Handbook of Modern Japanese Grammar [Paperback]

Yoko M. McClain (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Books Nippan (June 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4590005700
• ISBN-13: 978-4590005706
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,271,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice, compact overview of Japanese grammar for the language learner, August 19, 2009

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gengogakusha "gengogakusha" (Tarrytown, NY USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Handbook of Modern Japanese Grammar (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book for the intermediate to advanced Japanese language learner. I have used this book so often to review and expand my repertoire of Japanese constructions that it's falling apart. The book is organized along traditional Japanese parts of speech and verbal conjugation. It is well organized. Expressions and examples are provided in romaji and Japanese characters along with English translations. I also highly recommend Makino and Tsutsui's A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. Together you'll be on well on your way to becoming a full-fledged nihongogakusha in no time at all!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I own, August 5, 2011

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Shannon - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Handbook of Modern Japanese Grammar (Paperback)

Ever since I began studying Japanese a few years ago, I have been adding more and more grammar/particle/dictionary/vocabulary books to my arsenal. I had so many books, but when it came to hunting down a random grammar point in them, I would come up with nothing (or in best case scenarios, just a complicating definition and example). After awhile you get used to putting aside a couple of hours just to look up and understand a grammar point. I honestly didn't think that this book would be any different, but I figured it couldn't hurt to add it to the library.

From the moment I first opened it and flipped through it, I was in love. There are lists of particles, verb/adj/noun-ending phrases (even slightly more obscure ones), and even Onomatopoeic words, as well as explanations and examples of their use. Within the first 5 minutes of owning it, it became my favorite book (it hardly ever leaves my side).

This book is one of the bests (and definitely a necessity) for those who are just beginning to learn, those who have finished the "this is a simple sentence...this is how you conjugate a verb..." stage and are unsure of what to learn now, and even for advanced learners as a source of new knowledge or just a quick reference guide.

Bottom line: Get this book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you buy only one book about modern japanese grammar..., January 9, 2011

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jean-jacques jaffeux (New York) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Handbook of Modern Japanese Grammar (Paperback)

Let's face it: japanese grammar is not for the fainted heart! You need to put real efforts to master it, but tell me of a language with an easy grammar... Chinese? Maybe...
Because the subject of a japanese sentence is most of the time hiding behind the curtain of multiple propositions, one has to wait the end of the entire sentence to know, like in the Noh theater (excuse my pun), what the action is all about and who is ... acting.
Yoko M McLain in "Modern Japanese Grammar" give us the tools to capture the intimate structure of modern japanese. She starts with the end of the sentences: the verb. The verb, I don't want to go biblical, is the beginning of everything in japanese. When a japanese mother talks to her baby, she starts by using verbs and then slowly add up more details making more elaborate sentences.
That's how this book is structured. The author has used the japanese grammatical terminology, making it easy to read japanese books about the subject but took into account her readers. This book is your compass, don't travel this beautiful language without it.
One last word: one of the very last part is, again, about verbs but this time to explain their honorific forms, a tricky form at times, but which allow you to definitely know who is hiding behind the curtain, who is the subject.