Making Sense of Japanese Grammar

15. A phrase particle determines the function of the noun

15 A phrase particle determines the function of the noun In English, the difference between the meanings of the following two sentences depends on where the nouns (or noun phrases) appear. Word order is very important in English: Momotaro (Subject) chased the demon (Object). The demon (Subject) chased Momotaro (Object). In Japanese, the word order is not as fixed. Although the emphasis may be placed on different elements depending on the word order, the basic meaning of the sentence is unaffected as long as you keep the verb at the end. This is because the phrase particles, which attach to noun phrases, mark the functions of noun phrases in a sentence. For instance, in the following, the particle -wa indicates that the noun preceding it is the topic of the sentence: Momotaroo-wa atto-iu-ma-ni ookiku narimashita. Momotaro-Topic in no time big became “Speaking of Momotaro, he grew up in no time.” Since the function of Momotaroo above is marked by the particle -wa, you can move it around without changing the meaning of the sentence, as shown below: Atto-iu-ma-ni Momotaroo-wa ookiku narimashita. in no time Momotaro-Topic big became “Speaking of Momotaro, he grew up in no time.” Likewise, the following two sentences mean the same thing, because the particle -ga follows the subject Momotaro and the particle -o follows the direct object oni “demon,” regardless of which comes first: Momotaroo-ga oni-o oikakemashita. Momotaro-Subject demon-Object chased “Momotaro chased the demon.” 31 Oni-o Momotaroo-ga oikakemashita. demon-Object Momotaro-Subject chased “Momotaro chased the demon.” Checking your comprehension: Change the word order of the following sentence without changing its basic meaning: Watashi-wa intaanetto-de Asahi-shinbun-o yomimasu. “I read Asahi (a daily paper) on the internet.” For related topics, see also Units 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 24, 28, 29, 34, and 42. 32 ...