Forming Japanese Sentences

The basic word order in English is subject-verb-object. In Japanese, it's subject-object-verb. Instead of saying "I watched TV," for example, you say "I TV watched." Instead of saying "I ate sushi," you say "I sushi ate." Repeat after me: Put the verb at the end! Verb end!

Introducing particles

Subject-object-verb is the basic word order in Japanese, but object-subject-verb is also okay. As long as the verb is at the end of the sentence, Japanese grammar teachers are happy. For example, ii Mary invited John, you can say either "Mary John invited" or "John Mary invited" in Japanese.

A smart person like you may say, "Wait a minute! How do you know who invited whom?" The secret is that Japanese uses a tag called a particle after each noun phrase. The particle for the action performer (the subject) is ga (gah), and the particle for the action receiver (the direct object) is o (oh). So both the following sentences mean "Mary invited John".

• Mari ga Jon o sasotta. (mah-reee gah John oh sah-soht-tah)
• Jon o Mari ga sasotta. (John oh mah-reee gah sah-soht-tah)

Other Japanese particles include kara (kah-rah), made (mah-deh), ni (nee), de (deh), to (toh), and ka (kah).English words iike from, until, to, with, by, at, in, on, and, and or. But each particle is translated differently depending on the context. For example, the particle de corresponds to in, by, or with in English:

• Bosuton de benkyo sum. (boh-soo-tohn deh behn-kyohh soo-roo; I'll study in Boston.)
• TakushI de iku. (tah-koo-sheee deh ee-koo; I'll go by taxi.)
• Foku de taberu. (fohh-koo deh tah-beh-roo; I eat with a fork.)

Particles

Particle	Translation	General Function	Example
ga(gah)	No English equivalent	Specifies the subject of the sentence	Jon ga kita.(John gah kee-tah; John came.)
o(oh)	No English equivalent	Specifies the direct object of thesentence	Mari ga Jon o sasotta. (mah-reee gah John oh sah-soht-tah; Mary invited John.)
kara (kah-rah)	from	Specifies the starting point of the action	Ku-ji kara benkyo shita. (koo-jee kah-rah behn-kyohh shee-tah; I studied from 9:00.)
made (mah-deh)	until	Specifies the ending point of the action	San-ji made benkyo shita. (sahn-jee mah-deh behn-kyohh shee-tah; I studied until 3:00.)
ni (nee)	to, on, at	Specifies the target of the action	Nihon ni itta. (nee-hohn nee eet-tah; I went to Japan.) Tokyo ni tsuita. (tohh-kyohh nee tsoo-ee-tah; I arrived at Tokyo.)
ni(nee)	to, on, at	Specifies the time of the event San-ji ni tsuita.	(sahn-jee nee tsoo-ee-tah; I arrived at 3:00.)
e (eh)	to, toward	Specifies the direction of the action	Tokyo e itta. (tohh-kyohh eh eet-tah; 1 wentto Tokyo.)
de (deh)	in, by, with, at	Specifies how the action takes place; indicates the location,manner, or background condition of the action	Bosuton de benkyo shita. (boh-soo-tohn de behn-kyohh shee-tah; I studied in Boston.) TakushT de itta. (tah-koo sheee deh eet-tah; I wentthere by taxi.) Foku de tabeta. (fohh-koo deh tah-beh-tah; I ate with a fork.)
no(noh)	's	Creates a possessive phrase or modifier phrase	Marl no hon (mah-reee noh hohn; Mary's book) Nihongo no hon (nee-hon-goh noh hohn; A Japanese language book)
to (toh)	and	Lists items	Sushi to sashimi o tabeta. (soo-shee toh sah-shee-mee oh tah-beh-tah; 1 ate sushi and sashimi.)
to (toh)	with	Specifies an item with the same status as the subject	Jon ga Marl to utatta. (John gah mah-reee toh oo-taht-tah; John sang with Mary.)
ka(kah)	or	Lists choices	Sushi ka sashimi otaberu. (soo-shee kahsah-shee-mee oh tah-beh-roo; I will eat sushi or sashimi.)

You can have a bunch of particles in a sentence, as in these examples:

• Mari ga kuruma de Tokyo e itta. (mah-reee gah koo-roo-mah deh tohh-kyohh eh eet-tah; Mary went to Tokyo by car.)
• Jon no otosan kara biru to osake to wain o moratta. (john noh oh-tohh-sahn kah-rah beee-roo toh oh-sah-keh toh wah-een oh moh-raht-tah; I received beer, sake, and wine from John's dad.)

Japanese nouns need these particles, but they don't need articles like a and the in English. Furthermore, you don't need to specify singular or plural. Tamago (tah-mah-goh) means either "an egg" or "eggs."