Structure of Japanese sentence

05/09/2021

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Japanese sentence order and elements

Yukitty

I will explain the detailed grammar later, so even if you do not understand everything on this page, it is enough if you can feel the atmosphere of Japanese.

Japanese sentence structure is very simple.

Japanese sentences consist of only 3 parts, Predicate, Modifier, and Modality.

Modifier: A word or phrase that is used with another word or phrase to limit or add to its meaning.
Predicate: In grammar, the part of a sentence contains the verb* and gives information about the subject.
*The Japanese Predicate contains either a verb, adjective, or noun.
Modality: About a speaker’s or a writer’s attitude towards the world. A speaker or writer can express certainty,
possibility, willingness, obligation, necessity, and ability by using modal words and expressions.

Reference: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/

Yukitty

For instance, the following sentence has 3 Modifiers, 1 Predicate, and 1 Modality.

About modifier

A modifier consists of a noun or noun phrase plus a case particle.

The case particles have the following main meanings.

The case particles	Examples of usage (meanings)
_____が	The subject of state/action etc.
_____を	The object of action etc.
_____に	Destination, Time, etc.
_____で	Location, Method, etc.
_____と	Together, Quotations, etc.
_____へ	Direction, Recipient, etc.
_____から	The starting point, Cause, etc.
_____より	Sender, Comparison, etc.
_____まで	Limit of time/place etc.

typical roles of case particles

The meaning does not change even if the modifiers are interchanged. Usually, you put the words in the order you want to emphasize them.

The most natural word order is (1)when (2)where (3)who (4)what (5)how.

About Topic (kind of modifier)

A topic consists of a noun or noun phrase plus an adverbial particle.

The adverbial particles have the following main meanings. Topics are a kind of modality.

The adverbial particles	Examples of usage (meanings)
_____は	Topic, Contrast, etc.
_____なら	Contrast, Correlation, etc.
etc.	etc.

typical roles of adverbial particles

About Predicate

Only Verbs, I-adjectives, Na-adjectives, and Nouns can be predicates.

海賊王かいぞくおうに俺おれはなるっ！*
ONE PIECE (C)尾田栄一郎／集英社・フジテレビ・東映アニメーション

Kaizoku ouni orewa naru!

I’m going to become the pirate king! *Predicate (Verb)

この世界せかいは残酷ざんこくだ。* そして、とても美うつくしい。*
進撃の巨人 ©諫山創・講談社／「進撃の巨人」製作委員会

Kono sekaiwa zankokuda. Soshite totemo utsukushii.

This is a cruel world. And yet so beautiful. *Predicate (Na-Adjective) *Predicate (I-Adjective)

私わたしの戦闘力せんとうりょくは 53万まんです。*
ドラゴンボール ©バードスタジオ/集英社・東映アニメーション

Watashi no sentouryoku wa gojuusanmandesu.

My power level is 530,000. *Predicate (Noun)

About modality

Auxiliary verbs and sentence-ending particles can be modality.
Modality represents the speaker’s feelings and thoughts about a matter and his or her intentions toward the listener.

Auxiliary verbs	Core of meanings
だ、(です、ます)	assertion, (+politeness)
らしい、ようだ、みたいだ、そうだ	conjecture, hearsay
だろう、でしょう	non-conclusion, guess
はずだ、ちがいない	confidence
のだ、わけだ	description
べきだ、なければならない/いけない	necessarily, duty

Auxiliary verbs

Ending particles	Core of meanings
か、かな、かしら	question, wondering
よ、ぞ、ぜ、さ、わ	notification, informative
ね、よね	asking for consent, empathy
な、なあ	admire

Sentence-ending particles

Yukitty

And more other particles exist.
There are many, so I will omit them from this article.

e.g. A casual conversation with a good friend.

Other than predicates can be omitted in many cases

In Japanese, Other than predicates in the sentence, they are all predicate modifiers.
Predicate modifiers can be omitted. Only the predicate cannot be omitted.

Common Japanese sentence structure

(Modifier 1 + Modifier 2 + … +) Predicate (+ Modality1 + Modality2 + …) 。

Especially, the subject is almost omitted in Japanese sentences.

Especially if the subject in the situation is obvious, it has about 98% chance of being omitted in my experience. In other words, if the subject is not omitted in many sentences, the Japanese will be unnatural for native speakers.

気持きもち悪わるい。*
新世紀エヴァンゲリオン ©カラー／Project Eva.

It’s disgusting. *Predicate (I-Adjective)

(それが* )気持ち悪い。 *それが is omitted. “It” in Japanese is always omitted.

駆逐くちくしてやる！*
進撃の巨人 ©諫山創・講談社／「進撃の巨人」製作委員会

I’m going to exterminate the titans! *Predicate (Verb)

(俺が* )(巨人を* ) 駆逐してやる！ *俺が and 巨人を are omitted. Because in this situation, they are obvious.

Word order is not so important

You can switch the word order. In Japanese sentences, the Case particles* function instead of the word order of English. But the Predicate must always be at the end of the sentence, except for special expressions.

*A case particle is attached to the end of the other than predicates.
_____が _____を _____に _____と etc.