Customer Reviews

Complete Japanese Verb Guide (Tuttle Language Library)

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I have to disagree with the review below (Nagasaki, Japan). My wife (who's Japanese) said that the example below - arawareru - can be used either in writing or speaking; in speaking, it just sounds a little polite. An advanced dictionary or usage guide will help you know in what context to use a verb. This verb guide is not so much a guide on usage, but rather a verb table of forms. Each verb has five example sentences at the bottom of the page. There is only one kanji translation at the top of the page, with the rest of the verb forms written in romaji. However, this is not really a major problem for even the "advanced" student. Transliterating between romaji and the kana is no problem. It's the kanji that you need, and this book gives them to you. The omission of the -tai form (wish, want, hope)is a problem if you don't know to use the same form as the -masu form: so use the -masu form. My only major complaint is the lack of an English verb index. A big shortcoming. However, this does force you to remember your Japanese verbs! If someone offers you this book, take it. If you want to buy a good verb guide, look around a bit more before you decide on this book. So far my favourite guide is: "Japanese Verbs at a Glance" in the Power Japanese series by Naoko Chino (Kodansha). The title is a great understatement! This guide is hardly a glance, especially compared to other Japanese verb books. It has a lot of information on forms and usage, with a table of verbs at the back. There are many examples and details on subtle diffrences in usages. This book also lacks an English verb index. All examples and verbs are written in romaji and full Japanese (kanji and kana). A good book. Seek it out.

I'm in my third year of studying Japanese, and I found this book is very helpful for my level. Memorizing the verbs and their forms is second only to memorizing kanji as the most difficult aspects. Here, all the verbs, all their forms, and examples how to use them are listed. I mean, 30 forms for each verb. It doesn't get much better than that. The kanji is given too. I just wish it didn't use romanji, because I'm trying to discipline myself to read kana and kanji as fluent as English characters.

definitely has some shortcomings. First of all, there is no index to enable the reader to quickly look up a verb by its English equivalent. This means that it is very time consuming to look anything up; you have to go page by page to try and find the verb you're looking for. This is a serious omission and I'm surprised the book was released without this basic convenience. Secondly, more than a few of the verbs presented are in fact rarely used in normal conversation and would sound a bit strange to a Japanese listener. There is very little in the way of contextual information for how these verbs are used. For example, the book lists the verb "arawareru" as meaning "to appear" or "become visible". However this particular verb is usually used in the written context (eg: a storybook) and not when speaking. In conversation, the verb "kuru" would usually be more appropriate. There are quite a few examples like this in the book. Thirdly, the book is written only in romaji aside from the basic verb kanji. Nice for beginners but not great for more serious students. Lastly, no listings for the -tai form. Not the worst book at all but if you can, look for something better.

This book is very resourceful for the beginning and advanced Japanese language student! The contents are highly applicable to realtime Japanese and you will find little that is unwanted. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

A good companion to a basic study of Japanese. Examples of usage a little sparser and more complex than necessary but still a valuable reference.