Particles arranged by Topic

Particles arranged by Topic

Introduction to Particles

(wa) (mo) (ga) (ka)

Particles used with Verbs

(o) (ni) (e) (de)

Noun-related Particles

(to) (ya) (no)

Emotion

(ne) (yo)

Time-related particles

(kara) (made) (ni) (nagara)

Compound Sentences

(kara)(kato) (node) (ga) (Shi) (to) ~~

Alphabetical List of Particles

de [] Place of action, means, total, material

e []Direction

ga Subject marker, sentence softener, continuation

ka [] Or, enumeration

ka [] Question marker

ka to []

kara []Origin, starting time

kara []Reason

made [] - Target, end time, to the extent

mo [] - Also, both ... and, neither ... nor nagara []- Simultaneous action

no [] Possession, description (using a noun to describe another noun), apposition (description set off by commas or parentheses)

ni [] object, location, direction, specific time

ne [/] - Confirmation

o - Direct object

Shi [] - and, in addition to

to [] - And (in a complete listing), involvement

to [] - Quotation

wa Topic

ya [] And (partial listing)

yo []Emphasis

de [] Place of action, means, total, material

Place of action:

I bought three books at the bookstore.By, mean, using:

Mr. Tanaka goes to the office by bus.

to write with a pen to write in black ink

Out of, made by, comes from:

The table is made of wood.

By, amount of people:

Tomorrow the two of us are going to a movie.

e [](Direction)

The direction marking particle e is used after a place, to mark the direction something is moving. This particle can always be replaced with ni and still be grammatically correct, although the reverse may not be valid. It does however look better to use e in some cases.

Are you going to Japan?

ga Subject marker, sentence softener, continuation

The particle ga is a subject marker. It is used instead of wa when you want to emphasize the subject. It can also sometimes be used for variation if the topic marker already has been used in a sentence. It feels stronger than the topic marker wa .

Topic marker:

I like sushi. (Literally, As for me, sushi is likable.")

Ga is also used in the end of a sentence. It is then often used for softening the sentence, or to show that something else is in contrast with what you first said. Much like "but..." can be used for in English.

Continuation:

Mr. Tanaka is coming, but Mr. Watanabe isn't.

Softening:

(I think) I would like to buy this TV.

ka [] or - enumeration

The particle ka is used for showing options, much as "or" is used in English.

How about tea or coffee?ka []Question marker

The question marker ka is put in the end of a sentence to mark it as a question.

Are you a student?

ka to []

Ka to is a construct that can be used to mark a quotation of something that is uncertain.

Maybe it's tasty, I thought.

I was thinking "Shall I go or not".

kara [](Origin, starting time)

The particle kara [] marks where something comes from, or when talking about time, the start of something.

Originating, coming from:

He is from Japan.

Start in time:

The department store opens at 10:00 o'clock.

kara []Reason

Kara conveys a reason. It sounds a bit casual, and in writing or formal language 'node' together with the masu form of the verb is to prefer.

Because I was busy, I didn't go to the movie.

made [] Target, end time, to the extent

Made marks the end of something. It is frequently used for time, marking the end of a period, such as store opening hours or a destination. But it can also be used to show extent of something, how far something has gone.

End time:

The department store closes at 6:00 o'clock.

106The department store is open from 10:00 o'clock until 6:00 o'clock.

Destination:

(I) walked (all the way) from Tokyo to Yokohama.

Even, to the extent of:

(He) even ate my food.

mo [] Also, both ... and, neither ... nor

The particle mo is used to connect two or more things that have something in common.

I like tea. I also like coffee.

I drink both tea and coffee.

I drink neither tea nor coffee.

nagara []Simultaneous action

Nagara shows that something is happening at the same time as something else.

While walking, I thought about the problem.

While eating, I watched TV.

ne [/] Confirmation

The sentence ending ne is very common. It is a request for agreement or a confirmation, but often it is just used rhetorically. In most cases the answer to a "ne"-question would just be an agreeing ne .

You are a student, aren't you?

(casual language) "Isn't this sushi tasty?" "Yea."

no [] Possession, description (using a noun to describe another noun), apposition (description set off by commas or parentheses)

The word no marks possession, that something belongs to something else. It can be used both in a direct, physical case such as "My umbrella. - watashi no kasa.". Or it can also be used in a abstract manner, such as "Mr Yamada from Sony. - Sony no Yamada-san.".

Possessive:

Simon is my daughter's cat.

Descriptive:

Japanese food is delicious.

My friend, Mr. Tanaka, is a teacher.

ni [] object, location, direction, specific time

The particle "ni" has several uses. Here are some of them.

Marking a location or direction of movement.

Hiromi is in Tokyo.

I am going to Tokyo.

Yesterday I went home early.

Marking the direction of an action

I received candy from my (younger) brother.

I gave candy to my (younger) brother.

I loaned Mr. Tanaka a book.

Marking a point in time

9Let's meet at 9 o'clock.

Example Usage

gogo juuji niat 10 PM

nichiyoubi nion Sunday

shichigatsu niin july

nisen ichi nen niin the year 2001

o Direct object

The object marker o is used to mark the object in the sentence. That is, the word that the verbs directly act on.

Torako is looking at the bird

Shi []- and, reason, conclusion

The particle (shi) is commonly used as "and". It can also be used to give a reason or conclusion.

1. Usage as "and"

It can be used to join several parts of a sentence. But it's a little different from English "and". As you can see in the following sentence, all phrases generally have "" at each of the end of them.

Our cat is the best - it's cute, smart and calm.

2. Used to indicate reason (advanced use)

Used in this way, (shi) has the same function as (node) and (kara). Shi gives the nuance of that more reasons than the ones stated do exist. This use has the nuance of slang, and may not be considered as proper Japanese.

Beginners are recommended to use (node) and (kara) to indicate reasons, rather than (shi), as will not work in all cases. Please refer to a advanced grammar book to read more about this.

Since you live nearby, drop in us at times.

Please be careful using shi in this way, as it may not be exactly as when using kara and node, as illustrated by the following examples.

(1) Since I was so sleepy at that time, I couldn't answer the question.

(2) I was so sleepy at that time and I couldn't answer the question.

(3) Since my watch was broken, I was late at school.

(4) My watch was broken, (and... anyway) I was late at school.

Example (2) is used commonly, but (4) is a bit awkward and possibly the person can be quite rude or childish because the speech tends to be heard his poor excuse. "" is often used in coloquial speaking way, and it's often used when the person doesn't have decent or proper reason of the result, I think.

3. Conclusion

After saying a fact or condition, the latter clause implies the conclusion indicated by (shi).

(1) I want to take a trip, but I don't have enough time. (therefore I can't)

Compare it with the following sentence that does not have "":

(2) I want to trip, but I don't have enough time.

Example (2) is a simple statement, but in (1), the listener/reader can feel something negative, as if the speaker is complaining, has frustration or so.

to []- And (in a complete listing), involvement

The particle to is a marker with the same meaning as "and", but also conveys that the list of things said is complete. If there may be more things, the particle ya is used. The particle to can also show involvement, for instance "I talked with him - Kare to hanashimashita".

The particle can also be used to mark quotation, and to indicate a consequence. (examples missing)

Complete listing:

That student has a pen and a pencil.

Involvement:

I often have lunch with my friends.to [] - Quotation

To quote someone, follow the quotation by to iimasu, or whatever tense and form is appropriate. To say what someone has said without making a quotation, use to iimasu but put what was said into the plain form. It's common to omit da when reporting on questions. The verb iimasu may be used to ask how to say something in English or Japanese.

Mike said, "I can't run fast".

Mike said, "I'm playing baseball tomorrow".

Mike said he's playing baseball tomorrow.

He asked if I was American.

How do you say "autumn" in Japanese? It's "aki".

wa Topic

The particle is used to mark the topic of a sentence. It may be easiest to think of it translated as "regarding ..." or ".. as for .."

This book is interesting.

Youko is a graduate student. (Literally, "As for Youko, she is a graduate student.")I have caught a cold, but my kid brother is all right.

ya [] And (partial listing)

The particle ya works as the English word "and", but also indicates that the list of things listed may not be complete. Compare with the particle to .

We went to Kyoto, Osaka, etc.

yo []Emphasis

(yo) can be added to the end of a sentence to put emphasis on the sentence.

(casual language)You can watch television.

(casual language)Two hours is too long to wait.

You'll get there in less than ten minutes.

If the sentence ends with a noun or -na adjective, as it often does in casual language, (yo) must be preceeded with a (da).

(casual language)Stop it!

An exception is if using feminine language, where usage of (yo) and (ne) without (da) is correct.

That's a dog!

(casual, feminine language)It's beautiful!

The topic and the focus are concepts commonly found in human languages. Topics are old information, which you have already talked about in a conversation. Focuses are new information, which is often the key of an answer to a question.

The subject of a sentence is accompanied by the topic marker "wa" unless it is a focus. A phrase which is not the subject is accompanied by the topic marker when it is a topic and is more important than the subject. So the subject commonly has the topic marker.

The topic marker is added after other postpositions. You have already learned two postpositions; one is the nominative marker "ga", and the other is the accusative marker "o". The topic marker overrides and removes the two postpositions. No other postpositions are overridden.

This is a table of how the topic marker overrides the two postpositions. The postpositions for the dative, locative, and ablative cases are used here just for examples, and they will be explained in later chapters.

NominativemarkerAccusativemarkerDativemarkerLocativemarkerAblativemarker

Non-topic"ga" "o" "ni" "de"

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/%7Ets/japanese/ra.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET "kara"

Topic"wa" "wa"

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/%7Ets/japanese/ha.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET "niwa"

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/%7Ets/japanese/ha.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET "dewa"

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/%7Ets/japanese/ra.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/%7Ets/japanese/ha.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET "karawa"

As you see, a topic should appear before a focus in Japanese as well as in English. Since you can freely change the word order of a Japanese sentence, it is easy to place the topic at the beginning of the sentence. If there is more than one piece of background information, the subject, which is possibly a topic, is likely to appear first. If there are more than one piece of new information, the strongest focus is likely to appear immediately before the verb.

In English, you cannot remove a subject, a verb, or an object from a sentence even when they are topics. In Japanese, only a predicator (either a verb, a copula, or an adjective) is necessary to form a grammatically correct sentence. You don't have to say a subject or an object when they are clear from context.