をObject marking particle

Structure

Object + を

Details

Part of Speech
Particle
Word Type
Case Marking Particle
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Standard

About を

In Japanese, を is a particle that marks the object of an action. This means that the subject (the person or thing performing an action) is performing that action with the object being the goal/target of the action. In most cases, whatever を is attached to will not actually be 'doing' anything, but will instead have something being done to it.

In these sentences, を is marking the thing that is having an action performed 'on' it. This is how the Japanese language views the 'object'. However, unlike English, an object can also be a place in which an action is performed 'through', if the goal of that action is based in that location itself.

In these sentences, を is marking the place 'through' which the action is taking place. This use of を highlights that the place itself is what is being interacted with (running/walking requires interaction with the ground, so the ground/place is the object).

Synonyms

が
Subject marking particle, Identification particle
Not studied yet

Examples

--:--

漢字(かんじ)を覚(おぼ)える。

To memorize kanji. (object marker)

何(なに)を食(た)べますか。

What will you have to eat? (object marker)

バターを食(た)べる。

To eat butter. (object marker)

スポーツを見(み)る。

To watch sports. (object marker)

時計(とけい)を見(み)る。

To look at the clock. (object marker)

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Online
- All uses of particle を explained
  BriefJapanese
- The direct object 「を」 particle
  Tae Kim
- Verbs basics & を particle
  Japanese Ammo
- The Particle を: The Direct Object
  Imabi

Offline
- Genki I 2nd Edition
  Page 90
- みんなの日本語 I
  Page 44 [CH 6]
- Genki I
  Page 61
- [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
  Page 347
- Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
  Page 54
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を – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (13 in total)

gyroninja

nekoyama:

so 家を doesn’t provide a direct object like it would with a transitive verb

While it might not be providing a direct object, the usage of を is viewed as being the same thing to at least some native speakers. A native speaker I asked said that what the verb was didn’t matter and that を did the same thing, marking the target of a verb. I have also seen someone else document this in an answer on the Japanese Language StackExchange. Someone did comment on that answer that a native t...
Superpnut
Okay thank you I think I get it now, well maybe
And you don’t need to think I am missing fundamentals because I definitely am
I am missing them so much that I don’t even know what is a fundamental in this language or not but that’s okay just keep swimming.
Thanks for spelling it out that one is for verbs and one isn’t. I can now continue to struggle through!
machinaeZER0

In the example sentence above, the lady in the audio recording pronounced を as ‘wo’, but in my studies so far I learned it’s pronounced ‘o’ most of the time. Is there a specific reason that the ‘wo’ pronunciation was used here? Mostly just curious Thanks!