Japanese Sentence Structure
How Japanese word order works: the verb comes last, particles mark each word's role, and the rest can move.
- Basic order
- Subject–object–verb
- Fixed rule
- The verb comes last
- Roles marked by
- Particles
- Questions
- Add か (ka)
The verb comes last
English uses subject–verb–object: I eat sushi. Japanese uses subject–object–verb: わたしはすしをたべます。(Watashi wa sushi o tabemasu.)
The verb (or です) ends the sentence. In casual speech people sometimes add a word after the verb as an afterthought, but as a learner, keep the verb last.
Particles do the work
Each particle labels the word in front of it: は (wa) marks the topic, を (o) the object, に (ni) a time or destination, and で (de) the place where something happens.
Because the labels travel with the words, the order before the verb can change. きのう、としょかんでほんをよみました and としょかんで、きのうほんをよみました both mean "I read a book at the library yesterday." (Kinō, toshokan de hon o yomimashita.)
Start with the usual order (topic, time, place, object, verb) until it feels natural.
Build a sentence step by step
Verb: たべます (tabemasu), I eat.
Add the object: パンをたべます (pan o tabemasu), I eat bread.
Add the time: まいあさパンをたべます (maiasa pan o tabemasu), I eat bread every morning.
Add the topic: わたしはまいあさパンをたべます (watashi wa maiasa pan o tabemasu).
Time words such as まいあさ (every morning) and きのう (yesterday) take no particle. Clock times and dates take に: 7時にたべます (shichiji ni tabemasu), I eat at seven.
Leaving words out
Japanese drops the subject, and sometimes the object, when the context makes it clear.
If someone asks なにをたべましたか (nani o tabemashita ka, what did you eat?), a natural answer is すしをたべました (sushi o tabemashita), not わたしはすしをたべました.
Questions and descriptions
For a yes/no question, add か (ka) to the end: すしをたべますか (sushi o tabemasu ka)? The order does not change.
Descriptions come before the noun: あかいくるま (akai kuruma), a red car; きのうかったほん (kinō katta hon), the book I bought yesterday.
Related reading
- Japanese particles
- Particles masterclass
- Japanese grammar overview
- Japanese question words
- Why Japanese leaves out I and you
- Wa vs ga
Common questions
Is Japanese word order free?+
It is flexible before the verb, because particles mark the roles. Keep the verb last and put the topic with は near the start.
Do Japanese sentences need a subject?+
No. When the context makes it clear, leave it out. Adding わたしは to every sentence sounds unnatural.
Where do adjectives go?+
Before the noun (あかいくるま, a red car), or before です at the end (このくるまはあかいです, this car is red).
Is です a verb?+
です works like one: it ends the sentence and makes it polite. これはほんです (kore wa hon desu) means "this is a book."
