Index

  • There are two words for a thing in Japanese. こと and もの.
  • もの refers to a physical object (flower, hat, pencil).
  • こと refers to something non-physical (an idea, an event, an action).
  • There exist two different と particles.
  • The と “joining” particle serves the function of “and”.
  • The と “quotation” particle serves the function of communicating something as being a quote.
  • The quotation particle comes after a quote within a sentence.
  • The と quotation particle is used in addition to the square quotation brackets used in Japanese.
  • そのとき is a relative time expression, meaning “that time”. It is placing the sentence into the same time that was established prior to it’s use.
  • Relative time expressions do not require the usage of anything to function within the sentence, they are simply placed at the beginning and no particle is required.
  • The い-stem of a verb can be used to attach another verb, altering the meaning.
  • とおりすぎる = とおる (pass through, い-stem) + すぎる (go beyond) = passing by / passing beyond.
  • Two nouns can be combined in Japanese to create a new noun (e.g かいちゅうどけい = かいちゅう (inside of ones pocket) + とけい (clock) = pocket-clock). It’s the same as we do in English i.e pocket-watch.
  • When pushing two nouns together, the second noun is changed so that the first kana is it’s だくてん (dakuten) equivalent, if one exists (i.e とけい どけい).

The と quotation particle

  • The と quotation particle takes a whole quotation and turns it into a noun.
  • と then makes the noun (quotation) function as a modifier to the verb that follows.
  • The と quotation particle provides extra information regarding the action of the subject of the sentence, the person or thing that the quote is sourced from.
  • It isn’t uncommon for a verb addressed to somebody in the て-form to actually be a shorthand for てください.
  • The quotation particle can also be used for sound effects. To quote the sound to show how the action was taken (e.g でもウサギはピョンピョンとはしりつづけた = The rabbit continued running like “pyon pyon”).