JLPT N 5 GRAMMAR (PARTICLE)

What are particles?

Particles are probably one of the most difficult and confusing aspects of Japanese sentences. A particle (joshi) is a word that shows the relationship of a word, a phrase, or a clause to the rest of the sentence. Some particles have English equivalents. Others have functions similar to English prepositions, but since they always follow the word or words they mark, they are post-positions. There are also particles that have a peculiar usage which is not found in English. Most particles are multi-functional.

·        はー(Topic marker particle)は (wa) follows the topic the speaker wants to talk about. Therefore, wa（は）is often called topic marking particle. The “topic” is often the grammatical subject.

Particle は (wa) is usually used as a topic marker in a sentence. When a noun is marked as a topic by は (wa), it's something both the speaker and listener are familiar with. For example, if the speaker says...

• ほんださん は がくせいです。
  Honda san wa gakusei  desu
  
  Meaning: Mr Honda is a student
• ～さん            ―Title of respect added to a name

·      をー

を (o) marks the grammatical object of a sentence

The Japanese particle WO (を) marks the direct object of a Japanese sentence.  Even though it is spelled with を in Hiragana, we need to pronounce the particle を as “o“.  The direct object is linked to the action of the verb.  This can be anything from hitting a ball to studying Japanese.  In both situations, there is an object directly linked to a verb, so we must use を to glue these words together.

わたしはにほんごをべんきょうします。
Watashi wa Nihongo o benkyou shimasu.
(I study Japanese)

かれはビールをのみます
kare wa biiru o nomimasu
He drinks beer

·      に

·        　The Japanese particle に (ni) can be used to indicate a specific point in time. They are translated as in, at, or on in English.

·        　に (ni) can be used to express clock times, days of the week, months, or years.

·        　You would not use に (ni) with these words:

·        今日　　　　　　　kyō　　　　　　　 　today
今　　　　　　　 　ima　　　　　　　　now
朝　　　　　　　　　asa　　　　　　　　 morning
晩　　　　　　　　　ban　　　　　　　　evening
いつ　　　　　　　　itsu　　　　　　　　when
毎〜　　　　　　　　mai~　　　　　　 　every～
今〜　　　　　　　　kon~　　　　　　 　this~
来〜　　　　　　　　rai~　　　　　　   　next~

日(に)本(ほん)にいる (I’m in Japan)。

くうこうにつきました(I arrived at the airport.)

わたしはたべにいきました。(I went to eat.)

                                  

 (に) is used to express purpose

(に) is used to express direction

(に) is used to indicate a location

(に) is used as an indirect object marker

(に) can express a point in time

がー

Japanese particle ga (が) marks the subject of the sentence.

 ga (が) when information about a subject is important or situationally new to the listener and/or the speaker.

 Ga (が) can also be used to emphasize the subject or distinguish it from others. Compare the two following examples. The second one might come as a response to the question “Who is Sara?”

The particle ga (が) can be used to connect two sentences as but.

When a question word is or is part of the subject, (at the beginning of a sentence) we use the particle ga　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　だれが来ますかー　　　　　　　　　dare ga kimasu ka?

　Who will come?

 

もしもし、田中です が、山田さんはいますか。
moshimoshi, tanaka desu ga, yamada san wa imasu ka

Meaning: Hello, this is Tanaka speaking, is Mr Yamada around? (May I speak to Mr Yamada?)

                  

Now let's review the rules about "wa" and "ga."

wa は	ga が
* Topic marker * Contrast	* Subject marker * With question words * Emphasize * Instead of "o" * In subordinate clauses

        

Thank you