Time and dates: hours, minutes, days and months
Tell the time with 〜時 and 〜分, say the days of the week and the months, and learn the special readings for the dates — ついたち, ふつか, はつか and more — with the kanji for time and the days of the week.
Author
Aowlad Hossain
88 articles
Articles and guides
Lesson
N5
This, that and which: これ・それ・あれ・どれ and more
Point to things and places in Japanese with the こ・そ・あ・ど words: これ／この／ここ (this, here), それ／その／そこ (that, there), あれ／あの／あそこ (that over there) and どれ／どの／どこ (which, where).
November 7, 2026 3 min read
Lesson
N5
Basic particles: は, が, を, に, で, へ, と and も
Learn the eight particles you need for N5 sentences — は, が, を, に, で, へ, と and も — with clear contrasts like に vs で and は vs が, the mistakes learners make most, and the kanji 行, 来, 食, 見 and 友.
November 7, 2026 3 min read
Lesson
N5
Verbs in the ます form: present, past and negative
Talk about what you do, did and didn’t do with the polite ます form — 〜ます, 〜ません, 〜ました, 〜ませんでした — meet the three verb groups, and use the time words 毎日, 今日, 明日 and 昨日.
November 7, 2026 3 min read
Lesson
N5
い-adjectives: 大きい, 高い, 新しい and how they change
Describe things with い-adjectives: present, negative and past forms (〜くない, 〜かった, 〜くなかった), the irregular いい → よくない, and how to put an adjective before a noun.
November 7, 2026 2 min read
Lesson
N5
な-adjectives: きれい, しずか, 好き and how they work
Learn the second type of adjective: な-adjectives like しずか, べんり and 元気. Use 〜な before a noun, make the negative and past with です, and avoid the classic traps — きれい and きらい look like い-adjectives but are な-adjectives.
November 7, 2026 3 min read
Lesson
N5
あります and います: saying where things and people are
Say what is where with あります (things) and います (people and animals), using 〜に〜があります and 〜は〜にあります, plus the position words 上・下・中・前・後ろ・となり・近く.
November 7, 2026 3 min read
Lesson
N5
Counters: 〜つ, 〜人, 〜本, 〜枚, 〜個 and 〜台
Count things the Japanese way with counters: 〜つ for general things, 〜人 for people (ひとり, ふたり), 〜本 for long things, 〜枚 for flat things, 〜個 for small items and 〜台 for machines — including the sound changes like いっぽん, さんぼん and ろっぽん.
November 7, 2026 3 min read
Lesson
N5
Greetings and introducing yourself: 〜は〜です
Greet people at the right time of day and introduce yourself politely with 〜は〜です, 〜じゃありません, 〜ですか and の — plus your first kanji: 日, 本, 人, 学, 生 and 先.
November 7, 2026 4 min read
Lesson
N5
Question words: なに, どこ, だれ, いつ, いくら and more
Ask what, where, who, when, how much, why and how with なに／なん, どこ, だれ, いつ, いくら, どうして, どう／いかが and どれ／どの — and ask politely at work and in shops with どちら, どなた and いかがですか.
November 7, 2026 4 min read
Lesson
N5
Saying what you want: 〜たい and 〜がほしい
Say what you want to do with 〜たいです, what you don’t want to do with 〜たくないです and what you wanted to do with 〜たかったです; say what things you want with 〜がほしいです — and learn why Japanese doesn’t use 〜たい about other people.
November 7, 2026 3 min read
Lesson
N5
The て-form: rules, 〜てください and 〜てもいいですか
Make the て-form of every verb — って, んで, いて, いで and して for Group 1, 〜て for Group 2, して and きて for Group 3, plus the exception 行って — then use it to ask with 〜てください and to ask permission with 〜てもいいですか.
November 7, 2026 3 min read