Japanese sentences
Japanese word order and particles
A basic Japanese sentence usually keeps the verb at the end. The phrases before it carry particles that say what they are doing: topic, object, destination, place, and more.
The verb closes the sentence
In わたしは みずを のみます, のみます is the action and belongs at the end. The phrases before it can move when context demands, but putting material after the finished verb usually breaks the basic pattern.
Japanese often leaves out a subject that is already clear. That makes particles more useful, not less: they mark the roles of the phrases that remain.
Particles label relationships
は marks what the sentence is about. を marks the direct object of an action. に and へ can mark a destination, with different shades of focus. A particle is attached to the phrase it labels rather than translated as a separate English word.
- わたしは · as for me
- みずを · water as the thing being drunk
- がっこうへ / がっこうに · toward or to school
- のみます / いきます · the sentence-final action
Reference
Sentence patterns to inspect
Read each prompt, then compare the natural answer with the explanation of its particles and final verb.
いく (iku) takes a destination marked with へ (e) or に (ni). The two objects marked with を (o) cannot be gone to.
で (de) marks where an action happens. へ (e) marks a destination and に (ni) here marks a person, so neither fits a place of reading.
Working happens somewhere, so the gap takes で (de). あしたへ (ashita e) is not Japanese: a time takes に (ni), never へ (e).
The frame already has its person — ともだちに (tomodachi ni), with に (ni), where Korean would use 을 or 를 — so the gap takes a time instead.
まいにち (mainichi), ときどき (tokidoki) and よく (yoku) say how often, while へやで (heya de) says where. Because the frame does not constrain the missing information, all four are natural. えきへ (eki e) and ほんを (hon o) do not fit this use of べんきょうします (benkyou shimasu).
あそぶ (asobu) takes no object, so the gap is a place with で (de) or a time with に (ni).
ともだちを (tomodachi o) and ひとを (hito o) name who is awaited, としょかんで (toshokan de) names the place, and ときどき (tokidoki) gives the frequency. えきへ (eki e) marks a destination rather than something awaited, while しずか (shizuka) needs に (ni) to modify this verb.
Japanese settles two things at once. The verb goes last, so nothing may follow のみます (nomimasu); and each part in front of it carries a particle saying what it is — は (wa) for what the sentence is about, を (o) for what is drunk. Swap them and the water drinks you.
Two of these are right. A destination takes へ (e) or に (ni), and with いく (iku) there is nothing to choose between them — へ leans slightly toward the direction and に toward the arrival, but either finishes this sentence. を (o) would make the school the thing being gone, which is not a thing anyone can do.
The same library takes a different particle depending on what the verb does. Going there is としょかんへ (toshokan e); doing something there is としょかんで (toshokan de). And ほんへ (hon e) would make the book a destination rather than the thing read.
に (ni) marks who something is directed at. を (o) is already taken by でんわ (denwa), and one clause cannot carry two を. で (de) would make the friend the place the phoning happens in.
の (no) joins two nouns with the owner in front, so わたしの (watashino) ほん (hon) is my book. This lesson practices the polite style, so the sentence ends in です (desu). Friends talking to each other would drop it and say これは (kore wa) わたしの ほん — real Japanese too, just a more relaxed one.
An い-adjective is already a predicate on its own — たかい (takai) is a complete statement. です (desu) adds politeness and nothing else, so nothing goes between them.
A na-adjective needs its な (na) in front of a noun, and it is な rather than の (no). Adding い (i) would turn it into the other kind of adjective, which it is not. In this polite model, です (desu) follows the whole noun phrase; it cannot be inserted between しずかな (shizukana) and へや (heya).
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Practice japanese word order and particles
Choose an answer, read the explanation, and finish the short set without leaving this page.