A clause in Japanese is completed when the final verb in the sentence is in the ใฆ-form. This indicates that something will follow the clause, as by itself this completed clause is not a completed sentence.1

Example: Yui is reading a book and...

็ต่กฃใกใ‚ƒใ‚“ใฏๆœฌใ‚’ใ‚ˆใ‚“ใงใ„ใฆ

Info

็ต่กฃใกใ‚ƒใ‚“ (Yui + friendly honorific) is marked with ใฏ and thus is the topic of the sentence.

Due to the lack of an explicit subject, it is inferred from context in this case to be ็ต่กฃใกใ‚ƒใ‚“.

ๆœฌ (book) is marked by ใ‚’, marking it as the object of the sentence.

ใ‚ˆใ‚“ใง (reading) is the ใฆ-form of ใ‚ˆใ‚€ (read). The ใฆ-form here is placing the verb into the continuous present. As it cannot be the primary verb, it is adding context to the proceeding verb ใ„ใ‚‹ (exist).

ใ„ใฆ is the ใฆ-form of ใ„ใ‚‹ (exist). As it is modifying what would be primary verb of the sentence, the ใฆ-form in this case is completing the clause and implying something else follows.

Footnotes

  1. Japanese from Scratch (11) โ†ฉ