ane wa senmendai de keshou o shinagara uta o utatte ita.

My older sister was singing while putting on makeup at the sink.

Breakdown of ane wa senmendai de keshou o shinagara uta o utatte ita.

• は: topic particle
• を: direct object particle
• で: location particle
• 姉あね: older sister

Questions & Answers about ane wa senmendai de keshou o shinagara uta o utatte ita.

What is the role of は after 姉?

は marks 姉 as the topic of the sentence.

So 姉は means something like as for my older sister... or my older sister... in natural English.

A few useful points:

• は is not exactly the same as an English subject marker.
• It sets up what the sentence is about.
• In many sentences like this, the topic is also the person doing the action, so it can feel very close to the subject.

So here, 姉は tells us that the rest of the sentence is describing what the older sister was doing.

Why is it 洗面台で and not 洗面台に?

Because で marks the place where an action happens.

In this sentence, the older sister is doing makeup and singing at the sink/vanity area, so で is the correct particle.

• 洗面台で = at the sink / at the washstand / at the vanity
• に is more often used for:
  • destination: 学校に行く = go to school
  • existence: 机の上に本がある = there is a book on the desk

Since this is the location of an action, で is the natural choice.

What does 洗面台 mean exactly?