君の手紙を受け取る前にこの事は起こった。

you; buddy; pal; monarch; ruler; sovereign; (one's) master

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

letter

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.

to receive; to get; to accept; to take; to interpret; to understand

ago; before (some event); previously; (minutes) to (the hour); in front (of); before (e.g. the house); head (of a line); front (e.g. of a bus); fore part; in the presence of; helping; portion; privates; private parts

at (place, time); in; on; during; to (direction, state); toward; into; for (purpose); because of (reason); for; with; by; from; as (i.e. in the role of); per; in; for; a (e.g. "once a month"); and; in addition to; if; although

this (something or someone close to the speaker (including the speaker), or ideas expressed by the speaker)

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

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

to occur; to happen