clause after . . . )
   aida ni (adverbial clause during/while . . . )
   uchi ni (adverbial clause during/while/before . . . )
   toki ni (adverbial clause at the time when . . . )
   nagara (adverbial clause simultaneously)
   kara and node (adverbial clause because . . . )
   ga and noni (adverbial clause although . . . )
   Noun modifier clauses (which/that . . . )
12 Conjunctions
   Listing nouns with to (exhaustive), ya (partial), ka (disjunctive), and mo (addition)
   Listing verbs with te forms
   Listing adjectives with te forms
   Listing verbs and adjectives as examples using the tari form
   Listing verbs and adjectives emphatically using shi
   Sentence conjunctions
13 Conditionals
   tara (whenever, when, if)
   ba (whenever, when, if)
   to (whenever, when)
   nara (if it is the case that . . . .)
   te mo (even if/though, no matter . . . )
   Permission and prohibition
   Obligation and discretion
14 Passives and causatives
   Passive verbs
   Direct passive
   Indirect passive
   Causative verbs
   Make-causative and let-causative
   Causative with auxiliary verbs of giving and receiving
   Causative passive
15 Honorifics
   Special honorific verbs
   (r)areru (respectful form of verbs)
   o . . . ni naru (respectful)
   o . . . suru (humble)
   Asking for permission very politely
   Making a request very politely
   Using go before a noun
   Family terms
   Honorific forms for adjectives
   Honorific/polite question words
16 Review Exercises
Appendix A: Basic verb forms
Appendix B: Basic sentence predicate forms
Japanese–English glossary
English–Japanese glossary
Answer key