Nihondex

A typical Japanese sentence follows a predictable order. You don’t have to memorize every case, but this order appears again and again and will help you in the Sentence Builder game.

Quick rule: Time → who (topic) → where/how → what (object) → verb (always last). Note: “who” is often the topic (は), not the grammatical subject (が). They’re different.

Usual order of parts

Position	What goes there
1	Time (when) e.g. きのう, 毎日. に often marks time; sometimes no particle.
2	Topic / subject who or what. は (topic) or が (subject).
3	Place / method / companion where, how, or with. で (location of action or means), に (to/time), へ (toward), と (with).
4	Object what is acted on. を.
5	Verb the action or state. Always last (e.g. 食べます, 行きます).

Example sentences

Same logic: time → topic → place/object → verb.

きのう私わたしは本ほんを読よみました。

Yesterday I read a book.

毎日まいにち田中たなかさんは学校がっこうに行いきます。

Tanaka goes to school every day.

彼かれは水みずを飲のみます。

He drinks water. (topic · object · verb)

In Sentence Builder, use the English to spot “who, when, where, what, verb” then map them to this order in Japanese. Not every sentence uses all five slots; time or place is often omitted.

Time → topic → place/object → verb. You've got the order.

Next up: Continue to Particles below to see how は, が, を, に, で work in real sentences. It'll make the game much easier. 頑張がんばって！