Some have been studying Japanese for a long time but have never stopped to analyze the words or terms used to refer to Japanese grammar or the classifications of words in the language and things like that. In this article, we will share a complete glossary of grammar terms in the Japanese language. You will learn how to say verb, adjectives, nouns, and other similar words in the Japanese language itself.
The word we use to talk about grammatical terms or classes of Japanese words is hinshi [品詞] which can indicate a part of speech, a class, or lexical category, similar to the English term Parts of Speech.
Table of Contents
Main terms of Japanese grammar
Below we will see a complete list of Japanese grammar terms:
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Portuguese | Japanese | Romaji |
| Word; language | 言葉 | kotoba |
| Sentence | 文 | bun |
| Grammar | 文法 | bunpou |
| Language; language | 言語 | gengo |
| Verb | 動詞 | doushi |
| Noun | 名詞 | meishi |
| Temporal noun | 時相名詞 | jisoumeishi |
| Pronoun | 代名詞 | daimeishi |
| Personal pronoun | 人称代名詞 | ninshoudaimeishi |
| Adjective (-i) | 形容詞 | keiyoushi |
| Adjective (-na) | 形容動詞 | keiyoudoushi |
| Adverb | 副詞 | fukushi |
| Particles | 助詞 | joshi |
| Linking particles | 係助詞 | kakarijoshi |
| Case marking particles; cause | 格助詞 | kakujoshi |
| Conjugation | 接続詞 | Setsuzokushi |
| Form | ～形 | ～kei |
| Numeral | 数字 | suuji |
| Abbreviation; acronym | 略語 | ryakugo |
| Place name | 地名 | chimei |
| Classification; category | 分類 | bunrei |
| Interjection | 感動詞 | kandoushi |
| Counter | 助数詞 | josuushi |
| Subject | 主語 | shugo |
| Predicate | 述語 | jutsugo |
| Plural | 複数 | fukusuu |
Terms related to speaking and writing in Japanese
Below we will see some words and terms related to speaking and writing in the Japanese language:
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Portuguese | Japanese | Romaji / Kana |
| Kanji; Ideograms | 漢字 | かんじ |
| Hiragana | 平仮名 | ひらがな |
| Katakana | 片仮名 | カタカナ |
| Kana | 仮名 | kana |
| Radical | 部首 | bushu |
| Roman letters | ロマ時 | romaji |
| Stroke order | 筆順 | hitsujun |
| Number of strokes | 画数 | kakushuu |
| Vertical writing | 縦書 | tategaki |
| Horizontal writing | 横書 | yokogaki |
| Punctuation | 句読点 | kudouten |
| Circles and marks | 半濁点 | handakuten |
| Vowel | 母音 | boin |
| Consonant | 子音 | shiin |
| Dialects | 方言 | hougen |
| Accent | 訛り | namari |
| Pronunciation | 発音 | hatsuon |
| Common language | 共通語 | kyoutsuugo |
| Colloquial language | 口語 | kougo |
| Polite language | 丁寧語 | teineigo |
| Humble language | 敬語 | keigo |
| Casual language | タメ語 | tamego |
| Slang | 俗語 | zokugo |
To understand more about the circles and marks, read our article on dakuten and handakuten.
Talking about verbs in Japanese
The word verb in Japanese is pronounced doushi [動詞] which uses the ideogram of movement and change [動] and the ideogram of words or parts of sentences [詞]. Fortunately, in Japanese, there is not a million verb conjugations; we will list the existing ones below:
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Portuguese | Japanese | Romaji |
| Intransitive verb | 自動詞 | jidoushi |
| Transitive verb | 他動詞 | tadoushi |
| Potential verb | 可能動詞 | kanoudoushi |
| Stative verb | 状態動詞 | joutaidoushi |
| Causative form | 使役形 | shiekikei |
| Passive form | 受け身形 | ukemikei |
| Imperative form | 命令形 | meireikei |
| Hypothetical form | 未然形 | mizenkei |
| Continuative form | 連用形 | ren’yōkei |
| Terminal form | 終止形 | shūshikei |
| Attributive form | 連体形 | rentaikei |
| Conditional form | 仮定形 | kateikei |
| Dictionary form | 辞書形 | jishokei |
| Group 1 | 五段 | godan |
| Group 2A | 上一段 | kami ichidan |
| Group 2B | 下一段 | shimo ichidan |
The terminal and attributive forms are basically the same, and both are dictionary forms or simple forms.
The group 1 is a group of verbs that end with consonants like kaeru [帰る]. The group 2A consists of verbs that end in iru like miru [見る]. The group 2B consists of verbs that end in eru, but have 2 hiragana like taberu [食べる]. This was a very basic explanation without mentioning exceptions or going into details.
Other terms related to the Japanese language
In 2015 I had made a similar article, but without any organization. I decided to also share the table from that 2015 article which has many interesting words. Therefore, there may be some repeated items in the table below.
Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
| Portuguese | Japanese | Romaji |
| Accent | アクセント | akucento |
| Accent | 強弱アクセント | kyoojaku akucento |
| Descriptive adjective | 属性形容詞 | zokusee keeyooshi |
| Emotional adjective | 感情形容詞 | kanjoo keeyooshi |
| Adjective-i | い形容詞 | i keeyooshi |
| Adjective-na | な形容詞 | na keeyooshi |
| Adjective | 形容詞 | keeyooshi |
| Adnominal | 連体詞 | lentaishi |
| Concord adverb | 陳述副詞 | tinjutsu fukushi |
| Intensity adverb | 程度副詞 | teedo fukushi |
| Manner adverb | 状態副詞 | jootai fukushi |
| Adverb | 副詞 | fukushi |
| Latin/Roman alphabet | ローマ字 | looma-ji |
| Antonym | 反義語 | hanguigo |
| Grammatical class | 品詞 | hinshi |
| Nominal complement | 連体修飾語 | lentai shuushokugo |
| Verbal complement | 連用修飾語 | leny00 shuushokugo |
| Complement | 修飾語 | shuushokugo |
| Conjunction | 接続詞 | setsuzokushi |
| Consonant | 子音 | shiin |
| Context | 文脈 | bunmyaku |
| Contextual demonstrative | 文脈指示詞 | bunmyaku shijishi |
| Demonstrative | 指示詞 | shijishi |
| Colloquial/informal style | 普通体 | futsuutai |
| Polite/formal style | 丁寧体 | teeneetai |
| Sentence structure | 構文 | koobun |
| Grammatical/sentential structure | 文型 | bunkee |
| Euphony, phonetic contraction | 音便 | onbin |
| Expression of gratitude | 恩恵表現 | onkee hyooguen |
| Honorific expressions | 待遇表現 | taiguu hyooguen |
| Inflect | 活用する | katsuy00 suru |
| Phonogram | 仮名 | kana |
| Ba form; conditional form | ば形 | bakee |
| Basic/infinitive form | 辞書形 | jishokee |
| Inflectional form | 活用形 | katsuyookee |
| Intentional form, verbal inflection that expresses possibility/ability | 可能形 | kanookee |
| Intentional form | 意向形 | ikookee |
| Masu form | ます形 | maçukee |
| Nai form | ない形 | naikee |
| Ta form; conclusive/past form, informal | た形 | takee |
| Te form | て形 | tekee |
| Affirmative sentence | 肯定文 | kooteebun |
| Causative voice sentence | 使役文 | shiekibun |
| Passive voice sentence | 受身文 | ukemibun |
| Interrogative sentence | 疑問文 | guimonbun |
| Negative sentence | 否定文 | hiteebun |
| Sentence | 短文 | tanbun |
| Future | 未来 | mirai |
| Homonym | 同音異義語 | dooon’iguigo |
| Ideogram, logo gram, kanji | 漢字 | kanji |
| Interjection | 感動詞 | kandooshi |
| Letter, spelling | 文字 | moji |
| Respectful language | 敬語 | keego |
| Polite/formal language | 丁寧語 | teeneego |
| Mimese | 擬態語 | guitaigo |
| Arabic numeral | アラビア数字 | arabia suuji |
| Arabic numeral | 算用数字 | san’yoo suuji |
| Numeral in kanji | 漢数字 | kan suuji |
| Ordinal numeral | 序数詞 | joçuushi |
| Numeral | 数詞 | suushi |
| Onomatopoeia | 擬音語 | guiongo |
| Main clause | 主文 | shubun |
| Subordinate clause | 従属文 | juuzokubun |
| Word of Chinese origin | 漢語 | kango |
| Word of foreign origin | かたかな語 | katakanago |
| Word of foreign origin | 外来語 | gairaigo |
| Word of Japanese origin | 和語 | wago |
| Hybrid word | 混種語 | konshugo |
| Polysemous word | 多義語 | taguigo |
| Independent word/expression | 独立語 | dokuritsugo |
| Compound particle | 複合助詞 | fukugoo joshi |
| Connecting particle | 接続助詞 | setsuzoku joshi |
| Emphasizing particle | 取立助詞 | toritate joshi |
| Final particle | 終助詞 | shuujoshi |
| Case/function indicating particle | 格助詞 | kakujoshi |
| Pause marking particle | 間投助詞 | kantoo joshi |
| Particle | 助詞 | joshi |
| Past | 過去 | kako |
| Compound period by coordination | 重文 | juubun |
| Compound period by | 複文 | fukubun |
| Simple period | 単文 | tanbun |
| Prefix | 接頭語 | settoogo |
| Present | 現在 | guenzai |
| Indefinite pronoun | 不定代名詞 | futee daimeeshi |
| Interrogative pronoun | 疑問代名詞 | guimon daimeeshi |
| Personal pronoun | 人称代名詞 | ninshoo daimeeshi |
| Pronoun | 代名詞 | daimeeshi |
| Pseudo-noun | 形式名詞 | keeshiki meeshi |
| Japanese syllabary | 五十音図 | gojuuonzu |
| Synonym | 類義語 | luiguigo |
| Contracted sound | 拗音 | yooon |
| Long sound | 長音 | ty000n |
| Occlusive sound | 促音 | sokuon |
| Voiced sound | 濁音 | dakuon |
| Voiceless sound; “clear” sound | 清音 | seeon |
| Abstract noun | 抽象名詞 | tyuushoo meeshi |
| Common noun | 普通名詞 | futsuu meeshi |
| Proper noun | 固有名詞 | koyuu meeshi |
| Noun | 名詞 | meeshi |
| Inflectional suffix; verbal auxiliary | 助動詞 | jodooshi |
| Numeral suffix | 助数詞 | joçuushi |
| Suffix | 接尾語 | setsubigo |
| Subject (of the sentence) | 主語 | shugo |
| Auxiliary term (functional) | 付属語（機能後） | fuzokugo (kinoogo) |
| Independent/lexical term | 自立語（内容語） | jiritsugo (naiyoogo) |
| Modified term | 被修飾語 | hi shuushokugo |
| Tonicity | 高低アクセント | kootee akucento |
| Modesty verb | 謙譲動詞 | kenjoo dooshi |
| Respect verb; verb or auxiliary verb that expresses gratitude | 恩恵動詞 | onkee dooshi |
| Respect verb | 尊敬動詞 | sonkee dooshi |
| Intransitive verb | 自動詞 | jidooshi |
| Verb that expresses possibility/ability | 可能動詞 | kanoo dooshi |
| Transitive verb | 他動詞 | tadooshi |
| Verbs that express giving and receiving; benefit verb | 授受動詞 | juju dooshi |
| Open vowel | 開口母音 | kaikoo boin |
| Closed vowel | 閉鎖母音 | heeça boin |
| Vowel | 母音 | boin |
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