Word
昨日 は 先生 に 三枚 の プリント を もらいました。kinou wa sensei ni sanmai no purinto o moraimashita.
Meaning
I received three handouts from the teacher yesterday.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of kinou wa sensei ni sanmai no purinto o moraimashita.
はwa
topic particle
をo
direct object particle
先生sensei
teacher
のno
possessive case particle
Questions & Answers about kinou wa sensei ni sanmai no purinto o moraimashita.
Why does 昨日 have は after it? Why not just 昨日、?
は marks 昨日 as the topic of the sentence: "As for yesterday..."
- 昨日は先生に三枚のプリントをもらいました。
→ As for yesterday, (I) received three handouts from my teacher.
You could also say:
- 昨日、先生に三枚のプリントをもらいました。
This version just treats 昨日 as a time adverb (no explicit topic marker), so it feels a bit more neutral: Yesterday, I received…
Both are correct. 昨日は adds a slight emphasis on “yesterday” as the theme, and can also imply contrast with other times (e.g., “Yesterday I got three; today I got none.”).
Why is there no 私 (I) in the sentence?
Japanese often omits pronouns when they’re clear from context.
The full underlying pattern is:
- （私は）先生に三枚のプリントをもらいました。
→ (I) received three handouts from my teacher.
Because it’s obvious the speaker is the one receiving something from their own teacher, 私は is left out. Including 私は is not wrong, but it can sound a bit heavy or repetitive if the context already makes it clear who is speaking.
What does 先生に do here? Why に and not another particle?
