Sixty guides on Japanese, English, and the work of moving between them. Grammar references, writing and reading explainers, and plain-language pieces on how translation actually behaves. Browse by section below.
Japanese Grammar
Japanese Particles: wa, ga, wo, ni, deThe five particles that decide what your sentence means.
Japanese Particles Part 2: mo, ne, yo, kaAlso, and, from, and the words that color a sentence.
Verb Conjugation BasicsThe three verb groups, polite form, past, and negative.
The Te-Form and Its UsesOne form that builds requests, the continuous tense, and more.
Adjectives: i vs naTwo adjective types that conjugate in different ways.
Word Order (SOV)Why the verb comes last and order is otherwise flexible.
Question WordsWho, what, where, when, why, and how.
Giving and Receiving Verbsageru, kureru, morau, and why direction matters.
Transitive vs Intransitive VerbsPaired verbs like akeru and aku, and the particle they take.
Conditionals: ba, tara, to, naraFour ways to say if, and which one to use when.
Passive and Causative FormsIncluding the suffering passive English has no match for.
Pronouns and Why They VanishA dozen words for I, and why speakers drop them.
Tenses: Past, Non-Past, No FutureTwo tenses, not three, and how the future is expressed.
Negation: nai, masen, and MoreNegative forms, negative questions, and double negatives.
The Copula: da, desu, de aruThe small words that do the job of the English is.
Relative Clauses Without ThatWhole clauses placed in front of a noun, no linker needed.
Comparatives and Superlativesyori, hou ga, and ichiban for more and most.
Nominalization: koto and noTurning verbs and clauses into nouns.
The Potential Form: Saying CanAbility built into the verb, and the particle it shifts.
The Volitional Form: Let's and Intentmashou and ou for suggestions and intention.
Commands and ImperativesFrom a soft please to a blunt bark, and when each fits.
wa vs ga: A Closer LookTopic vs subject, new vs old information, and contrast.
ni vs deTwo particles that both become at, and how to tell them apart.
Aspect: teiru and tearuIn progress, resulting states, and habits.
Wanting: tai and hoshiiTwo words for want, and whose desire you may state.
Modal Expressionsdeshou, kamoshirenai, hazu, sou, you, and rashii.
Writing, Reading and Vocabulary
Hiragana vs KatakanaSame sounds, two scripts, and what the choice signals.
Kanji Readings: On'yomi vs Kun'yomiWhy one character has several readings.
Romaji: Hepburn vs KunreiWhy the same word gets two spellings in English.
Katakana LoanwordsWords that look like English but mean something else.
Onomatopoeia: Giongo and GitaigoThe sound and state words that resist translation.
CountersWhy you can't just say two of something.
Numbers and DatesMan, oku, era years, and date order.
Telling Time and DatesHours, minutes, weekdays, and the irregular days of the month.
Honorific Prefixes o- and go-When the polite prefix is optional and when it is fixed.
Reading Japanese MenusCooking methods and dish words that unlock a menu.
Japanese PunctuationThe circle period, corner-bracket quotes, and no spaces.
Typing Japanese (IME)How romaji becomes kana and then kanji.
Vertical and Horizontal Writingtategaki and yokogaki, and when each is used.
Furigana and Ruby TextThe small kana that give a kanji its reading.
History of Japanese WritingHow Japan ended up with three scripts at once.
Culture and Politeness
Keigo: Polite, Humble, HonorificWhen to use each register, and why machines get it wrong.
Names and TitlesName order, -san, -sama, sensei, and what to keep in English.
Idioms That Don't TranslatePhrases with no direct equivalent, and how translators cope.
Greetings and When to Use ThemTime-of-day, coming-and-going, and the untranslatable ones.
How to ApologizeFrom sumimasen to moushiwake arimasen, matched to weight.
Aizuchi: Listening SoundsThe little signals that show a listener is following.
Proverbs (Kotowaza)Folk wisdom in fixed sayings, and their English matches.
Yojijukugo: Four-Character IdiomsA whole idea folded into four kanji.
Gendered SpeechHow pronouns and particles carry gender, and how that is changing.
Regional DialectsKansai-ben and beyond, past standard Japanese.
Slang and Casual SpeechContractions that last, and slang that dates fast.
Translation and Technology
Machine vs Human TranslationWhere AI is strong, where it fails, and how to choose.
Common Translation MistakesEight errors, from dropped subjects to literal idioms.
How Translation Engines WorkFrom rule-based systems to neural machine translation.
AI Translation and PrivacyWhat happens to text you paste into a translation tool.
Translating Business EmailsKeeping tone and formality intact across languages.
Translating Manga and SubtitlesSpeech style, honorifics, sound effects, and space limits.
Localization vs TranslationWhy adapting a product is bigger than translating its words.
Back-Translation ExplainedWhat a round trip can prove, and what it cannot.
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