watashi wa kodomo ni hon o yonde agemasu.

I read a book to a child.

Breakdown of watashi wa kodomo ni hon o yonde agemasu.

• は: topic particle
• 本ほん: book
• 私わたし: I
• 子こ供ども: child

Questions & Answers about watashi wa kodomo ni hon o yonde agemasu.

Why is 私 followed by は instead of が?

は marks the topic of the sentence: as for me.

In a simple sentence like this, 私 is also the person doing the action, so in English it feels like the subject. But Japanese often prefers は when the speaker is setting the topic and talking about what that person does.

So 私は gives a feeling like:

• As for me, ...
• I ...

If you used が instead, it would put more focus on I as the doer.

---

Why is 子供 marked with に?

に marks the recipient or the person who is affected by the action in this sentence.

Here, the child is the person to whom the book is being read.

So:

• 子供に = to a child / for a child

This is very common with verbs involving giving, showing, teaching, reading something to someone, and so on.

---

Why is 本 marked with を?