Page 65 - Basic Japanese

of the later phrases disappears. Instead of shitsúrei
itashimáshita you will more often hear shitsúrei itashimashita

‘excuse me,’ instead of arígatō gozaimásu you will hear arígatō
gozaimasu ‘thank you.’ Since the accent mark represents the

last syllable before a FALL in pitch, it never occurs right
before a pause. Before a pause, you cannot tell whether a
word has a final accent or no accent at all; when you add a

particle (such as the topic particle wa) it immediately

becomes clear: