Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar

Just received the "Advanced" book and am still waiting on the "Basic" and "Intermediate" volumes to arrive. The Japanese index of this volume includes and cross-references terms contained in the other volumes, which seems like it'd be handy. The layman's introductory notes on grammar/linguistics terms are something I wish I'd had years ago when studying, as lacking this vocabulary even for English made more advanced study difficult, and it's not well explained in other books I own either that cover many of the same terms. Although I'm rusty, the example sentences are all easy enough to follow. Furigana is only provided for JLPT1 and 2 kanji, and not for all kanji compounds, so there are likely to be times when I'm not clear on the proper pronunciation. There is no romaji transliteration for the example sentences in this volume, which is generally a good thing. My only complaint on this front is that the type is quite small, making furigana barely legible. Maybe I'm just old now. Paper & binding seems to be of good quality. Some entries start at the bottom of a page and are easy to miss, but that's not too bad. At first glance, my favorite part is that in addition to a clear, colloquial English explanation for each term, each entry also includes detailed disambiguation tips for related or similar terms. There are several example sentences and guidelines for when you should/shouldn't or can/can't use the related terms instead. I've never before had this degree of clarity or comparisons (in English) to rely on, and always just sort of had to intuit from native speakers how to use phrases heard or explained in Japanese. In many ways that immersion approach is preferable, but sometimes you really just need to have things explained in your native language. I think this aspect will prove extremely useful. My concern in ordering the whole set was an inability to gauge the difficulty level. Would they be worth the money, or add anything to my library that I don't already have? The series is clearly aimed at U.S. English speakers in the process of learning Japanese, most likely at college or in high school. The "Advanced" volume seems ideal for learners in 300- or 400-level college courses, already comfortably at JLPT3, or ILR 2/2+ if those mean anything to you. The terms in this volume seem to track closely with other books I have for JLPT2-level learners. So, if you're looking to pass JLPT2/JLPT1, or reach ILR 3-5 (e.g. to live/work or attend college in Japan), this volume will likely be helpful for you. This last volume seems to stop short of more complex topics like journalistic or literary Japanese, grammatical differences in regional dialects, formal keigo speech, or more modern colloquial expressions you're likely to hear in media or from native speakers. It's all very safely Tokyo-standard stuff - not quite as "Advanced" as I'd hoped, but still good. The other issue I worried about is that these books are becoming dated. The "Basic" volume first came out in the mid-1980s, Intermediate in the 90s, and this one is from 2008. Only the Advanced book includes example sentences pulled from the internet (a decade ago), and it doesn't appear that there have been updates or new editions since. Learners will still need to augment studies with vocab and modern syntax from other more recent authentic sources, but it seems like these books would help lay the foundation to enable you to do that on your own.

I bought the 3 books of this series at the same time to have them as a reference, so I didn't read them from the beginning to the end. I have however checked multiples entries and the grammar is clearly and methodically explained.

With this and the previous basic and intermediate books I have gotten more Japanese grammar learned more thoroughly than any regular textbook ever did. These books are INDISPENSABLE. Fantastic. Well worth the money. I cannot praise them enough. The kindle version is basically photos of the paper book. As such there are no bookmarks, no search mechanism. It has a VERY basic table of contents. So finding what you want is a bit of trouble, but certainly doable. I have a paper copy and got the K copy for portability and it certainly serves that purpose.

I own both the Beginner and Internediate grammar dictionaries from this series, and they’re fantastic too. But THIS one filled in all the gaps I’d been trying to fill for ages now. I spent a whole day flipping through it and I’ll spend days to come using it and feeling grateful I can get some answers. Lots of entries and good examples, and overall I think it’s really worth how much it costs. Looking things up is convenient and quick. It’s just really nice. If you’re stuck in a weird Intermediate level learning spot, this might be the thing you need to help propel you forward. Especially since I feel like it provides some grammar insights that are useful no matter what level of learning someone is supposedly at. I spent a long time avoiding this because I kept telling myself I wasn’t at a high level yet, and it would probably just be wasted on me. It’s not. I love it.

Along with the basic and intermediate books you'll have everything covered. Really appreciated the plastic cover saved it in my wet weather delivery.

heavy on the "journalist" end of the language, otherwise, excellent.

Thank-you, Well Done!

I am very please with this book. I bought the beginner and intermediate books as well. I am learning japanese and this was one of the books they recommended. Can't wait to really dig into this.