Auxiliary verbs (of nightmare)

Japanese extensively uses very short auxiliary verbs that are conjugated and directly connected to the main verb. As the result, sentences often become nightmarishly complex and mouthful. On top of that you can throw in a few particles between aux verbs to further change the nuances subtly.

  • 彼はそうさせられたくはなかっただろう (する+せる+られる+たい+は+ない+た+だ+う) -> I suppose he probably did not want to be forced to do so

Or one small particle can change the contexts of sentences:

  • 私はそうさせられるかも知れない (られる of passive)-> I might be forced to do so
  • 彼にそうさせられるかも知れない (られる of ability)-> We might be able to make him do so

For whatever it is worth, Japanese language can be very challenging for native Japanese speakers too. You will very often hear Japanese speakers say “did I say it right?” or “let me say it again”. I don’t mean to be judgmental one way or the other here, but I feel it is not very common to find grammatically glaringly incorrect sentences in English marijuana publications, while you will find grammar-mistake galore in the similar publications in Japanese. I believe it is all due to the complexity of Japanese grammar. And as I have been reiterating throughout this website, the only way to really learn a language is through a large amount of live sentences, not through grammatical analysis.