Learn Hardcore Japanese: watasi ha yoru hayaku nemasu.

The particle は is the topic marker. It tells us what the sentence is “about.” Here, 私は means “as for me,” so you’re talking about your own routine.

Why can 私 be dropped in this sentence?

Japanese often omits the topic when it’s obvious from context. If you’ve already said who you’re talking about, you can simply say 夜早く寝ます and native speakers will understand “I go to bed early at night.”

Why isn’t there a particle like に after 夜?

Time words such as 朝, 夜, 今週 often function adverbially without に when placed before a verb. 夜早く寝ます is perfectly natural. You can say 夜に早く寝ます for emphasis or formality, but it’s less common in everyday speech.

What form is 早く, and why is it placed before the verb?

早く is the adverbial form of the い-adjective 早い (“early”). To turn an い-adjective into an adverb, you replace い with く. Adverbs in Japanese normally go right before the verb they modify: 早く寝ます = “sleep/go to bed early.”

Why is the verb 寝ます at the end of the sentence?

Japanese follows a Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. All modifiers (subjects, objects, adverbs, particles) precede the verb, which closes the sentence.

What’s the difference between 寝ます and 寝る?

寝ます is the polite (ます) form used in formal or neutral contexts. 寝る is the dictionary/plain form you’d use in casual speech or writing.
– Polite: 夜早く寝ます
– Casual: 夜早く寝る

Why use は after 私 instead of が?

は marks the topic (“as for me…”), implying you’re telling something about yourself. が marks the subject or identifies something new (e.g., “It is I who…”). Since this is a routine statement, は is the natural choice.

Does 寝ます mean “to sleep” or “to go to bed”?

Literally, 寝ます means “to sleep,” but in practice Japanese uses it for both “to go to bed” and “to fall asleep.” The context tells you which. If you want “wake up,” you use 起きます.

How would you say “I go to bed early every night”?

You can add 毎晩 (“every night”):
– 毎晩早く寝ます。
Or you can emphasize night as the topic:
– 夜は毎晩早く寝ます。