Breakdown of haha wa mainichi 「daijoubu?」 to iimasu.
はwa
topic particle
母haha
mother
毎日mainichi
every day
大丈夫daijoubu
okay
とto
quote particle
言うiu
to say
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Questions & Answers about haha wa mainichi 「daijoubu?」 to iimasu.
Why is the particle は used after 母 instead of が?
は marks the topic of a sentence, the thing you’re talking about. 母は means “as for my mother …” and sets her up as the context. If you used が, you’d be introducing or emphasizing “my mother” as the grammatical subject, often to single her out among others.
Why is 毎日 placed after 母は rather than somewhere else?
Japanese word order is flexible, but time expressions like 毎日 (“every day”) usually come before the verb phrase and after the topic marker. So 母は毎日…言います clearly says “Regarding my mother, every day she says ….” You could also say 母は「大丈夫？」と毎日言います, but putting 毎日 right after 母は is slightly more natural.
Why does the phrase 大丈夫？ have no subject or verb?
In direct, colloquial Japanese speech, pronouns (like “you”) and even the copula です are often dropped when context makes them obvious. 大丈夫？ with rising intonation simply means “(Are you) okay?” The omitted parts are understood by the listener.
What role does the particle と play after 大丈夫？ and before 言います?
The particle と is the quoting particle. It links what was said (the content in direct speech) to the verb 言います (“to say”). It’s like English quotation marks or the word that in “she says that …,” except Japanese uses と.
Why is 言います used here instead of 聞きます, even though it’s a question?
言います focuses on the act of uttering words. When you directly quote someone’s speech—even if it’s a question—you generally use 言います. 聞きます means “to ask” or “to listen,” but if you say 母に聞きます, it means “I ask my mother,” not “I quote what she says.”
Why is the sentence in the polite form 言います (～ます form) rather than the plain 言う?
The ～ます form signals polite or neutral register, common in written examples or polite conversation. To make it more casual, you’d switch to the plain form: 母は毎日大丈夫？と言う.
Can we add 私に to specify “to me,” like 母は毎日私に大丈夫？と言います?
Yes, adding 私に (“to me”) makes “to me” explicit: 母は毎日私に大丈夫？と言います. However, since the listener is clear from context, Japanese often omits 私に in everyday speech.
Why does the overall sentence end with 言います。 and not with a question mark?
The inner phrase 大丈夫？ is the question, so it carries the question mark. The outer sentence—母は毎日大丈夫？と言います。—is a statement describing what your mother does, so it ends with a period (or full stop), not a question mark.