ใจ is a particle that marks something as a quotation in the form of a single noun, and makes that noun function as a modifier to the primary verb in the clause.1

Example: As for Yui, she said "late! late!".

็ต่กฃใกใ‚ƒใ‚“ใฏใ€ŒใŠใใ„๏ผใŠใใ„๏ผใ€ใจ่จ€ใฃใŸ

Info

In this example, ็ต่กฃใกใ‚ƒใ‚“/ใ‚†ใ„ใกใ‚ƒใ‚“ (Yui-chan) is marked by the ใฏ particle, making her the primary topic of the sentence.

ๆ™‚่จˆ/ใจใ‘ใ„ (clock) is marked by ใ‚’, so it the object of the sentence.

The primary verb ่จ€ใ†/ใ„ใ† (say) is in the ใŸ-form, placing the sentence into the past tense.

ใ€ŒใŠใใ„๏ผใŠใใ„๏ผใ€ has quotation brackets to clarify the start and end points of the quotation. The ใจ particle marks it as a quotation in the form of a single noun, and makes it act as a modifier for the proceeding verb, telling us more about it.

The subject of the sentence is inferred from context to be ็ต่กฃใกใ‚ƒใ‚“ (Yui-chan), as the ใŒ particle is omitted.

Footnotes

  1. Japanese from Scratch (12) โ†ฉ