Grammar reference

Japanese grammar reference by JLPT level

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ある・いるExistence: inanimate and animateN5

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ている・てるForm family

One form for actions, states, and habitsている presents a situation as holding over a span of time. With an activity, that may be an action in progress; with a change, it may be the state left afterward; with repeated events, it may be an established habit. The verb and the surrounding time context—not the form alone—choose the reading.3 points · N5

つもりだ・ようと思おもう・ようと思おもっている・予よ定ていだ・まいChoice guide

Choosing how to express an intention or planChoose according to what you want to foreground: a decision taking shape now, an intention held for some time, settled personal resolve, or an arranged schedule. ようと思う often fits a current decision; ようと思っている presents an intention as continuing; つもりだ states it more directly as settled; and 予定だ shifts attention to the plan or schedule. まい is the marked choice for a solemn decision not to act.5 points · N5–N4–N2

ようにする・ことにする・ことになる・ようにしている・ことにしている・ことになっている・ようになっているSystem guide

Personal decisions, habits, and external rulesChoose these forms by asking two questions: who controls what happens, and are you describing a new choice or something that continues? する forms usually keep the person's effort or decision in view. なる forms present a settled outcome, an arrangement already in force, or the way a system is designed to work. The continuing endings then distinguish an ongoing practice or existing setup from a newly adopted choice.7 points · N4–N3–N2

そうだ・らしい・ということだ・とのことだ・と言いわれている・とされている・と考かんがえられている・によると・によれば・とか・んだって・だってRegister guide

Choosing how to report informationChoose a reporting form by asking where the information comes from and what you are doing with it. You may be directly relaying a source, passing on a vague rumor, presenting a claim that society already repeats, or drawing your own conclusion from evidence. Formal wording can create distance, but it does not automatically make a claim more reliable.9 points · N4–N3–N2

でしょう・はずだ・わけだ・に違ちがいない・に相そう違いない・に決きまっているChoice guide

Choosing a form for confidence and expectationChoose by asking what relationship you want to claim between your information and your conclusion. でしょう gives an estimate, はずだ gives an expected result, and わけだ explains why an established result makes sense. The remaining three express strong certainty, but differ sharply in tone: neutral conviction, formal weight, or conversational insistence.6 points · N5–N4–N3–N2

たばかり・ばかり・てばかりいる・るばかりだ・ばかりにForm family

Five patterns built around the same formDo not try to translate ばかり with one English word. First look immediately before it: a noun or quantity, a verb in its て-form, past form, or dictionary form points toward a different construction. Then check what follows. That formation-first check separates concentration, repeated behavior, recent completion, continuing change, and a regrettable cause.5 points · N4–N3

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Results for “いる”

46 grammar points