Question 1

What is the function of the particle は after 私, and could I use が instead?

Accepted Answer

The particle は is the topic marker. It tells the listener, “we’re talking about 私 (I),” and then provides information about that topic. You could use が to mark the subject instead, but が often introduces new or emphasized information (“It was I who took notes”). In everyday speech, since who did the action is clear, Japanese often drops 私 altogether.

Question 2

Why is 会議中に used here instead of 会議で or just 会議中 without に?

Accepted Answer

会議中 means “during the meeting.” When you want to turn a noun into a time expression, you usually add the particle に, so 会議中に = “during the meeting.”  
- 会議で would mean “at/with the meeting” (a more location-like sense).  
- You can omit に informally and say 会議中、ノートを取りました, but including に is more explicit.

Question 3

How do you read 会議中, and what does the kanji 中 mean here?

Accepted Answer

You read 会議中 as かいぎちゅう (kaigi chū). The kanji 中 (read ちゅう in this construction) means “middle” or “during.” So 会議中 literally = “in the middle of a meeting.”

Question 4

Why is ノート written in katakana, and could it be written in hiragana or kanji?

Accepted Answer

ノート is a loanword from English “notebook,” so it’s normally written in katakana. Writing it in hiragana (のーと) would be very unusual, and there isn’t a standard kanji for the imported concept “notebook.”

Question 5

What does the phrase ノートを取る mean? Doesn’t 取る normally mean “to take” physically?

Accepted Answer

Literally 取る means “to take,” but in the set phrase ノートを取る it means “to take notes” (i.e. to write them down). It’s an idiomatic usage where ノート is the thing you “take.”

Question 6

Why is the verb in the polite past form 取りました, and how do you form that?

Accepted Answer

取る is a Group 1 (u-verb). To make it polite present you change 取る → 取り + ます = 取ります. For the past polite, change ます to ました, giving 取りました = “took” (polite).

Question 7

Could I drop 私は and simply say 会議中にノートを取りました? Any difference in nuance?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can omit 私は because the subject “I” is obvious from context. Dropping it sounds more natural and concise. Including 私は adds emphasis or clarity (“as for me, I took notes”), but it’s often unnecessary.

watasi ha kaigityuu ni nooto wo torimasita.

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