Learn Hardcore Japanese: haha ha kyabetu wo tiisaku kitte, butaniku to issyo ni itamemasu. - My mother cuts the cabbage into small pieces and stir-fries it together with pork.

Word

母はは　は　キャベツ　を　小ちいさく　切きって、　豚肉ぶたにく　と　一緒いっしょ　に　炒いためます。haha wa kyabetsu o chiisaku kitte, butaniku to issho ni itamemasu.

Meaning

My mother cuts the cabbage into small pieces and stir-fries it together with pork.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Lesson

Breakdown of haha wa kyabetsu o chiisaku kitte, butaniku to issho ni itamemasu.

Why is は used after 母 instead of が?

は marks 母 as the topic of the sentence: As for mother...

In a sentence like this, は is very natural because the speaker is talking about what the mother does. It gives a general, descriptive feeling.

母は...炒めます。 = My mother ... stir-fries ...
母が...炒めます。 would put more focus on mother as the person doing it, often in contrast to someone else.

So here, は is the normal topic marker.

Why is を used after キャベツ?

を marks the direct object of the verb 切って.

So:

The cabbage is the thing being cut, so it takes を.

What is 小さく doing here, and why isn’t it 小さい?

小さく is the adverbial form of the い-adjective 小さい.

Before a verb, い-adjectives often change -い to -く.

So:

You cannot say 小さい切って here, because 小さい does not directly modify the verb. The verb needs the adverbial form 小さく.