tsumari, ashita wa hima desu.

topic particle

Breakdown of tsumari, ashita wa hima desu.

• です: to be
• 明日あした: tomorrow
• 暇ひま: free

Questions & Answers about tsumari, ashita wa hima desu.

What does つまり mean here?

つまり means in other words, that is to say, or so. It is used to sum up or restate something that came before.

So つまり、明日は暇です。 feels like the speaker is concluding something from earlier context, such as:

• So, tomorrow I'm free.
• In other words, tomorrow is open.

If you say this sentence by itself, つまり can sound a little abrupt, because it usually refers back to a previous explanation.

Why is は used after 明日?

Here, は marks 明日 as the topic: as for tomorrow.

So the structure is roughly:

• 明日 = tomorrow
• は = topic marker
• 暇です = is free / is not busy

A natural way to think of it is:

As for tomorrow, [someone] is free.

This is very common in Japanese. Time expressions are often introduced as the topic of the sentence.

Why is there no に after 明日?