Japanese Grammar

To do B without doing A

Polite request: please do ~

Express the speaker's desire or wish to do something

Must not / Should not. Indicates a prohibition or regulation. In casual speech, contracted to ちゃいけない or じゃいけない.

Can do / be able to / possible to. Expresses ability or possibility. Negative form is 〜ことができない. Cannot be used with state verbs or intransitive verbs with non-human subjects. Only used for positive outcomes.

To do two things simultaneously / to do B while doing A. The same person does actions A and B at the same time. Momentary verbs generally cannot be used.

Used to explain something by showing an example

Looks like / Seems like. Casual form of ようだ.

Expresses that when an action or state occurs, another event or result inevitably follows. Used for actions, states, natural consequences, and habitual situations. Commonly used in explaining how to use machines or giving directions.

Express advice or recommendation. Used to advise or give warning that something bad will happen if you don't.

Nominalizes a verb, adjective, or entire clause, turning it into a noun phrase. Similar to 'the act/fact of ~ing' in English.

【やすい】Easy to do / easily becomes a certain state

It seems like something is about to happen. Used when you think something will happen soon.

It looks like ~. Used when the speaker describes what they felt or sensed visually. Conjugates like な-adjectives. Cannot be used for things that are immediately obvious (e.g., かわいい, きれい).

I heard. Used to convey information you have seen or heard from others. Expresses secondhand information or hearsay.

Decide on / choose. Used with nouns to decide on one out of various options.

It seems that / apparently. An expression of speculation based on information seen or heard, typically phrased as 'probably.'

Acts just like / typical of / an epitome of. An expression that denotes 'having the typical characteristics of that thing.'

Only / nothing but. Refers to having a lot of the same thing, or doing the same thing repeatedly. Often used in a negative sense.

Have just done. Indicates that an action was completed just a short time ago. Used when you want to emphasize that little time has passed since the action finished.

Whether or not / if. Indirect question - an expression used to embed a question within a sentence without using an interrogative word.

X is not as ~ as Y. Both X and Y are similar in degree, but when compared, X is slightly less than Y.

Only. Used when you feel the degree or amount is less than expected. The verb must always be in negative form.

Should; ought to. Used when saying that doing something is naturally expected, proper, or advisable. Often expresses advice or recommendations about others' actions.

Not only, but (also). Used to add additional information or emphasize that something applies to more than one thing.

The more... the more... Expresses that as the degree of the preceding matter increases, the degree of the following matter also intensifies accordingly.

To the extent that / so much that. Shows the degree of an action or state using an example.

There is no other way / have no choice but to. Used with a feeling of resignation when there's no alternative.

About / concerning. Used to indicate the target or topic of actions like talking, hearing, thinking, writing, researching, etc.

Except ~; excluding ~. Used to exclude something from a group.

Just because ~; even if there is a reason like ~. Often used with partial negation expressions at the end of the sentence.

Getting worse and worse / increasingly. Indicates that things are changing for the worse.

Not only ~ but also... Used to emphasize that something goes beyond what was expected.

Because of / due to. Often expresses the speaker's regret or disappointment, and the following sentence usually contains a negative result.

Even while / although. Used to express that the actual situation differs from what would normally be expected from the first clause. Can also use「ながらも」with the same meaning.

As if to / so much so that it seems like / on the verge of. Almost to the point of ~.

Not worth / not necessary to. Since it's nothing major, there's no need to ~. Indicates something of low significance or unimportance.

There's a limit to / that's going too far. Used to express that the actions or behavior of someone have exceeded acceptable limits and are being criticized.

While ～ is naturally so, moreover, ... The content after the pattern is emphasized.

There is no need to do. Includes the speaker's feeling that this is obvious.