Breakdown of syuumatu ni ryuugakusei to issyo ni mori wo sanposimasita.
Questions & Answers about syuumatu ni ryuugakusei to issyo ni mori wo sanposimasita.
Japanese often leaves out the subject when it’s clear from context.
In
週末に 留学生と 一緒に 森を 散歩しました。
there is no explicit 私 (I), but it’s understood that the speaker is the one who took the walk.
If you really want to include it, you can say:
- 私は週末に留学生と一緒に森を散歩しました。
“As for me, I took a walk in the forest with an international student on the weekend.”
Leaving out 私 sounds natural in Japanese when the subject is obvious; using 私 every time can sound overly repetitive or unnatural in casual speech.
に after a time word marks the point in time when something happens.
- 週末に = “on the weekend”
Many time expressions can optionally drop に, especially in casual speech:
- 週末、留学生と一緒に森を散歩しました。
- 週末に、留学生と一緒に森を散歩しました。
Both are correct. The nuance:
- With に: slightly more explicit/precise (“on/at that time”).
- Without に: a bit more relaxed/colloquial, but still normal.
Some time words almost always take に (e.g. ３時に, ８月に), while others usually don’t (e.g. 毎日, 来週). 週末 can go either way.
Yes, it is the same particle と, but here it means “with (someone)”.
- 留学生と = “with an international student”
Patterns:
- AとB = “A and B”
- XとV (person X + と + verb) = “do V with X”
In this sentence:
- 留学生と散歩しました。
“(I) took a walk with an international student.”
So と is used:
- to list things: りんごとバナナ (apples and bananas)
- to mark companions: 友だちと行く (go with a friend)
一緒 (いっしょ) means “together”.
Adding に turns it into an adverb: 一緒に = together (doing something).
- 留学生と一緒に散歩しました。
“(I) took a walk together with an international student.”
Typical pattern:
- Aと一緒にV = “do V together with A”
Examples:
- 友だちと一緒に映画を見ました。
I watched a movie together with my friend. - 家族と一緒に旅行します。
I will travel together with my family.
The に is just the normal way to make 一緒 into an adverb modifying the verb.
Normally, で marks where an action takes place, yes:
- 公園で遊ぶ – play in the park
But with certain movement / “going through” verbs (歩く, 走る, 散歩する, etc.), を can mark the path / area you move through.
So:
- 森を散歩しました。
literally: “(I) strolled the forest” → walked through the forest.
Here, 森を is like saying “strolled the forest (as an area/path)”, not just “in the forest”.
Both exist:
- 森で散歩しました。 – had a walk in the forest (place)
- 森を散歩しました。 – walked through the forest (treating it as the route)
In everyday conversation, the difference is subtle, and both are acceptable.
Both are grammatical and natural:
森で散歩しました。
Emphasizes location: the walk took place in the forest.森を散歩しました。
Emphasizes the forest as the space you moved around in: you walked through/around the forest (treating it more as the object or route of your stroll).
In practice, they often feel nearly interchangeable, especially for learners. If you remember that:
- で → location of the action
- を → can mark the “path” for some motion verbs
you’ll be fine.
散歩しました is the polite past form of the verb 散歩する:
- Dictionary/plain form: 散歩する – to take a walk / to stroll
- Polite non-past: 散歩します – (I) take a walk / will take a walk
- Plain past: 散歩した – (I) took a walk
- Polite past: 散歩しました – (I) took a walk
So the base verb you would look up in a dictionary is 散歩する.
Japanese does not have a separate future tense. The same non‑past form covers both:
- present habitual: “I walk”
- future: “I will walk”
So:
- 週末に留学生と一緒に森を散歩します。
can mean:
- “I take walks in the forest with an international student on weekends.” (habit)
- “I will take a walk in the forest with an international student on the weekend.” (future plan)
Context decides whether you interpret it as present or future.
Japanese word order is relatively flexible as long as:
- The verb comes at the end.
- Particles stay attached to the right words.
Your original sentence:
- 週末に 留学生と 一緒に 森を 散歩しました。
Other natural orders include:
- 週末に 森を 留学生と一緒に 散歩しました。
- 留学生と一緒に 週末に 森を 散歩しました。
You generally want to keep 留学生と一緒に together as a unit, because it functions as “together with the international student”.
Very strange or confusing:
- ✕ 週末に 留学生と 森を 一緒に 散歩しました。
(understandable, but splits 一緒に away and feels awkward)
As a beginner, a safe template is:
- [time] に [person] と一緒に [place/path] を [verb]
Yes, you can say:
- 週末は留学生と一緒に森を散歩しました。
Here:
- は marks 週末 as the topic or contrast.
Nuance:
- 週末に… = focuses on when it happened (on the weekend).
- 週末は… = “As for the weekend, …” or “On the weekend (at least), …”
It can imply contrast with some other time:- e.g. “On weekdays I worked, but on the weekend I took a walk…”
So both are correct, but に = time marker, は = topic/contrast marker.
Usually you don’t add さん to 留学生 in this kind of general sentence.
- 留学生と一緒に散歩しました。
simply means “I took a walk with an international student.”
Use 〜さん mainly:
- after names: 田中さん
- after some family roles referring to others: お母さん (someone else’s mother)
Using 留学生さん is possible if you are directly referring to or addressing a specific international student politely, but as a general description of “an international student” it’s more natural to leave さん off.
A fully explicit, polite sentence would be:
- 私は週末に留学生と一緒に森を散歩しました。
Breakdown:
- 私 – I / me
- は – topic marker (“as for me”)
- 週末に – on the weekend
- 留学生と一緒に – together with an international student
- 森を – the forest (as the path/area of the walk)
- 散歩しました – took a walk (polite past)
In real conversation, 私は is usually dropped, as in the original sentence, unless you need to emphasize “I” or distinguish from someone else.