Learn Hardcore Japanese: haha ha sarada wo tiisai sara ni sukosizutu moritukete, kodomotati ni saki ni dasimasita. - My mother plated the salad little by little onto small plates and served it to the children first.

Word

母はは　は　サラダ　を　小ちいさい　皿さら　に　少すこしずつ　盛もり付つけて、　子供こどもたち　に　先さき　に　出だしました。haha wa sarada o chiisai sara ni sukoshizutsu moritsukete, kodomotachi ni saki ni dashimashita.

Meaning

My mother plated the salad little by little onto small plates and served it to the children first.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Japanese

Lesson

Lesson 60

Breakdown of haha wa sarada o chiisai sara ni sukoshizutsu moritsukete, kodomotachi ni saki ni dashimashita.

Questions & Answers about haha wa sarada o chiisai sara ni sukoshizutsu moritsukete, kodomotachi ni saki ni dashimashita.

Why is the topic marked with は in 母は?

は marks 母 as the topic of the sentence: as for mother, ...

It does not mean she is the direct object or the destination of anything. It simply sets her up as the person the sentence is about. After that, the sentence tells us what she did:

サラダを ... 盛り付けて
子供たちに ... 出しました

So 母は is the starting point for the whole statement.

Why does the sentence use 母 instead of お母さん?

In Japanese, when talking about your own mother to someone else, it is very common to say 母 rather than お母さん.

A rough pattern is:

母 = my mother / our mother, in a more neutral or outward-facing way
お母さん = mom / mother, often when addressing her directly or referring to someone else’s mother more politely

So 母は sounds natural in narration or explanation.

Why is サラダ marked with を?

を marks the direct object of the verb.

Here, the action is 盛り付ける, which means something like to arrange/plate/serve food onto dishes nicely. The thing being plated is the salad, so:

サラダを盛り付ける = to plate the salad

Even though the salad ends up on plates, the salad itself is still the thing directly affected by the action, so it gets を.