In English, saying “Learning is important” turns an action into a noun. In Japanese, the word こと plays a similar role. It’s a powerful tool for expressing habits, rules, experiences, and general ideas. こと Turning Verbs into Nouns JLPT Level: N4 Understanding it once is only the first step With spaced review, personalized example sentences, […]

Have you ever traveled to Japan? Have you ever eaten sushi? In Japanese, there’s a specific way to ask and answer questions about past experiences. The phrase ことがある is used to express whether you have ever done something before. This grammar point is frequently used in everyday conversations, especially when discussing past experiences, trying new things,

Ever discovered something that suddenly made everything make sense—like realizing your device isn’t turning on because the batteries are dead? In English, we’d say, “No wonder it won’t work!” In Japanese, this same feeling is captured with the phrase わけだ. This grammar point is great for expressing realizations, conclusions, or things that are naturally expected based

In English, we often say things like “Reading is fun” or “Swimming is difficult.” That “-ing” turns the verb into a noun—a process called nominalization. In Japanese, one of the ways to do this is with の. の is used to turn verbs into nouns when you’re describing something you see, hear, feel, or experience. It’s

When speaking in Japanese, you often need to connect multiple actions in a sentence. Instead of saying, “I went to the store. I bought milk,” you can make the sentence more natural by saying, “I went to the store and bought milk.” In Japanese, this is done using the て-form of verbs. て-Form Linking Actions

Time passes quickly, and sometimes, you realize that you haven’t done something in a long time. Whether it’s studying, meeting an old friend, or visiting a favorite place, ぶりに is the perfect way to express “for the first time in [X time]” in Japanese. This phrase helps indicate how long it has been since something

Japanese has three different expressions that can be used to not only mean “only” or “just,” but that also explain how we feel about the situation. In this lesson, we’ll be covering way to express “only” or “just” with a feeling of disappointment or an implication that something is lacking, missing, or insufficient. しか Only;