N5 grammar looks like a wall of ~100 patterns, but it’s really eight systems: the copula (です/だ), particles, existence verbs (あります/います), the ます-form, the te-form, the ～たい want-form, invitations (ましょう/ませんか), and adjective conjugation. Learn these deeply - inside full example sentences, reviewed with spaced repetition - and you can decode almost every N5 sentence, because the rest are variations.
Here is the trap almost every beginner falls into: they open an N5 grammar list, see 80–100 items, and try to memorize them one flashcard at a time. Three weeks later they can recite “～てもいいです means permission” but freeze the moment they have to use it. The list isn’t wrong - it’s just badly organized for how the brain actually acquires grammar.
The truth the JLPT statistics reveal is that N5 grammar is lopsided. A small number of core structures appear again and again, both on the exam and in real Japanese, while the long tail of “patterns” are just those cores in a new costume. This guide ranks the points by leverage, then teaches each one the way it should be learned: with real sentences, furigana, full translations, and the exact mistakes that cost points.
The N5 Grammar Priority Map
If your study time is limited, spend it top-down. These eight systems, in this order, give you the most comprehension and exam points per hour.
| # | Grammar System | Why It Carries the Exam | Leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Copula です / だ | Every noun-based statement, question, and negation | S |
| 2 | Core particles は・が・を・に・で | They define who does what to whom - sentence skeleton | S |
| 3 | Te-form 〜て | Requests, permission, prohibition, states, sequences | S |
| 4 | ます-form & verb groups | Present, negative, and past of every verb | A |
| 5 | Existence あります / います | Location, possession, “there is” - and the living/non-living split | A |
| 6 | Adjectives い / な conjugation | Description, negation, past - a second conjugation engine | A |
| 7 | ～たい (want to) | Expressing desire; also builds toward N4 forms | B |
| 8 | ましょう / ませんか (invite) | Suggestions and invitations - the social core | B |
1. The Copula です / だ: The Spine of Every Noun Sentence
Before verbs, before adjectives, Japanese lets you say “A is B” with a noun and the copula. Master its four forms (non-past affirmative/negative, past affirmative/negative) and you can already build hundreds of sentences.
Formality ladder: じゃありません (spoken polite) < ではありません (written polite) < じゃない (plain). All three mean the same “is not.”
2. The Five Particles That Build Every Sentence
Particles are the grammar of Japanese. If word order is loose, particles are what tell you who is the subject, what is the object, and where the action happens. These five do 80% of the work at N5.
| Particle | Role | Micro-example |
|---|---|---|
| は | Topic (“as for…”) | 私は… - as for me |
| が | Subject / new info | 雨が降る - rain falls |
| を | Direct object | ごはんを食べる - eat rice |
| に | Time / destination / target | 7時に起きる - wake at 7 |
| で | Place of action / means | バスで行く - go by bus |
Rule of thumb: で marks the stage where an action is performed; に marks a static location of existence or the end-point of movement. Verb of action → で. Verb of existence/arrival → に.
The は-vs-が split deserves its own study session - it’s the particle question learners struggle with the longest. We break it down fully in は vs が: The Particle That Confuses Every Beginner.
3. The Te-Form: The Most Important Conjugation You’ll Ever Learn
If N5 grammar had a keystone, this is it. The te-form itself has no fixed meaning - it’s a connector - but it unlocks an entire family of patterns and is the doorway to almost all N4 grammar.
Watch out: ～ている is not always “-ing.” With change-of-state verbs it means a resulting state: 結婚しています = “I am married,” not “I am in the act of marrying.”
Get every verb group’s te-form to instant, automatic speed. We drill the exact conjugation rules in The Te-Form: N5’s Master Key.
4. The ます-Form and Verb Groups
The ます-form is the polite present/future. Its power comes from the fact that its four inflections (present, negative, past, past-negative) map cleanly across every verb once you know the verb’s group.
| Form | Example (食べる) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Present/future | 食べます | eat / will eat |
| Negative | 食べません | do not eat |
| Past | 食べました | ate |
| Past negative | 食べませんでした | did not eat |
5. Existence: あります vs います
Japanese uses two different verbs for “there is,” split by whether the thing is alive and self-moving.
People and animals take います; objects, plants, and buildings take あります. The dividing line is self-directed movement, which is why a taxi you’re riding as a passenger can still take あります.
6. Adjective Conjugation: い vs な
Japanese has two adjective types, and they conjugate differently. This is a second conjugation engine you must run in parallel with verbs.
| い-adjective (高い) | な-adjective (静か) | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 高いです | 静かです |
| Negative | 高くないです | 静かじゃありません |
| Past | 高かったです | 静かでした |
| Modifying a noun | 高い山 | 静かな町 |
7. ～たい: Saying What You Want to Do
～たい conjugates like an い-adjective: negative 行きたくない, past 行きたかった. The object particle can be を or が: 水が飲みたい is very natural.
8. ましょう / ませんか: Inviting and Suggesting
～ませんか is softer - it invites and leaves room to decline. ～ましょう assumes agreement and proposes doing it together. Native speakers often open with ～ませんか, then confirm with ～ましょう.
How to Turn This List Into Real Ability
Knowing the eight systems is step one. Making them automatic is what passes the exam - and lets you actually speak. Three principles:
- Learn patterns inside sentences, not as rules. “～てもいいです = permission” is inert. 写真を撮ってもいいですか (May I take a photo?) is a tool you can reach for.
- Review with spaced repetition. The JLPT grammar section is a cloze test, so drill grammar as cloze: blank out the pattern in a sentence you already understand and recall it. This is exactly how Kanjijo’s SRS surfaces grammar before you forget it.
- Feed real Japanese in daily. The more sentences you meet where these patterns live, the faster they become intuition rather than memory.
Kanjijo was built for exactly this loop - from foundation to fluency:
- Full N5–N1 grammar bank
- SRS spaced repetition
- Exclusive kanji & vocab mnemonics
- OCR scanner
- Home & lock screen widgets
- Interactive test widget
- JLPT reading practice
- JLPT listening practice
- Full mock JLPT tests
- Conversation & shadowing
- Zen design
Related Reading on Kanjijo
Deep Dives: Individual Points in Detail
Each of the points below previously lived on its own page. They are collected here so the whole level sits in one place.
N5 〜たい vs 〜が好き: The Desire Grammar Pair Every Beginner Gets Wrong
Both express desire. Both appear in lesson three of every N5 textbook. Both look harmless. And both are responsible for a remarkable number of confused conversations between beginners and native speakers. The traps are not in meaning - they are in particle, person, and politeness.
1. The Particle Trap
| Pattern | Particle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 〜たい | を or が | 寿司を食べたい / 寿司が食べたい |
| 好き | が only | 寿司が好きです |
| 嫌い | が only | 納豆が嫌いです |
| 欲しい (want object) | が only | 新しい携帯が欲しいです |
2. The Person Rule (The Big One)
〜たい describes internal desire. Japanese is strict: you cannot claim direct knowledge of someone else’s internal state. So:
- ✅ 私は日本に行きたいです。
- ❌ 田中さんは日本に行きたいです。
- ✅ 田中さんは日本に行きたがっています。
The same rule applies to 欲しい → 欲しがっている and 嬉しい → 嬉しがっている. This is the #1 social register error of N5 learners.
3. The Polite Frame
Tack です on the い-adjective form: 食べたいです / 好きです. For requests, soften with 〜たいんですが (suggesting hesitation): 「すみません、これを試したいんですが…」 - instantly more native.
4. The Negative Forms
- 食べたい → 食べたくない (don’t want to eat)
- 好き → 好きじゃない (don’t like)
Note: 〜たい conjugates like an い-adjective; 好き conjugates like a な-adjective. Same English meaning class, completely different Japanese morphology.
5. Why Apps Skip The Hard Parts
Most apps teach 〜たい and 好き in adjacent lessons but never explicitly contrast them. The particle, the person rule, and the negative conjugation difference are left for the learner to absorb by mistake. Kanjijo’s grammar layer treats them as one mini-system, drilling the differences side-by-side.
6. The 5-Sentence Drill
- 私はラーメンが食べたいです。
- 私は犬が好きです。
- 友達は日本に行きたがっています。
- 新しい靴が欲しいです。
- 納豆が好きじゃないです。
If you can produce these five without hesitation, you are ahead of 80% of N5 learners.
Related Reading on Kanjijo
Frequently Asked Questions
Either を or が. Both are grammatical; が is more emphatic.
が, always.
Japanese restricts internal-state claims to first person. Use 〜たがっている for others.
Side-by-side contrast lesson with SRS that catches particle errors.
もう vs まだ at N5: The Time Pair Every Beginner Trips Over
If a Japanese teacher asked you to translate “not yet”, you would say まだ. Translate “already” and you would say もう. So far so good. The trap appears the moment polarity flips. Both words have two opposite meanings depending on whether the verb is affirmative or negative. That is why beginners - even ones who know the dictionary glosses - slip into まだ食べた (intended “already ate”) which is unnatural in standard Japanese.
1. The Four-Cell Grid
This is the only chart you really need:
| Affirmative verb | Negative verb | |
|---|---|---|
| もう | already (the action is done) | no longer / not anymore |
| まだ | still (the action is ongoing) | not yet (the action has not started) |
2. もう + Affirmative - “Already”
This is the version every textbook teaches first. The action is finished or has begun.
もう食べました。 I’ve already eaten.
もう着きました。 I’ve already arrived.
もう8時です。 It’s already 8 o’clock.
3. もう + Negative - “No Longer”
Same word, opposite shape. The action that used to be true is no longer true.
もう飲みません。 I no longer drink.
もう子供じゃない。 I’m not a child anymore.
もう要らない。 I don’t need it anymore.
4. まだ + Affirmative - “Still”
The action or state continues at the moment of speaking.
まだ勉強しています。 I’m still studying.
まだ雨が降っています。 It’s still raining.
まだ時間があります。 There’s still time.
5. まだ + Negative - “Not Yet”
The action has not begun, but is expected to.
まだ食べていません。 I haven’t eaten yet.
まだ来ていません。 They haven’t arrived yet.
まだ準備ができていません。 It’s not ready yet.
6. The Tense Subtlety: ています Beats ました
Here is a refinement most N5 textbooks gloss over. When responding to “Have you eaten?” the most natural Japanese answer for “not yet” uses the negative ていません form, not ませんでした.
Q: もう食べましたか。 Have you eaten yet?
A (yes): はい、もう食べました。
A (no): いいえ、まだ食べていません。 (NOT 食べませんでした)
Why? ませんでした describes a completed non-event in the past (“I did not eat (then)”), but the social meaning of “not yet” is “I have not eaten but I might.” ていません captures that ongoing-not-yet state precisely.
7. Single-Word Replies
もう and まだ work as one-word answers in casual Japanese, and natives lean on them constantly.
- Q: 終わった？ A: もう。 Done already.
- Q: 食べた？ A: まだ。 Not yet.
- Q: いる？ A: もう要らないよ。 I don’t need it anymore.
8. The Top 3 Mistakes Beginners Make
- まだ + past affirmative for “already”: ✗ まだ食べた → ✓ もう食べた.
- もう + ません when they meant “not yet”: ✗ もう食べません → ✓ まだ食べていません.
- もう/まだ confused at restaurants: The waiter says お待たせしました and the customer says まだ when they mean “I’m still deciding” - that one is correct! But many learners answer もう by reflex.
9. The Two-Minute Drill
Pick a single verb, say 食べる. Conjugate it through all four cells aloud:
- もう食べました。 (already ate)
- もう食べません。 (no longer eat)
- まだ食べています。 (still eating)
- まだ食べていません。 (not yet eaten)
Repeat with three different verbs every morning. By day five your brain has internalized the grid more reliably than any rule explanation could.
Related Reading on Kanjijo
Frequently Asked Questions
Already in affirmative sentences, no longer in negative ones.
Still in affirmative sentences, not yet in negative ones.
Each has two opposite meanings depending on verb polarity. Without drilling all four combinations, errors are predictable.
Saying まだ食べた for “already ate.” The correct form is もう食べました.
Use cloze cards that fix the verb polarity and force you to choose between the two adverbs.
JLPT N5 Grammar: Every Pattern You Need
JLPT N5 tests about 80 grammar patterns. These are the building blocks of everything that comes after. Master them and N4-N3 grammar becomes much easier. Here are the essentials grouped by category.
Copula & Basic Sentences
| Pattern | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 〜です | is/am/are (polite) | 学生です (I’m a student) |
| 〜じゃないです | is not | 学生じゃないです (I’m not a student) |
| 〜でした | was | 学生でした (I was a student) |
| 〜ます | polite verb ending | 食べます (I eat) |
| 〜ません | polite negative | 食べません (I don’t eat) |
| 〜ました | polite past | 食べました (I ate) |
Essential Particles
| Particle | Function | Example |
|---|---|---|
| は | Topic marker | 私は田中です |
| が | Subject marker | 猫がいます |
| を | Object marker | 本を読みます |
| に | Direction/time/location | 学校に行きます |
| で | Location of action/means | 図書館で勉強します |
| の | Possession/connection | 私の本 |
| と | And/with | 友達と行きます |
| も | Also/too | 私も学生です |
| か | Question marker | 日本人ですか？ |
| から/まで | From/until | 9時から5時まで |
Key Grammar Patterns
Existence: あります / います
あります = for non-living things: 本があります (There is a book)
います = for living things: 猫がいます (There is a cat)
Want to: 〜たい
Verb stem + たい: 食べたい (I want to eat) · 行きたい (I want to go)
Conjugates like an i-adjective: 食べたくない (don’t want to eat)
Te-Form Uses
〜てください = please do: 見てください (please look)
〜ている = currently doing: 食べている (is eating)
〜てもいい = may I?: 帰ってもいいですか (may I go home?)
〜てはいけない = must not: 走ってはいけない (must not run)
Comparisons
AはBより〜 = A is more ~ than B
東京は大阪より大きい (Tokyo is bigger than Osaka)
AとBとどちらが〜 = which is more ~, A or B?
犬と猫とどちらが好きですか (Which do you like more, dogs or cats?)
How to Master N5 Grammar
- Learn patterns through example sentences - not abstract rules
- Review vocabulary with SRS - grammar patterns only stick when you know the words in them
- Write sample sentences using each pattern to test understanding
- Kanjijo’s N5 deck covers all 100+ kanji and 800 vocabulary items you need - essential foundation for grammar
Frequently Asked Questions
There are roughly 80–100 grammar patterns tested at N5, but they cluster into about eight core systems: the copula (です/だ), particles, existence verbs (あります/います), the ます-form, the te-form, the ～たい want-form, invitations (ましょう/ませんか), and adjective conjugation. Master those eight and you can decode the vast majority of N5 sentences, because most other patterns are variations built on them.
The te-form (て形). It is the connector that unlocks requests (てください), permission (てもいいです), prohibition (てはいけません), progressive and resultative states (ている), sequences of actions, and dozens of higher-level patterns at N4 and beyond. If you drill one thing to automatic speed at N5, drill te-form conjugation of every verb group.
You need a working rule, not a perfect one. For N5, use は to mark the topic (what the sentence is about) and が to mark the grammatical subject, especially for new information, existence, and question words like 誰 and 何. The distinction gets subtler at higher levels, but the N5 exam rewards the basic topic-vs-subject split, so drill it with real sentences.
Learn each pattern inside a full example sentence, not as an isolated rule, then review those sentences with spaced repetition so recall becomes automatic before the exam. Cloze (fill-in-the-blank) drills are especially effective because the JLPT grammar section is itself a cloze test. Kanjijo pairs a full N5 grammar bank with an SRS engine and example-sentence review so patterns move into long-term memory.
Master N5 Grammar with Kanjijo
Every pattern in this guide lives inside Kanjijo - the full N5 grammar bank with furigana examples, an SRS engine that reviews each point before you forget it, exclusive kanji & vocabulary mnemonics, the OCR scanner to decode real Japanese instantly, home & lock screen widgets, and full mock JLPT tests - all in one calm, zen-designed app.
Download Kanjijo Free