Setsumei - Japanese grammar explainer for iOS (beta)

[igorkulman]

Hi everyone!

Some of you previously helped me test Yomu, and the feedback from this community directly led
to several improvements. I’m hoping you might help me again with a different problem.

Sometimes I recognize the kanji and know most of the vocabulary, but still cannot explain why
the sentence means what it means.

A dictionary explains the words. A translation gives the answer. But the grammar connecting
everything can remain unclear.

That gap is what I built Setsumei for.

Turn a sentence into a grammar lesson

Paste or type a Japanese sentence and Setsumei:

• highlights grammar patterns directly in the sentence
• explains their meaning, formation, and nuance
• shows word readings and an English translation
• estimates the sentence’s JLPT difficulty
• lets you save grammar together with the sentence where you found it
• includes a searchable Japanese–English sentence library

For example, in:

│ 日本に来てから、電車のアナウンスが少しずつ分かるようになった。

Setsumei identifies てから and ようになった, then explains what each pattern contributes to
the sentence.

It is not intended to replace a textbook or teacher. I see it as a companion for those moments
when you encounter a sentence in an article, book, message, game, or study material and want
to understand its structure without leaving the context behind.

Looking for honest beta feedback

Grammar recognition is still in beta. It can miss patterns, highlight the wrong span, or
choose the wrong meaning—and those are exactly the cases I need help finding.

I would especially appreciate feedback about:

• missing or incorrectly detected grammar
• explanations that are confusing or inaccurate
• sentences where the selected meaning does not fit the context
• anything that makes the app awkward to use while reading

The public beta is available for iPhone and iPad on iOS 18 or later. The website has
screenshots and the public TestFlight link:

Setsumei — Japanese, explained

Thanks to anyone who gives it a try. Positive or negative feedback is genuinely useful.

[igorkulman]

Thanks to everyone who gave Setsumei a try — I appreciate it.

A few things added since the original post:

• Review mode — saved grammar points can now be reviewed so you’re reinforcing what you’ve
  learned
• Multiple grammar rule fixes

Here’s how it looks:

As always, if you run into missing patterns, confusing explanations, or anything awkward,
I’d love to hear about it.

[igorkulman]

Setsumei is now available on the App Store!

Thank you to everyone here who tried the beta and shared feedback. It directly helped improve the grammar detection, explanations, and review experience.

You can download it here: ‎Setsumei App - App Store

Setsumei takes a Japanese sentence and breaks down the grammar in context—highlighting patterns, explaining their meaning and nuance, showing word readings, and letting you save useful points to revisit later.

It is still very much a work in progress, so if you spot missing grammar, incorrect interpretations, or anything confusing, I’d really appreciate hearing about it. Thank you again for the support!