Those who know English have a gigantic door open for learning 日本語. Among these thousands of materials, one that stands out is the famous Japanese Grammar Guide made by Tae Kim's that we will discuss in this article.
Japanese grammar, although easy, is one of the most frustrating things for those learning Japanese. This guide can help you finally understand the annoying particles and grammatical concepts that boggle our minds.
The goal of Tae Kim's guide is to teach Japanese grammar in a way that is rational, intuitive and makes sense. It does not try to explain the meaning in our language, the focus is to show the point of view of the Japanese language.
This guide is a perfect match with RTK method They are highly recommended together. Tae Kim's lessons require you to have at least a basic knowledge of Hiragana and Katakana.
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Where to get Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese Grammar
All content provided by Tae Kim's is free on its official website, but you can also purchase the physical book on amazon and study at home. Unfortunately the book is only available in English.
The guide is also available in Portuguese and many other languages at the following link: guidetojapanese.org/portuguese/
On his b English you will also find a lot of additional material, including about Korean and Chinese languages. Some also report that the method used by Tae Kim was useful in learning languages other than Asian.
In addition to its main sites, its content, being creative commons, opens the door to several applications and other sites that use Tae Kim's method as inspiration. If you search for it in the Store on your cell phone, you will probably find an application with its grammar guide.
OffI can't read the name Tae Kim's without ing Tom Keen from BlackListI'm currently watching a crucial moment of the series while writing this article about Tae Kim's.
What will you learn from tae kim's guide?
Tae Kim's guide is complete and will teach you things like:
- Hiragana and Katakana;
- State of being in Japanese;
- Particles は,も,が;
- adjectives;
- Verbs;
- Past;
- Transitive and intransitive verbs;
- Subordinate clause;
- Particles of nouns;
- Particles related to Nouns[と、や、とか、の];
- Polite and Verbal Radical Form[～です、～ます];
- The Question Marker [か];
- shape-て、から、ので、のに、が、けど、し、～たりする;
- Potential Form;
- Using する and なる with the particle に [～(よう)になる／する];
- Conditional [と、な ら、ば、たら];
- Expressing "duty" and "have to" [～だめ、～いけない、～ならない、～ても];
- Desire and Suggestion [たい、欲しい、volitional、～たらどう];
- Defining and Describing [という];
- Experiencing or trying to do something [～てみる、volitional+とする];
- Giving and Receiving [あげる、やる、くれる、もらう];
- Making requests [～ください、～ちょうだい、～なさい、Imperative];
- Numbers and counters;
- ive and Causative Verbs;
- Honorific and Humble Form;
- Things that happen without intention [～てしまう、～ちゃう／～じゃう];
- Special Expressions with generic nouns [こと、ところ、もの];
- Expressing various levels of certainty [かもしれない、でしょう、だろう];
- Expressing quantities [だけ、のみ、しか、ばかり、すぎる、Amount+も、ほど、さ];
- Various ways to express similarity and rumors [よう、～みたい、～そう、～そうだ、～らしい、～っぽい];
- Using 方 and よる for comparisons and other functions [より、の方、stem＋方、によって、によると];
- Saying that something is easy or difficult to do [～やすい、～にくい];
- More negative verbs [ないで、ず、～ん、ぬ];
- Hypothesis and Conclusion [わけ、～とする];
- Expressing time-specific actions[ばかり、とたんに、ながら、まくる];
- Leaving something the way it is [まま、っぱなし];
- Advanced Topics;
- Formal Expressions [である、ではない];
- Things that should be a certain way [はず、べき、べく、べからず];
- Expressing the lowest expectation [でさえ、ですら、おろか];
- Showing signs of something [～がる、ばかり、～めく];
- Formal expressions of impossibility [～ざるを得ない、やむを得ない、～かねる];
- Trends [～がち、～つつ、きらいがある];
- Advanced Volitional [まい、であろう、かろう];
- Covered by something [だらけ、まみれ、ずくめ];
Perhaps the topics listed above will inspire you to get an idea of what to study in order for your Japanese to be most effective. Many people use at least some of Tae Kim's method in their projects.
I don't know how Tae Kim's method became popular, because I didn't find much information about him on the internet. Still, only one person was able to cause all this popularity on the internet, with a simple blog full of texts.
Tae Kim is proof that the only thing that matters is content. There's no use in a website having thousands of images, millions of articles, a flashy designer and lots of videos. In the end, what matters is how useful and relevant your material has become.
Hope you enjoyed this article. Did you know Tae Kim's grammar guide? Have you ever thought about taking a look? We appreciate the comments and shares.
