Learn Hardcore Japanese: watasi ha nihongo no dorama wo zimaku nasi de mite mo, daitai kikitoreru you ni narimasita. - Even when I watch Japanese dramas without subtitles, I’ve come to be able to understand most of what they say.

In this sentence, 私は sets up you as the topic:
> As for me, when I watch Japanese dramas without subtitles… I’ve become able to understand most of it.

Grammatically:

私 is the topic and also the understood subject of both 見て (watch) and 聞き取れる (be able to catch by listening).
Japanese does not need to repeat the subject for every verb; once 私は is set, it applies to the rest of the sentence unless changed.

So は is not just “I”. It’s “as for me / regarding me,” marking what the sentence is going to talk about.

Why is it 日本語のドラマ and not 日本のドラマ? What’s the nuance?

Both are correct Japanese, but they mean slightly different things.

日本語のドラマ
- Literally: dramas of the Japanese language
- Natural meaning: dramas in Japanese (language)
- Focus is on the language used in the show.
日本のドラマ
- Literally: Japanese dramas (dramas from Japan)
- Focus is on the origin/nationality: dramas produced in Japan, Japanese TV dramas, etc.
- They are usually in Japanese, but the phrase highlights that they’re Japanese productions, not foreign ones.

In this sentence, we’re talking about understanding spoken Japanese, so it makes sense to highlight the language:
> I can understand most of what I hear in dramas that are in Japanese.

If you said 日本のドラマ, it would still be natural and most people would understand you mean the language too, but 日本語のドラマ makes the language aspect extra clear.

What does 字幕なしで literally mean, and how does なし work grammatically?

字幕なしで breaks down as:

字幕 (じまく) = subtitles
なし = without / none / lacking
で = a particle here marking the manner / condition under which something is done

Literally:

字幕なし = “with subtitles being none,” i.e. without subtitles
字幕なしで = in the condition of having no subtitles / with no subtitles

Grammatically:

なし is a noun meaning “absence / none.”
It forms a little noun phrase: 字幕なし = “absence of subtitles.”
で attaches to that noun phrase to mean “in that state/condition.”

So:
> 日本語のドラマを 字幕なしで 見て
> = watch Japanese dramas with no subtitles (on)

A close paraphrase would be:

字幕をつけないでドラマを見る = to watch dramas without adding subtitles

Why is it 見ても instead of just 見る? What does the ても pattern mean?

見ても is 見て + も, where:

見る = to see / to watch
見て = て-form of 見る
も = “even / also,” but with the て-form it often means even if / even when

Verb-て + も is a very common pattern meaning:

even if (you) do X
even when (you) do X

So:

日本語のドラマを字幕なしで見ても
= Even if I watch Japanese dramas without subtitles

This sets up a concession:
> Even under the difficult condition of no subtitles, I can (still) understand most.

If you just said:

字幕なしで日本語のドラマを見ます。だいたい聞き取れます。
It would mean: “I watch Japanese dramas without subtitles. I can understand most.”

It’s fine, but you lose that “even if / despite that” nuance. 見ても makes it sound more impressive: even without subtitles, I can still manage.

What does 聞き取れる mean exactly, and how is it different from 聞ける or 聞くことができる?

They all involve “hearing” or “listening,” but the nuance is different.

聞ける = potential form of 聞く
- Basic meaning: can hear / can listen
- Often just means it’s possible for sound to reach my ears, or I’m able to listen.
聞くことができる
- Literally: “am able to hear/listen”
- More formal / longer; similar in meaning to 聞ける in many contexts.
聞き取れる (potential of 聞き取る)
- 聞き取る = to catch / make out what is being said / understand by listening
- 聞き取れる = can catch / can make out / can understand (what is being said) by listening
- Emphasis is on correctly understanding the content, not just hearing sound.

In this sentence, the point is:
> I’ve reached the point where I can understand most of what they’re saying.

So 聞き取れる is perfect because it expresses:

you hear it
you successfully decode / catch what they’re saying

If you said:

だいたい聞けるようになりました。
It could sound more like “I can hear it” (e.g., the volume is OK, my ears are OK), and it doesn’t emphasize understanding as clearly as 聞き取れる does.

What does だいたい mean here, and where does it attach? Is it like “almost” or “usually”?

だいたい is an adverb that, in this context, means:

mostly / for the most part / roughly / generally

Here it modifies 聞き取れる:

だいたい聞き取れる
= can understand most (of it)
= “can pretty much catch what they’re saying”

Common meanings of だいたい in general:

Approximately / roughly
- だいたい10人くらいいます。
  = There are about 10 people.
Mostly / for the most part (used in this sentence)
- だいたい分かります。
  = I understand most of it.

It overlaps with ほとんど, but nuance differs slightly:

だいたい聞き取れる
→ “I can catch it for the most part.” (slightly looser, more approximate)
ほとんど聞き取れる
→ “I can catch almost everything.” (feels a bit closer to 100%)

In this sentence, だいたい is a natural and modest way of saying “most of it.”

What does ように do in 聞き取れるようになりました? How does this grammar work?

The pattern here is:

[potential verb] + ようになる

This pattern means:

to reach the point where one can do X
to become able to do X (as a result of change / progress)

Breakdown:

聞き取れる = can catch/understand by listening (potential form)
聞き取れるように
- Literally: “in such a way that (I) can catch (it)”
聞き取れるようになりました
- Literally: “It became in such a way that I can catch (it).”
- Natural English:
  - I have become able to catch/understand (it).
  - I’ve reached the point where I can understand (it).

Function of ように:

It connects a state/ability (聞き取れる) to なる (to become), forming a change-of-state expression.

Other examples:

漢字が読めるようになりました。
= I’ve become able to read kanji.
早く起きられるようになりたいです。
= I want to become able to wake up early.

So 聞き取れるようになりました focuses on progress over time, not just present ability.

Why is it なりました (past tense) and not なります or なっています?

なりました (past tense) with 〜ようになる carries the nuance:

Now, I am at the point where this is true, as the result of a change that has happened.

So:

聞き取れるようになりました。
→ I’ve (now) become able to understand (it). It wasn’t like that before.

Compare:

聞き取れるようになります。
- Future / habitual:
- “(From now on / in general) I will become able to understand it.”
- Something expected to happen, not necessarily already true.
聞き取れるようになっています。
- Progressive/resultative:
- “It has become so that I can understand (it) and that state is currently continuing.”
- Grammatically OK but sounds a bit more technical or explanatory; なりました is what people usually say in speech for “I’ve become able to … now.”

In conversational Japanese, 〜ようになりました is the standard way to say:

I couldn’t do X before, but now I can.

That’s exactly the nuance here.

Why does ドラマ take を (日本語のドラマを)? Why not が?

を marks the direct object of an action.

The action is 見る = to watch.
何を見ますか。 = What do you watch?
Answer: 日本語のドラマを見ます。 = I watch Japanese dramas.

So in this sentence:

日本語のドラマを = Japanese dramas (as the thing being watched)
見る = to watch
Therefore, を correctly marks ドラマ as the object of 見る.

If you used が here instead:

日本語のドラマが見る would be wrong; が would mark ドラマ as the subject, but ドラマ is not the one doing the seeing.

So を is required because ドラマ is what you are watching.

Is ドラマ singular or plural here? How would you say “a Japanese drama” vs “Japanese dramas”?

Japanese nouns generally do not mark singular vs plural.

ドラマ can mean a drama, dramas, drama (as a genre) depending on context.

In this sentence:

日本語のドラマを字幕なしで見て
Most natural reading:
- “When I watch Japanese dramas without subtitles,”
  or
- “When I watch Japanese drama (in general) without subtitles,”

If you really need to emphasize “one,” you can add words like:

1つの日本語のドラマ = one Japanese drama (more literal, often unnatural in casual speech)
日本語のドラマ1本 (いっぽん) = one (TV) drama (using a counter)

To emphasize plurality, you might say:

いろいろな日本語のドラマ = various Japanese dramas
たくさん日本語のドラマ = many Japanese dramas

But normally, context is enough. Here we can just interpret ドラマ as “dramas” or “drama (shows)” in general.

Can I say 字幕なしに instead of 字幕なしで? What’s the difference between 〜なしで and 〜なしに?

Both 〜なしで and 〜なしに mean “without ~”, and in many situations they can be used interchangeably.

字幕なしで見る
字幕なしに見る

Both are understood as “to watch without subtitles.”

Nuance:

〜なしで is very common and neutral in speech.
〜なしに can sound a bit more formal or written, and sometimes has a slightly stronger sense of “without doing X first / without relying on X at all.”

In this sentence, 字幕なしで is the most natural and colloquial choice. 字幕なしに would not be wrong, but で is more typical in everyday conversation.

Could I drop 私は or other parts of the sentence and still be natural?

Yes. Japanese often omits elements that are obvious from context.

Original:
> 私は日本語のドラマを字幕なしで見ても、だいたい聞き取れるようになりました。

Possible natural omissions:

Drop 私は
- 日本語のドラマを字幕なしで見ても、だいたい聞き取れるようになりました。
- If it’s already clear we’re talking about you, this is very natural.
In conversation, you might also shorten it further once context is clear:
- 字幕なしでも、だいたい聞き取れるようになりました。
  - “Even without subtitles, I’ve come to be able to understand most (of it).”
  - Here, 日本語のドラマを is understood from context.

Particles like は / を / で in this sentence can’t just be randomly dropped though—they are needed for grammar. What you drop are usually whole phrases that are contextually obvious, not the core particles themselves.

Is this sentence about present ability or about past change? How would I say just “I can generally understand Japanese dramas without subtitles”?

The given sentence expresses both:

A change over time (I couldn’t before, but now I can)
A current ability (now I can).

Because of ようになりました, it highlights progress / improvement.

If you only want to state current ability, without emphasizing the before vs. after change, you might say:

日本語のドラマを字幕なしで見ても、だいたい聞き取れます。
- “Even if I watch Japanese dramas without subtitles, I can generally understand most of it.”
- No strong implication about “I couldn’t do this before.”

Compare:

聞き取れます。
→ simple statement of ability now
聞き取れるようになりました。
→ I gradually improved and now I can (I couldn’t before).

The original sentence is good for talking about your learning progress and achievements.