When you’ve just completed an action and want to tell someone, Japanese uses past short form + ところ. It’s like saying “I just did [something]” with a neutral tone. Let’s learn how to use たところ to express something you just finished. た + ところ Just Did (Neutral) JLPT Level: N4 Want to actually remember this? Practice […]

If you want to tell someone that you’re in the middle of doing something—right at that moment—Japanese has a grammar point for that: ている + ところ. Let’s look at how to express that something is actively happening now. ～ている + ところ In the Middle of Doing JLPT Level: N4 Want to actually remember this? Practice it

Sometimes you’re just about to do something when someone calls or interrupts you. In Japanese, you can express this with dictionary form + ところ. It’s a simple way to say, “I’m just about to…” Let’s learn how to use ところ to say you’re just about to start an action. Dictionary Form + ところ About to Do

When one thing (or person) replaces another, or when someone does something on behalf of someone else, Japanese uses the phrase にかわって. This is different from かわりに—it’s not about a temporary switch or a tradeoff, but about full-on replacement or representation. Let’s learn how to use にかわって when one thing stands in for another. にかわって In

Sometimes we swap one thing for another—coffee for tea, walking for driving, or a late bedtime for extra morning energy. In Japanese, when you want to say “instead of” or “in exchange for,” you can use かわりに. This phrase lets you talk about substitutions and trade-offs in a flexible way, and it works with nouns, verbs,

Want to quote something you read or something someone told you? In Japanese, the best phrase to use is によると, which means “according to.” In this post, we’ll explore how to use によると to report what someone else said or what you learned from a source. によると According To… JLPT Level: N4 Understanding it once is

Japanese can be very precise when describing causes and effects. When you want to say something is the result of something else (often a noun), use による. In this post, we’ll learn how to use による to link a cause to a resulting noun. による Resulting From / Caused By JLPT Level: N3 Understanding it once

In English, we say things like “This book was written by the author.” In Japanese, the equivalent is によって—used in passive sentences to show who or what performed the action. Let’s look at how to use によって with passive verbs. によって “By” (in passive voice) JLPT Level: N3 Want to actually remember this? Practice it with

Life doesn’t always follow one rule—sometimes things change based on the situation. In Japanese, when something changes depending on a condition, the grammar you’ll want to use is によって. In this post, we’ll learn how to use によって to express that something differs depending on something else. によって Depending On JLPT Level: N3 Understanding it once

Giving is one thing—but what about getting? When you want to say you received something in Japanese, the verb you need is もらう.In this post, we’ll learn how to use もらう to talk about receiving gifts, help, and more. もらう To Receive JLPT Level: N4 Understanding it once is only the first step With spaced