JLPT N5 Grammar List — Every Point, in Teaching Order
This is every grammar point in our JLPT N5 course, in the order we teach them, each with its pattern and a sentence showing it at work. It is a checklist and a revision map: scan it, find the patterns you cannot confidently produce, and go and fix those.
The ordering is the part worth paying attention to. Most N5 grammar lists are alphabetical by the Japanese, or grouped by particle, which tells you nothing about what to learn on Tuesday. This one runs in dependency order across seven modules: identity and です first, then the demonstratives, then existence, then verbs and the past tense, then movement and time, then adjectives, then wants and invitations, then the て-form — which is the hinge the whole rest of Japanese swings on — and finally reasons, comparison and ability.
The shape of N5, in one paragraph
If you squint, beginner Japanese is four moves. Mark what you are talking about (は). Say what it is (です) or what it does (〜ます). Attach the details with particles — を for the thing acted on, に for destinations and times, で for where an action happens, へ for direction. Then learn the て-form, which lets you request things, describe what is happening right now, give permission, chain actions together and much more besides. Everything on this page is one of those four moves or a variation on it, which is why it is worth learning in order rather than by lookup.
Two points people underestimate. The first is 〜が (but) and とても / あまり — small connective words that make the difference between sounding like a textbook and sounding like a person. The second is the dictionary form module: it looks like an aside after five modules of 〜ます, but dictionary form is the base that ことができます, plain-form clauses and all of N4 are built on. Skipping it is why some learners hit a wall the moment they leave N5.
Each entry links into the free course, where the same point comes with an animated skit, guided drills, and a step where you write your own sentence and have it corrected. Reading a grammar explanation and producing the pattern under your own steam are genuinely different skills, and only the second one shows up in a conversation.
Module 1
Identity — A は B です
A は B です
わたしは がくせいです。
watashi wa gakusei desu — I am a student.
Questions & “is not”
〜か (questions) and 〜じゃ ありません (negation)
あなたは がくせいですか。
anata wa gakusei desu ka — Are you a student?
これ・それ・あれ
これ・それ・あれ (this / that / that over there)
これは ほんです。
kore wa hon desu — This is a book.
の (of) & も (also)
AのB (A's B) and 〜も (also / too)
これは わたしの ほんです。
kore wa watashi no hon desu — This is my book.
Module 2
Places — ここ・そこ・あそこ
ここ・そこ・あそこ (here / there / over there)
トイレは あそこです。
toire wa asoko desu — The toilet is over there.
Existence — あります / います
〜が あります / います
つくえの うえに ほんが あります。
tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu — There is a book on the desk.
Module 3
Verbs — 〜を 〜ます
〜を 〜ます (do an action: object を verb-ます)
みずを のみます。
mizu o nomimasu — I drink water.
Past tense — 〜ました / 〜でした
past tense (〜ました / 〜でした)
きのう えいがを みました。
kinou eiga o mimashita — I watched a movie yesterday.
Going places — 〜へ いきます
〜へ いきます・きます・かえります (movement) · 〜で (by transport)
がっこうへ いきます。
gakkou e ikimasu — I go to school.
Where & with whom — 〜で・〜と
〜で (place of an action) · 〜と (with a person)
レストランで ごはんを たべます。
resutoran de gohan o tabemasu — I eat a meal at a restaurant.
Telling the time — 〜時 · 〜から〜まで
今〜時〜分です · 〜に (at a time) · 〜から〜まで (from … to …)
いま くじです。
ima kuji desu — It's nine o'clock now.
Module 4
い-adjectives — describing things
い-adjectives (大きい, 高い …)
この くるまは おおきいです。
kono kuruma wa ookii desu — This car is big.
な-adjectives — describing things
な-adjectives (きれい, しずか …)
この まちは きれいです。
kono machi wa kirei desu — This town is pretty.
〜が (but) · とても / あまり
A ですが、B (but) · とても (very) · あまり〜ない (not very)
この みせは たかいですが、おいしいです。
kono mise wa takai desu ga, oishii desu — This shop is expensive, but delicious.
Module 5
Wants — 〜たいです
〜たいです (want to do)
にほんへ いきたいです。
nihon e ikitai desu — I want to go to Japan.
Wanting things — 〜が ほしいです
N が ほしいです (want a thing)
みずが ほしいです。
mizu ga hoshii desu — I want water.
Invitations — 〜ませんか / 〜ましょう
〜ませんか (won't you …?) · 〜ましょう (let's …)
いっしょに いきませんか。
issho ni ikimasen ka — Won't you go (with me)?
Likes & skills — 〜が すきです
〜が すきです・きらいです・じょうずです・へたです
わたしは すしが すきです。
watashi wa sushi ga suki desu — I like sushi.
Module 6
Dictionary form — the plain base
plain / dictionary form (〜ます → 〜る・〜う)
のみます → のむ
nomimasu → nomu — “drink” (polite) becomes the plain dictionary form のむ.
The て-form — your verb's Swiss-army form
make the て-form from any verb
たべる → たべて
taberu → tabete — “eat” becomes the て-form たべて.
〜てください — “please do …”
Vて + ください (a polite request)
ちょっと まって ください。
chotto matte kudasai — Please wait a moment.
〜ています — “(am) doing / ongoing”
Vて + います (an action in progress, or a state)
いま でんわを して います。
ima denwa o shite imasu — I'm on the phone right now.
〜てもいいです / 〜てはいけません — may I / you mustn't
Vて + もいいです (permission) · Vて + はいけません (prohibition)
ここに すわって もいいですか。
koko ni suwatte mo ii desu ka — May I sit here?
Vて、Vて、V — doing things in order
link actions in sequence with the て-form
あさ おきて、ごはんを たべます。
asa okite, gohan o tabemasu — I get up in the morning and eat.
Module 7
〜から — giving a reason (because)
[reason]から、[result] (because / since)
さむいから、コートを きます。
samui kara, kooto o kimasu — Because it's cold, I'll put on a coat.
Comparing — より · のほうが · いちばん
AはBより〜 · どちらが〜 · 〜が いちばん〜
しんかんせんは くるまより はやいです。
shinkansen wa kuruma yori hayai desu — The bullet train is faster than a car.
〜ことが できます — “can do”
[dictionary form] + ことが できます (be able to) · N が できます
にほんごを はなす ことが できます。
nihongo o hanasu koto ga dekimasu — I can speak Japanese.
N5 Capstone — put it all together 🎓
review & mix everything you've learned across N5
ここまで よく がんばりました。
koko made yoku ganbarimashita — You've done really well to get this far.
Frequently asked questions
How many grammar points are on the JLPT N5?
Most reconstructions land somewhere between 80 and 130 depending on how finely you split them — whether 〜ました counts separately from 〜ます, for example. The count matters far less than coverage of the core patterns, which is what this list is organised around.
What order should I learn N5 grammar in?
In dependency order: the です sentence, then demonstratives, then existence (あります/います), then 〜ます verbs and past tense, then particles of place and time, then adjectives, then the て-form. The て-form is the single highest-value thing at this level because so much later grammar is built on it.
Is N5 grammar enough to hold a conversation?
Enough for a simple, slow, transactional one — introducing yourself, ordering, asking where something is, saying what you did yesterday. Not enough for an open-ended conversation, which needs the plain form and connective grammar that arrive at N4.
Do I need to learn the plain form for N5?
You need to recognise it, and one N5 pattern (〜ことができます) requires it directly. Producing plain form confidently is really an N4 skill, but meeting it at the end of N5 makes the transition much less abrupt.