Acknowledgments | p. ix |
Introduction | p. xi |
Grammatical Categories and the Basic Architecture of a Sentence | p. 1 |
The subject corresponds to an item around which an event evolves | p. 3 |
Use the verb at the end! | p. 5 |
An explicit subject is optional | p. 6 |
Pay attention to the last part of a sentence | p. 7 |
There are three types of verb-like constituents | p. 9 |
The noun in the sentence gakusei-desu is not the subject! | p. 11 |
Japanese speakers avoid certain pronouns | p. 13 |
You cannot always guess the grammatical category of a Japanese form from the grammatical category of its English counterpart | p. 15 |
Dictionary forms of all Japanese adjectives end with -ii, -ai, -oi, or -ui | p. 16 |
"Noun" is an open category in Japanese | p. 17 |
Use the same word order for questions. Attach -ka to a statement to turn it into a question | p. 19 |
Do not hesitate to use the same verb over and over again | p. 22 |
Japanese particles are postpositions | p. 23 |
Classification of particles | p. 25 |
Phrase Particles: Marking the Functions of Noun Phrases in a Sentence | p. 29 |
A phrase particle determines the function of the noun | p. 31 |
The particle -wa identifies what the sentence is about and urges the listener to pay attention to the part that follows | p. 33 |
The particle -mo adds the preceding noun phrase to a list of objects | p. 36 |
Use of -wa and -mo presupposes a contextual set | p. 38 |
-ga is the subject marker; -o is the direct object marker | p. 40 |
-ga and -o mark a fresh participant; -wa marks a familiar participant already anchored in a context | p. 43 |
Do not attach -wa to interrogative WH-phrases | p. 46 |
Only one direct object particle -o appears per verb | p. 48 |
The subject and the direct object are the primary grammatical categories | p. 50 |
Two types of locational particles: -de and -ni | p. 53 |
Three reasons not to use phrase particles | p. 57 |
"Exceptional" uses of -ga | p. 60 |
Grammatical reasons for alternations of particles | p. 64 |
The person marked with the particle -ni is an active participant in an interaction | p. 66 |
The person marked with the particle -to is a "reciprocal" participant in an interaction | p. 71 |
Certain auxiliary verbs take the non-subject participant particle -ni | p. 73 |
The auxiliary verb-morau comes with -ni; the auxiliary verbs -ageru and -kureru do not | p. 76 |
Another consequence of the double-o constraint | p. 79 |
Phrase particles are powerful! | p. 80 |
Expanding Noun Phrases | p. 83 |
The particle -no between two nouns turns the first noun into a modifier | p. 85 |
A noun modified by an adjective functions like a noun | p. 87 |
The modifier consistently precedes the modified | p. 88 |
Spatial relationships are expressed with stacked nouns | p. 90 |
The particle -no mediates a wide range of relationships. Mekishiko-jin-no tomodachi, for instance, means either "a friend of a Mexican" or "a friend who is Mexican" | p. 92 |
The particle -to connects noun phrases representing separate objects | p. 94 |
Na-nouns behave like nouns, but they have "fuzzy" meanings | p. 96 |
To say something more complex, use complex noun phrases | p. 99 |
The head noun of a complex noun phrase carries with it only the particle which marks its function in a larger sphere | p. 101 |
Japanese does not employ WH-phrases for creating complex noun phrases | p. 103 |
Mekishiko-jin-no tomodachi "a Mexican friend" is a complex noun phrase | p. 105 |
Atarashii tomodachi "a new friend" is also a kind of complex noun phrase | p. 107 |
One more way to create a complex noun phrase | p. 109 |
No is for a familiar event; koto is for an abstract idea | p. 111 |
Tense and Events | p. 115 |
There are only two tenses in Japanese: non-past and past | p. 117 |
Special use of past tense forms | p. 119 |
Te-forms connect very closely related events | p. 121 |
Tense markers separate events | p. 124 |
Events are tied with varying degrees of cohesion inside a sentence | p. 129 |
Two perspectives for tense inside a subordinate clause | p. 133 |
The main clause perspective means involvement | p. 137 |
The speaker's perspective means incidental connection, speaker's recollection, or speaker's reasoning | p. 140 |
Miscellaneous Topics | p. 143 |
Hai and ee mean "I agree" or "I hear you"; iie means "I disagree" | p. 145 |
Are "that" is for things known to both speaker and hearer; sore "that" is for something just mentioned | p. 149 |
The longer and vaguer, the more polite | p. 152 |
Polite forms and direct forms | p. 153 |
Reality consists of continuous-grade scales; language makes things discrete | p. 156 |
Interpretations of -te-kuru/-te-iku | p. 159 |
Expressing solidarity with -te-kuru/-te-iku | p. 163 |
-n-da expresses expectation of mutual understanding | p. 165 |
-n-da-kara does not provide personal information. Do not overuse it! | p. 167 |
There are ways to identify hidden subjects | p. 170 |
Do not be intimidated by apparent complexity | p. 175 |
Answers to the Questions | p. 179 |
Glossary | p. 193 |
Index | p. 197 |
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