watashi no tomodachi wa nihongo ga sukoshi hanaseru.

topic particle

Breakdown of watashi no tomodachi wa nihongo ga sukoshi hanaseru.

• 私わたし: I
• 友とも達だち: friend

Questions & Answers about watashi no tomodachi wa nihongo ga sukoshi hanaseru.

Why is の used between 私 and 友達?

の links nouns and often shows possession or relationship. In 私の友達, it means my friend.

You can think of it as similar to 's or of in English:

• 私の友達 = my friend
• 先生の本 = the teacher’s book
• 日本の文化 = Japanese culture / the culture of Japan

So here, 私の友達 is one noun phrase: my friend.

Why is the topic marker は after 友達?

は marks the topic of the sentence: what the sentence is about.

In 私の友達は日本語が少し話せる, the topic is my friend. The sentence is talking about that person and then saying something about their ability.

So the structure is roughly:

• 私の友達は = As for my friend,
• 日本語が少し話せる = (they) can speak a little Japanese

This is very common in Japanese: first introduce the topic with は, then give information about it.

Why is it 日本語が話せる and not 日本語を話せる?