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