Breakdown of watasi ha asita sensei ni hon wo motte kimasu.
はha
topic particle
本hon
book
私watasi
I
をwo
direct object particle
先生sensei
teacher
にni
indirect object particle
明日asita
tomorrow
持って くるmotte kuru
to bring
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have hundreds of Japanese lessons and thousands of exercises.
Questions & Answers about watasi ha asita sensei ni hon wo motte kimasu.
Why is 私 marked with は instead of が?
は is the topic marker and indicates what the sentence is about. Here, 私は sets “I” as the topic (“As for me…”). が would mark the grammatical subject, but in everyday speech topics are often marked with は to show what you’re talking about or to contrast with something else.
Why is 先生 followed by に and not を?
に marks the indirect object or recipient of an action. Since you’re bringing (“bringing to”) the teacher, 先生に means “to the teacher.” The direct object—the thing being brought—is 本, which correctly takes を.
Why is 本 marked with を?
を marks the direct object, the thing that the verb acts upon. In this sentence the action of bringing is done to the book, so 本を is the direct object.
What does 持ってきます mean, and why not 持っていきます?
Both are compound verbs using the て‐form of 持つ plus a movement verb:
• 持ってくる (持ってきます) means “to bring (toward the speaker or current location).”
• 持っていく (持っていきます) means “to take (away from the speaker to another place).”
Here you’re bringing a book to your teacher (toward where you or the conversation focus is), so 持ってきます is used.
What grammar is behind 持って + きます?
This is the て‐form of the verb 持つ (which becomes 持って) plus the auxiliary verb くる in its polite form きます. The て‐form + くる expresses carrying something to the speaker’s location or bringing it along.
Where can you place time words like 明日, and can you drop 私?
Japanese word order is relatively flexible, though time words often come at the beginning. You could say:
• 明日私は先生に本を持ってきます
• 私は明日先生に本を持ってきます (original)
Dropping 私 is possible when context is clear, giving 明日先生に本を持ってきます.
Why is きます written in hiragana? Could we use the kanji 来ます?
Both are acceptable. Many textbooks and everyday writing use きます (hiragana) for common verbs or auxiliaries because it’s easier to read. Writing 来ます is not wrong—it’s just a stylistic choice.
Why is 持って written with a small っ, and how do you pronounce it?
Verbs in the godan class ending in ‐つ (like 持つ) form their て‐form by replacing つ with って. The small っ indicates a doubled consonant: もって is pronounced [mo-tte], with a slight pause before the t sound.