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JAPANESE OBJECT PARTICLE を
Welcome to another Japanese lesson for beginners! Let’s have a look at how to use を, the object particle.
The object of a sentence is the thing that “receives” the verb, or in other words, is the thing acted on by the subject.
This is romanised as wo, but the w is not pronounced. It sounds like pronouncing the letter O.
FINDING THE OBJECT
An easy way to determine the object of a sentence is to ask, “what is the subject (verb)ing?”
Let’s have a look at these sentences:
| KANJI | ROMAJI | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| 私は宿題をします | watashi wa shukudai wo shimasu | I will do homework |
| 彼女は昼ご飯を作り ました | kanojo wa hirugohan wo tsukurimashita | She made lunch |
In these sentences, we can look at the verb and ask, “what is the verb acting on?”
- In the first one, the verb is “to do”. What is the thing being done? Homework.
- In the second, the verb is “made”. What was made? Lunch.
PATTERN
Object + を
These verbs also have something in common. They are transitive verbs, meaning they are verbs that act on the object.
NOTE | There are also intransitive verbs, and they do not act on an object in a sentence.
A sentence with an intransitive verb will not have an object in it marked with を.
TRANSITIVE & INTRANSITIVE VERBS
Let’s look at these two verbs for an example:
| 始める | hajimeru | To begin, to start (something) |
| 始まる | hajimaru | (something) begins, starts |
The first verb, 始める, is transitive, so there can be a direct object marked with particle を in the sentence.
On the other hand, 始まる is intransitive. There will not be an object specified:
| 先生は授業を始める | sensei wa jugyou wo hajimeru | The teacher will start the class |
| 授業は始まる | jugyou wa hajimaru | The class will begin |
Many verbs will have a transitive and an intransitive form like this. Over time it will become easy to spot the patterns and the differences.
CASE STUDY || VERBS “TO LOOK AT”
Let’s put all of this into practice, and have a look at three versions of the verb “to look at/to face”:
| VERB 1 | VERB 2 | VERB 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 向く | 向ける | 向かう |
| muku | mukeru | mukau |
| To turn toward, to face | To point, aim | To face |
| TRANSITIVE | TRANSITIVE | INTRANSITIVE |
The way each of these verbs behave is different, even though their meaning is roughly the same.
| KANJI | ROMAJI | ENGLISH |
|---|---|---|
| X を向く | X wo muku | To look at/turn towards X |
| XをYに向ける | X wo Y ni mukeru | To turn X towards Y |
| XはYに向かう | X wa Y ni mukau | X faces Y |
The first two verbs are transitive, so they can have an object with を.
- In the first example, X, the object, is the thing being looked at or aimed at.
- In the second example, the object X is the thing being turned to point in the direction of Y.
- In the third example, the verb is intransitive, so there is no object.
NOTE || However, X is still facing in a direction, and that direction can be marked with particle に.
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FAQs
What is を?
を is the Japanese object particle.
This is romanised as wo, but the w is not pronounced. It sounds like pronouncing the letter O.
How to use を?
を is added at the end of an object when the sentence has a transitive verb (verbs that act on the object).
A sentence with an intransitive verb will not have an object in it marked with を.
Any sentence examples using を?
先生は授業を始める | The teacher will start the class.
X を向く | To look at X.
私は宿題をします | I will so homework.
What are some other Japanese particles?
Japanese has several important particles to learn about:
– The subject particle が
– The possessive particle の
– Locations particles で, に, and へ
You’ll see more as you move forward in your language learning.
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