Word order
The verb comes last, and particles mark the roles.
A Japanese sentence ends with its verb. Where English says "I eat sushi", Japanese says "I sushi eat": subject, object, verb.
- Watashi wa sushi o tabemasu.I eat sushi.I (topic), sushi (object), eat
Particles mark the roles
Each noun is followed by a particle that shows its role: は for the topic, を for the object, に for a time or a destination, and so on (see Particles). Because the particles carry the roles, the parts before the verb can move around without changing the meaning. A common order is topic, time, place, then the rest, with the verb at the end:
- Watashi wa mainichi toshokan de tomodachi to nihongo o benkyō shimasu.I study Japanese with a friend at the library every day.
- Kinō, tomodachi to eiga o mimashita.I saw a film with a friend yesterday.
- Tomodachi to kinō eiga o mimashita.I saw a film with a friend yesterday.
Topic first
The topic, marked with は, usually opens the sentence and says what it is about. The rest of the sentence comments on it. See は and が.
Describing words come first
Anything that describes a noun comes before it: adjectives, nouns joined with の, and whole clauses (see Describing nouns with clauses). Particles come after the noun they belong to, so where English says "in Tokyo", Japanese says "Tokyo in": 東京で.
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| 赤い車 akai kuruma | a red car |
| 私の本 watashi no hon | my book |
| 東京の大学 Tōkyō no daigaku | a university in Tokyo |
| 駅の前 eki no mae | in front of the station |
| 昨日買った本 kinō katta hon | the book I bought yesterday |
Leaving things out
Japanese leaves out whatever the listener can work out, most often the subject and the words for "I" and "you". A verb on its own can be a whole sentence.
- Ikimasu ka.Are you going?
- Hai, ikimasu.Yes, I'm going.
- Mō tabeta?Have you eaten yet?
Questions and sentence endings
A question keeps the same order and adds か at the end, and a question word sits where its answer would go: 何を食べますか "What will you eat?", 寿司を食べます "I'll eat sushi." Small particles such as ね and よ come after the verb, at the very end. See Questions.
Cards from this guide
8 cardsEach card asks about one thing this guide teaches, and its back gives the answer with why and an example. They're reviewed with the rest of the Getting started cards.
Where does the verb go in a Japanese sentence?
At the end.
Why can the parts before the verb move around without changing the meaning?
Each noun's particle, not its position, shows its role.
What's the common order for the parts before the verb?
Topic, time, place, then the rest.
Where do words that describe a noun go?
Before the noun.
Where does a particle go relative to its noun, as in 'in Tokyo'?
After it: 東京で, literally 'Tokyo in'.
What does Japanese most often leave out of a sentence?
The subject, especially 'I' and 'you', when it's clear.
What's a better way to address someone than あなた (you)?
Use their name with さん, or leave 'you' out.
Where does a question word go in a Japanese question?
Where its answer would go.