警察はまもなく殺人犯の手がかりをつかんだ。

Sentence Analyzer

English Translation

The police quickly got on the track of the murderer.

Furigana

警察(けいさつ)はまもなく殺人犯(さつじんはん)の手(て)がかりをつかんだ。

Romanji

Keisatsu wa mamonaku satsujinhan no tegakari o tsukanda.

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

間もなく (まもなく)

soon; before long; in a short time; lacking time to ...; without time to ...

殺人犯 (さつじんはん)

murderer

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

手掛かり (てがかり)

clue; key; trail; scent; track; contact; handhold; on hand

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.

掴む (つかむ)

to seize; to catch; to grasp; to grip; to grab; to hold; to catch hold of; to lay one's hands on; to clutch; to understand; to grasp; to comprehend