kare wa kazoku no meiyo o mamotta.

He protected his family's honor.

Breakdown of kare wa kazoku no meiyo o mamotta.

• は: topic particle
• を: direct object particle
• の: possessive case particle
• 彼かれ: he

Questions & Answers about kare wa kazoku no meiyo o mamotta.

Why is は used after 彼?

は marks 彼 as the topic of the sentence.

So 彼は means something like:

• as for him
• he (as the topic of what follows)

In natural English, we usually just translate it as he, but は does not work exactly like an English subject marker. It sets up what the sentence is about.

In this sentence:

• 彼は = As for him / He
• 家族の名誉を守った = protected his family's honor

Also, even though は is a topic marker, 彼 is also effectively the doer of the action here.

What does 家族の名誉 mean literally?

Literally, it means the family's honor or honor of the family.

Breakdown:

• 家族 = family
• の = linking particle, often like of or an apostrophe-s
• 名誉 = honor, reputation, prestige

So:

• 家族の名誉 = family's honor
• more literally: the honor of the family

Here, の connects the two nouns and shows that 名誉 belongs to or is associated with 家族.