I’m studying Japanese and I want to document some it’s interesting “features”.
Feature 1: Case Markers
The basic word order in a Japanese sentence is subject-object-verb (SOV) as opposed to english where the basic word order is subject-verb-object (SVO). The english sentence “Vince (S) uses (V) a computer (O)” translates to “Binsu-wa (S) konpyuuta-o (O) tukau (V)”. The rule in Japanese is that the verb comes at the end of a sentence. And yes, they call me “Beans”.
Who cares, right? Wrong!
Notice the “wa” and “o” particles in the Japanese sentence? Those are called “case markers” and they accompany the subject (Binsu) and object (konpyuuta). These markers allow us to change the word order of the Japanese sentence while retaining it’s meaning: “Konpyuuta-o Binsu-wa tukau”. Doing the same to the English sentence would radically change it’s meaning to “A computer uses Vince”. Argh! Where’s Keanu Reeves when you need him!
Neat!
私もプログラマーです（よくASP.NET、でもRoRに始める）。日本語を勉強しています。
Highly recommend jisho.org and learnjapanesepod.com.
I am planning my first trip to Japan, and will be flying into Osaka (Itami) and flying out of Tokyo. We plan on visiting several areas like Kyoto and Hiroshima. My question is should we spend the first night in Osaka, or is there a close and convenient option that would be a better choice. Like Nara.