Cleaning up spilled water | Learn Japanese in English

Sentence explanations

1. 床に水があります。

   There is water on the floor.

   床

   floor

   水

   water

   あります

   there is; exists

   More detail

   床 means “floor” here. It is a noun; a useful pattern is 床に (“on the floor”), where に marks the place where something exists. Example: 机の上に本があります。 — “There is a book on the desk.” 水 means “water.” It is a mass noun, so this sentence does not assert a particular numeric quantity. In Japanese, a noun can be used without an article-like word: 水があります can mean “There is water” or “There is some water,” depending on context. あります is the polite non-past form of ある, used for the existence or location of something inanimate. The useful chain is ある (plain non-past) → あります (polite non-past) → ありました (polite past) → ありません (polite negative). For animate beings, Japanese normally uses いる instead: 部屋に人がいます。 — “There is a person in the room.” The pattern 場所に X があります means “There is X in/on/at the place.” In this sentence, 床に identifies the location, 水が marks the thing whose existence is being stated, and あります says that the water exists there. Together, 床に水があります。 means “There is water on the floor.”

2. ドアのほうに広がっています。

   It is spreading toward the door.

   ドア

   door

   のほうに

   toward that direction

   広がっています

   is spreading

   More detail

   ドア means “door” here. It is a noun and can combine with directional expressions: ドアに means “to/toward the door,” while ドアのほうに presents the direction as “toward the door side/direction.” のほうに is a reusable direction pattern. の links ドア to ほう (“side” or “direction”), and に marks the destination or direction. Thus Xのほうに means “toward X” or “in the direction of X.” Example: 駅のほうに歩きます。 — “I walk toward the station.” 広がっています comes from the intransitive verb 広がる, “to spread” or “to expand.” The form 広がっています uses 広がっている; here it describes an ongoing change, so “is spreading.” It does not say that someone is spreading something, as a transitive verb would. Example: 火が広がっています。 — “The fire is spreading.” In the supplied context, the earlier sentence mentions water on the floor. The subject is omitted in this Japanese sentence, while the fixed translation supplies it as “it”; the context supports understanding that omitted subject as the water. The pieces combine as ドアのほうに (“toward the door”) and 広がっています (“is spreading”), giving “It is spreading toward the door.”

3. 小さいボトルが割れました。

   The small bottle broke.

   小さい

   small

   ボトル

   bottle

   割れました

   broke

   More detail

   小さい means “small” here and directly describes the noun that follows: 小さいボトル = “a small bottle.” It is an i-adjective; its dictionary form is already 小さい. A useful contrast is 大きい (“big”): 大きいボトル means “a big bottle.” Example: 小さい箱です。 — “It is a small box.” ボトル is a noun meaning “bottle.” It is a loanword written in katakana, and it can be modified by an adjective such as 小さい or 大きい. Example: 水のボトルです。 — “It is a water bottle.” 割れました means “broke” in this sentence. Its base verb is the intransitive 割れる, “to break” or “to crack,” used when the object itself undergoes the change. 割れました is its polite past form: the -ました ending presents the event politely as completed. The transitive verb 割る means “to break something,” and its polite past form is 割りました; this would say that someone broke something. Example: コップが割れました。 — “The glass broke.” The particle が marks ボトル as the subject of the event. Thus 小さいボトルが identifies a small bottle as the thing that broke, while 割れました says that the breaking occurred and is expressed politely in the past. Together, 小さいボトルが割れました。 means “The small bottle broke.” The adjective comes before the noun it describes, and the intransitive verb presents the bottle as the thing that broke rather than explicitly naming a person who broke it.

4. 乾いたタオルを持ってきます。

   I will get a dry towel.

   乾いた

   dry

   タオル

   towel

   持ってきます

   will get; will bring

   More detail

   乾いた means “dry” here: it describes the towel’s resulting state. It is the attributive form of 乾く (“to dry; become dry”), placed before the noun it describes. This is different from 乾かした, which would mean that someone dried something. Example: シャツが乾いた。 — “The shirt dried/is dry.” タオル is the noun “towel.” In this sentence, 乾いたタオル is the reusable pattern “a dry towel,” with 乾いた modifying タオル. The particle を marks this noun phrase as the object of the following action. 持ってきます means “will get; will bring” in this context. It is the polite non-past form of the compound 持ってくる (“bring,” literally carrying something and coming), formed from 持つ (“hold/carry”) and 来る (“come”). Japanese non-past forms can describe a future intention or planned action, so the fixed translation uses “will.” Example: 本を持ってきます。 — “I’ll bring a book.” Together, 乾いたタオルを identifies a dry towel as the object, and 持ってきます says that the speaker will get and bring it. The whole utterance therefore means “I will get a dry towel.”

5. 先にバッグを動かせますか。

   Can you move the bag first?

   先に

   first

   バッグ

   bag

   動かせますか

   can you move?

   More detail

   先に means “first” here, placing the moving action before another relevant action or step. It can also mean “beforehand” in other contexts. Example: 先に食べます。 — “I’ll eat first.” バッグ is the noun “bag.” It is a loanword written in katakana. Example: バッグを持ちます。 — “I carry the bag.” 動かせますか asks whether the addressee can move something. The useful base verb is 動かす (“to move something”); 動かせる is its potential form, expressing ability or possibility, and 動かせますか is the polite question form. The object is marked by を, so バッグを動かせますか asks whether the listener can move the bag. Example: この箱を動かせますか。 — “Can you move this box?” Together, 先に + バッグを + 動かせますか produces: “Can you move the bag first?” The question asks about the listener’s ability or possibility of moving the bag, with that action occurring first.

6. バッグを椅子の上に置きます。

   I will put it on the chair.

   バッグ

   bag

   椅子

   chair

   上に

   on top of

   置きます

   will put

   More detail

   バッグ means “bag” here. It is a noun written in katakana, commonly used for a bag. The following を marks it as the direct object: the thing being placed. 椅子 means “chair.” It is a noun; add の to connect another noun to it, as in 椅子の上 (“the top of the chair”). 上に means “on top of” in this sentence. 上 means “top” or “upper part,” and に marks the place or destination where something is put. The pattern Nの上に is reusable for “on top of N.” Example: 机の上に置きます。 — “I will put it on the desk.” 置きます is the polite nonpast form of 置く, “to put” or “to place.” Japanese nonpast forms can describe a future action, so it has the intended “will put” meaning here. The form itself does not mark the actor as first person; the fixed translation supplies the speaker as the actor. A related polite form is 置きました, “put” in the past. Together, バッグを identifies the bag as the object, 椅子の上に identifies the destination as the top of the chair, and 置きます states the polite placing action. The complete intended meaning is “I will put it on the chair,” with “it” referring to the bag established in the surrounding context.

7. それから、床を掃除できます。

   Then we can clean the floor.

   それから

   then

   床

   floor

   掃除できます

   can clean

   More detail

   それから means “then” or “after that.” It links this utterance to an earlier event in time. In this sentence, it presents cleaning as the next step. Example: それから、帰ります。— “Then I’ll go home.” 床 means “floor.” It is a noun and can be used with location particles or with verbs describing what happens to the floor. Example: 床を拭きます。— “I wipe the floor.” 掃除できます means “can clean.” The lexical verb is 掃除する, “to clean”; 掃除 is combined with する to make the verb. できる expresses ability or possibility, and its polite form is できます. Thus 掃除できます is the polite form meaning that cleaning is possible or that the subject has the ability to clean. The fixed translation identifies the omitted subject here as “we.” Example: 私たちは窓を掃除できます。— “We can clean the windows.” Together, それから + 床を + 掃除できます gives: “Then we can clean the floor.” を marks 床 as the object of 掃除できます’s underlying action, 掃除する; Japanese does not need to state the subject when it is understood from the context.

8. そこではバッグはぬれません。

   The bag will stay dry there.

   そこでは

   there

   バッグ

   bag

   ぬれません

   does not get wet

   More detail

   そこでは combines そこ (“there”) with で, which marks the place where an event or state occurs, and は, which sets that place as the topic or contrast. The form means “there” in this sentence; the topic marker can give the sense “as for there” without needing to be translated separately. A reusable pattern is [place]では + clause: ここでは写真を撮れません。 — “You cannot take photos here.” バッグ is the noun “bag.” It is a loanword written in katakana. In this sentence it is the topic marked by は inside バッグは, so the sentence discusses what happens to the bag. は does not itself state a quantity; it marks the noun as the topic. ぬれません is the polite negative form of the intransitive verb 濡れる (ぬれる), “to get wet” or “become wet.” Its form chain is 濡れる → 濡れます (polite nonpast) → 濡れません (polite nonpast negative). Because 濡れる is intransitive, it describes the bag becoming wet; it does not mean that someone wets the bag. Japanese nonpast forms can refer to a present state or a future result, so here the form naturally corresponds to “will stay dry.” For example, この服は雨で濡れません。 means “These clothes will not get wet in the rain.” Together, そこでは identifies the location, バッグは makes the bag the topic, and ぬれません says that it does not become wet there. Thus the whole utterance means, “The bag will stay dry there.”