kanojo wa kaimonokago o mottamama, serufureji no mae de saifu o sagashite ita.

She was looking for her wallet in front of the self-checkout while still holding the shopping basket.

Breakdown of kanojo wa kaimonokago o mottamama, serufureji no mae de saifu o sagashite ita.

• は: topic particle
• を: direct object particle
• の: possessive case particle
• で: location particle

Questions & Answers about kanojo wa kaimonokago o mottamama, serufureji no mae de saifu o sagashite ita.

Why is は used after 彼女?

は marks 彼女 as the topic of the sentence: as for her...

It does not simply mean the subject in the same way English does. Here, it sets up who the sentence is about, and the rest of the sentence describes what she was doing.

So:

• 彼女は = as for her / she

In many cases, this will sound like the natural English subject, but the Japanese role is specifically topic marker.

What does 買い物かご mean, and why is it written as one word?

買い物かご means shopping basket.

It is made from:

• 買い物 = shopping
• かご / 籠 = basket

Japanese often combines nouns into compound nouns, so 買い物かご is just a normal compound meaning a basket for shopping.

You may also see it written in slightly different ways, such as:

• 買い物かご
• 買い物籠
• ショッピングかご in some contexts

Why is を used after 買い物かご?

を marks the direct object of 持った.

So:

• 買い物かごを持った = held / was holding a shopping basket

Even though in English we may think of holding as more of a state, in Japanese 持つ still takes a direct object with を.