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Breakdown of sankasya ha sorezore no mokuhyou wo kami ni kakimasita.
はha
topic particle
をwo
direct object particle
のno
possessive case particle
書くkaku
to write
にni
location particle
参加者sankasya
participant
それぞれsorezore
each
目標mokuhyou
goal
紙kami
paper
Questions & Answers about sankasya ha sorezore no mokuhyou wo kami ni kakimasita.
Why is は used after 参加者 instead of が or another particle?
The particle は marks 参加者 (“participants”) as the topic of the sentence. It signals that what follows (writing goals on paper) is information about the participants. If you used が (参加者が), it would simply mark them as the subject and might emphasize the action rather than setting up a topic-comment structure.
What does それぞれの mean, and why is の used here?
それぞれ means “each” or “respectively.” When you add の as in それぞれの, it turns それぞれ into a possessive modifier, so それぞれの目標 means “each person’s goal.” Without の, それぞれ目標 would be ungrammatical—の links the idea of “each” to the noun “goal.”
What is the role of を after 目標?
The particle を marks 目標 (“goals”) as the direct object of the verb 書きました (“wrote”). It shows what was written.
Why is に used after 紙 instead of using で or another particle?
Here, に indicates the target or location of writing (“on paper”). You write something “on” or “in” something, so Japanese uses ～に書く to mean “write [object] on [surface].” で would mark the means or tool (e.g., “with a pen”), not the surface.
Why is the verb 書きました placed at the end of the sentence?
Japanese follows a subject-object-verb (SOV) word order. The action (verb) typically comes last, after all topics (参加者は), modifiers (それぞれの目標を), and location phrases (紙に).
Could I say 参加者は紙にそれぞれの目標を書きました instead? Would the meaning change?
Yes, you can reorder the phrases as 参加者は紙にそれぞれの目標を書きました. Japanese allows fairly flexible word order as long as particles clarify each part’s role. The overall meaning (“As for the participants, they wrote each goal on paper”) stays the same. Slight nuance or emphasis might shift (e.g., more focus on “on paper”), but it’s still natural.
Why isn’t the subject of 書きました stated again in the sentence?
Once you introduce 参加者は as the topic at the beginning, it carries over to the verb. Japanese often omits repeated subjects/topics when they’re clear from context. Here, it’s understood that the participants are the ones who wrote.
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“How do verb conjugations work in Japanese?”
Japanese verbs conjugate based on tense, politeness, and mood. For example, the polite present form adds ‑ます to the verb stem, while the past tense uses ‑ました. Unlike English, Japanese verbs don't change based on the subject — the same form works for "I", "you", and "they".
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