LinguaOne order, five slots
Topic, time, place, object, verb. Every sentence in this unit fits that line, and only the filled slots appear: わたしはまいあさうちでパンをたべます uses all five, たべます uses one. Nothing is ever added after the verb, and the particles tell you which slot a word belongs to no matter where the sentence starts.
| Slot | Particle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| topic | は | わたしは |
| time | に or none | しちじに |
| place of action | で | うちで |
| destination | へ | えきへ |
| object | を | パンを |
Four verb forms and nothing else
ます, ません, ました, ませんでした. Every polite Japanese verb has exactly these four and no others, and no verb is irregular in them. That is unusual enough to be worth noticing: the irregularity in Japanese verbs is all in the forms you meet later, and the polite endings you have learnt here never change for anybody.
わたしはまいあさうちでパンをたべますI eat bread at home every morning.
きのうはどこへもいきませんでしたI did not go anywhere yesterday.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| いきます | to go | くうこうへいきます I am going to the airport. |
| たべます | to eat | ひるはそばをたべます At midday I eat noodles. |
| よみます | to read | まいあさしんぶんをよみます I read the newspaper every morning. |
| を | marks the object | おちゃをのみませんか Shall we have some tea? |
| で | at (a place of action) | きっさてんでまちます I will wait at the coffee shop. |
| と | with (a person) | ともだちとひるごはんをたべます I have lunch with a friend. |
| ました | polite past ending | けさろくじにおきました I got up at six this morning. |
| ませんでした | polite past negative | きのうはべんきょうしませんでした I did not study yesterday. |
| うち | home | しちじにうちにかえります I go home at seven. |
| えき | station | えきであいましょう Let us meet at the station. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 2
- translate the sentence: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which sentence uses the particles correctly?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.