Topic 4 Lesson 8: Home - Talk about where something is

Basic Sentence Structure

The basic sentence structure being taught in this lesson utilizes the particles "wa" (は), "no" (の), and the copula "desu" (です) to describe the location of objects.

Structure

The primary structure introduced is:

N1 は N2 の position です

Where:

  • N1 is the object whose location is being described.
  • は (wa) is the topic marker particle, indicating that N1 is the topic of the sentence.
  • N2 is the reference point for the location.
  • の (no) is the possessive/connecting particle, linking N2 to the location.
  • position is a word indicating the location of N1 relative to N2 (e.g., 上 (ue - on), 下 (shita - under), 中 (naka - in), 横 (yoko - beside)).
  • です (desu) is the copula, similar to "is" in English, making the statement polite.

Examples

  1. 人形は棚の上です (Ningyoo wa tana no ue desu.)

    • Translation: The doll is on the shelf.
    • Breakdown: Doll (人形) WA (topic), shelf (棚) NO (possessive), on (上) DESU (is).

  2. 本は棚の上です (Hon wa tana no ue desu.)

    • Translation: The book is on the shelf.
    • Breakdown: Book (本) WA (topic), shelf (棚) NO (possessive), on (上) DESU (is).

  3. トイレはお風呂の前です (Toire wa o furo no mae desu.)

    • Translation: The toilet is in front of the bath.
    • Breakdown: Toilet (トイレ) WA (topic), bath (お風呂) NO (possessive), in front (前) DESU (is).

  4. 日本の茶碗は箱の中です (Nihon no chawan wa hako no naka desu.)

    • Translation: The Japanese bowl is in the box.
    • Breakdown: Japanese bowl (日本の茶碗) WA (topic), box (箱) NO (possessive), in (中) DESU (is).

Asking Location

The lesson also introduces how to ask for the location of something:

N1 は どこ ですか (N1 wa doko desu ka?)

  • どこ (doko) means "where".
  • ですか (desu ka) is the polite question marker.

Example:

  • A: 犬はどこですか (Inu wa doko desu ka.)
    • Translation: Where is the dog?
  • B: ベッドの下です (Beddo no shita desu.)
    • Translation: It's under the bed.

Important Points

  • N2 の ~: This indicates the position of something with N2 as a starting point. N2 acts as the reference point.
  • Omission of N1 は: When it's clear what N1 is from the context, 「N1 は」 can be omitted. For instance, in the example response "ベッドの下です", the topic (the dog) is understood from the question, so 「犬は」 is omitted.