Reverse Engineering the Japanese Sentence

Reverse Engineer Some Japanese

On this page we will take a Japanese sentence, such as the following, and examine how it is constructed step-by-step. The buttons in each cell make it possible to interact with the examples on this page.

Japanese Complete vs. Classical Japanese Pedagogy

Japanese Term	けいようし	めいし	どうし	けいようどうし
日本語の文法語	形容詞	名詞	動詞	形容動詞
Translation	Adjectival Noun	Noun	Verb	Adjectival Verb
Classical Pedagogy	na-adjective	noun	verbs (u, ru)	i-adj.
↓	∴
Japanese Complete	na-nouns	no-nouns	u-verbs*	i-verbs

*subcategorised to u-verbs and ru-verbs

Valid Sentences

A sentence can be

1. any number of Bunsetsu Jars before a Sentence-Final Fitter.
2. A sentence can also be just a Sentence-Final Fitter.

Bunsetsu Jars can be arranged in any sequence before the Sentence-Final Fitter without altering the meaning of the sentence.

Sentence-Final-Fitters

In the Japanese Complete curriculum we have simplified some of the nomenclature surrounding Japanese.

For example, we dismiss with adjectives altogether and opt for nouns and verbs of two kinds each. You can see the differences with classical approaches in the table under

Differences

.

Valid Sentence-Final-Fitters are

1. Just a plain form verb. Or,
2. A base noun with the helper verb (copula) だ [da].

The copula [da] roughly carries "is-ness."

Verbs have "is-ness" built-in.

"Zero" denotes an unstated subject and can be read as "Unstated Subject" instead.

Types of Verb

In Japanese Complete we teach two main categories of verb,

1. u-verbs and
2. i-verbs.

Japanese Term	どうし	けいようどうし
日本語の文法語	動詞	形容動詞
Translation	Verb	Adjectival Verb
Classical Pedagogy	verbs (u, ru)	i-adj.
↓	∴
Japanese Complete	u-verbs*	i-verbs

*subcategorised to u-verbs and ru-verbs

Types of Noun

In Japanese Complete we teach two types of Noun,

1. no-nouns and
2. na-nouns.

Japanese Term	どうし	けいようどうし
日本語の文法語	形容詞	名詞
Translation	Adjectival Noun	Noun
Classical Pedagogy	na-adjective	noun
↓	∴
Japanese Complete	na-nouns	no-nouns

Particles

Particles are role-marking words in Japanese written using Hiragana alone. A Particle attaches to a Base Noun in order to complete a Bunsetsu Jar. (Particles attach to Base Nouns to become a Lid for the Bunsetsu Jar.) Below is just a handful of particles from Japanese. Modern estimates put the total number of unique particles between 180-270.

Particle	Indicates
が	Subject
を	Direct Object
に	Precise Time or Physical Point (Destination, Origin)
で	Setting/Locality or Instrument of Accomplishment
の	Possesion (apostrophe S: Zero's...), Subcategorization

Valid Jars

Bunsetsu Jars can be,

1. A Base Noun + a Particle or,
2. A Modifier + Base Noun + Particle.

As stated above, Valid Bunsetsu Jars can also be a Modifier + a Base Noun + a Particle.

What are Modifiers?

Modifiers are description words of the nouns that follow.

Base Nouns as Modifiers

Base Nouns as Modifiers require thier corresponding modifier-making letter, "no" or "na."

1. no-nouns need の attached,
2. na-nouns need な attached.

As mentioned above, Base Nouns as Modifiers require thier corresponding modifier-making letter, "no" or "na." Click to see another valid bunsetsu jar with a na-noun modifier. Notice how the na-noun has "na" attached, all before the Root Noun of the jar.

Verbs as Modifiers

Verbs as Modifiers remain unchanged from their plain form. Verbs do not need a special modifier-making letter, they simply append to the front of the Base Noun they modify.

Both i-verbs and u-verbs can prepend a base noun to modify it. In this form, the verbs are describing the base noun. In Japanese Complete, we refer to these as "verbing-nouns" to make it easy to understand what they are doing.

A good example is names like Sitting-Bear or Standing-Bull, these verbs that come in front explain what the base noun is doing. In Japanese, verbs prepending nouns creates a congruent effect.

Putting it All Together

We can place modifiers in front of Base Nouns in any Valid Bunsetsu Jar or SFF.

• Frequency-based Curriculum
• Drills to Help Bring Home what you Learn
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