haisha wa te o shoudokushite mushiba o kezuri, watashi wa ugaishimasu.

topic particle

Breakdown of haisha wa te o shoudokushite mushiba o kezuri, watashi wa ugaishimasu.

• 私わたし: I
• を: direct object particle
• 歯医者はいしゃ: dentist

Questions & Answers about haisha wa te o shoudokushite mushiba o kezuri, watashi wa ugaishimasu.

Why are there spaces between the words? I thought Japanese normally doesn’t use spaces.

You’re right: normal Japanese writing usually does not use spaces.

This sentence would normally be written like this:

歯医者は手を消毒して虫歯を削り、私はうがいします。

Spaces are often added in teaching materials to help beginners see the word boundaries more clearly.

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Why is は used after both 歯医者 and 私?

Here, は marks the topic of each part of the sentence.

• 歯医者は = as for the dentist
• 私は = as for me

Using は twice creates a contrast:

• the dentist does one set of actions
• I do another action

So the sentence has a structure like:

• As for the dentist, he disinfects his hands and drills the cavity,
• and as for me, I rinse.

This use of は is very common when switching focus from one person to another.

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Why isn’t it 歯医者が instead of 歯医者は?