きょうのよるは何をたべますか。
- What will you eat tonight?

きょうのよるは何をたべますか。 meaning: What will you eat tonight?

This sentence demonstrates basic Japanese sentence structure and the use of a question word. ⚫︎ The basic Japanese sentence structure is Subject - Object - Verb, but the subject is often omitted if it's understood from the context. ⚫︎ In this case, the subject ("you") is implied. ⚫︎ The sentence uses the question word 何 (なに), which means "what." ⚫︎ The particle か at the end of the sentence indicates that it is a question. ⚫︎ The word order can be thought of as: (Today's evening) - What - Eat - Question mark

This sentence showcases several important particles: ⚫︎ の: This particle connects two nouns, indicating possession or association. In きょうのよる, の means "of." It connects "today" and "evening," making it "today's evening" or "tonight." ⚫︎ は: This particle marks the topic of the sentence. In this sentence, は marks the topic that we are talking about. ⚫︎ を: This particle marks the direct object of the verb. In this sentence, the direct object is not explicitly stated, but if the answer were "I will eat sushi," the object would be "sushi." ⚫︎ か: This particle marks a question and is placed at the end of a sentence. It turns a statement into a question.

Japanese often uses specific words to indicate time, which are usually followed by time particles or are combined with the particles like in the sentence below: ⚫︎ きょう (today) ⚫︎ よる (evening/night) ⚫︎ Time expressions often function as a modifier of the verb, indicating *when* the action takes place. ⚫︎ This sentence uses two time-related words, highlighting the focus on "tonight." The inclusion of の (of) makes it "today's evening"

The verb in this sentence is たべます, which is the polite form (masu-form) of the verb たべる, meaning "to eat." ⚫︎ The base form of the verb is たべる. ⚫︎ To make it polite, the る at the end of the verb is replaced with ます, resulting in たべます (eat/will eat). ⚫︎ This form indicates present or future tense. ⚫︎ Therefore, たべます can mean "eat" or "will eat," depending on the context.

The sentence uses polite language and a question form, both crucial for basic conversation. ⚫︎ The polite form ます is used, showing respect to the listener. ⚫︎ The question marker か is added at the end, transforming the statement into a question. This is the standard way to form yes/no questions or information questions in Japanese. ⚫︎ Combining the polite form and the question marker makes the sentence たべますか (will you eat?).