PARTICLES

The words that hold a Japanese sentence together

The function of particles

• Particles in Japanese join parts of the sentence together.

• A particle can tell us a lot about the word before it.

Particles – a summary

WATopic marker

MO Also

NO Possessive DE‘by’ / do ‘at’ a place

WOObject marker

TO With / and

NI‘at’ with time

NI ‘to’ a place

Flickr photo by Davi M

はNote: This particle is actually written with hiragana “ha”

The Topic Marker は

• は　 [wa] tells us the topic of the sentence.

• It tells us WHAT is being discussed.

• It is hard to translate into English but it is similar to saying ‘as for …’.

Examples for は

• ぼく　は　１２さい　です。• I am 12 years old. (As for me, I’m 12).

• ひろ　は　せんせい　です。• Hiro is a teacher. (As for Hiro, [he’s] a

teacher.

Flickr photo by Spitzgogo

The Possessive

の

The Possessive の

• の　 [no] can act like ‘apostrophe s’ in English.

• It tells us who owns something.

• It also serves to join 2 nouns together when they relate to each other. Eg. Tomorrow morning, Tuesday next week, and so on.

Examples for の

• ぼく　の　なまえ　は　ひろ　です。• My name is Hiro.

• せんせい　の　ほん　です。• It is the teacher’s book.

• にほんご　の　せんせい。• Japanese Teacher (teacher of Japanese)

Flickr photo by tanakawho

Flickr photo by El Negro Magnifico

The object marker を

The object marker を

• を　 [wo] tells us the object of the verb.

• If the verb is ‘do’, it tells us what we are doing. If the verb is ‘eat’, it tells us what we are eating.

• ‘Eat a hamburger’ – hamburger is the object

• ‘Play tennis’ – tennis is the object.

Examples for を • まど　を　あけてください。• Please open the door.

• ひろ　は　おんがく　を　ききます。• Hiro listens to music.

Flickr photo by B Tal

Flickr photo by an untrained eye

Movement “to” a place

に

The particle に

1. に　 [ni] tells us the place we are going to.

Example:

a. かわ　に　いきます。 Go to the river

Time “at” which

something occurs

に

Flickr photo by Joe PennistonFlickr photo by Robbert van der Steeg

The particle に

1. It also tells us the time we do something. It comes after the TIME or DAY of the week.

Example:a. ろくじ　に　おきます。 Wake up at

6:00

The “location”

of something:“in” / “on”

に

Flickr photo by John Althouse Cohen

The particle に

1. It also indicates the location of something. “on the table” etc.

Example:a. いす　の　うえ　に　あります。　 It

is on the chair.

Flickr photo by L. Marie

“Also”

も

Flickr photo by Caucas’

The particle も

• も means “also”

• It can replace を or は but can be used together with に or へ

Examples for も

• すし を たべます。さしみ　も　たべます。• I eat sushi. I also eat sashimi.

• とうきょう　に　いきます。おおさか　にも　いきます。

• I will go to Tokyo. I will also go to Osaka.

The particle で

• で tells us how we get somewhere. Like “by means of”, “using”

• Tells us “where” we do something– Listen to music in de house!!!

Flickr photo by Destinys Agent

What you use to do something

で

Flickr photo by moriza

Where u do de activity

で

How you get somewhere

Flickr photo by rAmmoRRison

で

Examples for で

• バス　で　いきます。• Go by bus.

• ぎんこう　で　はたらいています。• Work at the bank.

• こうえん　で　あそびます。• Play in the park.

“with” after a

person / animal

と

Flickr photo by jm3Flickr photo by onkel wart

The particle と

• と is used between nouns to mean “and”

• と also indicates who or what you do something “with”

Examples for と

• いす　と　つくえ　が　あります。• There is a chair and a desk.

• いぬ　と　あそびます。• Play with the dog.

• あした、ともだち　と　テニスを　します。• Tomorrow, I will play tennis with my friend.