ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Japanese grammar

Japanese grammar is how Japanese people make their sentences. Just like in English, there are rules and patterns you need to follow to make sure your sentence makes sense.

In Japanese, the basic word order is subject-object-verb, which means you say who or what is doing the action, then what they are doing it to, and then what action they are doing. For example, instead of saying "I ate an apple", in Japanese you would say "I apple ate".

Japanese also uses particles, which are little words that go after other words to show their relationship in the sentence. For example, the particle "wa" is used to show the topic of the sentence, while "ga" is used to show the subject.

Another important aspect of Japanese grammar is the use of verb conjugation. This means that the verb changes depending on who is doing the action and when it happened. For example, "taberu" means "to eat", but if you want to say "I ate", you would say "tabemashita".

Finally, there are different levels of politeness in Japanese grammar that depend on who you are speaking to and the situation. For example, when speaking to someone you don't know or someone of higher status, you use a more polite form of Japanese called "keigo".

Overall, Japanese grammar can seem complicated at first, but with practice and understanding the rules and patterns, you can gradually improve your skills and fluency in the language.