► 副助詞
は [わ] meaning: subject rank: 1
☆ お母さんは？ ⇨ Where is mom? What about mom?
☆ それは私は決められない ⇨ I cannot decide that. (Somebody else should)
☆ 彼はイタリア人だ ⇨ He is an Italian
☆ 彼女の目は青い ⇨ Her eyes are blue
☆ 彼女の脚は長い ⇨ Her legs are long
☆ 彼女はパーティーに来なかった ⇨ She didn’t come to the party (unlike others)
☆ 彼女は三児の母親だ ⇨ She is a mother of three children
☆ 熱は有るが、お腹は痛くない ⇨ I have a fever, but my stomach doesn’t hurt
☆ 私の家は小さい ⇨ My house is small
☆ 私はそうは思わない ⇨ I don’t think so (unlike others)
☆ 君は間違っている ⇨ You are wrong (☛ Note the difference with “君が間違っている” which emphasizes “it is you who is wrong”)
► 格助詞
が [が] meaning: subject rank: 1
☆ お腹が痛い ⇨ My stomach hurts
☆ それはお前が決めることではない ⇨ It is not something you decide
☆ それは私がやっておきます ⇨ I will take care of it
☆ 外で犬が吠えている ⇨ A dog is barking outside
☆ 彼の作品は想像力が欠けている ⇨ Imagination is lacking in his work
☆ 彼女は脚が長い ⇨ With her legs are long. She has long legs
☆ 君が間違っている ⇨ It is you who is wrong (☛ Note the difference with “君は間違っている” which just says “you are wrong”)
に [に] meaning: subject rank: 1
☆ あいつに分かって堪るか ⇨ There is no way he could understand it (☛ Only with can-do verbs)
☆ それを子供にも分かるように説明するのは難しい ⇨ It is difficult to explain it so that even children can understand (☛ Only with can-do verbs)
☆ 彼に出来るのなら私にも出来る ⇨ If he can do it, the I can do it too (☛ Only with can-do verbs)
☆ 先生に私の料理を試して頂きたい ⇨ I’d like the master to try out my food (☛ With do-for-me verbs in a sub-clause)
☆ 同僚に仕事を替わってもらった ⇨ I had my co-worker substitute for me. (☛ With do-for-me verbs in a sub-clause)
☆ 彼にこの責任は取ってもらう ⇨ We will have him take the responsibility for this (☛ With do-for-me verbs in a sub-clause)
に [に] [には] [に＋は] meaning: subject rank: 1
☆ 犬には聞こえるが人間には聞こえない音 ⇨ Sound dogs can hear but humans can’t (☛ Only with can-do verbs)
の [の] meaning: subject rank: 2
☆ 皆ワールドカップの始まるのを楽しみにしている ⇨ Everybody is looking forward to the World Cup to begin (☛ Used only in a sub-clause of a sentence. が can always substitute の, but の cannot replace が in main clause)
☆ 私は御飯の炊けるのを待っている ⇨ I am waiting for the rice to be cooked (☛ Used only in a sub-clause of a sentence. が can always substitute の, but の cannot replace が in main clause)
☆ 私は母のくれた指輪をいつもしている ⇨ I always wear the ring my mother gave me (☛ Used only in a sub-clause of a sentence. が can always substitute の, but の cannot replace が in main clause)
とは [とわ] [とは～ものだ] [と＋は] [liter] meaning: subject rank: 3
☆ 人生とは儚いものだ ⇨ Life is such a fleeting thing
☆ 人間とは浅ましいものだ ⇨ Humans are such shallow creatures
► 名詞
話 [はなし] meaning: subject rank: 1
☆ そういう話を子供の前でしないでよ ⇨ Don’t talk about something like that in front of the children
☆ それは話が別だ ⇨ That’s a separate topic
☆ それ何の話？ ⇨ What’s that about? What are you talking about?
☆ 話を変えるなよ ⇨ Don’t change the subject
話し [はなし] [話が出る] meaning: subject rank: 1
☆ 会議ではそういう話は出なかった ⇨ Nobody brought up that subject in the meeting
科目 [かもく] meaning: subject rank: 2
☆ 試験は国語、英語、数学の三科目だ ⇨ The exams are for three subjects of Japanese, English and Math (☛ Academic subjects)
項 [(1)こう] meaning: subject rank: 2
☆ 次の項に移る前に質問は有りますか？ ⇨ Is there any question before we move on to the next topic?
主語 [(1)しゅご] meaning: subject rank: 2
☆ 日本語では主語が頻繁に省略される ⇨ Subjects are often omitted in Japanese
話題 [わだい] meaning: subject rank: 2
☆ 彼は話題が豊富だ ⇨ He knows a variety of topic (for entertaining conversations)
話題 [わだい] [話題に上る] meaning: subject rank: 2
☆ 定例会議ではその件は話題にすら上らなかった ⇨ That subject was not even mentioned in the regular meeting
本題 [ほんだい] meaning: subject rank: 3
☆ 本題に入りましょう ⇨ Let’s get into the main topic (☛ Literally “the base theme”)
主体 [しゅたい] meaning: subject rank: 4
☆ 動作の主体 ⇨ The one that actively makes a movement
主題 [しゅだい] meaning: subject rank: 4
☆ 論文の主題 ⇨ The main subject of a thesis
論題 [ろんだい] meaning: subject rank: 5
☆ 論文の論題 ⇨ The subject of a thesis