Today we are going to be introducing you to the wonderful world of Japanese Grammar. Whether you’re a complete noob or just looking to brush up on your grammar skills, this online Japanese article will definitely help you out.
In English, the standard grammar pattern of a sentence is:
subject, verb, object, “I eat the bread”.
Contents
Japanese Subject Object Verb(SOV) Pattern!
However, in Japanese it is subject. Object, very, “I bread eat”.
This concept is a little hard at first to wrap your head around as it feels unnatural to think in this way. After much more practice it will soon become a lot easier.
Today we are going to be breaking down how these sentences are made as well as a closer look at some examples to help enforce the pattern.
The Subject
The subject is of course the subject of the sentence and is marked with the particle が. This marker defines what or who performs the verb.
Here is a table with the subjects we will be using today to form our sentences.
| 男の人 | おとこのひと | Man |
| 女の人 | おんなのひと | Woman |
| 犬 | いぬ | Dog |
| 猫 | ねこ | Cat |
| 友達 | ともだち | Friend |
| 警察 | けいさつ | Policeman |
| 学生 | がくせい | Student |
So now we have looked at our subject vocabulary, let’s take a look at the object next.
The Object
The object is what is being “verbed”. It is the book that is being read, the article that is getting wrote and the television that is being watched.
Refer to the table below to familiarise yourself with some object vocabulary for today’s sentences.
| 牛肉 | ぎゅうにく | beef |
| テレビ | television | |
| 上着 | うわぎ | uwaki |
| 水 | みず | mizu |
| お土産 | おみやげ | souvenir |
| ざっし | 雑誌 | magazine |
| 本 | ほん | book |
Great, now you have learnt all the object vocabulary, let’s finally take a look at the verb segment.
The Verb
A verb is a doing word and comes at the end of a sentence in the Japanese grammar pattern.
In Japanese there are 3 verb groups and they all end with U sounds. That means it is really easy to spot a Japanese verb.
Here are some verbs we will use to make some example sentences.
| 食べる | たべる | to eat |
| 見る | みる | to see |
| 着る | きる | to wear |
| 飲む | のむ | to drink |
| 買う | かう | to buy |
| 読む | よむ | to read |
| 書く | かく | to write |
The Japanese particle を ”Wo” comes between the object and the verb to indicate an action. This is called the direct object marker.
Great, that’s all the verbs we need to know for our sentences, let’s put some sentences together now with the subject, object and verb pattern
Putting it all together
So this is the most important part of today’s online Japanese lesson, we need to put it all together. We will start by analysing 1 sentence and then look at some more examples to help you put it into practice.
男の人が牛肉を食べる
おとこのひとがぎゅうにくをたべる
Otoko no hito ga gyuuniku wo taberu
The man eats beef
In this example the man is the subject, the beef is the object and taberu is the verb.
The subject is marked with GA and the Object with WO followed by the verb.
In English this would be “Man beef eats.”
Following this simple set up will ensure that you have a great grounding in basic Japanese grammar.
Example Sentences.
Here are some example sentences for you to practice. Remember to break down each sentence and really take note of the position of the subject, object and verb.
女の人がテレビを見る
おんなのひとがテレビをみる
Onna no hito ga terebi wo miru
woman watches television
猫が水を飲む
ねこがみずをのむ
Neko ga mizu wo nomu
The cat drinks water
学生が本を読む
がくせいがほんをよむ
Gakusei ga hon wo yomu
The student reads a book
Next steps
Using the remaining vocabulary from the subject, object and verb categories, try putting together your own sentences and practicing the subject, object, verb grammar pattern. This will really help enforce what you have just learnt today.
So guys, as always we hope you have enjoyed todays’ online Japanese lesson.
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