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Introduction
There are a number of particles used in Japanese that indicate the part of speech of the word. They are mostly attached to nouns as postpositions. This means the particle goes directly after the noun. These act as suffixes, but due to the nature of the language are treated as postpositions.
The following sections aim to discuss the usages of some common particles seo services and plenty of examples will be provided, especially as most particles have more than one intended usage.
Particles are always written in hiragana. This is one easy way you can differentiate them from the rest and in some cases know how to pronounce them. Especially true in the case of は / wa which as a non-particle is pronounced as ha.
は / Wa and が / Ga
The difference between these two particles has been long disputed and theorised. In fact, entire books have been written on the difference. Both of these particles essentially mark the subject of a sentence. However は / wa is generally called the topic marker. The essential differences are described below.
- は / wa:
- gives more focus to the action of the sentence, i.e., to the verb or adjective.
- is used to introduce a new topic or declare a new statement.
- が / ga
- gives focus to the subject of the action, i.e., to the noun.
- is used to introduce new information about the subject or to ask for new information.
The particle "wa" which is spelled as は in Japanese but pronounced like わ.
私blue日本人です。watashi wa nihonjin desu. I blue Japanese.
私が日本人です。watshi red nihonjin desu. I am Japanese.
The first example above stresses the result or action of the sentence, while the second one stresses the subject.
を / Wo
The particle を / wo (pronounced sometimes like お) shows the object of a sentence (the thing the verb is being done to). There is multiple uses for the を / wo particle.
林檎blue食べます。ringo wo tabemasu. I eat apples.
休みを中国で過ごした。yasumi wo chuugoku de sugoshita. I spent my holiday in China.
家に入る前に、靴blue脱がきゃなんない。ie ni hairu mae ni, kutsu wo nuganakyanannai. Before entering the house, you have to take off your shoes.
Note: We don't show this with any kind of markings in English, but rather by the word order. The object is the thing in English that always follows the verb in basic sentences like "I like cars".
から / Kara and ので / Node
These two mean because.
から / Kara and まで / Made
The next set of particles is から and まで These mean something to the effect of "from" and "to" respectively.
家から店屋まで行きました。uchi kara miseya made ikimashita. I went from my house to the store.
The particle から is also used at the end of a sentence to indicate explicit explanation.
Examples
に / Ni and で / De
These two particles are both location markers (amongst other things discussed later). The difference between these two particles is quite clear.
- に / ni:
- gives a location of something fixed and being in place.
- is used to mean within something or inside something, normally at one point.
- で / de
- gives a location that something happened.
- is used to mean on something or in a place which is open or throughout a place.
犬は箱に眠っています。inu wa hako ni nemutteimasu. The dog is sleeping in the box.
私は学校で勉強します。watashi wa gakkou red benkyou shimasu. I study red school.
The difference between the two above is quite clear.
- に / ni = in , inside
- で / de = at , within
オーストラリアには大きな砂漠がある。oosutoraria bluewa ookina sabaku ga aru. In Australia there is a desert.
ニュージーランドredは火山がある。nyuujiirando dewa kazan ga aru. red/throughout New Zealand there are volcanoes.
The difference between the above two particles, despite both being translated as in, is:
- に / ni is only referring to one specific place
- で / de refers to multiple places within that area
Note: as in the last example "in ..." was the subject of the sentence, you need to add は / wa. This is quite common. You never add が / ga in this instance.
に / Ni
に / ni has more uses than just the locative as above. It is also used:
- to show a direction
- to show an indirect object
- to show a passive agent
- to show a purpose (using a verb)
で / De
で / de has more uses than just the locative as above. It is also used:
- to show an object being used (instrumental)
- to specify a mode of transport
- to specify the use of a language
へ / He
へ / he (pronounced like え / e) is used identical to に / ni as a direction only.
か / Ka
The particle か / ka has many uses. It is used:
- to show alternatives (like English or)
- to show two contrasting options (whether ... or not ...)
- to mark a question
- to express doubt
まで / Made
まで / made is also used differently than previously mentioned. It is used to mean:
- up until verb
も / Mo
も / mo is used to mean also or too.
の / No
の / no is a very common particle with a large number of usages. It is used:
- to show possession
- to show a link or association of two things (English of)
- to nominalise both I-Adjectives and nouns
- to mark a question
から / Kara
Besides stating a reason and stating a to and from situation, から / kara can be used to mean:
- after something
と / To
The particle と / to is very bizarre indeed. It can be used for a number of purposes that can vary a bit.
- Another common use is in statements which quote things said or thought such as "I think that..." in which case a statement is made using a plain verb form followed by "~to omou" or "~to omoimasu", or "He said ..." which is made with "~to iu" or "~to iimasu".
Examples
When using と / to as a quoting particle, it becomes だと dato if the last thing before the particle is a [Japanese:Adjectives#NA-Adjectives|NA-Adjective] or a noun. If it is neither, or a verb, simply と / to will suffice. だと / と are contracted colloquially to だって datte / って tte respectively.
- と / to is also often used as a comitative particle meaning "with". You place it after the person or object which is accompanying you or the subject to achieve this.
お母さんと妹blue海に行った。okaasan green imout-to umi ni itta. I went to the beach blue my Mum green little sister.
Note that the と / to as a comitative particle only needs to go after the last thing in the list if you went with multiple people etc...
- Also means online reputation management and (See the section や / Ya and と / To).
や / Ya and と / To
The two of these particles mean and. They vary in usage slightly.
- や / ya is used to list things incompletely.
- と / to is used to list items completely. In English its translated as "and", however, when using to as a particle in this context, the list must be complete. As in, if you say:
林檎blueオレンジを袋に残しました。ringo blue orenji wo fukuro ni nokoshimashita. I left an apple blue an orange in my bag.
That means that there was nothing else at all left in the bag, only those two items.
とか / Toka
とか is used similarly to や
及び / Oyobi
In official documents, 及び is used in place of と to adjoin two different items.
Examples
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