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In Russian, we have mnemonical phrases for memorizing things like grammatical cases, conjugations of verbs, detecting adverbs, etc. They are somewhat similar to Roy G. Biv mnemonic, but most often are rhymed in a manner of songs for little children. You can find examples here: http://www.gramota.ru/class/memos/ - I don't know if there are equivalents of these in English, sorry.

Are there any similar phrases/verses/songs in Japanese? I'm specifically interested in ones related to grammar, e.g. memorizing counter suffixes (助数詞).

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  • But I'm afraid "五段動詞 which end with -る" is the most productive verb type... detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1318104978
    – broccoli forest
    Commented Jan 29, 2016 at 10:02
  • There's an obscure pop song that happens to adopt some conjugations in the lyrics though it's not for educational purpose. youtu.be/QCkRBxJxoQA?t=34
    – user4092
    Commented Jan 29, 2016 at 12:17
  • @broccoliforest I mean verbs like 切る, 知る, 帰る, 入る, 走る, etc. Maybe it's not a good example, but it's the simplest analogy I could think of.
    – scriptin
    Commented Jan 29, 2016 at 20:23
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    @scriptin According to this article, Japanese has at least 75 simple 五段 verbs (200 or more if you count complex ones) you can't tell from 一段. So my advice is you memorize the 否定形 together: 要る-要らない vs 居る-居ない etc.
    – broccoli forest
    Commented Jan 29, 2016 at 22:04
  • @broccoliforest this is a great suggestion, seems much more convenient than just trying to memorize the verb type. So, this example is invalid, I'll remove it from my question.
    – scriptin
    Commented Jan 29, 2016 at 23:46
  • A little song for remembering grammar but I feel like you won't need that kind of grammar anytime soon. 助動詞の歌
    – 永劫回帰
    Commented Mar 30, 2016 at 12:17
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    @scriptin There's a song for て-form formula you can find in youtube. But for other grammars i haven't seen it yet. For vocabulary (verbs, adj, noun) mnemonics though, easy-japan.tumblr.com seems to develop mnemonics card for kanji and spelling. Hope it helps.
    – Alice28
    Commented May 26, 2016 at 18:11

2 Answers 2

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Yes! Here is one I know for U VERB て form. It's sung to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Here's a link for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s0ZRSpZMWI

あう、あって まつ、まって とる、とって

読む、読んで 遊ぶ、遊んで 死ぬ、死んで

かく、かいて 消す、消して 急ぐ、急いで

みんな　U VERB て　フォーム！

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There is the [伊呂波]{い・ろ・は} if you can memorize it, but it's not for grammar. It's mostly used to remember the kana and for "ordering" things.

Not sure if that really helps you though.

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  • It's interesting to know, but unfortunately it's not what I'm looking for.
    – scriptin
    Commented Jan 29, 2016 at 0:39

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