What Are Japanese Particles? Understanding Wa, Ga, and More

In Japanese, particles are called 助詞 (joshi) or てにをは (tenioha). These one-syllable building blocks within a Japanese sentence follow immediately after a noun, verb, or adjective. They modify each of these words, indicating what the word’s role is within the sentence. In this article, we’re going to cover the major Japanese particles, how they work, and when to use them.

Rules for Japanese Particles

Before we begin, it’s important to remember three rules that almost every Japanese particle must follow.

1. A Japanese particle will always modify the word that comes before it in the sentence.
2. Particles can be left out, especially in casual speech—but it’s best to only do so when the particles and the words they modify can be inferred by context clues.
3. Particles are almost never used at the very end of a sentence.

With these rules in mind, let’s take a look at the major Japanese particles you’ll find in every sentence.

Major Japanese Particles

These are the particles that you need to form even the most basic Japanese sentences. Some particles mark a topic, object, or action, while others have more specific roles like destination or time. While there are a few particles in this section that closely resemble other particles, each Japanese particle does have its own important role to play.

は (wa) – Marks the Sentence Topic

は (wa) marks the topic of the sentence, or the word that will be the focus of the following phrase or conversation. That means that wa will always follow either a noun or a personal pronoun. As personal pronoun topics can sometimes be omitted in Japanese, you might notice that wa can tend to disappear from sentences as well. But don’t be alarmed—leaving the topic and wa in your sentence is perfectly okay if you don’t feel comfortable omitting it.

In English, wa could best be translated to am, is, or are. Here are a couple of basic sentences in which people use the Japanese particle wa.

Examples

• Nice to meet you. I’m Tom. はじめまして。私はトムです。 (Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Tom desu.)
• He is good at soccer. 彼はサッカーが上手です。 (Kare wa jouzu desu.)
• That dog is very noisy. あの犬はとてもうるさいです。 (Ano inu wa totemo urusai desu.)

が (ga) – Marks the Subject; Emphasizes Words

が (ga) is often hard to distinguish from wa for many Western studiers of Japanese. These two Japanese particles can and often do appear within the same sentence. While wa points to the topic of the conversation, ga appears when necessary to differentiate the topic from the subject.

For example, let’s look at this sentence:

• 私は彼の名前が覚えられない (Watashi wa kare no namae ga oboerarenai).

It means, I can’t remember his name. I, or the person speaking, is the topic of the sentence. This is about their inability to remember a name. But the name cannot be remembered is the subject, and is therefore marked with ga.

Another way ga is used in a sentence is to emphasize or narrow the focus down to the word it precedes. Using the same example, a second wa can technically be inserted in the place of ga. That would make the sentence look like this:

• 私は彼の名前は覚えられない。 (Watashi wa kare no namae wa oboerarenai.)

The translation of this sentence to English is still the same: I can’t remember his name. However, the use of wa changes the nuance of the sentence. It doesn’t narrow the focus down to his name, and thus implies that the speaker has several other names that they cannot remember.

However, 私は彼の名前が覚えられない (Watashi wa kare no namae ga oboerarenai.) narrows the implication of this sentence down to his name only. The speaker cannot remember this man’s name, but they probably remember other names just fine.

This might be a bit confusing, but don’t worry. The differences between wa and ga will often become a natural instinct you gain with practice. Here are a few more examples to look at before we move on to the next Japanese particle.

Examples:

• I like Harry Potter. 私はハリーポッターが好きです。 (Watashi wa Harry Potter ga suki desu.)
• I didn’t know that Tom plays the piano. 私はトムがピアノを弾けるなんて知らなかった。 (Watashi wa Tom ga piano o hikeru nante shiranakatta.)

に (ni) – Marks the Direction of an Action

The particle に (ni) has two uses. First, it directs the action of a following verb to the word it follows. For example, the sentence:

• 私はトムにパンをあげました 。 (Watashi wa Tom ni pan o agemashita.)

means I gave bread to him. Whom or what was the bread given to? Tom. This is why the English prepositions to, from, or at are often used as translations for ni.

Ni is also used to indicate a time, place, or direction. For example, the sentence I will go to the market at 12:00 translates to:

• 私は12時にスーパーマーケットに行きます。 (Watashi wa juuni ji ni suupaa maaketto ni ikimasu.)

Here are a few more example sentences to help you understand the particle ni.

Examples:

• I will go to my friend’s house today. 今日、私は友達の家に行きます。 (Kyou, watashi wa tomodachi no ie ni ikimasu.)
• The sunset always happens at the west. 夕焼けはいつも西に起こります。 (Yuuyake wa itsumo nishi ni okorimasu.)

へ (e) – Marks Destination, and Direction

へ (e) is similar to ni in that it indicates direction and destination. The biggest differences between e and ni are that e is limited to indicating destination and direction and that unlike ni, it can be combined with other Japanese particles.

The most common English translation of e is towards. This might not be a literal translation, but it sums up the nuance of this particle quite well. Take this Japanese sentence, for example:

• 彼女は太陽へ向きました。 (Kanojo wa taiyou e mukimashita.)

The English translation of this sentence is, The girl faced the sun, but it can also be translated as, The girl faced towards the sun. E marks the direction in which the girl is facing: sun-wards.

As far as marking destination is concerned, e is practically interchangeable with ni. We can use it in the supermarket example from the previous section:

• I will go to the market at 12:00. 私は12時にスーパーマーケットへ行きます。 (Watashi wa juuni ji ni suupaamaaketto e ikimasu.)

This does sound a bit clunkier than when ni is used after “supermarket,” but it’s still an acceptable sentence. Note that e cannot replace ni to mark the time of 12:00. E is more limited in its use than ni in this regard.

Examples:

• I want to go to Japan. 私は日本へ行きたい。 (Watashi wa Nihon e ikitai.)
• Tom ran forwards. トムは前へ走りました。 (Tom wa mae e hashirimashita.)

を (o) – Indicates the Direct Object

The usage of を (o) in a sentence is pretty straightforward. This particle follows the direct object of the sentence. For example, the sentence Takashi kicked the ball is translated to:

• 孝さんはボールを蹴った。 (Takeshi-san wa booru o ketta.)

What did Takashi perform the verb of kicking upon? He performed it on the ball. So long as you can remember what the object of the sentence is, using o will become a breeze.

Examples:

• I ate all of those cream puffs. 私はそのシュークリームを全部食べました。 (Watashi was ono shuu curiimu o zenbu tabemashita.)
• Tom touched the cat. トムは猫を触りました。 (Tom wa neko o sawarimashita.)

で (de) Indicates How or Where an Action Takes Place

The word that the Japanese particle で (de) is attached to will often be a location or situation that gives more insight into the following action. For example, 日本で台風が発生しました (Nihon de taifuu ga hassei shimashita.) means A typhoon appeared in Japan.

De is also used for methods of transportation. I go to school by bike in Japanese is 私は自転車で学校に行きます。(Watashi wa jitensha de gakkou ni ikimasu.) If the word you are using describes how or where and action takes place, it will most likely be followed by the particle de.

Examples

• There was a fire at my school yesterday. 昨日、私の学校で火事がありました。 (Kinou, watashi no gakkou de kaji ga arimashita.)
• Can you get to Tokyo be train? 東京まで電車で行けますか？ (Tokyo made densha de ikemasu ka?)

の (no) – Indicates Possession

The Japanese particle の (no) is translated as the possessive apostrophe-s or as “of.” It indicates possession.

Examples:

• I got the girl’s phone number. 彼女の電話番号をもらいました。 (Kanojo no denwa bangou o moraimashita.)
• That’s Sarah’s pen! それはサラさんのペンです！ (Sore wa Sarah-san no pen desu!)

も (mo) – Means Too or Also

In Japanese, the particle も (mo) is used in the same way the English words too and also are in a sentence. The easiest example would be the Japanese sentence for, “Me too!” It is simply 私も！ (Watashi mo!)

Examples:

• Please let her play, also. 彼女もやらせてください。 (Kanojo mo yarasete kudasai.)
• I have a little brother, too. 私も弟がいます。 (Watashi mo otouto ga imasu.)

Lesser Japanese Particles

Now that we’ve covered the major Japanese particles, here are a few that are just as important but tend to be used in more complex sentences. If you’re just beginning to study Japanese, these particles might not come up as often in your textbook—but it’s still a good idea to have them in mind as you move forward with your lessons.

と (to) – “And”, “Also”

The Japanese particle と (to, pronounced “t-oh”) is used to connect clauses the way the word and would in English. While commas are used in Japanese, to connects several clauses to form a complete list of nouns the speaker believes is exhaustive.

To is also used when directly quoting what someone else has said.

Examples:

• I want you to buy oranges, eggs, and pork. オレンジと卵と豚肉を買って欲しいです。 (Orenji to tamago to buta niku o katte hoshii desu.)
• He said, “I want us to break up.” 「俺は別れたい」と彼が言った。 (“Ore wa wakaretai,” to kare ga itta.)

や (ya) – “Or”

The particle や (ya) is used in Japanese to list clauses when the speaker believes the list is non-exhaustive. It’s used the way we would use or in English.

Example:

• I’d like to eat either chocolate or caramel. 私はチョコレートやキャラメルを食べたいです。 (Watashi wa chocoreeto ya kyarameru o tabetai desu.)

か (ka) – Indicates a Question

か (ka) is the only Japanese particle on our list that is used at the end of the sentence. It’s done so to indicate a question, and often in written Japanese can replace the question mark entirely; questions can be ended with the Japanese period “。” if ka appears at the end of the question. Ka can also be used the way we would use or in English.

Examples:

• What’s for dinner today? 今日のご飯は何ですか。 (Kyou no gohan wa nan desu ka?)
• Do you have a notebook that you don’t need? 要らないノートがありますか。 (Iranai nooto ga arimasu ka?)
• Which do you want, orange juice or coffee? オレンジジュースかコーヒー、どっちにする？ (Oreenji juusu ka coohii, docchi ni suru?)

Using Japanese Particles to Build a Sentence

We’ve actually covered Japanese sentence structure before, but it’s important to remember that in Japanese sentences, you can rearrange the clauses without changing the meaning of the sentence they’re in. So long as you keep the particles paired with their preceding words, you can almost always move things around without any trouble.

私は昨日の夜にカレンと会いました can just as easily become 昨日の夜に私はカレンと会いました。

The meaning remains the same.

You can also omit the subject from the sentence, so long as it can be implied by context. If the speaker omitted the subject from the previous sentence, listeners would still infer that it was the speaker who had met with Karen:

• (私は)昨日の夜にカレンと会いました。 ((Watashi wa) kinou no your ni Karen to aimashita.)

Japanese Particles – Conclusion

Japanese particles are daunting, but if you examine each particle and its role within a sentence, using them can be easy—and even fun! There are a few more particles that were too advanced for this list, but if you keep studying and practicing with tools like Clozemaster, you’ll be able to use them like a native in no time. Thank you for reading our post on Japanese particles!