Case Markings ('ga', 'ni', 'o', 'de', etc.)

1. What is 'Case'? What is a 'Case Marker'?

Compare what happens to Tanaka in the following sentences:

a. 田中さんが　ハンバーガーを　食べた。　 [Tanaka ate a hamburger.]

b. 田中さんを　ハンバーガーが　食べた。 [A hamburger ate Tanaka.]
If you mix up 'ga' and 'o', you can really change the meaning!

'Case' describes how a noun relates to a verb:

In (a), 'Mr. Tanaka' is the 'subject' of the verb ('subject' is a form of 'case').
Here, 'ga' is the 'case marker' that marks the subject. The subject, in this sentence, is the thing that does the eating.

In (b), 'Mr. Tanaka' is the 'object' of the verb ('object' is also a kind of 'case').
Here, 'o' is the 'case marker' that marks the object. The object, in this sentence, is the thing that gets eaten.

Note that 'hamburger' is the object of (a), and the subject of (b).

2. More examples of case marking with a verb:

a.
田中さんが食べた。 [Tanaka ate.]

A 'subject' (in this case Tanaka) frequently marks the 'doer' of an action.

b.
ハンバーガーを食べた。 [He ate a hamburger.]

An 'object' (in this case 'hamburger') often marks what is being 'done to.'

c.

レストランで食べた。 [He ate at a restaurant.]

Here, 'de' marks the location of an action or event.

d. 　お箸で食べた。
[He ate with chopsticks.]

Here, 'de' marks the means by which an action is accomplished.

e. 　水曜日に食べた。
[He ate on Wednesday.]

Here, 'ni' marks the time of the action.

Note that the time is 'absolute', i.e., as one might see it on a calendar.

f. 　今日
食べた。 [He ate today.]

Here, the 'null' particle (i.e., nothing) marks the 'relative' time.

'Relative' time words only make sense in relation to 'now'.

g. 　三つ
食べた。 [He ate three {units worth}.]

Here, the 'null' particle (i.e., nothing) marks a quantity expression.

'Quantity expressions' often have a number followed by a counter.

Note that Q-exp's refer to the amount [eaten], not to the object [eaten].

h. 　きれいに食べた。
[He ate them cleanly.]

Here, 'ni' marks word describing the manner in which the action occurred.

Not all words of manner are followed by 'ni'! For example:

i. 　堂々と食べた。
[He ate them boldly.]

Here, the manner word is marked by 'to'.

Case marking for manner-words has to be learned case-by-case!

(Examples: きれい takes に , but どうどう takes と )

j. 　早く食べた。
[He ate them quickly.]

Adjectives usually take the '-ku' form to modify verbs.

(In English, this would be called an adverbial, or -ly form)

k. 　急いで食べた。
[He ate them hurriedly.]

Verbs can take the '-te' form to modify other verbs.

3. Sentences that end with nouns or adjectives can have subjects.

a. 　　田中さんが先生である。
[Tanaka is the teacher.]

b. 　　田中さんが優しい。
[Tanaka is considerate.]

Also: N- and A- sentences can have nouns with other case markings.

c. 　　田中さんに無理だ。
[It is impossible 'for' Tanaka.]

d. 　　田中さんに大きい。

[It is too big 'for' Tanaka.]

e. 　　田中さんでいいだろう。
[Tanaka should be OK {for the job}.]

(i.e., 'Being Tanaka' would likely suffice.)

4. Nouns can also be modified by other adjectives, nouns, and verbs.

a. N の N:


先生の本 [The teacher's book.]

田中の奥さん [Tanaka's wife.]

田中の奥さん [The wife (named) Tanaka.]

Note that the last of these may seem strange, but there are examples in English that work similarly.
'The city of London' or 'London's fair city' does not necessarily imply that London is somehow 'larger' or 'more encompassing' than the city: London IS the city. The expression is essentially a form of parallelism.

b. N な N:

きれいなドレス [A pretty dress.]

変な人　[An odd (strange, warped) person.]

c. N (null)
N:

同じ会社 [The same company.]

石油危機 [The oil crisis.]

d. A-N:

大きい車 [A big automobile.]

e. V-N:

車を買う人 [People who buy automobiles.]

企業国家といわれたGM [The so-called corporate state, GM]

5. A basic list of case-marking particles and their uses:

I. が

a. Marks the subject (as above):

田中さんができる。[Tanaka can do it.]

b. Marks the second subject of some verbs (できる、分かる、ある、要る):

（田中さんに）英語ができる。[English is possible for Tanaka.]

II. を

a. Marks verb objects (as above):

ハンバーガーを食べた。　[I ate a hamburger.]

b. With motion verbs, marks the medium of motion:

道を行く。 [I will go along the road.]

橋を渡る。 [I will cross the bridge.]

窓を出る。 [I will go out the window.]

c. With some causative forms, marks the 'patient':


（トレーナーが）馬を　走らせた。 [The trainer let the horse run.]

（先生が）学生を（学校に）行かせた。 [Prof. made the st's go to school.]

III. に

a. With motion verbs, marks destination:


東京に行く。 [I will go to Tokyo.]

店に入る。 [I will enter the store.]

b. Marks verb 'recipient:'

田中さんに上げた。 [I gave it to Tanaka.]

田中さんに話した。 [I spoke to Tanaka.]

田中さんに（手紙を）書いた。 [I wrote a letter to Tanaka.]

c. With some causative forms, marks 'patient:'

(先生が）学生に（本を）読ませた。 [Prof. made the students read the book.]

d. With 'existence' verbs, marks location of existence:

（田中さんが）東京にいる。 [Tanaka is in Tokyo.]

（本が）図書室にある。 [The book is in the library room.]

e. Marks 'calendar-time:'

１９９６年５月２９日に行く。 [I will go on 1996/5/29.]

木曜日に行く。 [I will go on Thursday.]

f. Marks some nouns of manner:

きれいに書いた。 [I wrote it neatly.]

g. With 'change of state' verbs, marks final state:

怪物に変わった。 [It changed into a monster.]

ピンクになった。 [It turned pink.]

h. With 'decision' verbs, marks final decision/state:

コーヒーにした。 [I made {my order} into coffee.]

コーヒーに決めた。 [I decided on coffee.]

セーターに着替えた。 [I changed {clothing} into a sweater.]

i. Miscellaneous:

私にできない。 [It is not possible for me.]

IV. で

a. Location of an activity:

レストランで食べた。 [I ate at a restaurant.]

（パーティーは）東京で　ある。 [The party is in Tokyo.]

b. Means/conditions of accomplishment:

お箸で食べる。 [I will eat with chopsticks.]

車で行く。 [I will go by car.]

三人で行く。 [We will go as a threesome.]

これで終わる。 [I will finish with this.]

V. (null)

a. Marks numbered quantifiers:

（ハンバーガーを）三つ　食べた。 [I ate three hamburgers.]

（お金が）１０円　足りない。 [I am ten yen short.]

（手紙を）二通　書いた。 [I wrote two letters.]

b. Marks non-numbered expressions of extent:

ちょっと　分かった。 [I understood a small amount.]

大分　飲んだ。 [I had a considerable amount to drink.]

c. Marks 'relative-time' words:

今日　勉強する。 [I will study today.]

先週　見た。 [I saw it last week.]

来年　行く。 [I will go next year.]

VI. と

a. Marks quotations (direct and indirect):



「すみません」と言った。 [He said 'sorry.']

不可能と思われる。 [It is thought to be impossible.]

弾性安定と名づける。 [We call this 'elastic stability.']

実際的といえる。 [It can be called realistic.]

b. Marks some expressions of manner:

すらすらと分かる。 [He understands effortlessly.]

堂々と歩く。 [He walks grandly.]

c. Miscellaneous uses 'with:'

妻と行った。 [I went with my wife.]

妻と話した。 [I spoke with my wife.]

これと同じ。 [It is the same as this.]

これと違う。 [It is different from this.]

d. Designating and becoming:

（これを）Y軸とする。 [We designate this the Y-axis.]

（自動車部が）母体となった。

[The auto division became the core body {of the enterprise}.]

VII. へ

a. With verbs of motion, marks direction towards something:

東京へ行く。 [I will go towards Tokyo.]

b. Often without a verb, marks direction:

読者へ ['To the reader:' e.g., in a book introduction.]

VIII. から

a. Marks starting point of motion, time, etc.:

京都から来た。 [I came from Kyoto.]

９時から寝る。 [I go to sleep starting at 9:00.]

A から始めよう。 [Let's start from 'A']

IX. まで

a. Marks ending point of motion, time, etc.:

横浜まで行く。 [I will go as far as Yokohama.]

８時まで寝た。 [I slept until 8:00.]

This article was used with permission from: John P. Mertz, Associate Professor of Japanese, North Carolina State University. Japanese Language Clinic