Word
暖房 を つける 前 に 温度 を 確認しました。danbou o tsukeru mae ni ondo o kakuninshimashita.
Meaning
I checked the temperature before turning on the heater.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of danbou o tsukeru mae ni ondo o kakuninshimashita.
をo
direct object particle
にni
time particle
前mae
before
確認するkakuninsuru
to check
つけるtsukeru
to turn on
温度ondo
temperature
暖房danbou
heater
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have hundreds of Japanese lessons and thousands of exercises.
Questions & Answers about danbou o tsukeru mae ni ondo o kakuninshimashita.
How do you pronounce this sentence and what are the readings of the kanji?
It’s pronounced: danbō o tsukeru mae ni ondo o kakunin shimashita.
Readings:
暖房 (だんぼう) = heater
を (particle)
つける (付ける) = to turn on
前に (まえに) = before
温度 (おんど) = temperature
を (particle)
確認しました (かくにんしました) = checked/confirmed (past tense)
What does 暖房をつける前に mean, and why is 前に used here?
暖房をつける前に literally means “before turning on the heater.”
The pattern is [verb dictionary form] + 前に, which marks that the action in the main clause happens after the verb in the preceding clause. Here, you do the temperature check after the “before” action, so “before turning on the heater.”
Why is を used with both 暖房 and 温度? How does を function in each case?
を marks the direct object of a transitive verb.
• 暖房をつける – “to turn on the heater,” 暖房 is what you turn on.
• 温度を確認する – “to check the temperature,” 温度 is what you check.
Why is there no subject in this sentence? Who performed the action?
Japanese often omits the subject when it’s clear from context. Here, it’s understood that the speaker (“I” or “we”) did the checking. In English you’d say “I checked,” but in Japanese the subject is dropped.
Why is 確認しました in the past tense? Could you use the non-past instead?
Using the past tense (～しました) indicates you completed the action. If you’re describing what you did, past is natural. If you want to express habit or future/policy, you could say 確認します (“I’ll check” or “I always check”).
What’s the nuance difference between 確認する and the loanword チェックする?
確認する is native Japanese, somewhat more formal or neutral, used for verifying, confirming, making sure. チェックする is casual, borrowed from English, often used in everyday speech for “to check” or “to look over.”
Can the clauses be reversed, as in 温度を確認した前に暖房をつける?
No. In Japanese, the subordinate clause with 前に must precede the main clause. So [A前に] B means “Do B after A,” and you cannot swap their order without changing meaning or making it ungrammatical.