「を」(1) Marking the direct object
「を」(1) Marking the direct object
Marks the direct object
As is the case with most of the basic particles, they have lots of uses, and を is no exception.
The most basic usage of を is to mark the direct object of a sentence. It is placed directly after the noun that is receiving the action of a verb.
彼はいつも一番高い服を買う。
He always buys the most expensive clothes.
お腹がすいているから、うどんを食べる。
I'm hungry, so I'm going to eat udon.
As you can see from these examples, the を particle is placed directly after the object. In the first example the 服 clothes are what is being bought, so they are marked with を. Likewise, うどん udon is marked because it is the thing that is being eaten.
It should be noted that を can only appear once in a clause.
Making the Direct Object the topic
が | を | に | で | へ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case Particle | が | を | に | で | へ |
Used as the Topic with は | は | は | には | では | へは |
は can either replace or combine with a Case Particle in order to mark the topic of a sentence. Let’s take a look at how は replaces を to turn the direct object of a sentence into the topic.
私も弁当を食べる。
I'm also going to eat a box lunch.
This sentence has no topic and its direct object is 弁当. Let us contrast it with the sentence below where the direct object has become the topic:
弁当は、私も食べる。
I'm also going to eat a box lunch.
(Literally: As for a box lunch, I also will eat.)
There are two main interpretations of the above sentence where 弁当 is now the topic of the sentence.
If は is being used to make a general statement then the nuance is that 弁当 is the topic of the conversation being had and the speaker is mentioning that they also eat 弁当.
If は is being used in a contrasting sense, then the nuance is that the speaker will eat the 弁当 but will not be eating any of the other potential food options, for example they’re going to get a 弁当 to eat from the shop but not a pizza.
Remember that both interpretations are equally correct and which one is appropriate would need to be determined from further context.
Special Note
Be careful not to draw comparisons to English, as the direct object in English is not always marked with を in Japanese. In some constructions を can be replaced by が.
日本語を/が話せる。
I can speak Japanese.
Formation
寿司を