The whole course on one page. Think of it as a map: the roads are the twenty sentence frames — every sentence you’ll ever say travels one of them. The shortcuts are the techniques that get you across the ground the course deliberately skips. When you wander off anyway — a word flies past, a sign won’t parse — there’s a way back. And the words are what you carry and point at along the way. Keep this open while you study.
The roads — the 20 frames
This is the entire grammar of MiniCore Japanese: twenty fixed sentence patterns. Every blank (___) takes any noun you own — including every noun you harvest in the field. The frames are numbered in the order the lessons introduce them, which is also, roughly, simplest and most useful first.
The only question rule you need (taught in Lesson 2): statement + ka = question. Any frame ending in desu or -masu becomes its yes/no question by adding ka — nothing else changes. Frames written with (ka) below are ones you’ll use both ways daily; frames with ka built in are the ones that only exist to ask.
| # | Frame | It says | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ___ desu (ka). | it’s ___ / I’m ___ — is it ___? | L2 |
| 2 | ___ wa ___ desu (ka). | (as for) ___, it’s ___ | L2 |
| 3 | ___ (o) kudasai. | ___, please (give me) | L2 |
| 4 | (___ wa) ikura desu ka. | how much (is ___)? | L3 |
| 5 | [verb]-masu (ka). | a verb on its own is a whole sentence — or, with ka, a yes/no question | L3 |
| 6 | ___ wa arimasu (ka). | is there ___? / do you have ___? (things) | L4 |
| 7 | ___ wa imasu (ka). | is ___ around? (people & animals) | L4 |
| 8 | ___ wa doko desu ka. | where is ___? | L4 |
| 9 | (___ o) [verb]-masu (ka). | load slots onto the verb — object o, goal ni, means de, goal made — and stack as many as you need | L4 |
| 10 | ___ ga hoshii desu. | I want ___ (a thing — not at the register) | L5 |
| 11 | [verb]-tai desu. | I want to [verb] | L5 |
| 12 | ___ ga ii desu. | I’ll go with ___ / I’d prefer ___ | L5 |
| 13 | ___ onegaishimasu. | ___, please (services, destinations, the check) | L5 |
| 14 | ___ wa dou desu ka. | how about ___? / how is ___? | L5 |
| 15 | ___ wa nan-ji desu ka. | what time is ___? (kara = opens from, made = until) | L6 |
| 16 | [verb]-te kudasai. | please [do] — six memorized verbs only | L7 |
| 17 | ___, ii desu ka. | is ___ okay? / may I? | L7 |
| 18 | wakarimasen. / daijoubu desu. / chigaimasu. | I don’t understand / I’m fine (no thanks) / that’s not it | L8 |
| 19 | ___ ga suki desu (ka). | I like ___ — do you like ___? | L9 |
| 20 | [verb]-masen ka. | won’t you ___? / shall we? (yes: [verb]-mashou!) | L9 |
Not on this list: fixed openers like sumimasen (excuse me / sorry / thanks for the trouble) and arigatou gozaimasu (thank you) aren’t frames — they have no blank to fill, so you just say them whole. They’re the social glue of Lesson 1.
Two rules keep the frames polite and natural:
- Frames 10 and 11 are for your wants only. Asking someone -tai desu ka / hoshii desu ka pries in Japanese — ask about their plans instead (frame 5), make an offer (frame 14), or invite (frame 20). Frame 19 is the exception: suki questions are normal small talk.
- Money changes the frame. At the register it’s frame 3 or 13 (kudasai / onegaishimasu), never frame 10 — hoshii is for telling your companion what you feel like, not the cashier.
And when you need something no frame seems to cover, the AI translator will build it for you from exactly these twenty patterns — or show you which frame you were missing.
The shortcuts — the techniques
Real Japanese has whole roads MiniCore never builds: conditionals, comparisons, verb conjugation, “would have,” “must,” “can.” Instead of building them, the course takes shortcuts — small moves that reach the same meaning with pieces you already own. These are the heart of the method; master them and you can say far more than your word count suggests.
- Chain, don’t build. A long thought is short frames joined end to end — demo (but), dakara (so), kedo (though), sorekara (and then), soshite (and), ja (well then). Never one long sentence. Takai desu. Dakara, kaimasen. — “It’s pricey, so I’m not buying it.”
- Ask, don’t just state. Any statement becomes a question by adding ka — nothing else changes. And when an open question (where? what? how?) would get you an answer you can’t parse, flip it to yes/no, or offer two choices: Kore desu ka, sore desu ka.
- Both ways, not “if.” There’s no “if.” Lay out each branch instead: Takai desu ka. Kaimasen. Yasui desu ka. Kaimasu. — “If it’s expensive I won’t; if it’s cheap I will.”
- Compare by naming both. No “cheaper” or “better than.” Set the two side by side and let the choice make itself: Kore wa yasui desu. Sore wa takai desu. — “This one’s cheap; that one’s expensive.”
- Antonym, not “not.” Adjectives never change shape. “Not cheap” is takai (expensive); “not big” is chiisai (small). Reach for the opposite word — or, when neither pole fits, futsuu (so-so / average).
- Time word, not tense. Let a time word carry the past — kinou (yesterday) plus a plain verb. For a past feeling, the frozen yokatta (“that was good”).
- Fact + feeling, not “would have.” State what happened, then how you feel about it: Kaimasen deshita. Zannen desu. — “I didn’t buy it. Too bad.”
- No “must,” “can,” or “should.” Flatten them to the plain verb: “I have to go” is just ikimasu; “you can’t” is dame desu; “may I?” is frame 17, ___, ii desu ka.
- tabun for “maybe.” Tag any guess with tabun up front: Tabun, yasumi desu. — “It’s probably closed.”
- mae ni for “have you ever.” Mae ni (before) plus a plain past verb: Mae ni Kyoto ni ikimashita ka.
- Point + plain number past three. Counting stops at three (things) and four (people). Beyond that, point and say the bare number: Kore, roku kudasai.
When you wander off the map
No map keeps you from getting lost — a word flies past, a sign won’t parse, someone asks something you didn’t expect. These are the moves for staying found — and for finding your way back when you’re not.
- Set expectations first. Open with Nihongo wa chotto dake wakarimasu (“I understand only a little Japanese”) — said up front, it gets them to slow down and keep it simple before you’ve missed a thing. The best repair is the one you don’t have to make.
- Didn’t catch what they said? Buy time and slow it down: mou ichido onegaishimasu (once more), yukkuri onegaishimasu (slowly), kaite kudasai (write it down — best for a number, time, or price: hard to catch by ear, easy to read). Still stuck? Ask your own question instead — a yes/no or an either/or is far easier to act on than their open-ended answer.
- Can’t read a sign or form? “Write it down” won’t help here. Point and triage: Kore wa daiji desu ka (“does this matter?”) — a daijoubu desu back means walk on, and only a hai is worth Kore wa nan desu ka (“what is it?”). Kono nihongo wa wakarimasen (“I can’t read this”) nudges a helper to explain rather than read it aloud — and Kore, eigo wa arimasu ka (“is there an English one?”) often settles it outright.
- Hit a word you don’t own? Grab it: Kore wa nihongo de nan desu ka (“what’s this in Japanese?”) + Itte kudasai (“say it”) — then write it into your own deck that evening. Every noun you meet this way is yours to keep.
The words
The frames are the grammar; these are the words you pour into them. Nouns are the open layer — the ones here are only the starter set, and you harvest more in the field as you travel. Everything else — verbs, adjectives, the small grammar words — is fixed and complete: this is the whole list.
Verbs — always as -masu (never conjugated)
ikimasu go · kimasu come · kaerimasu go home / go back · tabemasu eat · nomimasu drink · kaimasu buy · arimasu there is / have (things) · imasu there is (people & animals) · shimasu do · mimasu see / look · machimasu wait · haraimasu pay · wakarimasu understand · dekimasu can do · irimasu need · sagashimasu look for · yobimasu call · tsukaimasu use · tomarimasu stay / stop · norimasu ride / board · misemasu show · chigaimasu it’s different / wrong
The six -te kudasai requests — memorized whole, and the only verbs that take this form: matte wait · misete show me · tomete stop (here) · kite come · itte say it · kaite write it — each followed by kudasai.
Adjectives — antonym pairs (never inflected: negate with the opposite, put the past in a time word)
takai expensive/high ↔ yasui cheap · ookii big ↔ chiisai small · atsui hot ↔ samui cold (weather) · atsui hot ↔ tsumetai cold (to the touch) · oishii tasty ↔ mazui bad-tasting · ii good ↔ warui bad · atarashii new ↔ furui old · hayai fast/early ↔ osoi slow/late · chikai near ↔ tooi far · nagai long ↔ mijikai short · muzukashii hard ↔ kantan easy · ooi many ↔ sukunai few
On their own: itai painful · genki well / energetic · abunai dangerous · taihen tough / serious · futsuu so-so. Put totemo (very) in front of any of them.
Nouns, by theme
The starter set — swap and extend these freely.
- Food & drink: mizu water · ocha tea · koohii coffee · biiru beer · gohan rice/meal · pan bread · niku meat · sakana fish · yasai vegetables · tamago egg · kudamono fruit · menyuu menu · sushi · ramen
- Places: eki station · hoteru hotel · toire toilet · byouin hospital · kouban police box · mise shop · konbini convenience store · resutoran restaurant · ginkou bank · kuukou airport · iriguchi entrance · deguchi exit
- Transport: densha train · basu bus · takushii taxi · chikatetsu subway · hikouki airplane · kippu ticket
- Body & health: atama head · onaka stomach · kusuri medicine · netsu fever · isha doctor · arerugii allergy
- Things: okane money · keitai phone · kaban bag · fukuro plastic/shopping bag · kagi key · pasupooto passport · pasuwaado password · wai-fai wifi · namae name · nihongo Japanese (the language)
- People & directions: hito person · tomodachi friend · kazoku family · migi right · hidari left · naka inside · ue up · shita down
- Weather: tenki weather · ame rain
- Emergencies (Lesson 10): kaji fire · jiko accident · jishin earthquake · kega injury · keisatsu police · kyuukyuusha ambulance · hoken insurance · hinanjo evacuation site · taishikan embassy
Numbers & counting
ichi 1 · ni 2 · san 3 · yon 4 · go 5 · roku 6 · nana 7 · hachi 8 · kyuu 9 · juu 10 · hyaku 100 · sen 1,000 · man 10,000 · en yen · zero
Counting a few: things — hitotsu 1, futatsu 2, mittsu 3 · people — hitori 1, futari 2, san-nin 3, yo-nin 4. Past that, point and say the plain number (Kore, roku kudasai — “six of these, please”).
Time
kyou today · ashita tomorrow · kinou yesterday · ima now · asa morning · hiru midday · yoru night · ban evening · mae before · ato after · gozen a.m. · gogo p.m. · shuu week · yasumi day off / closed
The clock: nan-ji what time — hours ichi-ji … juuni-ji (irregular: yo-ji 4:00, shichi-ji 7:00, ku-ji 9:00) · han half past · goro about · -jikan hours (a duration). No minutes — round with han or goro.
Days: getsuyoubi Mon · kayoubi Tue · suiyoubi Wed · mokuyoubi Thu · kinyoubi Fri · doyoubi Sat · nichiyoubi Sun
Getting by — social & reactions
sumimasen excuse me / sorry / thanks-for-the-trouble · arigatou gozaimasu thank you · gomennasai sorry · hai yes · iie no · daijoubu desu I’m fine / no thanks · dame no good · chotto… a bit… (a soft no) · tabun maybe · zannen too bad · yokatta glad / that was good · ohayou gozaimasu good morning · konnichiwa hello · konbanwa good evening · sayounara goodbye · moshimoshi hello (on the phone) · douzo go ahead / here you are · doumo thanks / hi · gochisousama deshita thanks for the meal · itadakimasu (said before eating) · hajimemashite nice to meet you · yoroshiku onegaishimasu (closing an introduction) · wakarimasen I don’t understand · futsuu so-so · daiji important
Repair — say these a lot: mou ichido onegaishimasu once more, please · yukkuri onegaishimasu slowly, please · kaite kudasai please write it down.
At the register: okaikei onegaishimasu the check, please · kaado card · genkin cash · otsuri change · yoyaku reservation · miru dake desu just looking · mochikaeri de to go / takeout.
The small grammar words
These live inside the frames — you rarely say them alone, but here’s the whole set.
- Particles: wa topic · ga subject · o object · ni to/at · de by/at · to and/with · no of / ’s · kara from · made until · ka (question) · mo also · ne right? · yo (emphasis) · e toward · dake only / just
- This / that / where: kore · sore · are this / that / that over there · dore which · koko · soko · asoko here / there / over there · doko where · kono · sono · ano this / that + noun · dono which + noun
- Question words: nani what · dare who · itsu when · ikura how much · ikutsu how many · dou how · doushite why · nan what (before a counter)
- Joining ideas: demo but · dakara so · kedo though · sorekara and then · soshite and · ja well then · mata again / see you
- Talking about people: watashi I · anata you (sparingly — prefer a name + -san) · -san Mr / Ms · -tachi (makes it plural) · kono / ano hito he / she
What you’ll hear (recognition-only)
About two dozen phrases Japan says to you — drilled for the ear, never for your mouth: shop greetings (irasshaimase), the konbini and register questions (a bag? heat it up? point card? paying together?), kekkou desu (their polite “no”), directions (massugu straight on, tsukiatari end of the way), station and train announcements, and the emergency-line openers. Each lesson lists its own; you only need to catch the one word that tells you what to do.