kodomo wa shiai de koufunshita.

The child got excited during the match.

Breakdown of kodomo wa shiai de koufunshita.

• は: topic particle
• 子こ供ども: child
• で: location particle
• 試合しあい: match

Questions & Answers about kodomo wa shiai de koufunshita.

How is this sentence pronounced?

A natural reading is:

こども は しあい で こうふんした。
Kodomo wa shiai de kōfun shita.

A few notes:

• 子供 = こども
• 試合 = しあい
• 興奮した = こうふんした
• The は particle is written ha but pronounced wa here.

Why is は pronounced wa instead of ha?

When は is used as the topic particle, it is pronounced wa, not ha.

So in this sentence:

• 子供は = As for the child / the children...

This is a very common beginner point:

• は as a normal syllable in a word: pronounced ha
• は as a particle: pronounced wa

What does は do in this sentence?