Particles (助詞）は, の, を, が, と, や, か, で, に

 Particles (助詞）

Today’s topic is particles. Do you know how to use Japanese Particles は, の, を, が, と, や, か, で, に? Let’s learn how to use basic particles correctly.  

Please know that the ones that I am going to cover are not all the particles that we have in Japanese.The function I will explain for each particle is not the only function for that particle, either. 

One single particle can have multiple functions and it's impossible  to cover everything, so I will teach you only the basic ones here. 

People struggle with Japanese particles in the same way as we, Japanese people struggle with English prepositions. In English, one preposition has multiple functions too.

For example, the preposition such as in, on and at. The same preposition can mark a time expression like this or a place like this. 

Many Japanese think how we can master particles quickly but, to be honest, there is no quick and easy way. 

The only way to get the hang of particle of to use them over and over in your own sentences. and learn from the mistakes so that your brain stores enough data to know which one to use. 

For instance, I still do not know exactly why I cannot say “at Sunday “or “ in home.”

I just know that is not the way it is English because I have used these prepositions enough in my sentences and now, saying " at Sunday" or "in home " does not sound right to me. That means my brains has stored enough data about these prepositions. 

But I know It is going to be a long way to reach that point, so today I will cover the basic particles that people often get confused at the beginning level. They are は, の, を, が, と, や, か, で, and 2 kinds of に.

 

First, I am going to explain these particles for these functions in the below list. These particles mark the following things. 

Mark topic	は	indicates the main topic
	が	(1) Things you like, (2) Specific Topic inside the main topic, (3) Subject of Existence
	の	(1) Indicates possession (2) Indicates Noun A Creates Noun B (3) Indicates　Noun A Modifies Noun B (4) Indicates position: Noun A (Basis) and Noun B (Direction)
	を	Direct Object
Connect Nouns	と	Indicates an all-inclusive list " and"
	や	Lists examples "for example" "such as" "among others"
	か	Indicates alternatives "or"
Mark Places	で	Place of Action
	に	Destination/Goal
	に	Place of Existence

 Now, let's see at the details of each particle.

Particle は

As you can see in the table above, this particle follows the subject" It is 12:30" " I am a student" . These sentences will all translated into Japanese using an appropriate noun and the word. 

~です/～だ。　it is....

   

indicates the main topic	（わたし）	は	がくせいです	(I )am a student
	それは	は	１2じはんです	(It )is 12:30

 Note that none of these sentences has a "subject", like the " it " and "I" found in their English counterparts. Sentence without subject are very common in Japanese; Japanese speakers actually tend to omit subjects whenever they think it is clear to the listener what or who they are referring to.

 

Particle が 

Let's say you still have” Japan” in you sentence but now you say ”すきです”, so here, Japan is a place that you like. When you like something, you have to use the particle が to mark it, so here you have to say にほん　が　すきです（I like Japan) 

Things you like

にほん

が

すきです

が also marks a specific topic within the main topic of the sentence like this. 

specific topic

にほん

は

とうきょう

が

ゆうめいです（is famous）

The main topic is "Japan" and that is why it is marked by the topic maker "は", and "Tokyo" is the specific topic inside the main topic, "Japan", here. This sentence means “ As for Japan, Tokyo is famous! 

Let’s see another example

にほん	は	ひと（people）	が	しんせつ（is Kind）
Meaning :As for Japan, People are kind

 

にほん	は	まち（City）	が	きれいです（is clean）
Meaning :As for Japan, the cities or towns are clean

 

Like this, the particle がcan make a specific topic elated to the main topic of the sentence.

 

And one more function of the particle が that I want to cover is this.

Subject of existence

にほん

に

とうきょう

が

あります（Exist）

In Japan, Tokyo exists, meaning, there is Tokyo in japan. I will explain how to express the existence of things or people in Japanese in another article. 

Particle の

Next, I am going to talk about the particle の.

Possessor: Noun A Possesses Noun B	わたし	の	パソコン	My PC.
	せんせい(teacher)	の	ほ（book）	teacher’s book.
Author (Creator): Noun A Creates Noun B	ピカソ	の	え（picture）	the picture that Picasso painted.
Explanation: Noun A Modifies Noun B	わたし	の	おとうさん(dad)	my father.
Position: Noun A (Basis) and Noun B (Direction)	え(station)	の	となり(next)	next to the station
	がっこう(School)	の	まえ(front)	front of the school

  

Particle に and で 

Most of students mix up the particles” に” and” で” at beginning learning the particles.

When you are not sure if you should mark a place with で or に、what you have to look at is NOT the place, you have to look at the ending of the sentence. 

Destination/Goal	にほん	に			いきます
Place of Action	にほん	で	すし	を	たべます
Place of Existence	にほん	に	ともだち	が	います

 

Because the verb at the end of the sentence decides the function of the place in that sentence.

Looking at first sentence, it has "いきます"（ to go). That means Japan in that sentence is a destination as in " I go to Japan», so you have to put the particle に. You can also mark it with the particle へ. It is another destination marker. But ”に” is more conversational and preferred in spoken language, so I am going to stick with に.

 In the second one, it has the verb たべます（eat), which means the place , Japan, in this sentences is a place of action, so you have to mark it with the particle で. In this sentence, what did you eat? It is Sushi. This sentence means “ I eat sushi in Japan”. 

In the third sentence, it has the verb います。And here, what exists is marked by the particle "が", which is ともだち（friend), so in this sentence, the place, Japan, is the place of existence where a friend or friends. “a friend exist in Japan” means there is (are) (a) friend (s) in Japan.

 

Particle と, や, か 

Let’s move on to the next group.　These 3 particles と, や, か that connects nouns. と, や, か. For example, you can not use the particle と to connect 2 actions like " wake up" and "exercise" as in "I wake up at 6:00 and exercise" we do not use particles to connect actions. I will explain how to connect actions, adjectives, and sentences in the other articles. 

It is perfectly fine to use these particles to connect 2 or more things like this. 

and	にほん	と	ちゅうごく	に	いきたいです（to want to go）	I want go to Japan and China
for example	にほん	や	ちゅうごく	に	いきます	I want go to Japan and China, for example.
or	にほん	か	ちゅうごく	に	いきます	I want go to Japan  or China

 

 

Particle を

Next, let’s see the particle を、which marks a direct object in the sentence, so you have to use the particle を to mark things that you eat, drink, watch, study, create,wash, know, and  wait ,etc. 

Direct object

ジュース

を

のみます

I drink juice

 

 
Review exercise

 

Please fill in proper particles. You can find the answer at the bottom.

 

1.      わたし　（A）なまえ(name)　（B）Mike です　

2.      あした(tomorrow)、かれ(he)　（C）　がっこう(school)　（D）　いきます  (to go).

3.      うち（home）(E ) ひるごはん（lunch）(F) たべます　(to eat)

4.      かのじょ（She） (G) いぬ（dog） (H) すきです（like）

 

Please translate into Japanese

 

       i.          I like dog and cat.

     ii.          He plays soccer and tennis, for example.

    iii.          I want a car or bicycle.  

 

Answer

A)    の

B)    は

C)    は

D)   に

E)    で

F)    を

G)   は

H)   が

 

                           i.          わたし　は　いぬ　と　ねこ　が　すきです

                         ii.          かれ　は　サッカー　や　テニス　を　します

                        iii.          わたし　は　くるま　か　じてんしゃ　が　ほしいです

More exercises 

Genki 1　を、に、で

Genki 1　まとめ練習　に、で、を

Genki 1　に、を、

Genki 1　も