The single biggest structural difference between English and Japanese is where the verb goes. English builds sentences subject, verb, object. Japanese builds them subject, object, verb.
The basic shape
Watashi wa ringo wo taberu. Literally: I apple eat.
The verb 食べる (eat) lands at the very end. Everything else, the subject and the object, comes before it, each tagged with a particle that says what role it plays.
Particles make order flexible
Because particles mark the role, the order of the non-verb pieces can shift without changing the core meaning. を always marks the object whether the object comes first or second. The one firm rule is that the verb stays at the end. Our particles guide covers which particle does what.
Modifiers come before what they modify
Adjectives, and even whole clauses, sit in front of the noun they describe. English says "the book that I read yesterday". Japanese says the equivalent of "yesterday read book", with no word for "that".
kinou yonda hon, the book I read yesterday
How to read it
When you read Japanese, train yourself to scan to the end of the sentence for the verb first, then work back through the particles. It feels backwards at first and becomes natural with practice.
Test one of these examples in the translator and see how it comes out.
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