Editing Japanese grammar (section)

==Nouns==
{{see also|Honorific speech in Japanese}}
Japanese has no [[grammatical gender]], [[grammatical number|number]], or [[article (grammar)|article]]s; though the demonstrative {{nihongo3|"that, those"|その|sono}}, is often translatable as "the". Thus, linguists agree that Japanese [[noun]]s are [[inflection|noninflecting]]: {{nihongo||猫|neko}} can be translated as "cat", "cats", "a cat", "the cat", "some cats" and so forth, depending on context. However, as part of the extensive pair of grammatical systems that Japanese possesses for ''honorification'' (making discourse deferential to the addressee or even to a third party) and politeness, nouns too can be modified. Nouns take politeness prefixes (which have not been regarded as inflections): {{transliteration|ja|o-}} for native nouns, and {{transliteration|ja|go-}} for Sino-Japanese nouns. A few examples are given in the following table. In a few cases, there is [[suppletion]], as with the first of the examples given below, '飯(meal/rice)'. (Note that while these prefixes are almost always written in [[hiragana]] as {{nihongo||お〜|o-}} or {{nihongo||ご〜|go-}}, the {{lang|ja|御}} [[kanji]] represents both {{transliteration|ja|o}} and {{transliteration|ja|go}} in formal writing.)

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:2em; float:right;"
|+ Respectful forms of nouns
! meaning !! plain !! respectful
|-
| meal || {{nihongo||飯|meshi}} || {{nihongo||ご飯|go-han}}
|-
| money || {{nihongo||金|kane}} || {{nihongo||お金|o-kane}}
|-
| body || {{nihongo||体|karada}} || {{nihongo||お体|o-karada}}{{pb}}{{nihongo||御身|onmi}}
|-
| word(s) || {{nihongo||言葉|kotoba}} || {{nihongo||お言葉|o-kotoba}}{{pb}}{{nihongo||詔|mikotonori}}
|}

Lacking number, Japanese does not differentiate between [[count noun|count]] and [[mass noun]]s. A small number of nouns have [[collective number|collective]]s formed by [[reduplication]] (possibly accompanied by voicing and related processes ([[rendaku]])); for example: {{nihongo3|'person'|人|hito}} and {{nihongo3|'people'|人々|hitobito}}. Reduplication is not [[productivity (linguistics)|productive]]. Words in Japanese referring to more than one of something are collectives, not [[plural]]s. {{transliteration|ja|Hitobito}}, for example, means "a lot of people" or "people in general"; it is never used to mean "two people". A phrase like {{transliteration|ja|edo no hitobito}} would be taken to mean "the people of [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]]", or "the population of Edo", not "two people from Edo" or even "a few people from Edo". Similarly, {{transliteration|ja|yamayama}} means "many mountains".

A limited number of nouns have collective forms that refer to groups of people. Examples include {{nihongo3|'we'|私たち|watashi-tachi}}; {{nihongo3|'you' [plural]|あなたたち|anata-tachi}}; {{nihongo3|'we' (less formal, more masculine)|僕ら|bokura}}. One uncommon personal noun, {{nihongo3|'I', or in some cases, 'you'|我|ware}}, has a much more common reduplicative collective form: {{nihongo3|'we'|我々|wareware}}.

The suffixes {{nihongo3||達|-tachi}} and {{nihongo3||等|-ra}} are by far the most common collectivizing suffixes. These are, again, not pluralizing suffixes: {{transliteration|ja|tarō-tachi}} does not mean "some number of people named Taro", but instead indicates the group including Taro. Depending on context, {{transliteration|ja|tarō-tachi}} might be translated into "Taro and his friends", "Taro and his siblings", "Taro and his family", or any other logical grouping that has Taro as the representative. Some words with collectives have become fixed phrases and (commonly) refer to one person. Specifically, {{nihongo3|'child'|子供|kodomo}} and {{nihongo3|'friend'|友達|tomodachi}} can be singular, even though {{transliteration|ja|-[t]omo}} and {{transliteration|ja|-[t]achi}} were originally collectivizing in these words; to unambiguously refer to groups of them, an additional collectivizing suffix is added: {{nihongo3|'children'|子供たち|kodomo-tachi}} and {{nihongo3|'friends'|友達たち|tomodachi-tachi}}, though {{transliteration|ja|tomodachi-tachi}} is somewhat uncommon. {{transliteration|ja|Tachi}} is sometimes applied to inanimate objects, {{nihongo3|'car'|車|kuruma}} and {{nihongo3|'cars'|車たち|kuruma-tachi}}, for example, but this usage is colloquial and indicates a high level of anthropomorphisation and childlikeness, and is not more generally accepted as standard.

===Grammatical case===
[[Grammatical case]]s in Japanese are marked by [[Japanese particles|particles]] placed after the nouns.<ref name="taro takahashi">{{cite book |last=Takahashi|first=Tarō|title=Nihongo no Bunpō|script-title=ja:日本語の文法|trans-title=A Japanese Grammar |year=2010|publisher=Hituzi Syobo Publishing|location=Japan |isbn=978-4-89476-244-2|page=27|display-authors=etal|language=ja |edition=4th}}</ref> A distinctive feature of Japanese is the presence of two cases which are roughly equivalent to the nominative case in other languages: one representing the [[Topic and comment|sentence topic]], other representing the subject. The most important case markers are the following:

* [[Nominative case|Nominative]] – {{nihongo||が|ga}} for subject, {{nihongo||は|wa}} for the [[Topic marker#Japanese: は|topic]]
* [[Genitive case|Genitive]] – {{nihongo||の|no}}
* [[Dative case|Dative]] – {{nihongo||に|ni}}
* [[Accusative case|Accusative]] – {{nihongo||を|o}}
* [[Lative case|Lative]] – {{nihongo||へ|e}}, used for destination direction (like in "to some place")
* [[Ablative case|Ablative]] – {{nihongo||から|kara}}, used for source direction (like in "from some place")
* [[Instrumental case|Instrumental]]/[[Locative case|Locative]] – {{nihongo||で|de}}

===Pronouns===
{{Main|Japanese pronouns}}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: 2em; float: right;"
|+ Common pronouns
! person 
!very informal!! plain, informal !! polite
|-
! first
| {{nihongo3|male|俺|ore}}{{pb}}{{nihongo3|female|あたし|atashi}}
| {{nihongo3|male|僕|boku}}{{pb}}{{nihongo3|gender neutral|私|watashi}}
| {{nihongo3||私|watashi}}{{pb}}{{nihongo3||私|watakushi}}
|-
! second
| {{nihongo3||あんた|anta}}{{pb}}{{nihongo3||お前|omae}}
| {{nihongo3||君|kimi}}{{pb}}{{nihongo3||あなた|anata}}
| {{nihongo3||貴方|anata}}{{pb}}{{nihongo3||そちら|sochira}}
|-
! third
| {{nihongo3|pejorative|あいつ|aitsu}}
| {{nihongo3|referring to males|彼|kare}}{{pb}}{{nihongo3|referring to females|彼女|kanojo}}{{pb}}{{nihongo3||あの人|ano hito}}
| {{nihongo3||あの方|ano kata}}
|}

Although many grammars and textbooks mention {{nihongo|[[pronoun]]s|代名詞|daimeishi}}, Japanese lacks true pronouns. ({{transliteration|ja|Daimeishi}} can be considered a subset of nouns.) Strictly speaking, linguistic pronouns do not take modifiers{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}, but Japanese {{transliteration|ja|daimeishi}} do. For example, {{nihongo3|lit. "tall he"|背の高い彼|se no takai kare}} is valid in Japanese. Also, unlike true pronouns, Japanese {{transliteration|ja|daimeishi}} are not [[closed-class word|closed-class]]; new {{transliteration|ja|daimeishi}} are introduced and old ones go out of use relatively quickly.

A large number of {{transliteration|ja|daimeishi}} referring to people are translated as pronouns in their most common uses. Examples: {{nihongo3|he|彼|kare}}; {{nihongo3|she|彼女|kanojo}}; {{nihongo3|I|私|watashi}}; see also the adjoining table or a longer list.<ref>[http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/pronoun.html "What are the personal pronouns of Japanese?"] in ''sci.lang.japan Frequently Asked Questions''</ref> Some of these "personal nouns" such as {{nihongo3|I (exceedingly humble)|己|onore}}, or {{nihongo3|I (young male)|僕|boku}}, also have second-person uses: {{nihongo||おのれ|onore}} in second-person is an extremely rude "you", and {{transliteration|ja|boku}} in second-person is a diminutive "you" used for young boys. {{transliteration|ja|Kare}} and {{transliteration|ja|kanojo}} also mean "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" respectively, and this usage of the words is possibly more common than the use as pronouns.

Like other [[subject (grammar)|subject]]s, personal {{transliteration|ja|daimeishi}} are seldom used and are de-emphasized in Japanese. This is partly because Japanese sentences do not always require explicit subjects, and partly because names or titles are often used where pronouns would appear in a translation:

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|「木下さん は、 背 が 高い です ね。」
|"Kinoshita-san wa, se ga takai desu ne."
|(addressing Mr. Kinoshita) "You're pretty tall, aren't you?"}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|「専務、 明日 福岡市 西区 の 山本商事 の 社長 に 会って いただけます か？」
|"Senmu, asu Fukuoka-shi nishi-ku no Yamamoto-shōji no shachō ni atte itadakemasu ka?"
|(addressing the managing director) "Would it be possible for you to meet the president of Yamamoto Trading Co. in [[Nishi-ku, Fukuoka|West Ward, Fukuoka]] tomorrow?"}}

The possible referents of {{transliteration|ja|daimeishi}} are sometimes constrained depending on the order of occurrence. The following pair of examples from Bart Mathias<ref>Bart Mathias. [http://groups-beta.google.com/group/sci.lang.japan/msg/fed63fa6c3614895?dmode=source Discussion of pronoun reference constraints] on sci.lang.japan.</ref> illustrates one such constraint.

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|本田君 に 会って、 彼 の 本 を 返した。
|Honda-kun ni atte, kare no hon o kaeshita
|(I) met Honda and returned his book. ("His" here can refer to Honda.)}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|彼 に 会って、 本田君 の 本 を 返した。
|Kare ni atte, Honda-kun no hon o kaeshita
|(I) met him and returned Honda's book. (Here, "him" cannot refer to Honda.)}}

===Reflexive pronouns===
English has a reflexive form of each [[personal pronoun]] (''himself'', ''herself'', ''itself'', ''themselves'', etc.); Japanese, in contrast, has one main reflexive {{transliteration|ja|daimeishi}}, namely {{nihongo3||自分|jibun}}, which can also mean 'I'. The uses of the reflexive (pro)nouns in the two languages are very different, as demonstrated by the following literal translations (*=impossible, ??=ambiguous):
{| class="wikitable"
! example !! reason
|- valign="top"
| {{fs interlinear|lang=ja|＊ 歴史 は 自分 を 繰り返す。|* Rekishi wa jibun o kurikaesu.|History repeats itself.}}
| the target of {{transliteration|ja|jibun}} must be animate
|- valign="top"
| {{fs interlinear|lang=ja|ひろし は 健司 に 自分 の こと を 話した。|Hiroshi wa Kenji ni jibun no koto o hanashita.|Hiroshi talked to Kenji about himself ({{=}}Hiroshi).}}
| there is no ambiguity in this translation, as explained below
|- valign="top"
| {{fs interlinear|lang=ja|？？ 誠 は 静子 が 自分 を 大事 に する こと を 期待 して いる。|?? Makoto wa Shizuko ga jibun o daiji ni suru koto o kitai shite iru.|*Makoto expects that Shizuko will take good care of himself ({{=}}Makoto; note that Shizuko is female).}}
Either "Makoto expects that Shizuko will take good care of him", or "Makoto expects that Shizuko will take good care of herself."
| {{transliteration|ja|jibun}} can be in a different sentence or dependent clause, but its target is ambiguous
|}{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

If the sentence has more than one grammatical or semantic subject, then the target of {{transliteration|ja|jibun}} is the subject of the ''primary'' or ''most prominent action''; thus in the following sentence {{transliteration|ja|jibun}} refers unambiguously to Shizuko (even though Makoto is the grammatical subject) because the primary action is Shizuko's reading.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|誠 は 静子 に 自分 の 家 で 本 を 読ませた。
|Makoto wa Shizuko ni jibun no uchi de hon o yomaseta.
|Makoto made Shizuko read book(s) in her house.}}

In practice the main action is not always discernible, in which case such sentences are ambiguous. The use of {{transliteration|ja|jibun}} in complex sentences follows non-trivial rules.

There are also equivalents to {{transliteration|ja|jibun}} such as {{transliteration|ja|mizukara}}. Other uses of the [[reflexive pronoun]] in English are covered by adverbs like {{transliteration|ja|hitorideni}} which is used in the sense of "by oneself". For example,

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|機械 が ひとりでに 動き出した。
|kikai ga hitorideni ugokidashita.
|The machine started operating by itself.}}

Change in a verb's [[Valency (linguistics)|valency]] is not accomplished by use of reflexive pronouns (in this Japanese is like English but unlike many other European languages). Instead, separate (but usually related) [[intransitive verb]]s and [[transitive verb]]s are used. In modern Japanese, there is no longer any productive morphology to derive new transitive verbs from intransitive ones, or vice versa.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

===Demonstratives===
<div style="margin-left:2em; float:right">
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Demonstratives
!
! {{transliteration|ja|ko-}} !! {{transliteration|ja|so-}} !! {{transliteration|ja|a-}} !! {{transliteration|ja|do-}}
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-re}}
| {{transliteration|ja|kore}}{{pb}}this one
| {{transliteration|ja|sore}}{{pb}}that one
| {{transliteration|ja|are}}{{pb}}that one over there
| {{transliteration|ja|dore}}{{pb}}which one?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-no}}
| {{transliteration|ja|kono}}{{pb}}(of) this
| {{transliteration|ja|sono}}{{pb}}(of) that
| {{transliteration|ja|ano}}{{pb}}(of) that over there
| {{transliteration|ja|dono}}{{pb}}(of) what?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-nna}}
| {{transliteration|ja|konna}}{{pb}}like this
| {{transliteration|ja|sonna}}{{pb}}like that
| {{transliteration|ja|anna}}{{pb}}like that over there
| {{transliteration|ja|donna}}{{pb}}what sort of?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-ko}}
| {{transliteration|ja|koko}}{{pb}}here
| {{transliteration|ja|soko}}{{pb}}there
| {{transliteration|ja|asoko}} <sup>1</sup>{{pb}}over there
| {{transliteration|ja|doko}}{{pb}}where?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-chira <sup>2</sup>}}
| {{transliteration|ja|kochira}}{{pb}}this way
| {{transliteration|ja|sochira}}{{pb}}that way
| {{transliteration|ja|achira}}{{pb}}that way over there
| {{transliteration|ja|dochira}}{{pb}}which way?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-u}} <sup>3</sup>
| {{transliteration|ja|kō}}{{pb}}in this manner
| {{transliteration|ja|sō}}{{pb}}in that manner
| {{transliteration|ja|ā}} <sup>1</sup>{{pb}}in that (other) manner
| {{transliteration|ja|dō}}{{pb}}how? in what manner?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-itsu}}
| {{transliteration|ja|koitsu}}{{pb}}this person
| {{transliteration|ja|soitsu}}{{pb}}that person
| {{transliteration|ja|aitsu}}{{pb}}that (other) person
| {{transliteration|ja|doitsu}}{{pb}}who?
|}
# irregular formation
# colloquially contracted to -cchi
# {{transliteration|ja|-ou}} is represented by {{transliteration|ja|-ō}}
</div>

[[Demonstrative]]s occur in the {{transliteration|ja|ko-}}, {{transliteration|ja|so-}}, and {{transliteration|ja|a-}} series. The {{transliteration|ja|ko-}} (proximal) series refers to things closer to the speaker than the hearer, the {{transliteration|ja|so-}} (medial) series for things closer to the hearer, and the {{transliteration|ja|a-}} (distal) series for things distant to both the speaker and the hearer. With {{transliteration|ja|do-}}, demonstratives turn into the corresponding interrogative form. Demonstratives can also be used to refer to people, for example

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|「こちら は 林さん です。」
|"Kochira wa Hayashi-san desu."
|"This is Mr. Hayashi."}}

Demonstratives limit, and therefore precede, nouns; thus {{nihongo||この本|kono hon}} for "this/my book", and {{nihongo||その本|sono hon}} for "that/your book".

When demonstratives are used to refer to things not visible to the speaker or the hearer, or to (abstract) concepts, they fulfill a related but different [[Anaphora (linguistics)|anaphoric]] role. The anaphoric distals are used for shared information between the speaker and the listener.

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|A： 先日、 札幌 に 行って 来ました。
|A: Senjitsu, Sapporo ni itte kimashita.
|A: I visited Sapporo recently.}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|B： あそこ （＊そこ） は いつ 行って も いい 所 です ね。
|B: Asoko (*Soko) wa itsu itte mo ii tokoro desu ne.
|B: Yeah, that's a great place to visit whenever you go.}}

{{transliteration|ja|Soko}} instead of {{transliteration|ja|asoko}} would imply that B does not share this knowledge about Sapporo, which is inconsistent with the meaning of the sentence. The anaphoric medials are used to refer to experience or knowledge that is not shared between the speaker and listener.

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|佐藤： 田中 と いう 人 が 昨日 死んだ ん だ って。
|Satō: Tanaka to iu hito ga kinō shinda n da tte...
|Sato: I heard that a man called Tanaka died yesterday...}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|森： えっ、 本当？
|Mori: E', hontō?
|Mori: Oh, really?}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|佐藤： だから、 その （＊あの） 人、 森さん の 昔 の 隣人 じゃ なかった っけ？
|Satō: Dakara, sono (*ano) hito, Mori-san no mukashi no rinjin ja nakatta kke?
|Sato: It's why I asked... wasn't he an old neighbour of yours?}}

Again, {{transliteration|ja|ano}} is inappropriate here because Sato does not (did not) know Tanaka personally. The [[Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal|proximal]] demonstratives do not have clear anaphoric uses. They can be used in situations where the distal series sound too disconnected:

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|一体 何 です か、 これ （＊あれ） は
|Ittai nan desu ka, kore (*are) wa?
|What on earth is this?}}