Essential Elements of Japanese Word Order & Sentence Structure

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Vocabulary, conjugation, and punctuation are all essential when learning a new language, but they are ultimately parts of the whole. Once you’ve learned the basics of Japanese grammar, you’ll have the tools to build a complete sentence. Some assembly is required: This guide on Japanese word order gives you the blueprint to arrange your thoughts into sentences confidently.

Whether you’re deciding where to place an adjective or how to insert the perfect adverb, we’ve put together example sentences and breakdowns to guide you. Word order and sentence structure come naturally over time with sufficient practice. It may help to immerse yourself in native Japanese content, where you’ll find complete sentences everywhere you look.

What is the correct word order in Japanese?

At its core, word order in Japanese can be broken down as starting with the subject, followed by the object, and then the verb at the end of the sentence. In linguistic terms, this is known as SOV, or subject-object-verb word order. 

Outside of those three parts of a sentence, the word order Japanese uses is flexible compared to other languages. As long as information directly related to each other (such as an adjective and the noun it’s describing) are close together, the exact location of each component in a sentence is somewhat versatile.

Ultimately, the most important rule to remember about Japanese sentence structure is that the verb goes at the end of a complete sentence in the majority of cases. Some sentences consist of a verb and nothing else! Even without a subject or object, Japanese verb conjugations offer a significant amount of context to fill in missing information. 

Particles help make Japanese word order flexible

The flexibility of a sentence in Japanese is dependent on the contents of that sentence, including which Japanese parts of speech are involved. But another reason Japanese word order is so flexible is because of particles. Even if the pieces of a sentence are in an unusual order, Japanese particles identify each word’s role, leaving no question as to where essential components like the subject and object are. 

This chart shows some of the most common particles, including those used in this guide’s example sentences:

Japanese word order: time and location

When the most important information in a sentence is not tied to the time or place, its placement in a sentence is fairly free. For example, in the sentence below, the important point is that lunch is being made, not when or where it’s being made. 

• Watashi wa jūichi ji ni hirugohan o tsukurimasu.（私は十一時に昼ごはんを作ります。）= I’ll make lunch at 11:00.

This same sentence could be written with the time before the subject.

• Jūichi ji ni watashi wa hirugohan o tsukurimasu.（十一時に私は昼ごはんを作ります。）= I’ll make lunch at 11:00.

The particles ni (に) and de (で) often go hand-in-hand with time and location. You may also notice that, if the subject “I” (watashi wa) is omitted due to it being obvious, the sentence is exactly the same.

However, if the time or location is particularly relevant for the entire context of the sentence, it should be introduced early. Likewise, if the verb is directly tied to the location or time, that information should go together.

• Kodomo no toki ni, watashi wa kazoku to kanada ni hikkoshimashita.（子供の時に、私は家族とカナダに引っ越しました。）= When I was a child, I moved with my family to Canada.

Japanese word order: adjectives and possession

Word order when describing things in Japanese is similar to English. If you assign an adjective like “tall” to a noun, it either goes before the noun, as in “tall building,” or it accompanies the “to be” verb, as in “building is tall.” The same is true in Japanese.

• Aoi bōshi o kaimashita.（青い帽子を買いました。）= I bought a blue hat.

• Kono bōshi wa aoi desu.（彼女の帽子は青いです。）= This hat is blue.

This word order also applies when talking about possession. To say the hat belongs to someone, the name goes before “hat” along with the possessive particle no (の), resulting in “[person]’s hat.” Similarly, if you want to keep describing the hat as blue, then “blue” would still be directly before “hat” but after “[person]’s,” just like in English.

• Mariko chan no aoi bōshi wa kirei desu ne.（真理子ちゃんの青い帽子はきれいですね。）= Mariko’s blue hat is pretty, isn’t it?

Did you notice the Japanese honorific -chan following Mariko’s name? Honorifics always immediately follow the name they’re attached to in the same way that “Mr.” goes immediately before “Rogers” in “Mr. Rogers.”

Japanese word order: counters

When using Japanese counters, there are two primary ways to fit them into a sentence. The first is to insert the quantity directly before the verb and after the particle following the item being counted.

• Neko ga ippiki imasu.（猫が一匹います。）= I have one cat. 

• Tomodachi ga gonin kimasu.（友だちが五人来ます。）= Five of my friends are coming. 

Alternatively, the number and counter can go before what’s being counted, followed by particle no.

• Ippiki no neko ga imasu.（一匹の猫がいます。）= I have one cat.

• Gonin no tomodachi ga kimasu.（五人の友だちが来ます。）= Five of my friends are coming. 

Japanese word order: adverbs

Rules regarding the placement of Japanese adverbs are perhaps the most lax due to their comparatively wide variety. Adverbs expressing quantity fit in the same places as counters, while those associated with time go where time words like days of the week would otherwise be. 

As long as an adverb is close to and before the word it’s describing, the meaning will be clear.

• Mamonaku densha ga mairimasu.（間もなく電車が参ります。）= The train will be arriving shortly.
• Onaka ga pekopeko dakara piza o takusan tabeta.（腹がぺこぺこだからピザをたくさん食べた。）= I ate a lot of pizza because I was starving.

Japanese word order: sentence-ending particles

As their name implies, sentence-ending particles go at the very end of the sentence after the verb. This is one of the only scenarios where the verb is not the last part of a sentence. 

There are only a handful of particles that fit this description. In these examples, particle ka (か) labels the sentence as a question, while particle yo (よ) adds emotional emphasis.

• Toire wa doko desu ka.（トイレはどこですか。) = Where is the restroom?

• Kyō wa sugoku samui desu yo.（今日はすごく寒いですよ。）= It’s so cold today, man.

Word order in Japanese with multiple clauses

When creating longer, more complex sentences, it’s important to keep related information together. If two sentences are combined into one—creating a new sentence with two clauses— each clause should retain its original content and meaning where possible.

• Kesa ie de pan o tabemashita. Konban resutoran de sushi o tabemasu.（今朝家でパンを食べました。今晩レストランで寿司を食べます。）= I ate bread at home this morning. I’ll have sushi at a restaurant tonight.
• Kesa ie de pan o tabete, konban resutoran de sushi o tabemasu.（今朝家でパンを食べて、今晩レストランで寿司を食べます。）= I ate bread at home this morning, and I’ll have sushi at a restaurant tonight.

It’s possible to move information between clauses if that information pertains to both. In the first example sentence below, “tomorrow” is included in the first clause. In the second example sentence, it’s been moved to the second clause. Depending on where “tomorrow” is located, its importance to the rest of the sentence changes slightly. The fact that it will be “raining tomorrow” is the emphasis in the first sentence, while the fact that the speaker won’t be going “to the park tomorrow” is the concern.

• Ashita wa ame ga futteiru kara, kōen ni ikimasen.（明日は雨が降っているから、公園に行きません。）= I won’t go to the park because it’ll be raining tomorrow. (Literally: Because it will be raining tomorrow, I won’t go to the park.)
• Ame ga futteiru kara, ashita kōen ni ikimasen.（雨が降っているから、明日公園に行きません。）= I won’t go to the park tomorrow because it’ll be raining. (Literally: Because it will be raining, I won’t go to the park tomorrow.)

Frequently asked questions about Japanese word order

With word order being different from English, it’s natural that anyone would have questions when learning Japanese. Here are a few answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Japanese word order. 

Is Japanese an SVO language?

Japanese is not an SVO (subject-verb-object) language: It is an SOV (subject-object-verb) language. English is SVO, while Japanese shares its SOV sentence structure with languages such as Korean, Urdu, and classical Greek.

What is the basic Japanese sentence pattern?

The Japanese sentence pattern essentially begins with the subject and is then followed by the object and its associated verb. Other information is commonly tied to the component it’s most related to (such as adjectives describing the subject or object), but the most important thing to remember is that the verb goes at the end of the sentence in the majority of cases.

Is Japanese sentence structure like Yoda’s speaking pattern?

While the Jedi master Yoda from Star Wars does have a reversed pattern of speech, it is not the same as Japanese sentence structure. The examples of his dialogue that deviate from English word order tend to follow the considerably rarer object-subject-verb (OSV) pattern (“Patience you must have.”).

Is Japanese word order flexible?

Yes, Japanese word order is flexible to a point. In most cases, only the verb is essential information. If it’s apparent without saying so explicitly, word order in Japanese allows the subject and object to be omitted. Extra information, such as adverbs, time, and location, can sometimes be flexibly placed in the sentence without changing the meaning.