koma o ugokasu.

I move a playing piece.

Breakdown of koma o ugokasu.

• を: direct object particle
• 動うごかす: to move
• 駒こま: a playing piece; a game token

Questions & Answers about koma o ugokasu.

How do you read 駒を動かす?

It is read こま を うごかす.

• 駒 = こま
• を = pronounced o
• 動かす = うごかす

So the whole sentence is こまをうごかす.

What does 駒 mean here?

Here, 駒 means a game piece, especially a piece used in a board game such as shogi or sometimes chess-like pieces in a general sense.

A learner may already know 駒 from shogi, where it very commonly means a shogi piece. In this sentence, it means the thing being moved on the board.

Why is the particle を used?

を marks the direct object of the verb.

In this sentence:

• 駒 = the thing being moved
• 動かす = to move something

So 駒を動かす means to move a piece, where 駒 is the object receiving the action.

Why is it 動かす and not 動く?