Ví dụ kite iru có nghĩa "Anh ta đã đến (và vẫn đang ở đây)", nhưng tabete iru có nghĩa "Anh ta đang ăn". Câu hỏi (cả với một đại từ nghi vấn và câu hỏi có/không) có cấu trúc như các câu khẳng định nhưng ngữ điệu lên giọng ở cuối câu | Word Order 15 What about questions The word order remains the same. But remember Japanese does not use question marks. A sentence becomes a question by adding the particle ka at the end. You can think of ka as a question mark. Particles an important Part of Speech in Japanese will be discussed in 6. Examples Okasan ga pan 0 Jon san ga sore o otõsan ga eiga 0 kaimashita ka. Did mother buy bread shimashita ka. Did John do it I mimashita ka. Did father see a movie Subject and Predicate Tip Japanese sentences may have a subject or a topic but they must have a predicate. The subject is followed by the particle ga and the topic by the particle wa. See 6. The predicate is the core of the Japanese sentence. It comes at the end and it must be a verb or a verbal form. In Japanese a verbal form may be a noun plus copula like English is or are. See or a verbal adjective. 16 The Basics Examples John Japanese speaks I Tanaka san wa I Mr. Tanaka Nihonjin desu Japanese is noun copula Kudamono wa is expensive The fruit In addition to the subject or topic there may of course be other elements in the sentence object indirect object adverb and so forth. They come before the predicate and are not considered part of it. Two principles hold true for word order in a Japanese sentence The predicate must come at the end of the sentence. A particle must immediately follow the word or words it marks. Other than this word order is not rigid. The subject or topic usually comes first although an adverb of time may pre Word Order 17 cede it or follow it. Expressions of time usually precede expressions of place. Most modifiers precede the words they modify. Examples Kare wa mainichi uchi de shinbun he topic every day home at newspapers marker o takusan yomimasu. obj. many reads marker Kono kodomotachi wa Nihonjin desu. I I J. jL J these children topic Japanese are marker Shinbun ga tẽburu no ue ni arimasu. I I I. I I I . I newspaper subj. table s top on there is marker Kyo Jon san wa .
