watashi wa nihon no bunka o fukaku rikaishitai desu.

topic particle

Breakdown of watashi wa nihon no bunka o fukaku rikaishitai desu.

• です: to be
• 私わたし: I
• を: direct object particle

Questions & Answers about watashi wa nihon no bunka o fukaku rikaishitai desu.

Why is は used after 私 instead of が?

は is the topic marker, not the subject marker. By saying 私 は, you’re setting “I” as the topic of the sentence (“As for me…”). Using が would more narrowly introduce or emphasize “I” as the subject (“It’s I who…”), which isn’t what we want here.

What does the の in 日本の文化 do?

の shows a possessive or attributive relationship. 日本の文化 literally means “culture of Japan” (or “Japanese culture”). You can think of の like the English “’s” or “of.”

Why is 文化 followed by を?

を marks the direct object of the verb. Here, culture (文化) is what you want to “understand” (理解する), so 文化 takes を.

Why is 深く used instead of 深い?

深い is an i-adjective (“deep”). To make it modify a verb (i.e., “understand deeply”), you change 深い to its adverbial form 深く. That way it directly describes 理解したい.

How is 理解したい formed grammatically?