A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar

Follow the title ^^

pour japanophile anglophone motivé

I bought it used, so it had no sleeve and the exterior was worn, but the inside is just like new. I was worried it was going to be just like an English dictionary where everything is shoved together and confusing, but this book is anything but. It starts by explaining abbreviations, symbols, and grammatical terms. Then it talks about special grammar topics. Before getting into the grammar for specific words one by one. They are organized by the English alphabet, and when the word they are talking about is written in Japanese they write it in red. It first shows the word spelled out in romanji & Japanese, then explains when it might be used and it's definition. It makes it very clear and concise so there is hardly any confusion even if you are new to the language. Then in the back of the book they go on to explain katakana specific rules, compound verbs, compound particles, conjunctions, affixes, counters, cooccurrence, and functional expressions & grammatical patterns. Next is an English based "index" which lists English words alphabetically with their japanese romanji counterpart, but that's it. Lastly, there is a Japanese index organized by English alphabet, but this one simply lists the words explained throughout the book and what page number they're on. (BTW, as a bonus I thought I'd mention the price listed on the cover of the book is 3700 yen which roughly translates to $24.45, I paid more than that for a used book. But everywhere else wanted even more, so I suppose the demand is high?)

I heard from a YouTube review that there was a lot a examples and you bet there is! Moreover, as a experienced kanji learner, I like that for every grammar entry, the first time any kanji is used, it has furigana but after that for the same kanji, there's no furigana; it helps not having crutches all the time. I also like the section at the end of entries that compares with other related entries and that it shows similarities and differences in usage. I haven't spent a lot of time with it yet but with this book and the basic one, I'm pretty sure for normal japanese, it will cover everything for those levels. Other grammar books or textbooks I find that sometimes, it is lacking a bit of information or it isn't clear what is the difference with another grammar point, those issues aren't present in this book.

30 years after the first edition and it is still by far and far the best authoritative, exhaustive, comprehensive and lucidly written source on Japanese grammar. It is a bit pricey but will last you a lifetime and cover all your Japanese grammar needs (in all the three volumes).

This is really a must buy book for everyone who wants to to improve, polish or master japanese intermediate grammar. It is explained very precisely and it is not confusing. I really recommend this one!