Breakdown of sensei ha abunai miti ni tyuuisuru you ni iimasita.
はha
topic particle
先生sensei
teacher
道miti
road
危ないabunai
dangerous
言うiu
to say
よう にyou ni
so that
にni
target particle
注意するtyuuisuru
to pay attention
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Questions & Answers about sensei ha abunai miti ni tyuuisuru you ni iimasita.
What role does は play in 先生は?
は is the topic marker. By marking 先生 as the topic, the sentence tells us that “as for the teacher, (this is what happened).” It doesn’t necessarily emphasize contrast; it simply sets 先生 as what the rest of the sentence is about.
Why is 危ない placed before 道?
In Japanese, adjectives come directly before the nouns they modify. Since 危ない is an い-adjective, it naturally precedes 道 to form 危ない道 (“dangerous road”), just as you’d say 新しい本 (“new book”) or 寒い日 (“cold day”).
Why is に used after 道 in 危ない道に注意する?
Here, に marks the target or focus of your attention. The verb 注意する (“to pay attention”) takes に to indicate what you are paying attention to. So 危ない道に注意する literally means “to pay attention to the dangerous road.”
Why is there no を after 注意する to mark the object?
Unlike typical transitive verbs that use を, 注意する uses に to mark its “object” (i.e., the thing you’re directing attention toward). In other words, you don’t say 道を注意する; you say 道に注意する.
What does ように signify in 注意するように言いました?
ように turns the preceding verb into the content of a request or command when combined with verbs like 言う. In this case, 注意するように言いました means “(the teacher) said so as to have (someone) pay attention,” or more naturally, “told (someone) to be careful.”
Why is 注意する in the dictionary form in the embedded clause?
In indirect speech patterns using ～ように, the embedded verb stays in its plain (dictionary) form. You only switch to polite or imperative forms if you’re doing direct quotation (e.g., 「注意しなさい！」).
Could you express this sentence using direct speech instead?
Yes. A direct-quote version might be:
先生は「危ない道に注意しなさい」と言いました。
Here, you use the imperative 注意しなさい (or more politely 注意してください) inside quotation marks.
Why is 言いました in the past tense?
Because the teacher’s act of telling occurred in the past. In reported speech, the main verb (言う) is often put in past tense to match the timing of the original utterance.
Who is the listener (the person being told) in this sentence?
It’s omitted because Japanese frequently drops obvious or contextually understood elements. We infer from context that the teacher told the students (or someone present), so there’s no explicit に-phrase naming the listener.