Nihongo Bunkei Ziten: English (a Handbook of Japanese Grammar Patterns for Teachers and Learners) (Nihongo Bunkei Ziten (a Handbook of Japanese Grammar Patterns)) (Japanese Edition)

# More thorough and well-organized than A Dictionary of Basic/Intermediate/Advanced Japanese Grammartl;dr: This book covers grammar topics in much greater depth, with more example sentences, and with better organization than the "A Dictionary of Basic/Intermediate/Advanced Japanese Grammar" series, i.e. these books:https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Basic-Japanese-Grammar/dp/4789004546https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Intermediate-Japanese-Grammar/dp/4789007758https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Advanced-Japanese-Grammar-English/dp/4789012956FYI: The original Japanese version of this book is at https://www.amazon.co.jp/日本語文型辞典-グループジャマシイ/dp/4874241549/I used to believe that the D(B/I/A)JG books were the be-all and end-all of Japanese grammar books for English-speaking learners, but after starting to read through this book, I now know that isn't always the case!This book is probably too difficult to be your first grammar reference book. A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar is a better choice for learners around studying around the JLPT N5 and N4 level, especially because it has romaji for all example sentences, whereas this book does not have any romaji (but does have furigana above all kanji).The text in this book is densely packed into two vertical columns of each page, for all entries. The number of example Japanese sentences per page is approximately 14. In contrast, DBJG, DIJG, and DAJG each have approximately 6, 5, and 6 example Japanese sentences per page. There is much more unused blank whitespace in the D(B/I/A)JG books compared to this book.For some topics, especially basic (i.e. common) ones, the level of depth in this book is far superior to DBJG, and things are organized in a much more accessible way.Consider, for instance, the explanation of だろう (darou). In this book, だろう is explained with the following subsections:1. ... だろう (supposition, conjecture) [10 example sentences]2. ... だろう (confirmation) [3 example sentences]3. ... だろうか [8 example sentences]4. ... ではないだろうか [6 example sentences]5. Nだろうが, Nだろうが [4 example sentences]6. ... だろうに6a. ...だろうに [5 example sentences]6b. ...だろうに [4 example sentences]In contrast, DBJG covers the basic conjecture meaning of だろう with only a total of 4 example sentences.In DBIJ, there is an entry on であろう containing 5 example sentences.For Nだろうが, Nだろうが, there is a brief explanation of it in the entry for 〜と言わず〜と言わず in DAJG, using only 1 example sentence.There's also a comparative explanation about だろうか versus やら and かしら in DAJG under the entry for やら, with 2 example sentences used.I cannot find any explanation of だろうに in any of the D(B/I/A)JG books.In other words, D(B/I/A)JG's coverage of the same topic is far thinner, harder to find because it's scattered across 3 books, and is either only mentioned in passing within other grammar topics, or not mentioned at all.I've also grown to prefer the concise grammar notation of this book compared with the notation used by the D(B/I/A/)JG books. A lot of space is wasted (IMHO) explaining the grammatical formulation of each grammar pattern in the D(B/I/A)JG books under the "Formation" subsection of each entry, whereas this book either succinctly enumerates the possible formations, skips their enumeration, or thoroughly provides more concrete example sentences for many more flavors of each grammatical topic.Explanations in English appear after each set of examples in a subsection or sub-subsection. They're concise, and usually contrast a particular topic with a similar one.Since this book contains all grammar topics, the cross-references and indices contain all levels of grammar. With DBJG, the indexes do not contain entries for intermediate or advanced topics, which can be limiting and troublesome when you need to find a topic in one of the other books. You need to use the index of the DAJG, which lists all entries in the 3 books, if you're unsure about which book a grammar topic appears in. This book does not suffer from that problem, as all topics are in this one single book!If you're studying for the JLPT N4 or anything higher, I think this book is the most thorough and well-organized grammar reference that you can have. If you know of a better book, I'd be curious to know what it is!Minor criticisms:Since the grammatical formulation of some patterns is skipped, you have to either have a good grammatical foundation to be able to infer what part of speech something is. For example, the entry on ものなら does not explicitly state that もの is a noun. You either have to know this from prior studying, or infer it from the example sentences. This is probably not an issue for learners who have passed JLPT N3 or higher, but might be a little annoying for learners who are around the JLPT N4 level.Other recommended books:For a strong foundation of fundamental Japanese grammar topics (e.g. nouns, pronouns, interrogative adverbs, embedded questions, passive voice, causative voice, etc.) I would also highly recommend https://www.amazon.com/English-Grammar-Students-Japanese-Learning/dp/0934034168

Comparing a few entries, I found the explanations to be clear than those in the Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. I was afraid that the font size would be too small but unlike other Japanese texts, I can read the print fine.Update: I find myself using this book on a daily basis. Every new grammar topic I see in Tobira, I search for the corresponding entry in the handbook since its explanations are a great complement for Tobira's short explanations and also since here are lots example sentences. For basic Japanese (Genki 1 and 2) this book was useful, but when I moved to intermediary Japanese, I found it to be essential since there are several grammatical constructs that are similar but have important nuances

I love this book. I would probably place myself in the beginner or lower intermediate category, so take this review with a grain of salt, but I love how I can flip to any page and learn SO much. This book covers around 3,000 grammar points and each one has around 3-10 example sentences, and of the ones I've read so far, most of these I've found to be actually useful (it's so common that I see grammar points explained using sentences completely devoid of any relatable elements.) This is a reference book / handbook that I plan on reading from cover to cover. Love it!!

Great, comprehensive guide with exanple sentences and easy to follow explanations. Would recommend for Japanese-language learners who need help with grammar points. I'm studying for the JLPT so I need it!

Fantastic resource. Highly recommended for any level of learner.

This book is an excellent grammar reference. I highly recommend it to the serious student of Japanese.

Really handy textbook for anyone learning, highly recommend.

If I could go back in time five years ago and prioritize which books I bought first, I would put this one at the very top of my list. Even today with all the various apps and new books coming out, this is by far the most "comprehensive." Granted, the grammar explanations are pretty short and you may have to supplement the explanations with other resources, but one thing that I've come to realize is that exposure and examples are much more important, and this book does just that. This book contains more entries for different grammar points and examples than any other book I've come across, including the "A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar" series.So let's talk about the good and the bad a bit more, shall we?Pros:-Wide breadth of grammar points-Not overwhelmingly verbose with explanations-Concise-Tons of example sentences-Easy to find what you're looking forCons:-Not many comparative explanations for similar grammar points-Explanations are written in English onlyGranted, the cons are not a big deal. If you added those two things into this book, you'd probably end up with a much larger series, which would be totally fine if you asked me. If those two things are something you're looking for, however, you could supplement this book with the ”くらべてわかる” and "A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar" series. But this book is a must-have. So get it!

This grammar book is fantastic and I highly recommend it. I am studying for the JLPT N1 and it's really helping me to look more closely at the language.

Este es el libro de referencia más completo que he podido encontrar en cuanto a gramática japonesa.Términos más exclusivos del lenguaje hablado o contracciones de términos gramaticales cuesta encontrarlos en otros libros de grámatica japonesa (tengo la serie de Dictionary of Basic / Intermediate / Advanced Japanese Grammar también), y son utilizados de manera más bien regular. En ese sentido este libro es una joya y es muy raro que no encuentres respuesta.En un solo volumen cubre todo. Cada término cuenta un esquema sobre como se utiliza en una oración, ejemplos con traducción y finalmente una explicación, asi como referencias con otros términos similares.Si buscas una referencia de grámatica japonesa, no busques más.

Best grammar book ever! Very fast shippment! Thank you

One thing I like - no romaji...! Excellent resource and reference.

I have both the Basic and Intermediate Dictionaries of Japanese Grammar. This covers the vast majority of both of those books, just not in as much detail, has fewer examples and less explanation of the nuances between similar patterns. However it is in one volume, it has more than enough detail in most cases and it is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper. I did find myself referring to the other dictionaries a couple of times for more complicated JLPT N2 grammar patterns but no so frequently that I would buy those volumes instead UNLESS I had quite a bit of cash or could get them second hand.The only major improvement I would suggest is that one of the appendixes lists grammar patterns by their area/use. This is incredibly useful. Or it would be if the topics had English translations and the grammar patterns listed had page numbers next to them! PLEASE do that for the next Edition and I'll buy a new copy.That said - buy this. You won't be disappointed. (Even if you already have the two other dictionaries it's still worth it)