So, you know a bunch of words in Japanese now, but you don't know how to actually use them to make comprehensive Japanese. How do you do it? Easy, you make a sentence!
Japanese sentence structure and grammar looks really scary. I've seen plenty of Japanese teaching websites and even textbooks that try to explain it in a very complicated way. This is often because they try to teach you using complicated sentences from the start.
You may think a sentence like "John baked a cake." is simple because it doesn't have very many words in it, but that's not true! Look at all these things we have to think about:
We have two objects being referenced (John and cake!)
We have a person performing an action.
We have an object receiving an action.
We have a certain timeframe in which the action has to be completed (in the past, "baked").
Each of these things requires a different rule than in English. So let's not try to do something so complicated.
I think it's a lot easier to learn how to make sentences in Japanese if you start from the ground up -- from the very most basic sentence you can possibly have. And it's very very easy because it's only a single word!
In Japanese, you can make a sentence with only a single word. You don't need to have any kind of object or subject or anything like that. You simply need to have an action or description. I am going to call this part of the sentence the "predicate," but you can call it whatever you want. It is the meat of the sentence, and it's all you need!
There are different types of word classes in Japanese, and each one forms a predicate in a slightly different way. But I will get into predicate types later. For now, we'll just use some simple words so you can be on your way to making Japanese sentences in a matter of seconds.
Think of all the Japanese words you've learned. Do you know any that end in い i and can be used to describe something else? If you are an anime fan, you probably know words like kawaii and sugoi. If not, you may have studied some things like color words akai, aoi, and the like.
You can use these words to make a complete sentence right now! I'm going to use the word うれしい uresii/ureshii. It is often translated as "happy."
In Japanese, you don't need to use a subject unless it's necessary. If it's obvious who or what you're talking about, you should just drop that part of the sentence. In English, we would say things like "I am happy." But in Japanese, you don't need to say all of those words.
So here is my sentence:
うれしい。
Uresii. / Ureshii.
Yes, that's it. One word. This sentence means "I am happy." or "I feel happy." It's a complete, full, proper sentence in Japanese! It actually sounds clunky and awkward if you add the "I am" part and specify that you're talking about yourself. Sometimes, it's okay, but most of the time, you should not add things that aren't needed and stick to smaller sentences like this when talking about yourself.
Now, let's see you are shopping and you and your friend see a cute bag. You and your friend are standing over it... You can say this sentence now:
可愛い！
Kawaii!
And you've just said "This is so cute!" In Japanese, you don't need to have all those words in there like in English, but it still means the same thing, and it's a whole sentence. You're not cutting anything out or leaving parts off or simplifying it. That's a good sentence.
I know a lot of people who use Japanese because they like anime get harped on for using this word like this... but that's 100% proper, natural Japanese! And it's a full, complete sentence! If you say it, you're using Japanese like a native. Don't let people make fun of you if you're wanting to use Japanese and say this... because you're doing it right :) Sure, you might sound like an anime nerd if you just say kawaii all the time and nothing else, but it's still good for your first steps.
Now, as you learn more words and structure, you'll be able to add more to your sentences to be more specific when you need to be. But when you're expressing a simple thought that doesn't need you to point out anything else (like, if you were looking at the bag, obviously you are talking about the bag!) then you can use single words like this, and it will be perfectly natural and proper to do so.
EVERY complete sentence in Japanese is essentially one of these one-word sentences, just with more tacked onto it to be more descriptive when it needs it (you can use other words in your "predicate" as well, but for now I'm only using this one type of word). If you think of Japanese sentences like that, and not as a big list of words with a bunch of rules you need to use, it will be a lot easier to understand. Just start with this very most basic type of sentence, and learn how to add things to it little by little.
If you do this, you will always learn everything you can fully understand. If you use the type of sentence I talked about in this post, you are saying a sentence and you understand every last word in it fully. As you learn to make your sentences more complicated, learn one step at a time. Like "How do I add a subject to talk about a specific thing?" or "How do I add an object of the action I want to talk about?" Then learn how to add those things to your sentence. Then once you do, you'll completely understand the sentences you are making.
This is a lot different from starting from a bigger sentence and trying to learn all the parts at once. This way, you always know exactly what you're doing in Japanese! You're not going to learn the whole language overnight, so I think a pacing like this where you always fully understand what you're saying can work really well. This way you don't practice saying things that are actually bad Japanese that don't make sense. And I feel that when you're not trying to overcomplicate things, you can learn faster, too.
Practice making simple sentences like the ones I taught you for now. Look for these describing words that end in い i and use them by themselves and you'll be saying complete sentences in Japanese, naturally and properly!
Seriously, just take a day thinking of sentences as only one word. Think of places when you can use a single word to describe something without having to specify what you're talking about. Here are some full sentences and examples of when it would be natural to use them:
面白い。 Omosiroi. / Omoshiroi.
1. You're watching a TV show and you think it's funny. If you just say "funny" here, it's obvious you're talking about the show.
おかしい。 Okasii. / Okashii.
2. Someone does something strange and you say "strange." If you just say "strange" here, it's obvious you're talking about the person's action.
おいしい Oisii. / Oishii.
3. You just tried octopus ball (a Japanese food) for the first time and you like it. If you said "tasty" here, it's obvious you're talking about the food.
Try to come up with your own examples. As you spend the rest of the day today, think of descriptive words to talk about what you're doing, tasting, seeing, hearing, experiencing... if you know a Japanese word that fits that, try saying it. If you can look it up, try it and see what you find. You're making whole sentences now!
And it will be so easy to build on them, because this is the core of every Japanese sentence. So get out there and try it!
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