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how do you know what the subject of a sentence is?

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Li Xingke1

PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:56 pm


gomen nasai for asking but how do you know what the subject of a sentence is, i mean i kinda got it but not really also it is very confusing when the word I is in the sentence so it is hard to tell if I is the subject or something else like


i want to go to Japan
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:31 pm


In a fully structured sentence, the subject is usually at the beginning of the sentence.

れい)ぼくのなまえはアル
Rei) boku no namae wa ARU
Me [possessive] name ["topic marker"] Aru.
Ex.) My name is Aru.

In that case, the subject was the phrase "My name".

れい)こじろうさんはほんをよんでいる。
Rei) kojirou-san wa hon o yondeiru
Kojirou-san ["topic marker"] book ["direct object marker"] read-te conjugation [-ing]
Kojirou-san is reading a book.

The subject was Kojirou-san.

For your example "I want to go to Japan", it can be this:

ぼくはにほんがいきたい。
boku wa nihon ga ikitai

Or this:
にほんがいきたい。
nihon ga ikitai

In most situations, the subject can be understood through context and is, most of the time, omitted. In fact:

たべた。
tabeta
Lit. "Ate."

and

みずをのんだ
mizu o nonda
Lit. "Drank water."

are considered complete sentences in Japanese. As long as there is a verb at the end, even though the verb may not actually be there (as in most cases where a sentence would politely end in です), that is considered a normal sentence in Japanese.

AzumayaAru

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Li Xingke1

PostPosted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:18 pm


Arigatou gozaimasu for the info but i cant read japanese yet i am learning how to speak it first then how to read it
PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:45 am


me too sorry could you translate that eek

FC_XDFire_Flame


AzumayaAru

Badgeless Camper

PostPosted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:08 pm


[Check the edit on my first post] Corrected some sentences and romanized for the beginners.
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The Japanese Student Guild

 
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