4.5 Dropping the subject — and how Japanese gets away with it — Epoché
What you will be able to do Read a sentence with no subject in it and work out who is being talked about. Stop saying わたしは and あなたは in every sentence, and know why doing so sounds wrong rather than merely wordy. Use the four cues Japanese gives you in place of a subject. Know the one case where leaving out あなた is not optional but obligatory. Prerequisites : lesson 4.4 — the seven core particles, and the noun-linking の . Look back at the sentences you have read in the last four lessons and you will notice something. A large number of them have no subject at all. おさらをあらいます — "will wash the dishes". おちゃをいれますよ — "will make tea". Who? The sentences do not say, and Japanese speakers do not feel anything is missing. This is not ellipsis in the English sense, where a word has been left out of a complete sentence. In Japanese the sentence is complete. The subject is supplied by context, and mentioning it when the context already has it is a positive act with a meaning of its own. How English does it English requires a subject in every finite clause, so absolutely that it invents one when there is nothing to put there. It is raining — what is? It seems that he left — what seems? There are three — where is there? These dummy subjects exist only because the grammar has a slot that must be filled. Japanese has no such slot. "It is raining" is あめがふっています , "rain is falling", with rain as a real subject; and if the rain is already the topic, ふっています on its own is a complete sentence. The consequence for you is a habit, and it is a strong one. An English speaker learning Japanese produces わたしはがくせいです。わたしはにほんごをべんきょうします。わたしはとうきょうにすんでいます。 Every sentence is grammatical. Together they sound, to a Japanese ear, like someone insisting on themselves — because each わたしは re-establishes a topic that was never in doubt, and the only reason to re-establish a topic is contrast. The effect is roughly that of saying in English: " I am a student. I study Japanese. I live in Tokyo." The rule to adopt: state the subject once, when it changes, and then leave it out. The four cues If the subject is not there, how do you know who it is? Four things tell you, and between them they are almost always enough. 1. The topic, still running. A topic marked with は stays in force until something replaces it — often for several sentences, sometimes for a whole paragraph. This is the main mechanism, and it is why は is described as marking a topic rather than a subject: its scope is larger than one clause. 2. Politeness and honorifics. Japanese has verb forms that can only be used about other people, and forms that can only be used about yourself. おさけはのまれますか uses a respectful form, so the subject cannot be the speaker; it must be the person addressed. Conversely おてつだいします uses a humble form, so the subject must be the speaker. The verb carries the person. This is the strongest cue in the language and the whole of volume 5 is about it. 3. The meaning of the verb or adjective. Some predicates can only be asserted about yourself. You may say さむいです — "cold" — meaning that you are cold, because your own sensations are the only ones you can report directly; to say it of someone else you need an extra form. The same holds for 〜たい (want to), which in a plain statement means "I want to" and in a question means "do you want to", and never anything else. 4. Direction verbs. Some verbs encode who is giving and who receiving. これはさしあげます — "will give this" — can only mean that the speaker gives to the listener, because that verb only points that way. Lesson 4.27 in phase 2 is about this family. Objects disappear too It is not only subjects. Anything the context supplies can go, including the object. Japanese English おてつだいします。 [1] I'll help you. — no subject, no object ごいっしょします。 [2] I'll come with you. — no subject, no companion named おじゃまします。 [3] Said on entering someone's home. Literally "will intrude", with nobody intruding on anybody. The third one is worth pausing on. おじゃまします is a fixed phrase every Japanese speaker says at a doorway, and it consists of a humble verb and nothing else — no subject, no object, no mention of the house or the host. All of that is in the situation. A great deal of everyday Japanese is like this, and it is the reason a phrasebook translation looks so much longer than the original. When the subject must go One case is not a matter of style. Do not use あなた to a person you are speaking to, if you know their name or their role. あなた is in the dictionary as "you", and this course has used it in example sentences because the corpus does. But in real speech, addressing a colleague or a shopkeeper or a teacher as あなた is at best distant and at worst rude — and between spouses it is a term of endearment, which is a different problem. What Japanese does instead is either leave it out entirely, or use the person's name plus さん , or their role: せんせい , おきゃくさま . So the question "do you drink?" is not あなたはおさけをのみますか . It is おさけはのみますか , or with a name, たなかさんはおさけをのみますか . This is the single most consequential thing in this lesson, and it is a place where a textbook sentence and a natural sentence differ. In real sentences Twenty sentences with no stated subject. For each, say who the subject is and which of the four cues told you. Japanese English あすでなおします。 [4] I'll come back tomorrow. あのくつがいります。 [5] I need those shoes. いつきたくしますか。 [6] When will you be home? いつごろつきますか。 [7] About when will they arrive? おひやおねがいします！ [8] A glass of cold water, please! おくちにあいますか。 [9] Is it to your taste? おてつだいしますよ。 [10] I'll give you a hand. おじかんはありますか。 [11] Do you have a moment? おきにめしますか。 [12] Do you like it? おこめをつくってます。 [13] I grow rice. おさけはのまれますか？ [14] Do you drink? おしずかにねがいます。 [15] Quiet, please. おふろはついてますか。 [16] Does it come with a bath? このせきあいてますか？ [17] Is this seat free? このみずはのめます。 [18] This water is drinkable. このみずはのめますか？ [19] Is this water safe to drink? これでまにあいますか。 [20] Will this do? これはさしあげます。 [21] This is for you. おじかんわかりますか。 [22] Do you know the time? あと