0005 : Japanese basics (N5-N3) : Word order in Japanese

grammar
23.02.2023

 

Can I quickly learn the word order in Japanese?

 

 

Particle

 

A particle determines the role a word takes in a sentence.

 

For example, 

 

リンゴに

Ringo ni

To an apple 

 

And unlike English, where some roles in a sentence are determined by order (such as a direct object following a verb, as in “to eat an apple“), other roles are also determined by the particle, such as

 

リンゴを

Ringo wo

*the particle which makes “リンゴ (apple)” a direct object does not exist in English 

 

And

 

the particle is always placed after the word it refers to

 

*A typical mistake for Japanese learners is to put a particle before a noun.

 

Adjective

 

An adjective decorates a noun.

And it is placed before a noun.

 

For example, 

 

赤いリンゴ

Akai ringo

Red apple 

 

Adverb

 

An adverb decorates sentence elements other than a noun (an adjective decorates a noun).

 

And it is usually placed before the word it refers to.

 

For example, 

 

とても赤いリンゴ

Totemo akai ringo

Very red apple 

 

リンゴを安く買った。

Ringo wo yasuku katta.

Bought an apple cheaply 

*The adverb decorates a verb, so in Japanese it is placed before the verb. 

 

Verb

 

A verb is usually placed at the end of a sentence.

 

これはリンゴです。

Kore wa ringo desu.

This is an apple.

 

わたしはリンゴを買いました。

Watashi wa ringo wo kaimashita.

I bought an apple.

 

Within a verb phrase

 

In Japanese, we have to pay attention mainly these three expressions :

 

  • Voice (whether  the verb is active or passive : to eat vs. to be eaten)
  • Modality (how the speaker feels about his/her utterance like “must, maybe, would, etc”)
  • Time

 

And the word order within a verb expression varies according to the types of the modality.

 

For example, 

 

ネコが食べられました。

Neko ga tabe rare mashi ta.

A cat was eaten.

 

ネコが食べられたはず。

Neko ga tabe rare ta hazu. 

A cat must have been eaten.

 

The word order within a verb expression is difficult to learn all at once, so we will learn it step by step.

 

Easy tips to study Japanese :

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