といい is added after the casual form of a verb (e.g., 行くiku、行った itta、行きたい ikitai、行かない ikanai, etc.).

This means “I hope that” in English and is used to express the speaker’s desire for something to happen.

Iis used in everyday conversation, rather than more conceptual or deep things. 

今度の試験は合格するといいです。

Kondo no shiken wa goukaku suru to ii desu.

I hope I pass the upcoming exam.

—

Add たらいい to the casual past tense of a verb (e.g., 行った itta went, 飲んだ nonda drunk, 食べた tabeta ate, した shita did, etc.) to mean exactly the same thing as above. 

雨が降らないといいね。

Ame ga furanai to ii ne.

I hope it doesn’t rain.

—

ように (you ni) is used for humble requests, prayers, and wishes.

You just add ように to the verb, often found in the polite ます masu form.

早くよくなるように祈っています。

Hayaku yoku naru you ni inotteimasu.

I’m praying for a speedy recovery.

—

Check out the full lesson on hope in Japanese here.

When expressing desire for a thing, or a noun in other words, we can use the word 欲しい（ほしい).

欲しい is an ii adjective. Even though “want” is a verb in English, it is an adjective in Japanese, so we have to adjust our thinking about “wanting” appropriately.

Examples:

あの本が欲しい, ano hon ga hoshii | I want that book

らーメンが欲しい, ramen ga hoshii | I want ramen

Check out our free lesson about Desire in Japanese here.

Conveniently, there’s actually a potential form of conjugation of verbs in Japanese.

The potential form is used for personal-related things as well as general possibilities.

For Group 1 verbs (うu-verbs).

Here, we replace the う u-vowel sound with its え e-vowel counterpart and add る ru.

飲む nomu (to drink) becomes 飲める nomeru (can drink).

For Group 2 verbs(るru-verbs).

We simply swap out the る ru ending with られる rareru.

食べる taberu (to eat) becomes 食べられる taberareru (can eat).

Here a three exceptions you’ll want to remember:

する suru (to do)

→ 出来る dekiru (can do) 

くる kuru (to come)

→ こられる korareru (can come) 

ある aru (to be)

→ あり得る ariuru/arieiru (can exist/can be/possible) 

Check out our free lesson about expressing potential in Japanese here.

There is several ways to say if in Japanese, depending on the situation. To summarise:

ば is used for real or concrete situations.

たら is used for hypothetical or speculative situations.

なら is used for conjecture or assumption. 

と is used for expressing natural consequence.

もし adds an extra air of uncertainty. Often combined with one of the above conditionals.

Check our free lesson on If in Japanese here.

We regularly publish free Japanese lessons on our Japanese Grammar Bank.

Yes!

You can book online Japanese lessons on our platform Flexi Classes.

If you’d prefer to study Japanese abroad, check out our immersion programs in Tokyo.