Japanese Verbs: Saying What You Mean

I bought this book because I started teaching myself Japanese with the Pimsleur audio series. The series is a great way to practice hearing and speaking a new language, but despite claims to the contrary, I think you really have to learn the grammar if you want to speak competently. I found this book to be a great supplement for exactly that reason. Whenever I ran into a verb construction in a specific context, I could always look it up in here and learn the details of application and how to generalize the expression.

It's absolutely worth the price to have around.

I purchased this book a year ago and actually started using it a couple of weeks ago...My only regret now is to have not opened it much much sooner. This verb book is fantastic. SHort lessons with straight-to-the point illustrations. Japanese language suddenly appeared to me much easier than i thought.
A must-have.

This Book it one of the best book ever if you ever want to learn the Japanese Language! It's better than many others out there for several reasons:
1. It has romanji... But it is only there because it has all the rest in full Japanese Script, Kanji and all.
2. Very east to study, all layed out very nicely.
3. Provides insights into Japanese Culture.

All and all, i suggest this book to anyone serious in the study of japanese.

I've had this book for over a year now and have had a chance to really wear the pages down. I must say that the lessons are structured very well and are short enough to make review a painless task.

Something Mr. Matheson states in it is that Japanese is really made up of about 80% verbs and their various conjugations. That was a revelation that really helped to take me to a higher level in my studies. I regret not finding this tool earlier in my learning. The cover may not be too fancy, but we all know the old saying about judging books by their covers.

If you are just starting out on learning Japanese, you really owe it to yourself to get a copy of this right away. It'll help you grasp concepts much earlier on. Its worth its weight in gold.

sukatto

This book is excellent as a reference book. It's jam packed with tons of different verb conjugations and examples on how to use them. While it obviously isn't comprehensive, it still contains a wealth of knowledge that you most likely would not find elsewhere.

I especially like the foot notes and comments on how the phrases are used and when they aren't appropriate.

BUT, this should be used a reference book to supplement your learning. To get the most benefit out of the book you need to understand the JAPANESE examples, not just the English descriptions... and to understand the Japanese examples you will need to read / study other books, websites, or take lessons.
The book is ordered by verb bases, not really by simplicity.

Some of the Japanese examples can reach the intermediate level. This book doesn't really go into depth on the grammar behind the example sentences but that's understandable because this is a VERB book.

The additional particle section is very small and should be good enough for people who are just starting Japanese, but upper level beginners and intermediates will already know what's in there.