Could someone help explain Japanese grammar to me?
Hello! I am currently studying Japanese at university. I've only been studying it since February this year & I feel I have learned so much! I can read hiragana & katakana without a problem (we haven't started kanji yet) & I'm definitely developing my speaking skills. So far I can only say basic things (such as self introduction titles - name, age, origin) but for having only studied Japanese for eight weeks, I've definitely come a long way :D

But my problem is, I seem to be having a hard time grasping the grammar. I know if I can really get it explained to me I'll be able to get the hang of it. It seems google is not the best place for answers!

When I say grammar, I have difficulty knowing what goes where & when. For example "no" & "wa (ha)." I know "no" is possession, but it can also indicate other things? & if I wanted to say "who is that over there?" I still get confused as to what part of the sentence I write first. The who? Or the object? Or the direction?

Thanks :)I should add when I say "grammar" I do mean BASIC grammar. Dare, dore, ano, etc.

Question

Could someone help explain Japanese grammar to me?
Hello! I am currently studying Japanese at university. I've only been studying it since February this year & I feel I have learned so much! I can read hiragana & katakana without a problem (we haven't started kanji yet) & I'm definitely developing my speaking skills. So far I can only say basic things (such as self introduction titles - name, age, origin) but for having only studied Japanese for eight weeks, I've definitely come a long way :D

But my problem is, I seem to be having a hard time grasping the grammar. I know if I can really get it explained to me I'll be able to get the hang of it. It seems google is not the best place for answers!

When I say grammar, I have difficulty knowing what goes where & when. For example "no" & "wa (ha)." I know "no" is possession, but it can also indicate other things? & if I wanted to say "who is that over there?" I still get confused as to what part of the sentence I write first. The who? Or the object? Or the direction?

Thanks :)I should add when I say "grammar" I do mean BASIC grammar. Dare, dore, ano, etc.

Answer

There is some good content on the internet for basic grammar, but I recommend you to get a good textbook. I'm using "Genki - An integrated course in elementary japanese". Its one of the best avaible.

Answer

Wow. haha, teaching grammar is just so hard. I think the best formula I could give you would be this:
[TOPIC] + wa + [question or description]
ex: ashita wa getsuyoubi desu.
or since you used a location term..
"who is that over there?" "are wa dare desu ka"

Answer

So the way it was explained to me was that when figuring out what goes before the は, you ask the question "as for such and such” or “regarding such and such".
あの　ひとは　=  as for that person over there…….
この　りんごは＝ regarding this apple…….
We can do this because は is the topic marker meaning it marks the topic of discussion and pretty much says "Hey everybody, now we are going to talk about what I just marked."
Hey everybody look at that person over there, who is it?  =  as for that person over there, who is it?=  Who is that person over there?=あの　ひとは だれ　です　か。　
この　りんごは　あかい　です。= regarding  this apple, it's red. =  This apple is red.

As for the particle の, as I’m sure you might already know, it can mean “of” or shows possession. the “of” meaning was a little confusing  for me because how can one thing both show possession and mean “of”. So the way I like to think of it is that there is no difference between the two.
So like : ソニの　たなかさん　です。＝ it’s Tanaka of Sony =  it’s sonny’s Tanaka.

Any way, I hope that helps :)

Answer

The Japanese grammar is totally different from yours and we never be able to say "の is for possession" because it has several uses in grammar. In my opinion, remembering particle with noun or something would be better, for example, "I" is わたしは and sometimes わたしが, "my" is わたしの. You have to get accustomed to them and you will understand the Japanese grammar step by step. Please remember that the same happens to us when we learn Englush.Good luck!

Answer

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar is a great site that explains Japanese grammar in detail. Read it (slowly) from beginning to end.

I can't recommend it enough, it was a life-saver for me when I started to learn Japanese.