Japanese Grammar
：Particles☆
Chyna Rose
Japanese particles, joshi (助詞) or teniwoha (てにをは), are suffixes or short words in Japanese grammar that immediately follow the modified noun, verb, adjective, or sentence and serve various functions. Particles can also be known as postpositions (think prepositions like in English, just after the word instead of before)
● There are roughly 60 commonly used particles in Japanese.
● Japanese particles are almost always written in hiragana, however some have kanji forms that are rarely or never used.
❖ Commonly used particles/postpositions
➢ が、は、を、に、へ、で, と、や、も、 の、ので、でも、け ど、から ❖ Interjectory ➢ さ、よ、ね、の
Although they aren’t really categorized, a lot of these are used within the same area of grammar, so I’ve highlighted them to further organize their grouping. There is a plethora of other particles, but I will only go over the most commonly used ones that you are sure to see more than once in a day’s time span whether you are speaking, reading, or listening to something. So let’s begin!
● The particles Wa ( は)ga(が )and (を)
➢ は is clearly the hiragana for “は”(ha), however it is not pronounced how it would normally be said. Instead it is
pronounced as “wa”. This is the only time it will be pronounced this way with the exception of a few words such as こんばんは（ Goodevening) And こんにちは（Hello)
➢ は is used as a topic1 marker and is placed after the first noun
introduced in a sentence to convey the point that this is indeed what we’re talking about in the conversation. Ex: The dog is so cute! いぬはかわいいです！Inu wa kawaii desu. The dog is the clear topic.
➢ は to emphasize or negate something. I speak Japanese, not Chinese. にほんごははなせるが、ちゅうごくごは、はなせな い。Nihongo ha hanaseru ga, chuugokugo ha, hanasenai.
➢ が to identify the subject2 of a sentence. This is usually seen in the first sentence of a conversation, paragraph, or when
answering a question. This can also be used when asking questions but only if preceeded by a question word (who, what, when, where が）
➢ Ex: Who is the Japanese teacher? Yamashita sensei is the
Japanese teacher. だれがにほんごのせんせいですか？ dare ga nihongo no sensei desuka? やましたせんせいはにほんごのせ んせいです。yamashita sensei ha nihongo no sensei desu. ➢ が Used before an adjective. My hair is long. わたしのかみがな
がいです。Watashi no kami ga nagai desu. When talking about others you must use the structure (Noun)は(Noun)が(adjective) です。Ex: Sue’s hair is short. スーさんはかみがみじかいで す。 Sue san ha, kami ga mijikai desu. Ex: My Japanese is bad. わ たしのにほんごがへたです。watashi no nihongo ga heta desu. ➢ が when you want something. がしたい is to want to do
something, while がほしい is to simply want/desire something. Ex: I want to play tennis. テニスがしたい。Tenisu ga shita. Ex: I want a racket. ラケットがほしい。Rakketo ga hoshii.
➢ を is used to identify the direct object of a sentence. This is the object that is being affected by something. Although this symbol
So what's the difference between a topic and a subject? A topic is the first sentence of a paragraph or conversation that states what everything is going to be about. For instance: “My dog is so cute. He always runs around and does neat tricks. ” Although you’re not saying that the dog is what you’re talking about we KNOW that it is the dog that is being talked about,
2 A subject of a sentence is a person, place, thing or idea that is doing something or being
something. “I am a student”. “I” is the subject. What are you doing? “Am” aka existing as a student.
in romanji can be seen as “wo” it is pronounced “o” when used as a particle. Ex: みずをのんでいます。Mizu o nonde imasu. （I) Am drinking water.
● The particle Ka か
➢ It is most commonly seen when used to indicate that the statement is a question. Ex: What is this ? これはなんですか. Kore wa nan desu ka
➢ Also can be used to list choices. Ex:( I will) eat sushi or sashimi.す しかさしみをたべる。Sushi ka sashimi o taberu.
● The particle No の
➢ This particle usually is used after a noun to show possession. Ex: My ball. わたしのボール。(Watashi no bo-ru) It can be roughly translated to the English “ ‘s “ (apostrophe “s”).
➢ の Can also be used to describe a type of item. For example: The wooden chair, きのいすです（Chair of wood）, ki no isu desu. This can be tricky to know when to use, so just try to read more and converse with people and let it come naturally to you.
● The particle ni にdeで and eへ
➢ Although “へ” is usually pronounced "he" it is pronounced as "e" when used as a particle.
➢ に can be used to express many English prepositions. “On, in, at, to, etc”
➢ にandで can both be used to show location or to be “in”
something. Ex: I went in/inside the supermarket. スーパーのな かにいきました。Supa no naka ni ikimashita. Ex: Inside the supermarket there are a lot of vegetables. スーパーにはやさい がたくさんあります。 Supa no naka de takusan yasai arimasu. ➢ へspecifies the direction of the action; to or toward. This can be
interchangeable with に. Ex: I am walking to school. わたしがだい がくにあるいています。Watashi ga daigaku ni aruiteimasu. Ex: I came to school. がっこうへきました。I came to school.
➢ に is also used with time to say something happened “at/on” that time. Ex: I woke up at 1 o’clock. いちじにおきました。Ichi ji ni okimashita. Ex: I came to Japan August 16th. ９げつ１６にち
ににほんにきました。 Kugatsu juuroku nichi ni nihon ni kimashita.
➢ で is used instead of に for actions inside of a place where life occurs, such as a house, school, etc. Ex: I study “in” my room. Watashi no heya de benkyousuru. わたしのへやでべんきょう する。
➢ でCan be used to show “by use of” or “with”. Ex: I wrote with a pencil. えんぴつでかきました。Enpitsu de kakimashita ➢ で used to show reason or cause. Ex: Because there was an
accident, the bus was late. じこでバスがおくれました。Ji ko de basu ga okure mashita.
● The particle Moも
➢ Simply means “also”. わたしも. watashi mo. Me too/also
➢ Ex: Mary has a bike. So does Takeshi メアリーさんはじてんしゃを もっています。たけしさんも。 Meari san wa jitensha o motte imasu. Takeshi san mo
● The particle karaから
➢ Means “from”. Ex:I am walking from the house。わたしはうちからある いています。Watashi ha uchi kara aruite imasu.
➢ から when used for “because” it will be placed at the end of the sentence instead. You would use this because when you’re explaining “why”.
o Ex: どうして遅れたの。Doushite okureta no. Why were you late?
o 電車に乗り遅れたから。Densha ni nori okureta kara. Because I missed the train.
➢ Can also be used at the end of a sentence that is giving information o (Teacher to student) ２ねん６くみ。ここが、きみのクラスだ
から。 Ni nen rokkumi. Koko ga kimi no kurasu da kara. Second year, class six. This is your class.
● The particles to（と）and ya （や）
➢ Both particles mean “and”, however と does not always mean “and” (can sometimes mean “with”; “ I went with Soandso” etc. ) nor can it connect clauses or link verbs. It can only be used to link nouns and pronouns. ➢ と is used when listing items.
not listed but are still there or exist(ed). と implies a complete list. ● The particles demo (でも） and （けど）
➢ This particle can have multiple meanings, just as the others, however it is mostly seen being used as “But”, “However”, or “in any case”.
➢ Ex: This bag is cute, but I will not buy it. このかばんはかわいい けど、かわない。 Kono kaban wa kawaii desu, demo
kaimotomerunai ● The particle node (ので)
➢ Simply “Since/because”。 Usually used after the first verb in a sentence and before a comma in the same sentence.
➢ Ex: Since (because)I have a test, I can’t go. テストがあるので、い けない。 Tesuto ga aru node, ikenai.
Interjectory particles are particles used at the end of a sentence to add some sort of emphasis or emotion to the phrase. Depending on which you use conveys different meaning
● Ne (ね) Is used when you are searching for agreement on something. Used at the end of a sentence somewhat like a question mark, but it’s an open ended question most of the time. Similar to the English “Right?/Don’t you think? “ ● Yo (よ) can be used at the end of a sentence somewhat in how exclamation
marks are used in English. It is used to exclaim, whether you are happy or angry. ● No( の )Is used at the end of sentences usually by females to insinuate a
question or to make a statement more “feminine”.
● Like の、Sa (さ) or (だ)is used at the end of a sentence to make the saying more “masculine”. Ex: What’s wrong (fem) どうしたの？ doushitano ? Ex: What’s wrong (masc) どうしたんだ？ doushitanda?
