Mission—Team—FAQ—Privacy—Terms—Sponsors—Grammar—Typing Course—Donate

© 2026 Elon Automation B.V.

Learn Hardcore Japanese: isya ga kensa wo setumeisimasita. - The doctor explained the test.

Hardcore Japanese
/Starting a new job orientation
/isha ga kensa o setsumeishimashita.

isha ga kensa o setsumeishimashita.

医者いしゃ　が　検査けんさ　を　説明せつめいしました。isha ga kensa o setsumeishimashita.

The doctor explained the test.

Breakdown of isha ga kensa o setsumeishimashita.

direct object particle

subject particle

説明せつめいするsetsumeisuru

医者いしゃisha

Questions & Answers about isha ga kensa o setsumeishimashita.

What do が and を mean in this sentence?

They mark the roles of the nouns:

医者が = the doctor is the subject, or the person doing the action
検査を = the examination / test is the thing being explained

So the structure is:

医者 = doctor
が = subject marker
検査 = examination, test, inspection
を = object marker
説明しました = explained

Why is it 医者が and not 医者は?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different.

医者が検査を説明しました。 puts focus on the doctor as the one who explained it.
医者は検査を説明しました。 would sound more like as for the doctor, he/she explained the examination, perhaps contrasting with someone else.

So が is often used when identifying who did something, while は is more topic-based.

What exactly does 説明しました mean grammatically?

Nihon-shiki romanizationwatasi ha tyuugoku kara kimasita

Hepburn romanizationwatashi wa chuugoku kara kimashita

検査けんさkensa

a medical test or examination

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have hundreds of Japanese lessons and thousands of exercises.

Start learning Japanese

Start learning Japanese now

説明しました comes from:

説明 = explanation
する = to do

Together, 説明する means to explain.

So:

説明します = explain / will explain
説明しました = explained

This is a very common Japanese pattern: a noun plus する makes a verb.

What tense is 説明しました?

It is past polite.

説明します = explain / will explain
説明しました = explained

So the sentence is talking about something that already happened.

Why is 検査 followed by を? Can 説明する take a direct object?

Yes. In Japanese, 説明する can take the thing being explained with を.

So:

検査を説明しました = explained the examination / test

You may also see sentences where the person receiving the explanation is marked with に:

患者に検査を説明しました。 = explained the examination to the patient

In your sentence, the listener is simply omitted.

Does this sentence mean the doctor explained the test itself or the test results?

As written, 検査 most naturally means the examination/test itself.

So the sentence means something like:

The doctor explained the test.
The doctor explained the examination.

If you wanted to say test results, Japanese would usually say something more specific, such as 検査結果.

Is the word order fixed?

Not completely. Japanese word order is more flexible than English because particles show each word’s role.

This sentence could also appear as:

検査を医者が説明しました。

That still means roughly the same thing, though the emphasis may change.
The most neutral basic order is often:

subject + object + verb

So your sentence is a standard, natural order.

Who was the doctor explaining it to?

The sentence does not say.

Japanese often leaves out information if it is clear from context. So this sentence only tells us:

who did the explaining: the doctor
what was explained: the examination/test

If you want to include the person who received the explanation, you can add に:

医者が患者に検査を説明しました。
The doctor explained the examination to the patient.

How are these words read?

They are read:

医者 = いしゃ
が = が
検査 = けんさ
を = を (pronounced o)
説明しました = せつめいしました

A full reading is:

いしゃがけんさをせつめいしました。

Why are there no words for the or a?

Japanese does not usually use articles like a or the.

So 医者 can mean:

a doctor
the doctor

And 検査 can mean:

a test
the test
an examination
the examination

Which one sounds best depends on context and the translation you are given.

Are the spaces normal in Japanese writing?

No. Standard Japanese is usually written without spaces.

So this sentence would normally be written as:

医者が検査を説明しました。

Spaces are often added only in beginner materials to make the sentence easier to read.

Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io