[essex Uni, Uk] Japanese Class - Topic Marker Katakana

Japanese Language Class (Review & Katakana ha)

3/Mar/2009 (Hiro)

Topic marker は(wa) (Revised) Key sentences of the last class: へやに テレビが あります。 he ya ni te re bi GA a ri ma su.

わたしの Wa ta shi no

(There is a TV in my room. / I have a TV in my room.) テレビは Te re bi WA

ひきだしの hi ki da shi no

うえに u e ni

あります。 a ri ma su.

(The TV is on the drawer.) The particle は(wa) is called topic marker and it shows a central topic of the sentence. By using the topic marker, the speaker tells the listener what s/he is going to talk about in the sentence. X は(wa) …

=

As for X, / Speaking of X, …

Subjects, objects and even adverbial phrases can be a topic of the sentence (cf. が(ga) as a subject marker). When you pick up something as a topic, it usually comes at the beginning of the sentence. a. けいさんが Sub.

すしを Obj.

たべます。 Verb

Kee-san eats sushi.

b. けいさんは すしを Topic (Sub.) Obj.

たべます。 Verb

As for Kee-san, (he) eats sushi.

c. すしは Top. (Obj.)

けいさんが Sub.

たべます。 Verb

As for sushi,

(No topic)

Kee-san eats (it).

Shared information, which both of the speaker and the listener know about, tends to be a topic. When you want to talk about something you already mentioned (i.e. something the listener already knows about), it will be a topic of the coming sentence and appear at the beginning of the sentence with the topic marker は(wa). わたしの

へやに

テレビが

テレビは

ひきだしの

うえに

1

あります。 あります。

There is a TV … The TV is …

Katakana – ha hi fu he ho

ha

a

pu

hi

Fu

n

ra

He

n

bu

ho

te

2

to

su

ra

ru

i