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Sentence construction
The honorific "o"
Vocabulary
Japanese / English translation exercises
English / Japanese translation exercises
を (wo): the object particle
The particle を (wo) indicates that the word or
wordgroup preceding it is the grammatical object of the sentence.
The を is transcribed as "wo" but pronounced as "o".
I am stubbornly using the "wo" transcription to avoid
confusion with the honorific prefix "o".
本を買う。 (Hon wo kau.) Buying a book.
The particle を also has two other functions one of which we saw
briefly in lesson 2.
| 1. |
When combined with intransitive verbs such as "to leave"
it will indicate the point of departure.
- うちを出る。 (Uchi wo deru.) Leaving the house.
- 大学を出る。 (Daigaku wo deru.) Leaving the University; Graduating. |
| 2. |
When combined with intransitive verbs such as "to walk",
"to fly", etc. it will indicate the location where
the action takes place.
- 道を歩く。 (Michi wo aruku.) Walking along the road.
- 空を飛ぶ。 (Sora wo tobu.) Flying through the sky.
- 川を下る。 (Kawa wo kudaru.) Going downstream.; Descending along
the river. |
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で (de): the attributive particle
The particle で (de) has a number of different functions:
| 1. |
Indicating the location where the action takes place.
- 店で買う。 (Mise de kau.) Buying at the shop. |
| 2. |
Indicating the indirect object.
- 筆で書く。 (Fude de kaku.) Writing with a brush. |
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When indicating a location で is only used when describing an action.
When describing a static state the particle に is used.
は (wa): the topic particle
The particle は (wa) sets the word or wordgroup
preceding it apart from the rest of the sentence. は is transcribed
and pronounced as "wa", but written with the hiragana
"ha". This particle can be used both for the grammatical
subject and for the grammatical object, but is considered additional
information to set or confirm the context.
The correct use of は is difficult to describe since it is very
dependent on the situation in which it is used. However は is never
used after interrogative pronouns like "who", "where",
and "what". Usually in questions though it is preferable
to use は instead of が.
By using は you can decrease emphasis on certain words.
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田中さんが本を買う。 (Tanaka-san ga hon wo kau.)
Mr. Tanaka is going to buy a book.
Though not a strong emphasis, there is some importance to the
fact that Mr. Tanaka is buying the book. |
| - |
田中さんは本を買う。 (Tanaka-san wa hon wo kau.)
Mr. Tanaka is going to buy a book.
General statement, it is not really important that it is Mr.
Tanaka who is buying the book. |
| - |
本は田中さんが買う。 (Hon wa Tanaka-san ga kau.)
Mr. Tanaka is going to buy a book.
Reducing the emphasis further on the book it becomes more important
that it is Mr. Tanaka who is buying the book, and not someone
else. |
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While translating you may translate "…は" with "Talking
about...", but this should not be left in the final translation.
The final translation should always be a natural smooth sentence.
The particle は cannot be combined with the particles が and を, but
it can be combined with every other particle. When は is combined
with other particles the emphasis on the wordgroup before は is increased.
| - |
店では本を買う。 (Mise de wa hon wo kau.)
He's going to buy a book in the store. With the emphasis that
it is a store in which he buys the book. |
| - |
川には石がある。 (Kawa ni wa ishi ga aru.)
There are stones in the river. With the emphasis on that they
are in the river, and not, for example, on the river banks. |
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The particle は can appear several times in the same sentence.
| - |
竹山さんは車では東京までは行く。 (Takeyama-san wa kuruma de wa Toukyou made
wa iku.) Mr. Takeyama goes by car to Tokyo. |
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This construction is not a pretty one though. |
