Japanese Learning: Wa-Ga Construction for Verb “Wakarimasu”; [Person]+wa+[Something]+ga+Wakarimasu.

We have already learned two “Wa-ga construction” sentences. Their predicates are Na-adjectives “Sukina” and “Jouzuna”. Today we are going to learn a “Wa-ga construction” in which a verb is used for predicate.

1. Watashi wa Nihongo ga Wakarimasu. (I understand Japanese.)

The sentence 1 is of Wa-ga construction. Usually “Wa-ga construction” is explained as follows;

 [Topic] wa [Subject] ga [Predicate].

However, the sentence 1 seems to be;

[Subject] wa [Object] ga [Verb predicate]

Compare the following sentence with the sentence 1 above;

2. Watashi wa Nihongo o Benkyoushimasu. (I study Japanese.)

The verbs “understand” and “study” in English are in most cases transitive verbs. So, can you say two verbs “Wakarimasu” and “Benkyoushimasu” are both transitive verbs, and “ga” is also object marker as “o”?

The verb “Wakarimasu” is not a transitive verb but an intransitive verb. “Wakarimasu” doesn’t use particle “o” but uses “ga” for the object. Probably it is not enough to say “Wakarimasu is an intransitive verb” for the reason why Wakarimasu uses “ga” for its object. The explanation would not be easy. I just recommend you to remember the example sentence like 1, and to be able to use the expression “[Something] ga Wakarimasu”. But if I say something about “ga Wakarimasu”, it would be that the verb “Wakarimasu” contains the meaning of “possible”. As to the meaning of Wakarimasu, it is usually said to be like “understand” in English, but think it can also be like “can tell”. If you want to say you can do something, you will put emphasis on what you can do. In Japanese, if you want to identify an object, in the cases below, “ga” is used for that object.

– you want (～ga hoshiidesu.)

– you like (～ga sukidesu.)

– you are good at(～ga jouzudesu.)

– you understand(～ga wakarimasu.) — Today’s expression

– you have(～ga arimasu.)

– you can(～ga dekimasu.)

Wakarimasu, arimasu, and dekimasu are verbs. But they are in some extent stative. If the verb is actionable, and the verb is a transitive verb or is a mobile intransitive verb, do not forget the following basics;

[Subject] ga [object] o [Verb] masu.

And know that “Wa-ga construction” is not versatile any time.

Practice and remember “Wa-ga construction” sentences through the following conversations.

A : Satou-san wa Eigo ga Wakarimasuka. (Do you understand English?)

B : Hai, Watashi wa Eigo ga Wakarimasu. (Yes, I understand English.)

<この投稿は“スリーエーネットワーク、みんなの日本語 初級I 第2版, 第9課A3”の内容を参照しています。>