An Elementary Grammar of the Japanese Language/Syntax

by Tatui Baba

Sections 

Rules
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.

SYNTAX.

There are two kinds of sentences—simple and compound.

1. A simple sentence; as, Kono hito wa kasikō gozarimasu, He is clever.
2. A compound sentence; as, Kono hito wa kasikō gozarimasu keredomo hatarakimasen, He is clever, but he does not work.

Rules.

I. A verb must be put after its object; as, Watakusi we hana wo konomimasu, I like flowers.

In this sentence the object hana is placed before the predicate konomimasu.

II. Prepositions are placed after nouns which they govern, and which are said to be in the objective case; as, Watakusi wa Yedo ye mairimasu, I go to Yedo.

III. When two or more nouns or pronouns are coupled with to (and), the signs of cases are put after the last nominative; as, Watakusi to anata ga ikimasu, I and you go.

IV. When two or more nouns or pronouns are connected by matawa (or), the particle ka is put immediately after the nouns or pronouns; as, Watakusi ka matawa anata ka ga mairimasu, I or you go.

V. Conjunctions couple the same tenses of verbs; as, Watakusi wa sore wo sukimasu keredomo kore wo kiraimasu, I like that, but (I) do not like or dislike this.

Conjunctions couple the same cases of nouns and pronouns; as, Watakusi to anata ga ikimasu, I and you go.

VI. One verb governs another in the infinitive mood; as, Watakusi wa sake wo nomu koto wo konomimasen, I do not like to drink saké, or spirit of rice.

When the verbs in the infinitive mood are governed by an active verb, or used as nouns, the signs of cases, ga, wa, or wo, are added to the simple forms of the verbs in the infinitive mood; as, nomu koto wa, or nomu koto wo, to drink. But when the verbs in the infinitive mood are governed by a neuter verb, u of the verb of the first kind, and uru of that of the third kind are taken away, and i and ni are added; in the case of the verbs of the second kind, ru is substituted by ni; as, Watakusi wa mini, or asobini ikimasu, I go to see (something), or to amuse myself. Here u of asobu and ru of miru are taken away, and i and ni, or ni, is put.

VII. When two nouns, or one pronoun and a noun come together, one signifying a possessor, and the other a thing possessed, the former is put in the possessive case; as, Yamasiroya no shomotu, Yamasiroya’s book; or, Anato no shomotu, Your book.

VIII. When the verb gozarimasu or arimasu (‘is’ or ‘are’) is used, a noun or pronoun which comes immediately before the verbs requires the word de after it; as, Watakusi wa Yamatoya de gozarimasu, I am (Mr.) Yamatoya.

IX. Sentences which imply contingency and futurity require the subjunctive mood; as, Mosi watakusi ga mairimasu nara, or Mosi watakusi ga mairimasho nara, Watakusi ga sore wo mimasho, If I go (there), I shall see that.

X. Some conjunctions have their correspondent conjunctions; thus, to (and) is sometimes repeated after each noun or pronoun; as, Watakusi to anata to ga ikimasu, I and you go.

Mosi	nara or naraba, if.
Tatoye	nisiro or sitemo, though.
Nazenareba	kara, because.

XI. When the verbs in the infinitive mood are used as nouns, they require the signs of the case; as, Niti ya watakusi no suwatte-iru koto ga yamai no moto de gozarimasu, My sitting day and night is the cause of my illness.

XII. Relative pronouns are generally omitted in conversation; as, Sore wa, watakusi ga kosirayemasita hako de gozarimasu, or Watakusi ga kosirayemasita hako wa sore de gozarimasu, That is a box which I have made. Here the relative pronoun tokorono (‘which’ or ‘that’) ought to be put between the verb kosiraye-masita and the object hako; but in conversation tokorono is not used.

XIII. Adverbs are placed before adjectives and verbs; as, Sore wa hanahada yō gozarimasu, That is very good; and Watakusi wa hayaku mairimasho, I shall go quickly.

XIV. When nouns or pronouns are compared with each other, a noun or pronoun which comes directly before the word yori or yorimo (‘than’) does not require the sign of case; as, Anata wa watakusi yori tokō gozarimasu, You are taller than I.

XV. After the names of places, ye corresponds in English to ‘to’; as, Watakusi wa Yedo ye ikimasu, I go to Yedo. Ni corresponds to ‘in’ or ‘at’; as, Watakusi wa Asakusa ni or Yedo ni orimasu, I live at Asakusa or in Yedo.

XVI. Adjectives for the most part are placed before nouns, but numeral adjectives may be placed after nouns as well as before them; as, hito san nin or san nin no hito, three persons. When numeral adjectives are applied to persons, nin must de added; and when they are placed before nouns, no must be put after nin; as, san nin no hito. There are other words applied to point out the numbers of beasts, birds, trees, &c.

Table.

Hiki, piki, or biki is used for quadrupeds:—

itt-piki, one horse. Uma ni-hiki, two horses. san-biki, three horses.

Generally, hiki is used for all the numbers except 10, 20, 30, up to 100, for which piki is used merely for the sake of pronunciation. Biki for three, and thousands; as, zitt piki no uma, 10 horses; ni sen biki no uma, 2000 horses.

Pa, wah, or ba, is used for birds:—

iti wah, one bird. Tori ni wah, two birds. san ba, three birds.

Wah is used generally; pah is for 10, 20 30, &c.; up to 100, ba for 3, and 1000, 2000, &c. Pon, hon, or bon is used for a number of trees or plants:—

itt-pon, one tree. Ki ni-pon, two trees. san bon, three tress.

Hon is of general use; pon for 10, 20, 30, &c.; bon for 3, and 1000; as, Watakusi wa konnichi tori san ba, or (san ba no tori) to san nin no hito, or hito san nin, to uma san biki, or san biki no uma, to sanbon no ki, or ki sanbon, wo mimasita, I have seen to-day three birds and three persons, and three horses, and three trees.

XVII. Are or arera, the personal pronouns of the third person, are seldom used; generally the demonstrative adjectives kono (this), or sono (that), and the nouns hito or okata (person), are used instead; as, Watakusi wa kono okata wo sakuzitu mimasita, I have seen him (or this person) yesterday.

XVIII. When any adjective qualifies a noun which is understood, the adjective changes its termination, as follows:—

Adjectives ending na, such as kireina, ōkina, &c., change their terminations into ni:

Kore wa kireina niwa de gozarimasu, It is a beautiful garden.

Kono niwa wa kireina gozarimasu, That garden is a beautiful (one).

Kireina, kireini, beautiful, fine.

Akirakana, akirakani, clear, bright.

Attakana, attakani, warm.

Wazukana, wazukani, or wazukade, little, few.

Takusana, takusani, much, many.

Ōkina, ōkini, ōkiwu, large, tall.

Adjectives ending in ai or oi change their termination into long ō:

Kore wa katai isi de gozarimasu, This is a hard stone.

Kono isi wa katō gozarimasu, This stone is a hard (one).

Katai, katō, hard.

Takai, takō, dear in price, or tall.

Hayai, hayō, quick.

Yowai, yowō, weak.

&c.

Kono ko wa kasikō gozarimasu, This child is a wise (one).

Kasikoi, kasikō, wise, clever.

Tattoi, tattō, precious, worthy.

Tuwoi, tuwō, strong.

Towoi, towō, far.

Those ending in si change their terminations into shu:

Kono samusa wa kibishu gozarimasu, This winter, or cold, is a severe (one).

Kibisī, kibishu, severe.

Atarasī, atarashu, new.

Tadasī, tadashu, right.

Osorosī, osoroshu, fearful, horrible.

Orokorasī, otokorashu, manly.

&c.

There are a few exceptions:—Numerical adjectives do not change their terminations, but de must be put after them; as, Watakusi domo wa sannin de gozarimasu, We are three.