Breakdown of watasi ha yoru osoku nemasu.
はha
topic particle
私watasi
I
夜yoru
night
寝るneru
to sleep
遅くosoku
late
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Questions & Answers about watasi ha yoru osoku nemasu.
What does 私 mean here?
私 (わたし) means “I” or “me.” It indicates the speaker as the topic of the sentence.
What role does は play in 私 は?
は is the topic marker. It tells us the sentence is about 私 (“as for me”). It’s pronounced wa after a topic.
Why is there no particle between 夜 and 遅く?
夜遅く is an adverbial phrase meaning “late at night.” 遅く is the adverbial form of 遅い (“late”), so no particle is needed between the noun 夜 (“night”) and the adverb 遅く.
What function does 遅く have in the sentence?
遅く is an adverb modifying 寝ます, meaning “late.” Together 夜遅く answers “when” the action happens: “late at night.”
Why isn’t there an object in this sentence?
寝る (“to sleep/go to bed”) is an intransitive verb. It doesn’t take a direct object, so no object phrase appears.
What kind of verb is 寝ます, and why is it in this form?
寝る is a ru-verb (一段動詞). In the polite non-past form, 寝る becomes 寝ます, meaning “sleep” or “go to bed” habitually or in the future.
Is 寝ます past or present tense here?
It’s non-past, which in Japanese covers both present habitual (“I sleep/ go to bed late”) and future (“I will sleep/go to bed late”). Context (habit) makes it “I go to bed late.”
How would you say “I go to bed early” using the same structure?
Change 遅く (“late”) to 早く (“early”):
私 は 夜 早く 寝ます。
What’s the difference between 夜遅く寝ます and 遅くに寝ます?
- 夜遅く寝ます (“I go to bed late at night”) is the most natural set phrase.
- 遅くに寝ます is grammatically possible (with に marking time), but sounds less natural; Japanese prefers 夜遅く for “late at night.”
How do you say “I’m going to sleep now” differently?
A common expression is そろそろ寝ます。 (“I’ll go to bed soon.”) or もう寝ます。 (“I’m going to bed now.”)