Learn about the object-marking particle
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| Hi, everyone. |
| Welcome to the Ultimate Japanese Particle Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn the particle... |
| を (o) |
| This particle is often referred to as the object particle or object marker, because it usually comes after the direct object of an action. |
| Let's see how it functions in a sentence. Risa, How do you say “to eat”? |
| 食べます (tabemasu) |
| Now for “eat” you need an object. The thing you eat is known as the object of the sentence. For example, say you eat “sushi.” So the object is "sushi," and it has to be followed by the object particle. |
| 寿司を (sushi o) |
| Then add the verb. |
| 食べます (tabemasu) |
| 寿司を食べます。 (sushi o tabemasu.) |
| This means “To eat sushi.” |
| Risa, can you also add the subject of the sentence and say “I eat sushi”? |
| Sure. |
| 私は寿司を食べます。 (Watashi wa sushi o tabemasu.) |
| Great. Let’s try it with another verb. How do you say “to make”? |
| 作ります (tsukurimasu) |
| How do we say “to make curry”? |
| The object is “curry,” followed by the object marker is… |
| カレーを ( karē o) |
| Altogether |
| カレーを作ります (Karē o tsukurimasu) |
| Okay. And now let’s put the subject. Let’s say “John makes curry” |
| ジョンさんはカレーを作ります。 (Jon-san wa karē o tsukurimasu.) |
| Some textbooks spell this particle as W-O. Risa, how do we spell and pronounce this particle? |
| The object marking particle is in the last row of the Hiragana chart, it sounds like the regular お (o) as in あいうえお, that's why we spell it "O (o)." |
| Now, let's take a look at a few more examples. |
| 私は薬を飲みます。 (Watashi wa kusuri o nomimasu.) |
| “I’ll take medicine.” |
| これをください。(Kore o kudasai.) |
| "Please give me this one." |
| 私は新しい車を買いました。 (Watashi wa atarashii kuruma o kaimashita.) |
| “I bought a new car.” |
| This particle can also be used to indicate the place of movement, in addition to being used as an object marking particle. In this usage, it is used with verbs that describe motion "to walk,” "to fly,” "to cross,” "to turn,” and so on. |
| In Japanese these verbs are 歩きます (arukimasu), 飛びます (tobimasu), 渡ります (watarimasu), 曲がります (magarimasu), among others. |
| Let's see how it functions in a sentence. For example how do you say "to walk through the park"? |
| "Park" is 公園 (Kōen), |
| so 公園を歩きます (Kōen o arukimasu). |
| "To cross a bridge"? |
| "Bridge" is 橋 (Hashi), |
| so 橋を渡ります (Hashi o watarimasu). |
| Notice how the particle marks the place where the movement takes place. "Through the park" was... |
| 公園を (Kōen o ) |
| "Bridge" was |
| 橋を (Hashi o) |
| Here is another example. |
| あの角を曲がってください。(Ano kado o magatte kudasai.) |
| This means “Please turn at that corner.” |
| 曲がって (magatte) or 曲がります (magarimasu / “to turn”), is the movement. Where it takes place, あの角 (ano kado / “that corner”), is marked by を (o). |
| Let's take a look at a few more examples. |
| ウミガメは海を泳ぎます。(Umigame wa umi o oyogimasu.) |
| "A turtle swims in the sea." |
| セミは木を登ります。 (Semi wa ki o noborimasu.) |
| "A cicada climbs up a tree." |
| 彼は交差点を渡ります。(Kare wa kōsaten o watarimasu.) |
| “He crosses the intersection.” |
| Now, let's use what you learned in this lesson. |
| How do you say "I forgot the umbrella"? The words for "umbrella" and "to forget" are... |
| 傘 (kasa) |
| 忘れる(wasureru) |
| We learned how to say “I eat sushi” |
| 私は寿司を食べます。 (Watashi wa sushi o tabemasu.) |
| The particle o (を) marks the direct object of an action. The structure of the sentence is... |
| [object] |
| を (o) |
| [verb] |
| Now let's try with "I forgot the umbrella." The words for "umbrella" and "to forget" are... |
| 傘 (kasa) |
| 忘れます(wasuremasu) |
| “I forgot” in masu-form is.. |
| 忘れました (wasuremashita) |
| Try to say "I forgot the umbrella" in Japanese. [pause] |
| 傘を忘れました。(Kasa o wasuremashita.) |
| Did you get it right? In this sentence, the particle indicates the object. |
| Let's try one more. We also learned how to say "to walk through the park." |
| 公園を歩きます。 (Kōen o arukimasu). |
| Here, the particle o (を) marks the place of movement. The structure is... |
| [place of movement] |
| を(o) |
| [motion verb] |
| Now, let's try with "to fly in the sky." Here are the words meaning "sky" and "to fly." |
| 空 (sora) |
| 飛びます (tobimasu) |
| How do you say "to fly in the sky" in Japanese? [pause] |
| 空を飛びます。 (sora o tobimasu) |
| Right. In this case, the particle marks the place of movement. |
| In this lesson, you learned about the particle… |
| を |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn about the particle... |
| へ |
| See you in the next lesson. Bye! |
| Bye~ |
Comments
HideIrishさん
Thank you so much for your kind comment😄
We're so happy to hear that!!
Keep up the great work😇
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
Gaynorさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
良いですね😇
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
私は日本語を勉強します。
Amandaさん
Thank you so much for your comment😄
OK, so in English, if you say "I eat sushi," I = subject, eat = verb and sushi = object.
In your sentence, I = subject, am having difficulty understanding = verb and the difference between the topic Vs. the subject or object = object. Basically, the object is the thing/person that the action is done to😉
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
I'm having difficuly understanding the differense between the topic Vs. the subject or object. Could you please explain this?
ジェイダさん
コメントありがとうございます😄
Yes, they're correct😁
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Thank you for studying with us!
Sincerely,
Erica
Team JapanesePod101.com
肉を食べます。私の家を愛してます。
Is this correct?
Hi Abby,
Thanks for the comment!
あなたのコメントを読（よ）んだら、カレーが食（た）べたくなりました！😁
Hi Martin,
コメントありがとうございます。
A perfect Japanese sentence! 👍
Great job!
Sincerely,
Miki H
Team JapanesePod101.com
ジョンさんはビｰチを歩きます。
カレーをたべます。
Can you write a sentence using the particle を (o)?
sorry wrong kanji earlier ..
~木を登ります
~空を飛びます
Hi - I have a query about the use of PLACE + を、from your e.g. you have :
~木を乗ります。
~空を取ります。
In class, I was taught to use に .. hence am a bit confused. Can you explain ?
Thanks.