Explanation on particles

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More explanation on particles!

I thought I would dedicate a post to particles. I know we have seen a lot of them on the surface, but I just wanted to create this post to clarify what they are specifically. I explained in each articles the particles seen in each lessons, but I hope this article in specific will help you understand particles more and give you a list of them for you to study.

There are around 188 particles in Japanese (this number also include the multiple usage one particle can have, so really it isn't exactly 188!) Of course, I taught the ones that we use the most and some of them are not quite viewed as particles, which mean, probably, there are less than 188. But let's just review the ones we have seen so far.

The particle は

This particle, pronounced わ but written は, is the topic marker. I don't really like to say that it is the subject, because the particle が can also demonstrate the subject. A lot of people ask me the difference between は and が, so I will start by explaining what は consists of, and what が consists of, then I will try to explain the difference between the two.

As a topic marker, は will be attached to a noun or noun sentence which will be the topic of the sentence. For instance, if I say 'this cat is cute', 'this cat' will be the topic of the sentence (or the subject).

このねこはかわいいです。

Kono neko wa kawaii desu.

My cat is cute.

わたしのねこはかわいいです。

Watashi no neko wa kawaii desu.

In both sentences, the topic of the sentence is 'this cat' and 'my cat'.

は can also be used to mark a noun sentence as the topic.

In Japan, we can drink alcohol in parks.

にほんには、こうえんでおさけをのめる。

Nihon ni wa, kouen de osake o nomeru.

In this case, にほんには is the topic of the sentence, because we put emphasis on the location where we can drink in parks. Where is it allowed to drink in parks? In Japan.

In Canada, we cannot drink alcohol in parks.

カナダには、こうえんでおさけをのめない。

Kanada ni wa, kouen de osake o nomenai.

Here, again, we put emphasis on the location, カナダには. Where is it forbidden to drink alcohol in parks? In Canada.

Even though there is the particle に, we add は to make it the topic of the sentence.

As は has also the ability to put emphasis on a word in a sentence, you will see some constructions like this:

It snowed yesterday, but today it is melting.

きのうゆきがふったけど、きょうはとけている。

Kinou yuki ga futta kedo, kyou wa toketeiru.

In this case, it does not mean that today is melting. 'Melting' still refers to the snow that is now melting today. I just put an emphasis on the word 'today' to say that it was snowing yesterday, but today the snow is already melting.

And of course, は will also be used with pronouns when it is the subject of the sentence.

I like cats.

わたしはねこがすきです。

Watashi wa neko ga suki desu.

In this sentence, it is simple to understand that the subject of this sentence is わたし. Who likes cats? I do.

We also saw that は can also act as the object particle for verbs in the negative form. Keep in mind that this is not always the case, however. We just like to put emphasis on the negative things.

One example where we can see this is with the verbs います (いる) and あります (ある) in their negative forms, いません (いない) and ありません (ない).

I have money.

おかねがある。

Okane ga aru.

I don't have money.

おかねはない。

Okane wa nai.

I drink tea.

おちゃをのみます。

Ocha o nomimasu.

I don't drink tea.

おちゃはのみません。

Ocha wa nomimasen.

In these cases, は is used here to emphasis that you don't have money, or you don't drink tea.

We will compare these two sentences: I do not drink tea every morning.

まいあさ、おちゃはのみません。

Maiasa, ocha wa nomimasen.

まいあさは、おちゃをのみません。

maiasa wa, ocha o nomimasen.

In the first sentence, we can understand that it is not tea that you drink every morning (it might be something else, like coffee).

In the second sentence, we understand that you drink tea, but not every morning.

Review: the particle は is a topic marker that designate what is the subject of the sentence. It id also used to put emphasis on a word or group word.

The particle が

が, much like は, is a subject particle, or topic marker, but its use differs from は. I will explain how we use it, and then I will explain the difference.

First off, が will be used with some verbs, such as います and あります as we saw early on, but also with adjectives like すき, きらい and こわい to express that we like, hate and are scared of something.

There is a book on the table.

つくえにほんがあります。

Tsukue ni hon ga arimasu.

I like cats.

ねこがすきです。

Neko ga suki desu.

I hate spicy things.

からいものがきらいです。

Karai mono ga kirai desu.

I am scared of sharks.

さめがこわいです。

Same ga kowai desu.

Also, intransitive verbs will require が. Do you remember what is an intransitive verb? It is verbs where the subject is not going to be the one making the action.

I opened the door vs. the door opened.

(transitive vs. intransitive)

'I opened the door' is transitive because I did an action on the door. 'The door opened', on the other hand, is intransitive, because nobody did an action on the door. The door just opened (change of state).

Transitive verbs will require the particle を whereas intransitive verbs will require the particle が.

I opened the door. (transitive)

ドアをあけた。

Doa o aketa.

The door opened. (intransitive)

ドアがあいた。

Doa ga aita.

I will start class. (transitive)

じゅうぎょうをはじめる。

Juugyou o hajimeru.

Class will start. (intransitive)

じゅうぎょうがはじまる。

Juugyou ga hajimaru.

I understand Japanese. (intransitive)

にほんごがわかります。

Nihongo ga wakarimasu.

The verb わかります is intransitive in Japanese, because the subject, that is supposed to be わたしは but is not there because we do not use pronouns in Japanese, does not have any effect on the object, which is 'Japanese'. The state of the Japanese language will not change depending on whether or not I understand it, unlike with the verb あける (to open) which will change the state of the door.

So, what is the difference between は and が? 

Let me explain with examples.

The book is on the table.

ほんはつくえにあります。

Hon wa tsukue ni arimasu.

A book is on the table.

ほんがつくえにあります。

Hon ga tsukue ni arimasu.

The shark is scary.

さめはこわいです。

Same wa kowai desu.

Sharks are scary.

さめがこわいです。

Same ga kowai desu.

As は is a topic marker, the sentences using は are an indicator that we know what we are talking about. In the first sentence, we understand that 'the book is on the table'. We know which book we are talking about. Maybe we are looking for a book about dinosaurs, for instance. In the third sentence, we know which shark we are talking about. Maybe we are visiting an aquarium and the shark in one tank is scary to us.

In the second and fourth examples, the ones with が, we are talking about things in general. There is a book on the table, but we don't know which in specific. There is no specification given to us as to which book is on the table. We just know there is a book on the table. Yet again, in the fourth sentence, there isn't one specific shark that is scary. All of them are or can be.

Are you starting to notice the difference between the two?

Do not think, however, that は is for specific things and が is for unspecific things, because it does not always work that way.

In the case of intransitive verbs, it isn't possible to use は.

X ドアはあいた。

X Doa wa aita.

This example, for instance, does not work, because the door did not perform any action. It just opened.

Same with the verb わかります.

X にほんごはわかります。

X Nihongo wa wakarimasu.

Here again, this sentence does not work, because it isn't Japanese who understands. It is I who understand Japanese.

Just a quick intervention: in this case, we cannot use the particle を either, because the verb わかります is intransitive.

Also, question words such as who, what, where, etc, will typically need the particle が, as in:

Who is coming?

だれがきますか？

dare ga kimasu ka?

As I was saying earlier, do not think that が is for unspecific things, because sometimes, it can be used to specify something.

Anya is American.

アニアはアメリカじゃんです。

Ania wa amerika jin desu.

Who is american?

だれがアメリカじゃんですか？

Dare ga amerika jin desu ka?

Anya is American.

アニアがアメリカじんです。

Ania ga amerika jin desu.

In the first sentence, we used は to show that Anya is American. It can be a statement without context.

In the second sentence, we asked who is American among all of us. And we answered using the particle が to specify that it is Anya who is American. In this case, we just retook the particle there was in the question to answer it.

We also saw が as the conjunction word 'but' but I wouldn't say it is a particle in this case. I would say it is only a conjunction.

Review: the particle が is also a subject particle, but が will be used with intransitive verbs and other state verbs like います and あります. It will also be used with adjectives 

such as すき, きらい and こわい.

The particle を

The particle を, pronounced お but written を, is an object marker. Some action verbs will require the use of it.

I am eating curry.

カレーをたべています。

Karee o tabeteimasu.

I am reading an interesting book.

おもしろいほんをよんでいます。

Omoshiroi hon o yondeimasu.

I will drink beer.

ビールをのみます。

Biiru o nomimasu.

I want to sing this song.

このうたをうたいたい。

Kono uta o utaitai.

I heard the sound of birds.

とりのおとをきいた。

Tori no oto o kiita.

As explained earlier, transitive verbs will often require the particle を.

Do not translate this particle as meaning 'a' or 'an' or 'the' in English. Remember that there is no articles in Japanese and particles are not articles. They are there to indicate to us the meaning of a sentence.

Review: the particle を is the object marker. A lot of action verbs require it.

The particle へ

The particle へ, pronounced え but written へ, is a directional particle. It usually tells us we are going into the direction of something.

I am going to Japan.

にほんへいきます。

Nihon e ikimasu.

As explained in the lesson about it, a lot of people will still use the particle に in this example. Technically speaking, we are supposed to use へ as a departure and に as an arrival.

 

I went to Japan.

にほんにいきました。

Nihon ni ikimashita.

You will also find へ in greetings.

Welcome to my home!

わたしのいえへようこそ！

Watashi no ie e youkoso!

Review: the particle へ is used to show the direction we are heading.

The particle に

に has a lot of functions as we saw throughout the lessons. We use it for locations or date and time.

There are a lot of books at the library.

としょかんにほんがたくさんあります。

Toshokan ni hon ga takusan arimasu.

Here, としょかん is the location.

I am going to work at 8 c'lock.

はちじにおしごとにいきます。

Hachi ji ni oshigoto ni ikimasu.

Here, we have one date and time, はちじ, and one location, おしごと.

に will also be used with movement verbs, such as のぼる (to climb), のる (to ride), いく (to go) and くる (to come).

I climbed Mount Fuji.

ふじざんにのぼりた。

Fujizan ni noborita.

Each day, I ride the train.

まいにち、でんしゃにのります。

Mainichi, densha ni norimasu.

I am going to the hospital.

びょういんにいきます。

Byouin ni ikimasu.

Are you coming to the party?

パーティーにくる？

Paatii ni kuru?

に can also signify 'to' such as 'to me'.

I gave chocolate to my dad.

ちちにチョコレートをあげました。

Chichi ni chokoreeto o agemashita.

You will also find に in some adverbs, but I wouldn't say it is a particle in this case, just a part of a word.

Review: the particle に shows the destination or arrival, and will be used to designate a location or a date and time. It will also accompany a lot of movement verbs.

The particle で

で is the instrumental particle that means 'by the means of'. It will often be used with action verbs.

I eat with chopsticks.

はしでたべます。

Hashi de tabemasu.

I went by train.

でんしゃでいきました。

Densha de ikimashita.

If we use a location with an action verb, we will use で instead of に.

We can drink in parks.

こうえんでおさけをのめる。

Kouen de osake o nomeru.

Why is it that we use で and not に? に is a particle that designates locations only when it is coupled with a movement verb or a state verb, like います and あります. It isn't used with action verbs, like in the example above. When you see an action verb, you will see the particle で to designate where the action is taken place.

In this sentence にほんには、こうえんでおさけをのめる, we do have the particle に following 'Japan'. In this case, Japan acts as a general place where it is possible to drink alcohol in parks, but it isn't the location where people are doing the action of drinking alcohol. The location where the action is done is in the park (even though technically it is parks IN JAPAN). So, こうえん (park) will take the particle で to show that the action is done in the park. Japan will take the particle に as it is a general location.

Another example:

It is impossible to buy a house in town.

まちでいえをかうのはむりです。

Machi de ie o kau no wa muri desu.

There are some verbs however that are difficult to conclude if they are really action verbs or not. Take the verb 'to sit' for instance.

I sit on the chair.

いすですわります。

Isu de suwarimasu.

いすにすわります。

Isu ni suwarimasu.

A lot of people confuse the two, because in their heads, 'to sit' is not really performing any big action. But I would say that 'to sit' is indeed an action verb. So, で would be used in this example.

Review: the particle で is either used to show the method with which an action is done (like 'I go by train', 'I eat with chopsticks') or it will be used with locations to show where an action is taken place.

The particle の

The primary function of の is the possession. It is like the apostrophe in English.

Sakura's book

さくらのほん

Sakura no hon

My cat

わたしのねこ

Watashi no neko

My cat's name is Mochi.

わたしのねこのなまえはモチです。

Watashi no neko no namae wa Mochi desu.

It can also tell the origin of an object.

Japanese food

にほんのたべもの

Nihon no tabemono

Swedish furniture

スウェーデンのかぐ

Suueeden no kagu

We also saw that の can be used to nominalize a verb or parts of a sentence. I am not sure if we would still treat it as a particle in this function since it is coupled with は.

Baking a cake is fun.

ケーキをつくるのはたのしい。

Keeki o tsukuru no wa tanoshii.

Review: the particle の has the primary function of the possession and a nominalizer.

The particle も

The particle も is very straightforward as it means 'also'.

Yukito is a university student. Touya is also a university student.

ゆきとはだいがくせいです。とうやもだいがくせいです。

Yukito wa daigakusei desu. Touya mo daigakusei desu.

If Sakura goes, I am also going.

さくらがいったら、わたしもいく！

Sakura ga ittara, watashi mo iku!

We also saw in some sentences that it can act as 'even if' or 'no matter'.

No matter if Anya gets told many times, she is not willing to study.

アニアがかどいわれても、べんきょうしようとしない。

Ania ga kado iwarete mo, benkyou shiyou to shinai.

In this case, 'even if' is not a conditional, but rather it means 'no matter'. You will see も in these cases.

Even if I try to eat octopus, I (still) hate it.

たこをたべてみても、だいきらい。

Tako o tabete mite mo, daikirai.

Review: the particle も means 'too' or 'also' and can replace the particles は, が or を to avoid repetition. It can also be used as the expressions 'even if' or 'no matter'.

The particle と

The particle と is also straightforward as it means 'and', as in 'Sakura and Chiharu'.

Yukito and Touya are university students.

ゆきとととうやはだいがくせいです。

Yukito to Touya wa daigakusei desu.

You will often see it in expressions like といっしょに, which means 'together'.

I will play together with Yukito.

ゆきとといっしょにあそびます。

Yukito to issho ni asobimasu.

This sentence can also be translated as 'Yukito and I will play together'.

It can also mean 'with'.

I am studying with Chiharu-chan.

ちはるちゃんとべんきょうしています。

Chiharu-chan to benkyou shiteimasu.

Review: the particle と means 'and' and will connect generally two or more nouns. 

The particle や

The particle や also means 'and' but for non-exhaustive list of things. It is often paired with など to say 'and among other things', but it doesn't have to be.

I bought a pen, an eraser and a pencil.

ペンやけしゴムやえんぴつをかいました。

Pen ya keshigomu ya enpitsu o kaimashita.

The use of や tells us that these three things are not the only things you bought.

If we use と instead of や in this sentence, it would mean that we only bought a pen, an eraser and a pencil.

Review: the particle や functions a bit like the particle と but it will connect nouns to make a non-exhaustive list, meaning the list include this or that item, among other things.

The particle か

The particle か is a simple one. It is used primarily in questions.

What is this?

これはなんですか？

Kore wa nan desu ka?

It is placed at the end of a question, thus making it the question marker.

か can also mean 'or', but in this case, I am not sure if we can say that it is a particle. It is just a word meaning 'or'.

Review: the particle か is a question marker, placed at the end of a question.

The particles から and まで

I put them together, but keep in mind that they do not need to be used together.

から means 'from' and まで means 'until' or 'to'.

I walked from work to my house.

おしごとからいえまであるきました。

Oshigoto kara ie made arukimashita.

I received a gift from mother.

ははからプレゼントをもらいました。

Haha kara purezento o moraimashita.

I have to walk to the Ikebukuro Station...

いけぶくろのえきまであるかないと。。。

Ikebukuro no eki made arukinai to....

We also saw that から can mean 'because', but in this case, it isn't a particle.

Review: the particle から designates the departure point, meaning 'from' and the particle まで designates the arrival, meaning 'until' or 'to'. They can work for locations as well as time.

The particles よ and ね, and others

The particle よ is used to put more enthusiasm into what you say.

Today is a good day (temperature)!

きょうはいいてんきですよ！

Kyou wa ii tenki desu yo!

The particle ね will roughly be translated as 'isn't it?'

Today is a good day (temperature), isn't it?

きょうはいいてんきですね！

Kyou wa ii tenki desu ne!

You will also see some other end-of-sentence particles in casual speech.

ぜ and ぞ are particles acting like よ, but are often more used by boys.

わ will be the feminine counterpart of these two particles.

Gotta catch 'em all!

ポケモンゲットだぜ！

Pokemon getto da ze!

So, let's go!

じゃ、いくぞ！

Ja, iku zo!

This is wonderful!

すばらしいですわ！

Subarashii desu wa!

な is another end-of-sentence particle, somewhat acting like ね, that you might hear in casual speech.

We cannot do anything about that, now can we?

しかたないな。。。

Shikatanai na...

さ is another one that will be used somewhat to put emphasis on something.

That's because I am by your side.

そばにいるからさ。

Soba ni iru kara sa.

ば is another one that will be used, most often when we are angry or when we call someone numerous times, but that person is not answering us.

So, Hisoka.... Hisoka.... Hisoka!

ね、ひそか。。。ひそか。。。ひそかってば！

Ne, Hisoka... Hisoka... Hisoka tte ba!

Sometimes you will see two particles together to convey different feelings to a sentence.

Today is a good day, right?

きょうはいいてんきですよね！

Kyou wa ii tenki desu yo ne!

Here, you cannot invert the particles.

Eeeh, you ate my cake? But I made it for myself!

ええ、わたしのケーキたべた？じぶんのためにつくったのに！

Ee, watashi no keeki tabeta? Jibun no tame ni tsukutta no ni!

As you can see, these end-of-sentence particles are there to convey certain feelings to sentences that would otherwise just be sentences.

It will take some time for you to master the use of these particles, as this phenomenon does not exist in English (generally our tone and word choices will affect our speech), but in Japanese, the use of end-of-sentence particles will help put more feelings into what we say.

Review: the end-of-sentence particles exist to put more feelings or vigour into what we say. We can change the mood of a sentence by adding these.

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I hope I was able to explain clearly what particles are all about. I know that certain particles are a challenge for people, so I hope In was able to clarify some of them for you!

Do not hesitate to send me questions if ever you don't really understand something! It will be my pleasure to explain more in detail.