Handbook of Japanese Grammar (Tuttle Language Library) [Paperback]

Masahiro Tanimori (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1994 | Series: Tuttle Language Library

An invaluable reference for students and scholars alike. Part 1 explains and illustrates the uses of hundreds of particles, key vocabulary, and other function words. Each entry includes many sample sentences in Japanese, romaji, and English. Free of dense grammatical jargon, Part 2 provides concise overviews of all Japanese parts of speech, polite language (keigo), counters, and other facets of everyday language.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Japanese

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (November 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804819408
• ISBN-13: 978-0804819404
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,475,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars OK - Seems to have all. No index. Mostly romaji, October 8, 1999

By 

Ed Worden ([e-mail]) (Huntsville, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handbook of Japanese Grammar (Tuttle Language Library) (Paperback)

I read the reviews carefully, and thought this is it. As a beginner with 4 years of reading, I was disappointed that there was no index, even though it is arranged alphabetically. Verb structure is sketchy and I have to look elsewhere for details. As usual the extensive use of romaji and in some places only romaji lowers this book and wastes a lot of my time. I prefer kanji along with furigana or kana helps. I would pay 4 times the amount to get those details included. But I don't know where to go. But this book does give some help along with pretty good particle, preposition and other syntax details. I could not use this book at all without help from the Monash editor.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a Guide, January 3, 2004

By 

T. Hooper "thdizzy" (Osaka, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handbook of Japanese Grammar (Tuttle Language Library) (Paperback)

This book is useful as a reference for students of Japanese. It includes over 600 enteries of Japanese grammar points listed in alphabetical order for easy reference. For those looking for a text for learning Japanese, this isn't a good choice because most of the enteries have only one example for each usage. However, it's great for people who have studied or are studying Japanese. I use it for checking points which I don't often use and easily forget. If you're going to study Japanese, you could use this as a reference for your studies. If you are looking for clear explanations rather than reminders, you should find a more comprehensive book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nearly-perfect grammatical reference, November 13, 1998

By 

[e-mail] or Dave MacLeod (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handbook of Japanese Grammar (Tuttle Language Library) (Paperback)

This book bears a strong similarity to A Handbook of Japanese Usage, but differs in a few ways - this book focuses more on larger grammatical terms than the other - for example, this book has an entry for 'ni chigai nai' - 'it must be', whereas the other has entries for smaller terms and particles, such as 'ni' and 'nai'. Therefore, I have also found this book to be useful and interesting as a language learning resource, while the other is more useful as a reference.

A Handbook of Japanese Grammar is structured like a dictionary, with alphabetical entries, and example sentences given for each one to detail their possible usages. This is quite a valuable book. Note: The system of romanization used here is the Hepburn system.