JLPT N5 Grammar: Particles, Verbs and Adjectives, Explained Simply

Japanese grammar looks scarier than it is. The word order is different, the verb sits at the end, and each word's role is marked by a small particle stuck behind it — which is precisely what makes it predictable: once you know what each particle does, the sentence reads itself. This page collects everything that shows up at JLPT N5 level, in the order that makes sense to learn it, with short examples. Kanazora gives you 95 grammar exercises with instant feedback and 22 themed lessons with dialogues, free.

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Word order and particles: the skeleton of a sentence

In Japanese the verb always comes last, and the other words can move around fairly freely, because their role is set by the particle behind them rather than by position. わたしはがくせいです — „I am a student” — reads as わたし (I) + は (this is what we are talking about) + がくせい (student) + です (am). There are only a handful of core particles: は marks the topic, が the grammatical subject, を the direct object, に time and destination, で the place where something happens or the means you use, へ direction, の possession, と „and” between nouns. The classic confusion is は versus が: は says „here is what we are talking about”, while が answers „which one exactly?”. When the sentence contains a question word — だれ, なに, どれ — the subject takes が, never は. It is also worth sorting out に versus で early, since both often translate as „at” or „in”: に marks the point (a time, a destination), で marks the frame (where the action happens, or what you do it with).

Verbs: the masu form, the te form and the three classes

Japanese verbs do not change with person — „I go”, „you go” and „they go” are the same word. They change for politeness and tense instead. At N5 you start from the polite ます form: いきます (go), いきません (do not go), いきました (went), いきませんでした (did not go). One stem, four endings — that is where the sense of order comes from. Verbs fall into three classes: godan (most of them), ichidan (ending in -eru or -iru, and regular), and the two irregulars, する and くる. The class only starts to matter when you reach the te form, which half of the later grammar hangs off: 〜てください (please do), 〜ています (doing now, or an ongoing state), 〜てもいいです (you may), 〜ないでください (please do not). The te form of godan verbs is learned in groups based on the verb's final sound, and each group has its own exercises in the app.

い and な adjectives: two families, two behaviours

Japanese adjectives conjugate, which catches beginners off guard. There are two families. The い ones — たかい (expensive), おいしい (tasty) — change their own ending: たかくない (not expensive), たかかった (was expensive). The な ones — しずか (quiet), べんり (convenient) — do not conjugate on their own; they borrow the forms of です: しずかじゃない, しずかでした. The classic trap is きれい and ゆうめい: they end in い but are な adjectives, because that い belongs to the root. Two more useful N5 points: じょうず (good at) and へた (bad at) take が, not を — にほんごがじょうずです, never をじょうずです; and 〜すぎる attached to the root means „too”: たかすぎる, too expensive.

Questions, これ・それ・あれ and the linking words

To ask a question you move nothing: you add か at the end. だれがきましたか — who came? The question word stays exactly where the answer would have been, which is a relief compared with English. The こ・そ・あ・ど system is worth learning as one table: これ (this, near me), それ (that, near you), あれ (that over there, away from both), どれ (which?). Watch the difference between これ and この: これ stands alone, この needs a noun after it — この本, this book. The pair なに / なん is chosen by the sound that follows: なんですか, but なにをしますか. And in polite speech you meet どなた instead of だれ, いかが instead of どう, and どちら instead of どこ.

How to practise grammar without cramming it

Grammar is not learned by reading rules but by making choices. The most useful N5 exercise is the gap-fill: a sentence with a missing particle and four options, where you pick one and immediately find out whether you were right and why. Kanazora has 95 of these, each with an explanation after the answer, plus 22 themed lessons — numbers, days, telling the time, colours, family, verbs, adjectives — each with its own dialogues, so you see the structure in context rather than in isolation. A rhythm that works: one new grammar point a day, five to ten exercises on it, then a re-read of an earlier dialogue. Do not memorise conjugation tables; conjugate the same five verbs dozens of times instead, until it comes out without thinking. And read aloud — N5 sentences are short, and your ear fixes the word order faster than your eye.

Basic particles and structures

The grammar explanations inside the lessons

Numbers

• Numbers 1–10 and the double readings
• Building 11–99: pure math
• Hundreds, thousands and man (10,000)

Counters (counting objects)

• The native counters hitotsu–tō
• 〜nin — counting people
• 〜mai, 〜hon, 〜ko — by the object's shape

Days of the week

• Every day ends in 〜yōbi
• kyō, ashita and kinō take no particle
• mainichi and shūmatsu

Months of the Year

• Months = number + gatsu, with three exceptions
• gatsu vs. getsu: calendar months and relative months
• The question nangatsu and the particle ni

Seasons & Weather

• Talking about the weather: きょうは 〜です
• -i adjectives: あつい and さむい
• Your favorite season: 〜が すきです

The Clock (Time)

• The hour: number + じ (and the three irregular hours)
• Minutes: 〜ふん or 〜ぷん?
• はん and the question いま なんじですか

Colors

• Colors as nouns: 〜です and なにいろですか
• "An X-colored thing": [color]の[noun]
• Colors built with いろ and katakana loanwords

Question Words

• なに or なん? The rule for choosing
• The question word stays in place: 〜は [question word] ですか
• どれ, どの, どんな: which and what kind of
• The polite pairs: だれ→どなた, どう→いかが, どこ→どちら

Positions & directions

• The [place]の [position]に pattern — where things are
• あります or います?
• となり vs ちかく — right next to, or just near?

This, That (これ・それ・あれ)

• The ko-so-a-do system at a glance
• Kore stands alone, kono needs a noun
• Perspective flips: your sore is my kore
• Dore, dochira, and docchi: asking “which?”

Pronouns & people

• “I”: watashi and boku — and why we avoid anata
• Pointing at people: kono / sono / ano + hito, and dare
• Person plurals: -tachi and -ra
• Kare and kanojo: “he / she” or “boyfriend / girlfriend”

Verbs: conjugation (polite forms + te-form)

• Three verb classes and the masu-stem
• One stem, four endings
• The godan te-form — groups by final sound
• The te-form chains actions + the 〜ませんか invitation
• 〜ています: ongoing action and resulting state
• 〜ないでください: "Please don't…"
• 〜たことがあります: past experiences
• 〜たり〜たりします: "I do things like…"
• 〜ながら — doing two things at the same time
• Verb stem + に行きます — "go (somewhere) to do…"

Common verbs (ます form)

• The ます form — polite and unchanging
• あります and います — two verbs for „to exist”
• The verb picks its particle
• Learn verbs in pairs

Adjectives (い and な)

• Two families: い-adjectives and な-adjectives
• The negative: 〜くない and 〜じゃない
• The きれい and ゆうめい trap
• じょうず and へた go with が
• 〜すぎる — "too much" (excess)

Particles

• は and が — topic and subject
• を, に, で, へ — object, time and place
• の, と, も — linking words together
• か, ね, よ — sentence-ending particles
• だけ and しか + negative — two ways to say "only"

Useful expressions

• Paired formulas: one says it, the other answers
• Making a formula more polite
• Expressions you only hear (from staff)
• Daijōbu: three meanings in one word

Onomatopoeia (manga)

• Giongo and gitaigo — two families of sound words
• Onomatopoeia + する = an instant verb
• Onomatopoeia with a verb or with です

Conversation

• Paired greetings: one says it, one answers
• Aizuchi — the sounds that show you're listening
• から and ので — giving the reason
• でも, けど, が — three ways to say "but"

Adverbs

• Where the adverb goes
• The frequency scale: from itsumo to zenzen
• Adverbs that need a negative: amari, zenzen, metta ni
• Mō and mada: “already” and “still”

Family

• Two sets: humble form and polite form
• Older or younger — always specified
• The long vowel changes the relative!
• How many in your family? — the counter 人

The Body

• 〜が いたいです — saying what hurts
• The body, built from simple words
• Everyday word vs organ term

Counters — numeral classifiers (助数詞)

• The basic pattern: noun + o/ga + number-counter + verb
• Sound changes: 1, 3, 6, 8, 10
• 〜dai and 〜kai: machines, floors and "how many times"
• Asking "how many?": nan + counter

Frequently asked questions

How much grammar do I need for JLPT N5?

The usual N5 lists have somewhere between 80 and 120 structures, depending on the source — the JLPT does not publish an official one. In practice: the basic particles, the masu and te forms, い and な adjectives, questions and the こ・そ・あ・ど system cover most of it.

What is the difference between は and が?

は introduces the topic — „as for this…” — and puts the emphasis on what comes after it. が marks the subject and puts the emphasis on the subject itself, answering „which one exactly?”. That is why, when a sentence contains a question word like だれ, the subject takes が.

Do I need the plain (dictionary) form at N5?

Yes, at least passively. The polite ます form is what you use when speaking, but you need the dictionary form to look verbs up and to build structures like 〜たことがあります or 〜ながら.

Are the grammar exercises free?

Yes. All 95 exercises and all 22 lessons are free and need no account. The app also works offline, and your progress is saved on the device.

In what order should I learn the grammar if I start today?

Start with です and the particles は, を, に, で. Then the masu form with its four endings. Then い and な adjectives. Then questions and これ・それ・あれ. The te form comes after that, since the remaining structures hang off it.