Breakdown of syuumatu ni doubutuen de mezurasii doubutu wo mita.
をwo
direct object particle
でde
location particle
にni
time particle
週末syuumatu
weekend
見るmiru
to see
〜た〜ta
past tense
動物doubutu
animal
動物園doubutuen
zoo
珍しいmezurasii
rare
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Questions & Answers about syuumatu ni doubutuen de mezurasii doubutu wo mita.
Why is 週末 followed by に?
に marks a specific point in time. With time expressions like 週末, 月曜日, 午後五時 etc., you use に to mean “on” that day or time. So 週末に literally means “on the weekend.”
Why is 動物園 followed by で instead of に?
で marks the place where an action happens. Since you “saw” (an action) something at the zoo, you say 動物園で見た. In contrast, に with a place often indicates direction (“to the zoo”) or existence (“at the zoo” in a stative sense).
Why do we use を after 珍しい動物?
を marks the direct object of a transitive verb. Here, 珍しい動物 is what you saw, so it’s the object of 見た. Hence 珍しい動物を見た.
Why is the adjective 珍しい placed before 動物?
In Japanese, adjectives (i-adjectives like 珍しい) come directly before the noun they modify. There’s no separate linking verb; you just say 珍しい動物 for “rare animal.”
Why isn’t there a subject like 私 in the sentence?
Japanese often omits the subject when it’s clear from context. Here, it’s understood that I did the seeing. Adding 私が or 私は is possible but redundant unless you need to clarify or contrast.
What’s the typical word order for time, place, object, and verb in Japanese?
A common pattern is:
(Time) → (Place) → (Object) → Verb
So in our sentence:
週末に (time) + 動物園で (place) + 珍しい動物を (object) + 見た (verb).
How would you make this sentence more polite?
Switch the plain past 見た to the polite past 見ました.
You get: 週末に動物園で珍しい動物を見ました。
Can you omit the particle に after 週末?
Yes, in casual speech or headings, time particles are often dropped:
週末動物園で珍しい動物を見た。
But in formal or clear statements you’d keep に.
Does 週末に refer to last weekend or this weekend?
By itself it’s ambiguous. Usually it means “the most recent weekend” (either past or upcoming) based on context. To be precise say 先週末に for last weekend or 今週末に for this weekend.
Why is there no plural marker on 動物, even though “animals” in English is plural?
Japanese nouns generally don’t change for plural—they’re unmarked. Context tells you if it’s one or many. If you really need to emphasize plurality, you can add a phrase like 何匹かの動物 (some animals), but it isn’t required here.