警察は車の持ち主を何とか突きとめることができた。

Sentence Analyzer

English Translation

The police managed to track down the owner of the car.

Furigana

警察(けいさつ)は車(くるま)の持(も)ち主(ぬし)を何(なん)とか突(つ)きとめることができた。

Romanji

Keisatsu wa kuruma no mochinushi o nantoka tsuki tomeru koto ga dekita.

Words

警察 (けいさつ)

police; police officer; police station

は (は)

topic marker particle; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis

車 (くるま)

car; automobile; vehicle; wheel

の (の)

indicates possessive; nominalizes verbs and adjectives; substitutes for "ga" in subordinate phrases; (at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusion; (at sentence-end) indicates emotional emphasis; (at sentence-end, rising tone) indicates question

持ち主 (もちぬし)

owner; proprietor; possessor (e.g. of talent, beauty, etc.)

を (を)

indicates direct object of action; indicates subject of causative expression; indicates an area traversed; indicates time (period) over which action takes place; indicates point of departure or separation of action; indicates object of desire, like, hate, etc.

何とか (なんとか)

something; something or other; so-and-so; somehow; anyhow; one way or another

突き (つき)

thrust; stab; lunge; pass (in fencing); tsuki; thrust to the throat (in kendo); tsuki; thrust to the chest

止める (とめる)

to stop; to turn off; to park; to prevent; to suppress (a cough); to hold back (tears); to hold (one's breath); to relieve (pain); to stop (someone from doing something); to dissuade; to forbid; to prohibit; to notice; to be aware of; to concentrate on; to pay attention to; to remember; to bear in mind; to fix (in place); to fasten; to tack; to pin; to nail; to button; to staple; to detain; to keep in custody

事 (こと、こん)

thing; matter; incident; occurrence; event; something serious; trouble; crisis; circumstances; situation; state of affairs; work; business; affair; after an inflectable word, creates a noun phrase indicating something the speaker does not feel close to; nominalizing suffix; pretending to ...; playing make-believe ...; alias; aka; nickname; alternative name; also known as

が (が)

indicates sentence subject (occasionally object); indicates possessive (esp. in literary expressions); but; however; still; and

出来る (できる)

to be able (in a position) to do; to be up to the task; to be ready; to be completed; to be made; to be built; to be good at; to be permitted (to do); to become intimate; to take up (with somebody); to grow; to be raised; to become pregnant