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Japanese Versatility List

Cuts: Sentence endings & intent

Sorted by drama-subtitle rank, most frequent first.

Already covered (22)

A word already in the list does this job.

  • karapolite -masu kara(so don't worry) / because#14Kept -kara already says it; 'sugu modoru kara' is just the clause dropped. Teach it as an example sentence. · 1 of 3 judges kept it
  • kedopolite desu kedo / -masu ga...but (trailing off)#37Covered by -kedo (Connectors & conditionals), n da kedo (Explaining: n da). Trailing kedo is the kept -kedo stopped short; n da kedo already teaches the trail-off. · 2 of 3 judges kept it
  • nonipolite -mashita nonieven though... (if only)#95Covered by -noni (Connectors & conditionals). Same 'even though / and yet' meaning as the kept connector, clause dropped.
  • monpolite n desubecause...! (excuse)casual only#188Kept datte and n da cover excuses and explanations; mon mostly adds a sulky tone.
  • kamo shirenaipolite kamo shiremasenmight / may be#219Covered by kamo (How sure: endings). Full form of kept kamo, whose polite form is already kamo shiremasen.
  • hazu ga naipolite hazu ga arimasencan't possibly be#346Covered by hazu (How sure: endings). Kept hazu plus nai composes it directly (sonna hazu nai).
  • ki ga surupolite ki ga shimasuI have a feelingset phrase#554Covered by ki ga suru (General verbs). Already kept as a verb phrase in H.
  • -te kureru?polite -te kuremasu kawill you (do it for me)?#565Covered by -te kurenai? (Asking someone), -te kureru (Grammar patterns as vocabulary). -te kurenai? already gives the casual favour request; plain kureru? is the same move. · 1 of 3 judges kept it
  • yoteipolite yotei desuplanned / scheduled to#843Kept hima?, tsumori and -ou to omou already cover asking about and stating plans. · 1 of 3 judges kept it
  • machigai naipolite machigai arimasenno doubt; definitely#882Covered by zettai, kitto (Stance, attitude & manner). Certainty already carried by zettai and kitto.
  • -ta hou ga iipolite -ta hou ga ii desu yoyou'd better / should#1025Covered by -ta hou ga ii (Grammar patterns as vocabulary). Same pattern already kept in grammar block I.
  • -ppoipolite -ppoi desu-ish / seems kind of#1525Kept mitai does the same 'seems / kind of' job; it would be a near-duplicate hedge.
  • you dapolite you desuit seems (formal)#1583Covered by mitai (Seems / I heard). Formal counterpart of mitai; casual learner gets the same job from mitai.
  • -ni kimatterupolite -ni kimattemasuit's obviously ...; of course it's ...#1648zettai, mochiron and kitto already express certainty; at rank ~1648 it is too rare to fill a gap.
  • dou yaraapparently; it looks like#1812Covered by rashii, mitai (Seems / I heard). Narrative-leaning opener (#1812); rashii and mitai carry the evidential meaning alone.
  • -ou kanapolite -ou ka to omoimasuI think I'll (do)—Built from kept -ou and kana; -ou to omou already covers 'I think I'll'. · 1 of 3 judges kept it
  • n da ttepolite n desu tteapparently / I heard that—Covered by n da (Explaining: n da), tte (Seems / I heard). Simply n da plus hearsay tte, both kept; decodes and composes directly.
  • sou dapolite sou desuI heard that (hearsay)—Covered by tte / sou desu (Seems / I heard). The kept hearsay tte item already lists sou desu as its polite form.
  • -te yopolite -te kudasai yocome on, (do it)!—Covered by -te (Asking someone), yo (Basic enders). Just the kept -te request plus kept yo; tone is learnable from parts.
  • -ou yopolite -mashou yocome on, let's!—Covered by -ou / -you (Let's, suggestions & plans), yo (Basic enders). Kept volitional plus kept yo; nothing new to learn.
  • no yopolite n desu yoit's that... (feminine)feminine—Covered by n da yo (More enders), no? (Explaining: n da). Feminine variant of the explanatory ending; n da yo and no do the job.
  • -ro / -epolite -te kudasaido it! (command)roughmasculine—Verb root plus tone gives the meaning; -te covers requests; never needed in speech.

Skipped (12)

Too rare, narrow, formal or out of scope.

  • zepolite -mashou yolet's go! / you betroughmasculine#614Rough masculine ender; recognition only, not for production.
  • kai / daipolite desu ka? (soft masculine question)masculinedated#653Dated masculine question style.
  • ssupolite desudesu (junior slang)slangmasculine#666Junior male slang for desu; recognition only.
  • -nasaipolite -te kudasaido it (parent/teacher)#796Parent/teacher command; bare form rare (#11203) and bossy to produce.
  • choudaipolite kudasaigive me / please (sweet)feminine#1087Feminine/childlike request; -te and -te kurenai? cover it.
  • ya / yan / nenpolite desu / ja nai desu ka / n desuKansai da / jan / n daKansai#1690Regional dialect bundle; out of scope for a standard casual list.
  • ttebapolite -tte itte iru n desuI said...! (insisting)casual only#2263Casual-only exasperation, rank 2263; narrow.
  • ka yopolite n desu kaseriously?! (incredulous)rough#2506Rough, rank 2506; maji? and uso cover the reaction.
  • -te kurepolite -te kudasaido it (for me)masculine#2829Masculine, rank 2829; -te and -te kurenai? cover requests.
  • kashirapolite deshou kaI wonder (feminine)femininedated#41769Rank 41769; dated feminine kana.
  • -nai kanapolite -nai deshou kaI wish (it would)—Narrow wishful use; low spread and speak need.
  • -napolite -naide kudasaidon't! (blunt)roughmasculine—Rough, mostly male (ki ni suru na); -naide covers it, and drama-weighted rather than weekly.