Grammar detail: Japanese word order

Japanese word order

355 words

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English has a fairly well established sentence order -

subject

verb

object

. For example: the boy ran for the bus. Japanese typically follows the pattern

subject

object

verb

. However, Japanese has some flexibility in this pattern, which actually makes things easier.

If a verb is present, it will almost always come at the end of the sentence

わたし
私
は
すし
寿司
を
た
食
べました I (subject) ate (verb) sushi (object)

The subject and the object of a sentence are always marked with appropriate particles

Japanese particles are short words which come immediately after the item they affect, and specify the item's role in the sentence. This effective and efficient technique means that word order can be somewhat more flexible, and unnecessary terms can be dropped entirely.

わたし
私
は (subject marker)
すし
寿司
を (object marker)
た
食
べました I ate sushi
すし
寿司
を (object marker)
た
食
べました I ate sushi
(the 'I' is implied, and not necessary)
た
食
べました I (already) ate
(in this case the 'I' is implied, and the object - what you ate - would be inferred from the context)

With certain constructions that express a state of being, a verb is not necessary

すし
寿司
が
す
好
きです I like sushi
すし
寿司
が
す
好
き I like sushi
(the expression 好き describing the 'state of liking' does not need です in informal use)

Complex sentences are built by combining relative clauses

In Japanese, sentences can be turned into 'subordinate clauses' and joined with other clauses to make more complex sentences. The clauses are linked by - you guessed it - particles, which makes the whole structure very logical and predictable once you are completely familiar with the particles.

た
食
べたと
おも
思
った I thought he ate
('he ate', which could be a completely functional standalone sentence, has been turned into a subordinate clause by the addition of 'thought')

Relative clauses - essential for expanding ideas and giving detail

Being able to make relative clauses greatly increases what you can say in Japanese. The sentence pattern is consistent, so with practice it becomes easy to use. See relative clause word order for more detail.

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