gakusei wa nihongo o hanashimasu.

topic particle

Breakdown of gakusei wa nihongo o hanashimasu.

• 学がく生せい: student
• を: direct object particle

Questions & Answers about gakusei wa nihongo o hanashimasu.

What role does は play in 学生は日本語を話します?

は is the topic marker. It tells the listener that 学生 (“student”) is the topic of the sentence. In English you might gloss it as “As for the student, ….” It does not necessarily mark the subject grammatically (that’s が), but it sets the context or contrast for what follows.

Why is を used after 日本語?

を marks the direct object of a verb. Here 日本語 (“Japanese language”) is what the student is speaking, so を indicates that 日本語 is the thing being acted upon by the verb 話します.

The word order seems different from English. How does Japanese word order work here?

Japanese typically follows S-O-V (Subject-Object-Verb) order: • 学生は = Topic (“student”)
• 日本語を = Object (“Japanese language”)
• 話します = Verb (“speaks”)
In English we say “The student speaks Japanese” (S-V-O), but Japanese places the verb at the end.

What form of the verb 話します is this, and why not use 話す?

話します is the polite present affirmative form of the verb 話す (“to speak”).
• 話す = plain/dictionary form
• 話します = polite/formal speech often used in everyday conversation, especially with people you don’t know well or in formal settings.