torakku wa ookii.

topic particle

Breakdown of torakku wa ookii.

• 大おおきい: big
• トラック: a truck

Questions & Answers about torakku wa ookii.

What does は do in トラック は 大きい?

は marks the topic of the sentence.

So トラック は 大きい is literally something like:

• As for the truck, it is big.

In natural English, we usually just say The truck is big or This truck is big, depending on context.

The topic is what the sentence is talking about, and the rest of the sentence gives information about that topic.

Why is は pronounced wa instead of ha?

This is a special feature of Japanese particles.

The character は is normally read ha, but when it is used as the topic particle, it is pronounced wa.

So:

• トラック は 大きい
• read as torakku wa ookii

This is something you simply memorize for the particle use of は.

Why is トラック written in katakana?