Genki 1 Workbook Chapter 5 Question

Japanese Language Questions
1

I just have a small question about word order.

In the Genki 1 Workbook Chapter 5, section 2, part 2 question 5 I translated the phrase ‘I will not be free tommorow’ as あした私はひまじゃないです。

Looking at the answer key 私 and あした were the other way around does that matter? Should the topic proceed time?

Thanks for the help

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2

I think both are valid but it depends on what you want to put the emphasis on. Your version puts the emphasis on “tomorrow”, theirs on “I”.

See the difference between “tomorrow, I’m not available” and “I’m not available tomorrow” in English.

There’s also the general issue that you wouldn’t use 私は unless you really need to make that explicit, normally it would be assumed that you’re talking about yourself by default.

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