夏色

ちゅうしゃじょう

parking lot; car park

There is a large parking lot near the station.

A specific area designated for parking motor vehicles.

possessive particle indicating belonging, attribution, or relationship

Mother's cooking is the most delicious.

Connects two nouns to show possession or attribution. The modifying noun comes before の, and the modified noun comes after. Can also connect clauses when nominalizing.

ねこ

cat

That cat is curled up inside the kotatsu.

Refers to the feline animal. Often used in idioms like '猫を被る' (to play innocent).

topic marker particle

This year, the cherry blossoms bloomed early.

Marks the topic of a sentence - what the sentence is about. Often implies contrast with other possible topics. Written as は but pronounced 'wa'. Differs from が which marks the grammatical subject.

yawn

During the long meeting, he secretly yawned.

アクビ means a yawn. The common phrase is アクビをする. The 片仮名 spelling can feel casual, emphatic, or visually expressive compared with あくび.

direct object marker particle

I solved a difficult problem.

Marks the direct object of a verb - what the action is done to. Written を but pronounced 'o'. Essential for transitive verbs. Also marks the space through which movement occurs.

to do, to make

I eat breakfast after exercising every morning.

する is one of the most versatile verbs in Japanese. It combines with nouns to create compound verbs (勉強する = to study). Also used for making decisions, causing states, and many idiomatic expressions.

きょう

today

Since it's raining today, I'll read a book at home.

今日 (きょう) means 'today' and refers to the current day. It can function as both a noun and an adverb. Note that while 今日 can also be read as こんにち in formal greetings like こんにちは, きょう is the standard reading when referring to 'today'.