Mission—Team—FAQ—Privacy—Terms—Sponsors—Grammar—Typing Course—Donate

© 2026 Elon Automation B.V.

Learn Hardcore Japanese: tugi ha watasi no ban desu. - I’m next.

Hardcore Japanese
/Lesson 42
/tsugi wa watashi no ban desu.

tsugi wa watashi no ban desu.

Word

次つぎ　は　私わたし　の　番ばん　です。tsugi wa watashi no ban desu.

Meaning

I’m next.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Japanese

Lesson

Breakdown of tsugi wa watashi no ban desu.

私わたしwatashi

possessive case particle

Questions & Answers about tsugi wa watashi no ban desu.

How is this sentence read out loud?

It is read:

つぎはわたしのばんです。

Word by word:

次 = つぎ
は = written ha but pronounced wa here
私 = わたし
の = no
番 = ばん
です = desu (the u is often very light)

Why is は pronounced wa instead of ha?

When は is used as the topic particle, it is pronounced wa.

So in this sentence:

次は = As for next...

This is one of the first pronunciation exceptions learners meet in Japanese. The spelling stays は, but the pronunciation changes to わ when it functions as a particle.

What is the role of は in 次は?

Nihon-shiki romanizationwatasi ha tyuugoku kara kimasita

Hepburn romanizationwatashi wa chuugoku kara kimashita

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have hundreds of Japanese lessons and thousands of exercises.

Start learning Japanese

Start learning Japanese now

は marks the topic of the sentence.

So 次は means something like:

As for next, ...
Next, ...

It sets up 次 as the thing being talked about. The rest of the sentence tells you what is true about that topic:

次は = As for next
私の番です = it is my turn

A very literal interpretation would be:

As for next, it is my turn.

What does 私の番 mean exactly?

私の番 means my turn.

Breakdown:

私 = I / me
の = shows possession or connection
番 = turn

So:

私の番 = my turn

Here, の works a lot like 's or of in English.

What does 番 mean here? Does it always mean turn?

In this sentence, 番 means turn.

Examples of this use:

私の番 = my turn
あなたの番 = your turn
次は田中さんの番です = next, it is Tanaka's turn

But 番 can appear in other contexts too, so it does not always translate exactly the same way in every sentence. Here, the idea is clearly whose turn it is.

Why do we need の between 私 and 番?

の links one noun to another.

Here it connects:

私
- 番

So 私の番 means my turn, just like:

私の本 = my book
彼の車 = his car

Without の, 私番 would be ungrammatical.

What is です doing at the end?

です makes the sentence polite and completes it in a standard way.

You can think of it as similar to saying:

It is my turn
rather than just
My turn

So:

私の番です = It is my turn

In casual speech, people might say:

次は私の番だ
or even just 次は私の番

But です is the normal polite ending.

Why not just say 次は私です?

次は私です is possible, but it is slightly different in nuance.

次は私です = I’m next
次は私の番です = It’s my turn next / I’m up next

私の番です focuses more clearly on the idea of turn-taking.
So if people are taking turns in a game, speech, performance, or line, 番 makes that meaning very natural.

Is there an omitted subject in this sentence?

Yes, you could say there is an implied it in English.

Japanese often leaves out things that are understood from context. So the sentence does not explicitly say it, but English usually needs something like:

Next, it is my turn
I’m next

Japanese does this all the time. If the context is clear, subjects and objects are often omitted.

Why are there spaces between the words here? Does Japanese normally use spaces?

Japanese normally does not use spaces like this in regular writing.

The standard writing would be:

次は私の番です。

Spaces are often added in beginner materials to make the sentence easier to read and to show where the parts are.

Can 次 mean both next and after that?

Yes. 次 generally refers to the next thing in order.

Depending on context, it can mean:

next in a sequence
next person
next event
after this

In 次は私の番です, it means next in turn/order.

What is a natural literal breakdown of the whole sentence?

A useful breakdown is:

次は = as for next
私の番 = my turn
です = is / polite ending

So a very literal gloss is:

As for next, it is my turn.

That is not the most natural English sentence, but it shows the Japanese structure clearly.

Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io