ane wa, gyouza o yakinagara, tenpura no junbi mo shite imashita.

My older sister was frying dumplings while also preparing tempura.

Breakdown of ane wa, gyouza o yakinagara, tenpura no junbi mo shite imashita.

• は: topic particle
• を: direct object particle
• の: possessive case particle
• 姉あね: older sister

Questions & Answers about ane wa, gyouza o yakinagara, tenpura no junbi mo shite imashita.

Why is は used after 姉?

は marks 姉 as the topic of the sentence.

Here, 姉は means something like as for my older sister... or my older sister was....
It sets up who the sentence is about, and then the rest of the sentence explains what she was doing.

If you used が instead, it would sound more like you are specifically identifying the one who was doing these actions. With は, the focus is more on describing her actions.

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Does 姉 mean my older sister here?

Yes, in a normal context, 姉 usually means my older sister when you are talking about your own family to someone else.

Japanese family words often work differently from English:

• 姉 = my older sister / older sister
• お姉さん = someone else’s older sister, or a more polite/friendly form

So even though English often needs my, Japanese often leaves that implied by context.

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Why is 餃子 followed by を?