Breakdown of asita ha ongaku wo kikimasen.
はha
topic particle
をwo
direct object particle
音楽ongaku
music
聞くkiku
to listen
明日asita
tomorrow
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Questions & Answers about asita ha ongaku wo kikimasen.
Why is 明日 followed by the particle は instead of に or no particle at all?
The particle は marks 明日 as the topic of the sentence—“As for tomorrow…”. You can also use に to indicate time (明日に音楽を聞きません) or even drop the particle entirely (明日音楽を聞きません), but using は puts slight contrast or emphasis on “tomorrow.”
Where is the subject in this sentence? It just starts with “明日は…”
Japanese often omits the subject when it’s clear from context. Here, the speaker (“I” or sometimes “we”) is understood. Expanded, it would be 私は明日音楽を聞きません (“I will not listen to music tomorrow”).
Why is を used after 音楽?
The particle を marks 音楽 as the direct object of the verb 聞きません. It shows what you are not listening to.
How do you get 聞きません from the dictionary form 聞く?
聞く is an u-verb. To make the polite present affirmative, drop く, add きます → 聞きます. For the polite negative, replace ます with ません → 聞きません.
Does 聞きません mean “don’t listen” or “won’t listen”? How do you show future tense?
Japanese uses the same form for present and future. Context or time words do the work. Since 明日 (tomorrow) is in the sentence, 聞きません means “will not listen” rather than “do not listen.”
Why is the verb at the end of the sentence?
Japanese follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order. Verbs always come last, after any objects and modifiers.
Could we use the kanji 聴く instead of 聞く for listening to music?
Yes. 聴く emphasizes active or attentive listening—often used for music or concert contexts—while 聞く is more general (“hear,” “ask,” “listen”). Both are acceptable here.
How would you turn this into a question: “Will you not listen to music tomorrow?”
Add the question particle か after the verb:
明日(は)音楽を聞きませんか？
This literally asks, “As for tomorrow, won’t you listen to music?” and can also function as a polite invitation.