Japanese - Frequently Asked Questions

Hanging around Japanese learning communities, I see the following questions all the time. In most cases, the answer is always the same and it involves a quick link to a page with (what I consider) the best explanation currently available.

Since this process of linking these pages is often automatic (most of these are bot commands in the #japanese_questions channel in the EJLX server), I figured I’d just collect all of them here too for people to browse.

NOTE: If you think you have a better resource to link, please let me know via any kind of social media (Morg) and I’ll give it a look/update this page.

If what you’re looking for is not here, consider also reading the Unlocking Japanese: Tricks# page.

General Questions

How do I learn Japanese?

• See this page
• Also Japanese Learning Resources and Japanese Learning Loop.

How do I learn hiragana and katakana?

• Hiragana: https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/
• Katakana: https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/

Is Genki / Tae Kim good?

• Yes and yes. They are some of the most common learning resources, you can’t go wrong with them. Don’t worry too much about finding what is best, just start learning and stick to it.
• See also: Japanese Learning Resources

What is the difference between は and が?

• Watch this video (seriously, do it)

Why is こんにちは pronounced konnichiwa?

• こんにちは used to be part of a longer sentence in which は was the particle, so when it got shortened to just a greeting it stayed like that.
• Same for こんばんは.

What are onyomi and kunyomi? Why is this kanji read this way?

• Read this tofugu article
• Also see Onyomi and Kunyomi

What is the difference between formal and polite?

Grammar Questions

I don’t undersand this verb conjugation

• Watch Tokini Andy’s verb conjugation videos:
  • Godan verbs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHo3qUb79No
  • Ichidan verbs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxib4q73vl8

What is the difference between だ and です?

• Read this amazing tofugu article
• Also see Japanese Sentence Structure: だ Explained

What is the difference between these conditionals? (たら vs ば vs と vs …)

• Read this stackexchange post

What is the difference between の and こと?

• Read this page

What does の means at the end of a sentence?

• Read this page on the explanatory の particle
• Read its follow-up page on the difference beween の and か when asking questions

How do ていく and てくる work?

• Read this article on auxiliary verbs ていく and てくる

What is the difference between 小さい and 小さな / 大きい and 大きな?

• Read this stackexchange post
• Quick summary: the “な variant” can only go before a noun, not after.
• The meaning is almost the same, don’t worry too much about it.

Trivia Questions

Why is “lol” w or 草?

• To laugh is 笑う
• 笑う -> わらう -> warau -> w
• Lots of laughs, lots of w
• wwwwww kinda looks like grass
• Grass = 草

How are じ, ぢ, ず, づ pronounced?

• It depends on the region of Japan/local dialect
• Read this wikipedia page