Breakdown of watasi ha mainiti sukosizutu nihongo wo benkyousimasu.
Questions & Answers about watasi ha mainiti sukosizutu nihongo wo benkyousimasu.
は is the topic marker. It tells you that 私 (I) is what the sentence is about, not necessarily the grammatical subject in a strict Western sense.
- 私 = I / me
- 私 は = as for me / speaking about me
In this sentence, the implied subject (the one doing the action) is indeed 私, so in practice you can think of it as “I”. But grammatically, Japanese cares more about topic than subject, and は marks that topic.
You could often drop 私 and just say:
毎日 少しずつ 日本語 を 勉強します。
([I] study Japanese little by little every day.)
It would still mean “I”, if that’s clear from context.
を is the object marker. It marks the direct object of the verb — the thing that the action is being done to.
- 日本語 = Japanese (language)
- 日本語 を = Japanese (as the thing that is studied)
So:
- 日本語 を 勉強します
= [I] study Japanese.
If you changed を to something else, the meaning or grammar would break or change. For this basic pattern X を 勉強します, を is the standard choice.
Japanese is basically SOV (Subject–Object–Verb):
(Subject/Topic) + (Time) + (Manner) + (Object) + Verb
So your sentence:
私 は 毎日 少しずつ 日本語 を 勉強します。
topic – time – manner – object – verb
The verb almost always comes last in standard statements.
The order of the chunks before the verb is fairly flexible, as long as particles stay with their words. For example, these are all natural, with slightly different emphasis:
- 私は 毎日 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強します。 (original)
- 私は 日本語を 毎日 少しずつ 勉強します。
- 毎日 私は 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強します。
The important point: 勉強します stays at the end, and each noun/adverb keeps its correct particle (like は, を).
Both involve the idea of “a little”, but the nuance is different:
少し (sukoshi)
- “a little”, “a bit”, “a small amount”
- Focuses on quantity.
- Example: 少し 日本語が わかります。
I understand a little Japanese.
少しずつ (sukoshi-zutsu)
- “little by little”, “bit by bit”, “gradually”
- Focuses on gradual progression over time.
- Example (your sentence): 毎日 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強します。
I study Japanese little by little every day (step by step).
So 少し = just a small amount;
少しずつ = small amounts repeated over time.
Both 毎日 少しずつ and 少しずつ 毎日 are grammatically possible, but they feel a bit different.
毎日 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強します。
- Natural, common.
- Emphasis: Every day, you do it little by little.
少しずつ 毎日 日本語を 勉強します。
- Also understandable, but less common.
- Emphasis drifts more toward the “little by little” aspect first, then adds that this is every day.
In practice, Japanese often puts time expressions like 毎日 early, so 毎日 少しずつ is the most neutral-sounding choice here.
勉強します is the non-past polite form of 勉強する. Japanese non-past covers both:
- present / habitual (I study / I usually study)
- future (I will study)
Context tells you which is intended.
In your sentence, 毎日 makes it sound like a habit:
毎日 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強します。
→ I study Japanese a little bit every day. (habit, routine)
If you were talking about a specific future plan (e.g., from next week), it could be interpreted as “will study”:
来週から 毎日 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強します。
From next week, I will study Japanese a little bit every day.
Both come from the same verb 勉強する (“to study”), but:
勉強します
- polite (ます-form)
- used in most normal conversations with people you’re not very close to, in class, at work, etc.
勉強する
- plain (dictionary form)
- used in casual speech among friends/family, in writing (like diaries, novels), and in grammar explanations.
Examples:
Polite:
毎日 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強します。
(what you’d say to a teacher)Casual:
毎日 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強する。
(what you might say to a close friend)
は and が are tricky, but a simple way to see it here:
- は marks the topic (what we’re talking about).
- が marks the subject, often introducing new or contrastive information.
In your sentence, 私は sets 私 as the ongoing topic: As for me…. That’s the most natural choice.
If you said:
私が 毎日 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強します。
it would sound like you’re contrasting yourself with others, something like:
- “I am the one who studies Japanese little by little every day (not someone else).”
So:
- 私は … 勉強します。 → neutral, topic: “I (in general) …”
- 私が … 勉強します。 → emphasizes I as the specific person who does it, often in contrast to others or answering “who?”
Yes, Japanese often omits things that are obvious from context, but as a learner it’s safer to keep them until you’re comfortable.
- Omitting 私
If it’s clear you’re talking about yourself, you can just say:
毎日 少しずつ 日本語を 勉強します。
Native speakers do this all the time.
- Omitting 日本語
If the topic is already clearly “Japanese” (e.g., someone just asked “What do you do about Japanese every day?”), you might say:
毎日 少しずつ 勉強します。
This would be understood as “study (it) a little every day.”
- Omitting particles
In casual speech, people sometimes drop particles like を and even は:
毎日 少しずつ 日本語 勉強します。
(very casual, but heard in speech)
For learners, it’s better to keep the particles until you have a good feel for when it’s natural to omit them.
It’s the most direct and common, but there are other natural patterns:
日本語を 勉強します。
- Basic, direct: I study Japanese.
日本語の 勉強を します。
- Literally “(I) do study of Japanese.”
- Slightly more formal or textbook-like.
日本語を 勉強して います。
- Progressive: I am studying Japanese (currently / these days).
- Often used to describe an ongoing situation (e.g., “I’m a Japanese learner”).
All of these can fit similar contexts, but your original 日本語を 勉強します is perfect for describing a habit or routine when combined with 毎日.