Breakdown of ani mo houkago ni sensyutati wo mukae ni kuru.
をwo
direct object particle
にni
time particle
兄ani
older brother
もmo
also
放課後houkago
after school
選手sensyu
player
迎え に 来るmukae ni kuru
to come to pick up
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Questions & Answers about ani mo houkago ni sensyutati wo mukae ni kuru.
What does the particle も do in 兄も?
The particle も here means also or too. By saying 兄も, you’re indicating that your older brother, in addition to someone else (perhaps you or another person), will come to pick them up.
Why is there no explicit subject marker like は or が after 兄も?
In Japanese, once it’s clear who the subject is, you can drop the usual markers. Here 兄も itself (with も) already tells us that your older brother is the topic/subject. There’s no need to add は or が again.
Why is 放課後 followed by the particle に?
The particle に marks a specific point in time. 放課後に means “at (or after) school ends.” Whenever you attach に to a time expression, you indicate when the action happens.
What role does を play in 選手たちを迎えに来る?
The particle を marks 選手たち as the direct object of the verb 迎える within the compound 迎えに来る. In other words, you’re “coming to pick up the players.”
What is the structure and nuance of 迎えに来る? Why not just use 迎える?
迎えに来る is a compound of the verb stem 迎え- plus に plus 来る. It literally means “come in order to pick up.”
• 迎える alone means “to welcome” or “to pick up” but doesn’t convey the sense of coming here to do it.
• 迎えに来る adds the nuance of movement toward the speaker’s location.
Could you use 迎えに行く instead? What’s the difference between 迎えに来る and 迎えに行く?
Yes, you could say 迎えに行く, which means “go to pick up.” The difference is direction relative to the speaker:
• 来る implies movement toward the speaker’s side;
• 行く implies movement away from the speaker’s side.
Why is there たち after 選手? What does 選手たち mean?
たち is a pluralizing suffix. While Japanese nouns aren’t inherently singular or plural, adding たち clarifies you’re talking about a group. So 選手たち means “the (multiple) players.”
Why is 選手たちを placed before 迎えに来る? Is that just word order?
Yes. Japanese typically follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. The object (選手たちを) comes before the verb phrase (迎えに来る), unlike English’s SVO order.