watasi ha kenkou no tame ni mainiti gohan no ryou wo hakarimasu.

I measure the amount of rice every day for my health.

Breakdown of watasi ha kenkou no tame ni mainiti gohan no ryou wo hakarimasu.

• は: topic particle
• 私わたし: I
• を: direct object particle
• ご飯はん: rice
• の: possessive case particle
• 健康けんこう: health
• 毎日まいにち: every day
• ため に: for (the sake of)
• 量りょう: amount
• 量はかる: to measure

Questions & Answers about watasi ha kenkou no tame ni mainiti gohan no ryou wo hakarimasu.

In the sentence 私 は 健康 の ため に 毎日 ご飯 の 量 を 量ります。, what does the particle は after 私 do, and how is it different from が?

は marks the topic of the sentence: what we’re talking about.

• 私 は … = As for me, … / I, (speaking about myself), …

が usually marks the grammatical subject, often introducing new, specific information or contrasting candidates.

In this sentence, 私 is already known from context and is just the topic, so は is natural.

• 私 は 健康のために毎日ご飯の量を量ります。
  = I (as for me), for my health, measure the amount of rice every day.

Using 私が here would sound like you’re emphasizing I (and not someone else) do it, or answering a “who does it?” question.

What does 健康のために literally mean, and how does this grammar pattern work?

Breakdown:

• 健康 = health
• の = connects nouns (like “of” or making an adjectival phrase)
• ため = sake, benefit, purpose, reason
• に = a particle that can mark purpose (“in order to” / “for”)

So:

• 健康 の ため に
  literally: for the sake of health / for health’s benefit
  natural English: for my health or to be healthy.

Grammar pattern:

• Noun + の + ため(に) = “for the sake of Noun / for Noun / because of Noun”
  • 家族のために働きます。 = I work for my family.
  • 日本語の勉強のために日本に来ました。 = I came to Japan to study Japanese.

Here, 健康のために expresses the purpose/motivation of the action 量ります (“measure/weigh”).

Why are both の and に used in 健康のために? Could the sentence be 健康のため without に?

Roles:

• の links 健康 to ため, forming one noun phrase:
  • 健康のため = “the sake of health” / “for health”
• に then turns that noun phrase into a purpose phrase:
  • 健康のために = “for health” / “in order to be healthy”

Can you drop に?

• Yes, you will often see 健康のため used without に, especially in writing and slogans:
  • 健康のため、よく歩きましょう。
    “For your health, let’s walk a lot.”

In many everyday sentences, ため and ために are practically interchangeable.
Here:

• 健康のため 毎日ご飯の量を量ります。
• 健康のために 毎日ご飯の量を量ります。

Both are acceptable; ために sounds slightly more explicitly “for the purpose of…” but the difference is subtle.

Can the word order of 健康のために and 毎日 be changed? For example, is this also correct: 私は毎日健康のためにご飯の量を量ります。?

Yes, that word order is also correct and natural.

All of these are fine and mean the same thing:

1. 私は 健康のために 毎日 ご飯の量を量ります。
2. 私は 毎日 健康のために ご飯の量を量ります。
3. 健康のために 私は 毎日 ご飯の量を量ります。 (slight emphasis on “for my health”)

Japanese word order is flexible for adverbial phrases like “for my health” and “every day.” They usually appear before the part they modify (the verb phrase), but their internal order can be rearranged to change nuance or emphasis.

• Putting 健康のために first highlights the purpose.
• Putting 毎日 first highlights the frequency.

What exactly does ご飯 mean here? Does it mean “rice,” or “meal,” and why not 米 (こめ)?

ご飯 (ごはん) can mean:

1. Cooked rice
2. A meal (especially in everyday talk)

Which meaning it has depends on context.

In ご飯の量を量ります, we’re probably talking about the amount of cooked rice eaten, so ご飯 = “(cooked) rice.”

米 (こめ) specifically means uncooked rice (grains).

• 米の量を量ります。
  = I measure the amount of (uncooked) rice.

That would be what you do before cooking.

So:

• ご飯の量 = amount of (cooked) rice / how much rice (as food)
• 米の量 = amount of uncooked rice (by weight, before cooking)

The sentence as written sounds like someone watching their diet by measuring how much cooked rice they eat each day.

Why is there a の between ご飯 and 量? What is the function of ご飯の量?

の here links two nouns:

• ご飯 = (cooked) rice / meal
• 量 = amount, quantity

ご飯 の 量 literally = rice’s amount → the amount of rice

This Noun + の + Noun pattern is extremely common:

• 日本の文化 = Japanese culture (culture of Japan)
• 水の量 = amount of water
• 仕事の時間 = working time

So ご飯の量を量ります = “(I) measure the amount of rice.”

What does 量ります mean exactly, and how is it different from other verbs like 測る or 計る, which are also read はかる?

All three are read はかる (hakaru), but the kanji hint at what is being measured:

1. 量る（量ります）

   • Main use: measure weight or volume/amount (of something physical)
   • Examples:
     • ご飯の量を量る = measure the amount of rice
     • 砂糖を量る = measure sugar
     • 水の量を量る = measure the amount of water

2. 測る（測ります）

   • Main use: measure length, depth, area, speed, etc.
   • Examples:
     • 高さを測る = measure the height
     • 距離を測る = measure the distance
     • 温度を測る = measure the temperature

3. 計る（計ります）

   • Main use: measure time, number, or plan/estimate
   • Examples:
     • 時間を計る = time something
     • 人数を計る = count the number of people
     • 計画を計る (more literary) = plan something

In everyday writing, people sometimes mix the kanji (especially 測る used generically), but in a textbook-style sentence about 量 (amount), 量ります is the most appropriate and also matches the noun 量 right before it.

Why is は in 私は pronounced “wa” instead of “ha”?

The character は normally represents the sound ha.

However, when は is used as the topic-marking particle (like after 私, これ, etc.), it is pronounced wa, not ha.

Examples:

• 私は学生です。 → watashi *wa gakusei desu.*
• これはペンです。 → kore *wa pen desu.*

So:

• Writing: 私は健康のために…
• Reading: わたし は けんこうのために… (the は is read wa)

This is just an irregularity of Japanese spelling vs. pronunciation that learners must memorize. The same happens with へ (he → e) as a direction particle and を (wo → o) as the object marker.

What tense or aspect is 量ります? Does it mean “I measure,” “I will measure,” or “I am measuring”?

量ります is the non-past polite form of 量る.

Non-past in Japanese covers both:

• habitual/general: “I (usually) measure / I measure (as a habit)”
• future: “I will measure”

Here, with 毎日 (every day), it clearly indicates a habitual action:

• 毎日ご飯の量を量ります。
  = I measure the amount of rice every day.
  (I do this regularly.)

To say “I am measuring (right now),” you would use the progressive:

• 今、ご飯の量を量っています。
  = I am measuring the amount of rice now.

Can 私 be left out of this sentence? Would 健康のために毎日ご飯の量を量ります。 still be natural?

Yes, 私 can be omitted, and the sentence remains perfectly natural:

• 健康のために毎日ご飯の量を量ります。

Japanese often drops pronouns like “I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” when it’s clear from context who is doing the action.

In context:

• If you’re talking about your own habits, listeners will naturally understand I.
• If you’re describing someone else, you’d usually keep the subject/topic or make it clear earlier.

So:

• With 私: a bit more explicit, useful in the very first self-introduction sentence.
• Without 私: more typical in ongoing conversation where “I” is already understood.

What does the particle を do in ご飯の量を量ります, and how is it pronounced?

を marks the direct object of the verb — the thing the action is done to.

In:

• ご飯の量 を 量ります。

• ご飯の量 = the amount of rice
• を = object marker
• 量ります = (I) measure

So literally: [the amount of rice] (object) measure.

Pronunciation:

• The kana を is historically wo, but in modern Japanese it is almost always pronounced o.
• So you say: ごはんのりょう を はかります → gohan no ryō *o hakarimasu*.

Spelling remains を to distinguish it from the vowel お / オ, but sound-wise they’re the same in standard modern Japanese.