A method for reading any sentence

You have all the pieces now. This lesson is about the habit that puts them to use when you meet a real sentence you can't immediately read. It's a short method, followed by four worked examples.

1. Mark the clause boundaries. Look for particles that close a clause: て, が (but), から, ので, し, と, たら, ば, ながら, ず, 、.
2. Find the main verb. It's the very last word before 。 (or before a quote's closing 」).
3. Attach each piece to its particle. Subject, object, place, time.
4. Find noun-describing clauses. A plain-form verb or adjective directly before a noun (no particle in between) is a clause describing that noun.

Then read it in whatever English order works.

1. Clause boundary: after まま, a comma.
2. Main verb: 言わなかった.
3. Pieces: 彼女は (topic), 窓の外を (object of gazing), 何も (not anything).
4. Clause: 窓の外を見つめたまま ("remaining, having gazed out the window"). The word まま means "left in that state", so the first clause describes a state that continued.

Result: "(She) said nothing, still staring out of the window."

1. Main verb: 残っていた ("remained").
2. Subject of that verb: 傘が. Place: 玄関に.
3. Before 傘: 彼が忘れていった: a clause. "the umbrella that he forgot and left."
4. Before 夜: 雨の降る: another clause. "the night that rain falls."

So: [雨の降る] 夜、[彼が忘れていった] 傘が 玄関に 残っていた.

1. Main verb: 聞いていた ("was listening"). Subject (私は), object (彼の話を), manner (黙って).
2. Before まま: 何を言えばいいのか分からない — "I don't know what I should say."
3. Inside that: 何を言えばいい ("what should I say") + のか (nominalizer + question) + 分からない (don't know).

The nesting is: ［［何を言えばいい］のか分からない］まま、私は［黙って］［彼の話を］聞いていた.

1. Main verb: 覚えている. Subject: 私は. Object: …昔話を. Adverbs: 今でも, はっきりと.
2. The object is a long noun phrase ending in 昔話: 子供のころ祖母が話してくれた describes it.
3. Inside it, a time word, a subject (祖母が), and the verb 話してくれた ("told for me").

Notice how the object (昔話を) was moved to the front for emphasis: it comes before 私は. Once you see the noun phrase marked off, the sentence is simple.

You probably misjoined two clauses. Find the particles that end clauses (て, が, から) and read each clause separately. Then ask how they relate: cause, contrast, sequence?

Check whether the final word is a verb or a noun. Writing sometimes ends on a noun (体言止め). Or you may be inside a quote, where the verb comes after 」.

Look at the last sentence that had one. The same person is probably still the subject.

Check what verb it's attached to. Verbs and adjectives sometimes take unexpected particles: 〜が好き, 〜が分かる, 〜に会う, 〜と結婚する, 〜を渡る.

Look for the formal nouns (こと, もの, わけ, はず, ところ…). Look for て-form helper verbs (〜ている, 〜てしまう). Look the pattern up in the JLPT grammar lists (N5 to N1), and read the sentence again.

By now you've met most of the grammar in everyday Japanese. What remains is bigger than any course: nuance, vocabulary, idiom, register. You learn those by reading and listening to a great deal.

• Start with something you want to read. Easy manga and visual novels with furigana are a good start.
• Use a pop-up dictionary so lookups cost no effort.
• When a sentence stops you, parse it with the method above, check the pattern, and move on.
• Return to lessons when a pattern keeps appearing. Meeting a pattern fifty times does more than any lesson.
• Log what you read and listen to, and watch the hours add up.

The grammar in this course gets you across the starting line. Reading carries you the rest of the way.

Here are three harder sentences, each parsed in full. Try covering the steps and doing it yourself first.

Compare how the same facts read in a casual retelling:

• Find clause boundaries, find the main verb, attach pieces to particles, find the describing clauses.
• Work from the end of the sentence backward.
• You don't need to analyse everything. Understanding is the goal.
• Keep a short list of "sticking points" and their fixes.
• Then read. A lot.