The particle we are going to see today is the particle を which is written with the hiragana を but which is pronounced like the hiragana お. Besides, if we had to write it in rōmaji, we would write it « o ».
This hiragana, you have certainly not come across it anywhere, in any Japanese word until now as it has practically disappeared from all Japanese vocabulary – except for writing the particle – although it can be encountered in some ancient Japanese texts of the pre-war reform. But all that is another story.
We are here to learn modern Japanese so already know that if you stumble upon the hiragana を in a text, there is a 99.9% chance that it is the particle を.
So, what is the particle を ? This is the DOC (Direct Object Complement) particle. To give you a quick definition, the direct object is the word (or group of words) which joins the verb without preposition to complete the meaning. It is a verb complement. It represents the being or the thing that directly receives / undergoes the action that the subject does.
For example : Peter eats an apple.
To recognize the direct object complement, we ask after the verb the question "who ?" or "what ?" to know what undergoes the action.
Peter eats what ? An apple.
In the sentence « Peter eats an apple. », « An apple » is glued to the verb, therefore DOC.
As in English, the DOC can only be used in Japanese with transitive verbs, but for now I will not go into details about what is a transitive verb and an intransitive verb. We will see all of this in more detail in the third season when we focus on verbs. There will be a lot to say, but for now we don’t have to worry about it.
Let’s start now with a simple example :
私は食べる。
わたしはたべる。
I eat.
Until then, no problem, we know how to do this sentence perfectly. Now let’s try something more complex. If I want to clarify what I eat, I will say :
私は林檎を食べる。
わたしはりんごをたべる。
I eat an apple.
We have the particle を which is placed just after the word which is the DOC of the verb. What do I eat ? An apple. In the case of a sentence where we have several complements, the DOC will be the one that is closest to the verb. Don’t worry, it makes perfect sense, I’ll give you an example below to illustrate this :
千帆は福岡の町の市場で果物の売り手のバナナと梨を見る。
ちほはふくおかのまちのいちばでくだもののうりてのバナナとなしをみる。
Chiho looks at bananas and pears of a fruit merchant at a market in Fukuoka City.
Let’s analyze this sentence.
千帆 . ちほ is the topic of my sentence. In English we will say the subject.
見る . みる is the verb « to watch ». So the question is : what is Chiho looking at ? She looks…
果物の売り手のバナナと梨 . くだもののうりてのバナナとなし : bananas and pears of a fruit merchant. This is the DOC and we can see that it is the closest to the verb.
福岡の町の市場で . ふくおかのまちのいちばで : at a market in Fukuoka City. This is the place where the action takes place as indicated by the particle で.
Now let’s take another slightly more difficult example :
香はオーガニックショップで獠とスプーンでボウルにフルーツサラダを食べる。
かおりはオーガニックショップでりょとスプーンでボウルにフルーツサラダをたべる。
Kaori eats fruit salad in a bowl with a spoon with Ryo in an organic store.
Note : you have the word オーガニックストア as a synonym for オーガニックショップ.
Let’s analyze this sentence.
香 . かおり is the topic of my sentence. In English we will say the subject.
食べる . たべる is the verb « to eat ». So, the question is : what does Kaori eat? She eats…
フルーツサラダ : a fruit salad. This is the DOC and we can see that it is the closest to the verb.
獠とスプーンでボウルに : then we have the way she eats, what she eats and with whom she eats. ボウルに, she eats in a bowl ; スプーンで, with a spoon (the particle で indicates that the spoon is the means with which she eats) ; 獠と, with Ryo (the particle と makes us understand that Ryo is the person with whom she eats, with whom she do the action of eating).
オーガニックショップで : in an organic store. This is the place where the action takes place as indicated by the particle で.
So, we end up with a complex sentence with lots of complements, but luckily the particles are there to tell us what each element in the sentence corresponds to.
Now that we have seen the use of the particle を, I will now introduce you to the indirect object complement particle. It is about the particle に. Here, the particle will be used to indicate the indirect object complement in our sentence. This is a new use for this particle that we talked about in a previous course, and trust me you haven’t heard the last of it. The particle に has a slew of different uses and we will see them step by step, but for today, let’s focus on its new use; it is the particle of the IOC (Indirect Object Complement).
To give you a quick definition, the IOC (Indirect Object Complement is the word (or group of words) that joins the verb without preposition to complete the meaning. It is indirectly related to the verb. It represents the being or the thing that directly receives the action that the subject does. The IOC in a sentence answers questions like :
– Whose ?
– To what ?
– From whom ?
– About what ?
– By who ?
– By what ?
– Against who ?
– Against what ?
– For who ?
– What for ?...
And in order to help you better understand how it works, I give you some examples below :
アイスクリーム売り手は実彩子にアイスクリームを上げる。
アイスクリームうりてはみさこにアイスクリームをあげる。
The ice cream seller gives Misako ice cream.
Let’s analyze this sentence.
アイスクリーム売り手 . アイスクリームうりて is the topic of my sentence. In English we will say the subject.
あげる is the verb « to give ». So the question is, what does the ice cream seller give ? He gives…
アイスクリーム : an ice cream. This is the DOC. Who does the ice cream seller give ice cream to ?
実彩子に . みさこに : To Misako. This is the IOC, so we put the particle に.
Now let’s try with another sentence :
純子は空絵に帽子を貸す。
じゅんこはそらえにぼうしをかす。
Junko lends his hat to Sorae.
Let’s analyze this sentence.
純子 . じゅんこ is the topic of my sentence. In English we will say the subject.
貸す. かす is the verb « to lend ». So the question is : what does Junko lend ? He lends…
帽子. ボウシ : a hat. This is the DOC. Who does Junko lend a hat to ?
空絵に . そらえに : To Sorae. This is the IOC, so we put the particle に.
Now let’s try with another slightly more complex sentence :
加連は弟に自転車の乗り方を教える。
かれんはおとうとにじてんしゃののりかたをおしえる。
Karen teaches my little brother how to ride a bike.
Let’s analyze this sentence.
加連 . カレン is the topic of my sentence. In English we will say the subject.
教える. おしえる is the verb « to teach ». So, the question is, what does Karen teach? She teaches…
自転車の乗り方. ジテンシャののりかた : how to ride a bike. This is the DOC. Who does Karen teach how to ride a bike ?
弟に . おとうとに : To my little brother. This is the IOC, so we put the particle に.
Finally, a last sentence :
果物商人は那覇ビーチに光子と明子に西瓜と葡萄を売る。
くだものしょうにんはなはビーチにみつことあきこにスイカとブドウをうる。
The fruit merchant sells watermelons and grapes to Mitsuko and Akiko on Naha Beach.
Let’s analyze this sentence.
果物商人 .くだものジョウニン is the topic of my sentence. In English we will say the subject.
売る. うる is the verb « to sell ». The question then is: what is the fruit merchant selling ? He sells…
西瓜と葡萄. スイカとブドウ : watermelons and grapes. This is the DOC. Who does the fruit merchant sell watermelons and grapes to ?
光子と明子に . みつことあきこに : To Mitsuko and Akiko. This is the IOC, so we put the particle に.
那覇ビーチで . なはビーチで : On Naha Beach. This is where the action takes place, so we put the particle で.
So, we have just seen the use of the particle に of the IOC (Indirect Objet Complements) in four sentences, which is already good. We will have the opportunity to come across this particle again in another upcoming course where we will discuss another of its uses. I won’t tell you more yet, but keep that in mind.
Now that we have seen all of this, we have one final point to cover in this course. There are certain verbs that we would like to use with the particle を because the sentences contain a DOC, and yet in these exceptional cases we will use the particle に.
Let’s take for example the verb 会う . あう which means « to meet ».
Now let’s see the sentence below, first in English, then the question to find the DOC :
Hinata meets Hikasa.
→ Hinata meets who ?
→ Hikasa.
In Japanese, if we used the particle を, that would give us :
日向は日笠を会う。
ひなたはひかさをあう。
Hinata meets Hikasa.
Except, with the verb 会う . あう, we will not use the particle を but the particle に. We ALWAYS use the particle に with the verb 会う . あう.
So the correct sentence is :
日向は日笠に会う。
ひなたはひかさひかさにあう。
Hinata meets Hikasa.
Another example :
私は電車の中で日本語の先生に会う。
わたしはでんしゃのなかでにほんごのせんせいにあう。
I meet the Japanese teacher on the train.
(DOC : I meet who on the train ? The Japanese teacher.)
NOTE : depending on the context, we could have said « my Japanese teacher ». We will come back to the word in more detail 先生 . センセイ in a course on Japanese honorary suffixes.
私は時々図書館で彼に会う。
わたしはときどきとしょかんでかれにあう。
I meet him from time to time at the library.
(DOC : I meet who from time to time at the library ? Him.)
We also ALWAYS use the particle に with verbs expressing change like 成る . なる and 変わる . かわる.
Below are some examples :
小百合の顔は真っ赤に成る。
さゆりのかおはまっかになる。
Sayuri’s face turns all red.
(DOC : How does Sayuri’s face turn ? All red.)
カービーは石に変わる。
カービーはいしにかわる。
Kirby becomes a stone.
(DOC : Kirby becomes what ? A stone.)
That will be all for the examples. There are of course other verbs with which it is imperative to use the particle に, although we have a DOC (Direct Object Complement). I give you a small list below. They are not all present in the list but they are the most common.
いる .
to be (for all that is alive and animated)
ある .
to be (for all that is non-living or inanimate)
残る .
のこる . to stay, to remain
取り残す .
とりのこす . to leave behind
住む .
すむ . to live, to inhabit
会う .
あう . to meet (new verb)
出会う .
であう . to meet (new verb)
成る .
なる . to become, to grow (beings, plants) (new verb)
変わる . かわる . to change, to be changed (new verb)
We are now in the last part of this course and we will see another use of the particle を which is the route / the path. So, what do I mean by route /path ? Route / path means displacement, which means that the particle を is going to be used here with verbs of displacement.
If you remember your lesson on the particle で, you already know that in principle we use the particle で to express the place where something is happening, so we use with the particle で an action verb. And this is where you need to learn how to distinguish between an action verb and a displacement verb.
To Japanese people, an action verb and a displacement verb are two very different things. Verbs like « to walk », « to run », « to fly » are verbs of displacement. They are not action verbs.
I give you an example below for you to understand better :
鷲は空に飛ぶ。
わしはそらにとぶ。
The eagle flies in the sky.
We might be tempted to use the particle で because we might consider the verb 飛ぶ . とぶ as a verb of action and the sky as the place where the action of flying takes place. And yet no ! The verb 飛ぶ . とぶ is a verb of displacement and the particle で indicates a precise place where an action takes place, but the eagle is moving in the sky ; it is therefore a route and the sky is the place of the route, so we use the particle を.
Another example :
里美は動物園を歩く。
さとみはどうぶつえんをあるく。
Satomi walks in the zoo.
Here again, the verb 歩く . あるく is a verb of displacement and the zoo is the place where the route takes place, so we will use the particle を of the route.
One last example :
魚は大洋を泳ぐ。
さかなはたいようをおよぐ。
The fish swim in the ocean.
Here again, the verb 泳ぐ . およぐ is a displacement verb and the ocean is where the journey takes place, so we’ll use the particle を of the route.
So, let’s recap everything we’ve seen today.
– The particle を is the DOC particle.
– The particle に is the IOC particle.
– The particle を is also the route particle, making it another displacement particle with に and で.
It was a very long course, for sure, and we have seen a lot of new things today. It is very likely that most of you still have some confusion between which particle to use and in which case. At first, it’s not easy, but I assure you that once all of this has been understood, you will be able to make a lot of sentences. It will be great !
I now give you your exercises, some theme and version. And I have nothing specific to say, now you know how it all works.
Obviously, continue to practice writing and speaking, all of this is very important for your learning, I wish you good luck with your homework and I meet you in the next course.
And don’t forget the vocabulary word list that awaits you just below.
市場 .
いちば . the market
少女 .
ショウジョ . the salesperson, the seller
果物の売り手 .
くだもののうりて . the fruit seller / the fruit merchant
探偵 .
くだもの / ジョウニン . the fruit seller / the fruit merchant
オーガニックショップ / オーガニックストア . the organic shop / the organic store
ボウル . the bowl
フルーツサラダ . the fruit salad
上げる .
あげる . to give (new verb)
貸す .
かす . to lend (new verb)
石 .
いし . the stone, the rock
鷲 .
わし . the eagle
大洋 .
タイヨウ . the ocean
魚 .
さかな . the fish
The COD particle