Basic Sentence Structure in Japanese

The term "subject" often confuses Japanese learners. One of the most important component of Japanese sentence structure is the topic. You mention the topic, then make a comment about it. But the problem is, the subject sometimes is the topic, but not always. In Japanese, people don't construct a sentence like in English, "subject+verb+object". It is very important to know that in Japanese the subject and the topic is different, you should erase the concept "subject" when you study Japanese. In the video, I will introduce to you the basic Japanese sentence structure so that you will know how to form natural Japanese sentences. They are VERY easy once you get the hang of it, there's nothing complicated about it.
「主語」という概念が日本語習得を妨害となっています。日本語の文の構造において、一番重要な要素は「トピック」であり、「主語」とは違います。日本語では「主語」と「トピック」は必ずしも同じではなく、目的語がトピックになったり、動作の主体とトピックが別々になったりもします。この動画ではまず日本語における一番基本的な文の構造を紹介します。
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[@actionmarco8556]

Nihongo complicated desu 😅

[@kanamenaito]

I think so too desu

[@hey-qi6ko]

​@@kanamenaito oogoedewara, it's such a little hard gengo

[@Dankyjrthethird]

Yayakoshi innit

[@spaghetti-sauce]

むずかしいですね

[@robinaabbasi1052]

Gaman 😊

[@999a0s]

you are so good at teaching japanese, and i noticed you've done a really good job of addressing some of the biggest problems english speakers face when learning the language. please keep making videos!

[@fwheels7776]

For Shure! easiest sub I've given lately

[@kanamenaito]

All the examples with a kanji version (where applicable) and a translation: このコーヒー、おいしいね。 This coffee is tasty. このコーヒー、きのう スターバックスで かった。 このコーヒー、昨日スターバックスで買った。 I bought this coffee at the Starbucks yesterday. わたしはきのうスターバックスでこのコーヒーをかいました。 私は昨日スターバックスでこのコーヒーを買いました。 I bought this coffee at the Starbucks yesterday. このコーヒー、きのうスターバックスでかいました。 このコーヒー、昨日スターバックスで買いました。 I bought this coffee at the Starbucks yesterday. たなかさん、さいきんちょうしどうですか？ 田中さん、最近調子どうですか？ Tanaka-san, how are you doing these days? たなかさん、ごはんたべました？ 田中さん、ご飯食べました？ Tanaka-san, have you eaten yet? たなかさん、かみのびましたね？ 田中さん、髪伸びましたね？ Tanaka-san, you grew your hair long didn't you? たなかさん、かおいろわるいですよ。 田中さん、顔色悪いですよ。 Tanaka-san, your face looks pale. たなかさん、いまからごはんたべにいきませんか？ 田中さん、今からご飯食べに行きませんか？ Tanaka-san, do you want to go eat together now? このほんおもしろいですか？ この本、面白いですか？ Is this book interesting? このほん、あんまりわたしは すきじゃありませんね。 この本、あんまり私は好きじゃありませんね。 I don't like this book much. このほん、わたしのともだはとてもおもしろいといっていましたよ。 この本、私の友達はとても面白いと言っていましたよ。 My friend said that this book was very interesting. でもわたしはあんまりおもしろいとおもいません。 でも私はあんまり面白いと思いません。 But I don't think it's interesting. このラーメンおいしいですね。 This ramen is tasty isn't it? このラーメン、ちょっとあじがうすいですね。 このラーメン、ちょっと味が薄いですね。 This ramen tastes a bit too light. このラーメン、ちょっとからすぎです。 このラーメン、ちょっと辛すぎです。 This ramen is a bit too spicy. そのめがね、どこでかいました？ その眼鏡、どこで買いました？ Where did you buy that glasses? このめがね、きのうパルコでかいました。 この眼鏡、昨日パルコで買いました。 I bought this glasses at Parco. このネール、どう？ How is my manicure? そのネール、かわいいね。 Your manicure is cute. このネール、きのうともだちがやってくれたんだ。 このネール、昨日友達がやってくれたんだ。 My friend made this manicure for me yesterday. このワイン、フランスのなになにさんのとてもたかいワインなんですよ。 このワイン、フランスの〜〜産のとても高いワインなんですよ。 This wine is a very expensive wine from Something-something place in France. このワイン、クソですね。 This wine is shit.

[@CrystalTigerclaw]

I remember when I first started learning Japanese, I thought having to read kanji would be useless since I had hiragana and katakana. But now that I’ve learned some kanji, reading full hiragana sentences just feels so unnecessary and long. So thanks for the kanji version!

[@salimufari]

In English those times I ... I was not the subject. I was the prospective. I am.. Are you... & so on. English uses prospective in many cases to establish the setting for a discussion.

[@purpleplays69420]

Ah yes, a language where I can say a literal curse word politely

[@KKokichi]

Hi

[@PAPicturesOfficial]

Reason I started learning Japanese is because of two words: anime and manga.

[@xchemicalXladybugx]

Bro, I’ve been watching Japanese language learning videos for about 10 years on and off. This is the first time I’ve heard someone mention dropping は and how to structure sentence so clearly 🙇🏻‍♀️

[@ananditotugarisman9122]

But can we not mention は in a formal conversation?

[@Prodmullefc]

My friend, didn't you notice something was missing in any of the japanese programming you probably watched?

[@TheToneBender]

Same. Been picking it up again recently and these are really clear videos.

[@_P2M_]

@@ananditotugarisman9122 Well, if you want your speech to match the occasion, it'd be best if you didn't drop anything from a sentence. Dropping the は is slang.

[@Colourisedspoon]

@@_P2M_ Well sooner or later you will understand the real meaning of は and adding は to every sentence is going to offend people one day.

[@alyslim5234]

this was so easy to understand 🥺🥺 thank you!!!

[@alyslim5234]

wait i did not expect that wine comment at the end 😂😂😂

[@_komiichan9509]

I struggled with Japanese sentence structure in college. My Japanese teacher refused to explain how sentence structure worked, she just expected us to know 😭 This made it so much easier, so I’m just going to self teach now.

[@Assia131]

It is probably because she doesn't know it herself

[@jtmassecure4488]

People always say how to do something but never explain why it’s that way to begin with which is my problem with most teachings of Japanese.

[@maxwellg4055]

Going through this right now in my 102 class lol

[@cloud_lost_in_thought]

Depending on your native language (or if you know several languages) this is either super easy or very difficult to understand 😅. My native language is Romanian and we can use a verb to ask, answer or say what other people are doing. No subject needed, the verb will tell you all you need to know👌. Thank you for the lesson! ✨

[@leonorgrilo5261]

In my case, my native language is portuguese, and we use the subject just like in english, but most of the times we dont. For example "eu fui ao parque" (i went to the park). We mostly just say "fui ao parque" since the subject is "eu". This is also very used while answering questions like "onde foste?" "fui ao parque" (where did you go? I went to the park) I know this is very useless and that i dont really know how to teach but i really just wanted to do so... Idk

[@eakyrtk701]

My native language is Turkish and it's easier to understand Japanese structure than English. If we go from the examples in the video: "Tanaka, bu aralar (these days) nasılsın (how are you)?" "(Ben (I) -we don't have to add into to sentence-) Bu kitabı(this book) sevmedim (didn't like)." "Gözlüklerini (your glasses) nereden (from where) aldın? (you bought)"

[@hudsonbakke8836]

In English you can also *sometimes* change word order to emphasize the topic. "This coffee I bought at starbucks today." "This book I don't like very much." It sounds a bit awkward and isn't nearly as common as it is in Japanese, but it's understandable and demonstrates basically what's going on in Japanese.

[@blasianking4827]

@xg223 you can if you need to emphasize something like possession, for example, say you were talking about someone else's book and you need to talk about your book you can say 'watashi no hon' to specify that it's your book. Hope this helps. Or if you mean like 'this book i bought today' you can say 'kyo ni katta no hon' or something to that effect.

[@KuraSourTakanHour]

This omission of marker is simple at the core, it's like the progression from "Have you been well?" to "You been well?" To "Been well?" When we're talking to someone in the most casual way we can get ride of several words and it means exactly the same. If its more formal, people may tend to use は more

[@Hooga89]

No, it doesn't "basically demonstrate what it going on in Japanese" because in Japanese that kind of word order makes sense *grammatically* and only implies correct language use, but if you did the same thing in English it would be done for some particular *emphasis*. Semantic emphasis and correct grammatical form and function are not remotely the same things.

[@siginotmylastname3969]

@@Hooga89 people are so ignorant about how English isn't so much allowing for different grammar, as it has established practically dialects due to the number of people who speak both English and their other native language with each other. They've heard this sentence structure because it's used by many Asian people, but it's not accepted in English. I should add that it's silly that these things are treated as bad English given most of the world speaks English as a second language.

[@itsazure.]

I would 100% recommend this channel to everyone who has started learning Japanese. Your videos are easily understandable and straightforward!

[@Gankoittetsu]

I'm glad i've watched this video, some books and apps gave me headaches.

[@YamatoTre]

I'm liking for the algorithm and subscribing for myself. I don't know how this man doesn't have more views. Absolute gem of a channel

[@zenzen4982]

I am commenting for the algorithm and make sure my comment has at least 4 words. SUCH AMAZING CONTENT, come watch learners of Japanese!

[@farrelfoster-lynam6683]

Your videos are so clear and straightforward! This is rapidly becoming my favourite channel for learning conversational Japanese.

[@lukekerr6871]

This wine is shit 😂 got me

[@xllYllx]

I think you may have just made me had an epiphany on how Japanese sentence structure works!! I've struggled with forming sentences for so long, this may be a breakthrough for me. Thank you!

[@thebeesknees1162]

Same here! This is so useful!,

[@julien.2573]

As a French, that last bit makes me laugh too much 😂

[@EinChris75]

Recently I was talking to a IT guy about the sentence structure in Japanese. First, it reminded us of object oriented programming. You start with an object and add call to a method of that object. Like circle.draw(). And then we realized that it's kind of revers polish notation for expressions. Instead of 3 * (1 + 2) one would write in UPN: 1 2 + 3 * (or even 3 1 2 + *).

[@meapobr]

Thank you, I am From Brazil, but your explanation is so great, far from the standard one the most people don't understand. Finally I can adjust some explanation even for Brazilian Portuguese. Thank you, Sensei. Please, keep making more videos.

[@lecturer.hisashi3644]

The "Topic-Comment structure" is indeed, ingenious.. I am hearing it for the first time and it makes so much more sense, Japanese language approaches Subject in a slightly different manner. I really liked your explanation especially with the example sentences that you used.

[@joeljenkins9424]

Re-ordering sentences is one of my bigger struggles when I have an opportunity to speak Japanese. This is a fantastic way to make that switch in my mind!

[@savascool3416]

I want to point out something providing a literal translation of one of the aforementioned Japanese phrases so that you get the concept of the so called topic better: このコーヒー（は）スターバックスでかった if literally translated it's like : this coffee, I bought it at Starbucks/as for this coffee... So the topic + comment is also a thing in English (but it's not as frequently used as it is in Japanese tho). The phrases like well: as for me, I bought a new car today or well Tom, ...he got fired.( So the as for me and Tom are topics and the rest (I bought a new car today & he got fired) are comments like something that adds information to the topics) that is to say topic ≠ grammatical subject. Many falsely assume that wa always marks the subject of the sentence but topic is not the same as subject it's a bit different.

[@DanielSHIRO]

literal translation is (this coffee starbucks i/was bought) Literal!!!!!! LITERAL TRANSLATION google translation is -This coffee (was) at Starbucks- ......Literal-...... i currently dont have the japanese keyboard on my pc... too much work and going back and forth, or copy / pasting the japanese from your comment..........kono=this........ko-hi/ coffee ....sutabakusu/ starbucks...de/was........kata=bought.......literal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! word for word!!!!!!! literal translation!!!!!! literal!!!... your translation is your own version, the japanese and expert translators give better translations, and i gave you the actual LITERAL TRANSLATION.. LITERAL.

[@kiatudom]

one of the best Japanese Language structure explanation.

[@kusarihime231]

This is the most direct and clear explanation I've heard on Japanese sentence pattern.

[@MrLucasBS]

Thanks for the video, I'm Brazilian and this is something I've always had too many doubts. Greetings from Brazil ❤

[@ezshottah3732]

Not gonna lie this is super fascinating to me. It’s like I’m realizing for first time, as a native English speaker, how by nature it seems like we are self centered. Just from the way we communicate because Japanese is not the only language I’ve encountered that uses rule in sentences

[@yoshilovesyoshi]

I think one of the hardest things for English/European language speakers is that the verb is the last word. If I were to translate このコーヒー（は）スターバックスでかった directly, it would "this coffee, [yesterday] Starbucks (I) bought." For many English speakers, something that's really strange, (not really difficult, just strange) is that the subject is often inferred based on the topic. I'm sure this happens in English too, but it's veeeeerry uncommon, and even as a native English speaker, if they do speak in an ambiguous way, I always have to ask for clarification. Edit: I just realized I forgot to include きのう (yesterday) in the example sentence and rather than fixing the example I just changed the translation.

[@sandpaper6095]

German language has SVO with V2 going to the end every time, so, it`s kinda easier for german speakers to adapt to that SOV structure

[@yoshilovesyoshi]

@@sandpaper6095 Ohhh, I didn't know that. That's interestingggg...

[@margaret77777]

ohh yes! this makes it take a lot longer for me to comprehend what a sentence means even if i understand what all the words mean + after learning pretty basic amounts of dutch which also uses the SOV structure :’) it surely is a process getting used to the SOV structure alongside getting better at reading kana and kanji lol

[@yoshilovesyoshi]

@@margaret77777 WOAH DUTCH is in SOV too??? I thought Dutch was just like, accented German (please forgive me)

[@margaret77777]

@@yoshilovesyoshi yes!! the similarites between dutch and german are actually closer to how italian and spanish are similar, but i believe they share a lot of words! and they're also both germanic languages so that probably adds in haha

[@joceran]

Thank you so much. Even after 1 year of learning japanese, somehow, this helped a lot clarifying something that made my speech sound so non fluent from native speakers even for the simplest things. Sounds like a simple video about a simple thing but it actually makes a huge difference in day to day. Many many thanks

[@ahoj6614]

I like how straightforward you are. Thank you sensei, you are the best

[@OutMagic]

This is awesome Kaname! It helps a lot getting understanding of how sentences are structured :)

[@shinkikomori7386]

you and onomappu have become two of my most heard voices everyday lol. i love the content sm. its exactly what japanese learners need, thank u sm man

[@lulolean]

I love the videos. Concise and precise. It doesn’t take you long to explain concepts that have a big impact, and you explain them well and with humor. They are interesting to watch. There are other KZbinrs out there making Japanese videos but they often waste time. Your face is fun to watch! Keep making videos!

[@luke_fabis]

This is very interesting. English can be structured in a similar way, with the object presented first followed by the verb acting on it. It's not a common way to speak, but it's used from time to time. Its use can be a regional feature as well; you'll hear it in New York City much more than, say, London. "This bread, I got for a bargain," or "Him, I don't really like." It's perfectly grammatical in English. So, the idea of Japanese starting with the topic to be discussed is actually not that foreign to English speakers.

[@TaseenTaha-jb6kc]

Yeah, it’s definitely not an alien concept to English speakers despite the fact that it’s less popular.

[@Dragonsphinx]

These videos are insanely helpful! 🙏🏻 These are exactly the useful bits of info to help sound natural that textbooks rarely mention or explain at all. Also answers a lot of questions I’ve gotten while studying. Thank you! 👍🏻

[@jaap2253]

Very glad to discover your awesome KZbin channel. I have been learning Japanese for quite some time. I like the way you explain, it is so particular that much easier to understand. どうもありがとう先生。

[@wooblya]

my japanese went so far in past week so i could understand whachu said! thanks for practice :D (thank you very much, teacher)

[@mebius2672]

You're a too good teacher, 本当にありがとうございます

[@tedkerr6613]

Very clear and natural way of explaining it! This is great, thank you.

[@seraphoftheend5768]

You don't know how much I appreciate the occasional spaces between the words. So much easier to read. Thank you.

[@Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl]

I really appreciate your lessons! Thank you for everything!

[@janeeyre8257]

Wow, you are a great Teacher, please make more videos explaining japaneses sentences structures. This is the first video that actually helped me to understand more about the order in the structure.

[@yllean]

I have watched many videos that teach Japanese using Chinese or Japanese language. I find this channel to be very good as it clears many of my doubts.

[@RoselynL31]

This is so realistic! As long as you know a lot of vocabs and know how to conjugate. Thanks for this. So timely! Feel tired of studying and yoir videos pop out.

[@satokoi5618]

It's really similar like ASL sentence structure, I tried Japanese but had to go to ASL and now I'm back to Japanese. This video really cleared up a lot of my confusion.

[@SS4Xani]

I've learned more from this video about Japanese grammar than I have in all the decades I've been interested in trying to somehow learn the language. Sensei, arigatou-gozaimasu. :D

[@user-ys3uo5lw8w]

かなめさん、三年間ぐらいの時、私は日本語を勉強していますから、あなたのビデオはとても有用な楽しいです。ありがとございます。

[@rafeverao4105]

Incredibly, this is exactly the same structure as British and Australian sign languages! Knowing that makes Japanese syntax a lot more sensible now immediately, compared to when I tried learning it years ago 😅

[@celty5858]

このチャネル本当にいいです

[@BrandonMhlangaAnimation]

You need to make a book and create a series. You explanations are so simple and relatable

[@victorvieiralara4050]

Your videos make japanese looks much easir, after each class I understand more of the language. Thank you.

[@leipzigergnom]

Very interesting. Stuff like this helps a lot with forming basic sentences in a more natural-sounding way. Thanks!

[@gco2075]

Subscribed! One of the best Japanese language teachers on the internet. Naito sensei arigatou!

[@FrankieTrilobite-re4sg]

this was an awesomesauce review for summarizing and perfecting what I’ve learnt. The example sentences are very useful.

[@livia-rp4cx]

you're amazing, thank you for this lesson & thanks for the written examples in the comments! 😊 really appreciated

[@AustinMDrake]

I love your channel, thank you so much

[@ShevadronovAlex]

Nice, I first thought that duolingo a bit mad about all these variations, now I understand it better, really appriciate your explanation

[@hooligans7618]

this makes so much sense! I LOVE the way Kaname puts it as [ topic -> COMMENT -> final verb] ! And, actually, thinking about it, English is pretty weird in how it emphasizes the speaker and not the topic in conversation. Weird...

[@lolaremixe]

Great explanations and examples, thank you! Looking forward to more of your videos 😊

[@nyt_shorts929]

2 lakh subs おめでとうございます先生

[@itzasicklegend8740]

Such a good and simple way to explain it, top tier

[@karlacastillo6838]

My first language is Spanish so i find this kind of similar to our way to structure sentences. Very helpful thank you!

[@Cathowl]

Oh thank you so much. This is a roadblock I've been having in my Japanese studies, and I didn't know how to find the information I needed. This is very useful for me!

[@AmbiambiSinistrous]

These videos are inadvertantly helping me to fill in my incomplete knowledge of kana along the way 😅 I recognize all the words verbally! And then seeing them written down just reinforces the few times I've sat through a Kana chart and then failed to get past the obstruent letters.

[@svennoren9047]

Best explanation of japanese sentence structure and word order I've seen so far!

[@wild_cub_times]

Realizing how egoless that sounds. Amazing! and thank you. This is very informative and is easy to understand

[@tinawong7825]

thank you! for keeping it simple

[@skittlzsmith1799]

This is the best I've heard it explained. Glad to find this channel

[@Zavarii]

so on point! love your videos so much!

[@carissa1159]

So good!!! I learned a lot!

[@justmedidi]

i was recommended this video and i'm surprised at how helpful it was! while japanese isn't my language of focus at the moment, i wondered for a while why when i listen to native speak that i hardly hear any of the basic sentence structures i learned from a while. i'm still a beginner with the language, but i still was confused by this until i watched this video. everything makes more sense now, thank you for the helpful info!

[@MurdoktheMimicKing]

かなめないとさん、ありがとございます！

[@leah..4210]

You are so good thank you ❤❤🎉

[@pllinseo]

I hope kaname san can start a podcast soon 🙏 I can understand everything clearly. Thank you

[@BenDover-cm5mo]

かなめさん、ありがと！

[@amytheorangutan]

This is so helpful! Thank you so much!

[@esotericist]

Your lessons are superb. Please do more.

[@chrissysevigny2462]

This was really helpful, thank you!

[@kohndiganjnr8698]

really helpful 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@ruiz9599]

🫡 the best explanations ❤

[@mcgoober6779]

thank you this heelps alot mentally for me as im teaching myself

[@wendylavelius8368]

Amazing. Wanna learn more.

[@TheBladeofMiquella]

This was very informative, thank you

[@HeroofTime6996]

This was very detailed but easy to understand. Subbed!

[@tokkigifs]

i really like the way you taught this topic! I hope you get to do it in order from n5 if it is possible!

[@invalidude]

Not only does he explain Japanese stuff really well, but he also just pulled out a copy of 1Q84? I'm falling in love.

[@O_Danilo]

Gr8 video! For me this is the crux of learning japanese, I'm at it for a year and I've learned many phrases and words, but the structure, the freaking structure is STILL the most difficult thing, and there are very few videos actually adressing it. Cheers from Brazil!

[@CaptZenPetabyte]

Thank you for your videos, they are very helpfull. While I am a native English speaker (Australian) I have previously hearned AusLan (Australian Sign Language for the deaf) & that communication uses the same grammar rules as you explain here (TTC - Topic Time Comment grammar) so this makes a lot of sense for me.

[@osricen]

1st topic, then the comment and other complements. Thanks, teacher. 👍👍

[@Wulpul]

Very clear, straightforward and actually funny as well. I couldn't help but laugh at the end 😂

[@DGMouro]

Wow! Hi! I’m from Argentina. I found your channel a couple days ago, and I like very much the way you teach I’m your videos. I study Japanese for 8 years. I found your channel very interesting. Thank you. Even so, I need to practice way too much… Hahaha

[@KyonHaruhiSuzumiya]

Watched it when it was released didn't understand a thing but now I understand the essence of it pretty clearly. このビデオ上手ね～

[@urso3000]

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

[@arigathanks5162]

Topic + comment Thanks for this simple explanation-desu. このシンプルな事簿はありがとうございます。

[@tubeviewerX20]

I have seen several videos about using Japanese words and phrases, but never learned basic sentence structure. Thanks for this :)

[@RJCMaxification]

best videos i've seen on conversational Japanese

[@ivanshounen]

Very useful. Thank you!

[@systud2786]

very insightful

[@StrangeAttractor]

this is the first time I've visited your channel. Subscribed. You've got the va va voom for teaching Japanese. Ganbarimasu!

[@mddale]

Brilliant!

[@federicamanfroi]

I like soooo much the final "ne?" because in my regional italian dialect we use it as well, in the exhact same meaning. It was amazing to discover this, the first time i heard it i was speechless 😳😳😳🤣🤣🤣

[@SeaSerpentLevi]

A sua explicação é muito boa 🥺🥺 Eu desisti do japonês varias vezes. Mas os seus videos me motivam a tentar de novo. Obrigado sensei 🫡❤️

[@januswang]

Thank you. Your explanation is simple and clear, better than my Japanese teacher.

[@julchen818]

Ganz herzlichen Dank! Theoretisch wusste ich das, aber noch einmal so viele schöne Beispiele zu hören und diese ausführliche Erklärung, das hilft mir, mein Wissen auch anzuwenden.

[@steffahn]

Ich finde spannend, dass man da Parallelen zum Deutschen ziehen kann. Das Beispiel am Anfang mit dem Kaffee vom Starbucks wäre auf deutsch auch eher "Diesen Kaffee hab ich gestern bei Starbucks gekauft." mit dem Kaffee am Satzanfang, anstatt von "Ich habe gestern bei Starbucks diesen Kaffee gekauft." Mit dem Kaffee am Satzanfang wird der Kaffee als Thema aufgegriffen; mit dem Kaffee hinten im Satz wird er als neue Information eingeführt, die zuvor kein Thema war.

[@StudywithYuki]

I'm Japanese and English grammar is hard for me, thank you for learning our language!!