Page 53 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

SPECIAL TOPICS IN INTERMEDIATE JAPANESE GRAMMAR
4. Toward Better Reading Comprehension: Analyzing Sentences
Accurately
Reading comprehension involves a variety of mental processes, from under-
standing the meanings of words and grasping the structures of sentences to
identifying the referents of pronouns and understanding inference. If the
reader fails in these processes, correct interpretation cannot be attained. One
of the most problematic areas here is sentence structure. This section provides
aids to improve skills for accurate sentence structure analysis.
(1) Basics

A. Structure of Simple Sentences
Before tackling complex sentence structures, it is essential to understand the
basic structure of Japanese sentences. First, let us consider the following
sentence.
bLL a i 4tbP3
I.
(1) $LG;f~t$@Ega>7,\"- TP ~veji-~bsfi,
(Last night I was watching TV in my friend's apartment.)
(1) is a simple sentence (i.e., a sentence with a single verbal). The structure
of this sentence can be diagramed as follows.
(2) Pre-verbal element Verbal
$L GA [Subject (Topic)]
%@ [Time]
E-Cb~k
7 - 1- T [Location]
1
P 1/ v B [Direct object]
As (2) illustrates, Japanese simple sentences usually consist of a verbal and
some pre-verbal elements. Complete sentences in Japanese must contain a ver-
bal, and in some instances simple sentences have only verbals (e.g., imperative
sentences). Thus, verbals are considered to be the "hub" of sentences. As a
matter of fact, sentences are constructed in such a way that the verbals are
modified by pre-verbal elements. The general structure of Japanese simple
sentences is provided in (3).