02 Particles

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Nihongo Joshi (Japanese Particles)

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, aphrase, or a clause to the rest of the sentence. Some particles have nglishe!uivalents. "thers have functions similar to nglish prepositions, but since they

always follow the word or words they mar#, they are post$positions. %here are alsoparticles that have a peculiar usage which is not found in nglish. &ost particles are

multi$functional.

The Particle "To"

Complete Listing

't connects only nouns and pronouns, never phrases and clauses. 't translates into

and.

Contrast

't indicates a comparison or contrast between the two nouns.

Accompaniment

't translates into together, with.

Change/Result

't is commonly used in the phrase to naru, and indicates that something reachesa goal or new state.

Quotation

't is used before such verbs as iu, omou, #i#u*, etc to introduce a clause

or a phrase. 't is normally preceded by a plain form of a verb.Conditional

'tis placed after a verb or an ad+ective to form a conditional. 't translates into assoon as, when, if, etc. A plain form is usually used before the particle to.

SoundSymolism't isused after onomatopoeic adverbs.


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The Particle "!"

irect !ject #ar$er" is placed after a noun, and indicates that the noun is the direct ob+ect.

Route o% #otionerbs such as wal#, run, pass, turn, drive, go through etc., ta#e the particle o toindicate the route which the movement follows.

Point o% epartureerbs such as leave, come out, get off etc., ta#e the particle o to mar# the placefrom which one gets of or leaves.

The Particle "&o"

Possessi'e #ar$er

No indicates ownership or attribution. 't is similar to the nglishapostrophe s (-s).

%he final noun can be omitted if it is clear to both spea#er and listener.

eg: Are wa watashi no (kuruma) desu.= That is mine (my car).

&oun #odi%ication

%he noun before no modifies the noun after no. %his usage is similar to thepossessive, but it is seen more with compound nouns or noun phrases.(e.g. kono hon no chosha -> the author of this book)

No can be used many times in one sentence. 'n this usage the order of nouns inJapanese is the reverse of the nglish structure. %he normal Japanese order is from

large to small, or general to specific.

Apposition

No lin#s the noun to the appositive that follows.


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Wa (S )a

Topic #ar$er and Suject #ar$er

/oughly spea#ing, wa is a topic mar#er, and ga is a sub+ect mar#er. %he topic isoften the same as the sub+ect, but not necessary. %he topic can be anything that a

spea#er wants to tal# about ('t can be an ob+ect, location or any other grammatical

element). 'n this sense, it is similar to the nglish e0pressions, As for orSpea#ing of .

*asic i%%erences *et+een )a and Wa

1a is used to mar# something that has already been introduced into the

conversation, or is familiar with both a spea#er and a listener. (proper nouns, geneticnames etc.) 2a is used when a situation or happening is +ust noticed or newly

introduced. See the following e0ample.

#u$ashi mu$ashi, ojii-san gasunde imashita. !jii-san+atotemo shinsetsu

deshita. "nce upon a time, there lived an old man. 3e was very #ind.

'n the first sentence, o+ii$san is introduced for the first time. 't is the sub+ect, not

the topic. %he second sentence describes about o+ii$san that is previouslymentioned. "+ii$san is now the topic, and is mar#ed with wa instead of ga.

Wa as Contrast

4eside being a topic mar#er, wa is used to show contrast or to emphasi5e the

sub+ect. Particles such as ni, de, #ara and madecan be combined with wa(double particles) to show contrast. 1hether wa

indicates a topic or a contrast, it depends on the conte0t or the intonation.

)a +ith Question Words

1hen a !uestion word such as who and what is the sub+ect of a sentence, it isalways followed by ga, never by wa. %o answer the !uestion, it also has to be

followed by ga.

)a as 0mphasis

2a is used for emphasis, to distinguish a person or thing from all others. 'f a topicis mar#ed with wa, the comment is the most important part of the sentence. "n

the other hand, if a sub+ect is mar#ed with ga, the sub+ect is the most important

part of the sentence. 'n nglish, these differences are sometimes e0pressed in toneof voice. 6ompare these sentences.Taro +aga$$ou ni i$imashita. %aro went to school.

Taro gaga$$ou ni i$imashita. %aro is the one who went to school.


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)a in a Special Circumstance

%he ob+ect of the sentence is usually mar#ed by the particle o, but some verbs andad+ectives (e0pressing li#e7disli#e, desire, potential, necessity, fear, envy etc.) ta#e

ga instead of o.

)a in Suordinate Clauses

%he sub+ect of a subordinate clause normally ta#es ga to show that the sub+ects of

the subordinate and main clauses are different.

The Particle "e"

Place o% Action

't indicates the place where an action ta#es place. 't translates into in, at, on,and so on.

#eans

't indicates means, method, or instruments. 't translates into by, with, in bymeans of, etc.

Totali1ing

't is placed after a !uantity, time or amount of money, and indicates an e0tent.

Scope

't translates into in, among, within, etc.

Time Limit

't indicates time consumed for a certain action or occurrence. 't translates into in,within, etc.

#aterial

't indicates the composition of an ob+ect.

Re2uired Cost

't translates into for, at, etc.

Cause't indicates a casual reason or motive for an action or occurrence. 't translates intodue to, because of, owing to, etc.


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The Particle "&i"

3ndirect !ject #ar$er

An indirect ob+ect usually precedes a direct ob+ect. Some Japanese verbs such asau (to meet) and #i#u (to as#) ta#e an indirect ob+ect, though their nglish

counterparts do not.

Location o% 04istence

Ni is typically used with verbs such as iru (to e0ist), aru (to e0ist) and sumu(to live). 't translates into at or in.

irect Contract

Ni is used when a motion or action is directed at or onto an ob+ect or place.

irection

Ni can be translated as to when indicating a destination.

Purpose

8uh.

Speci%ic Time

Ni is used with various time e0pressions (year, month, day, and cloc# time) to

indicate a specific point in time, and translates into at, on, or in. 3owever, the

e0pressions of relative time such as today, tomorrow don-t ta#e the particle ni.

Source

Ni indicates an agent or a source in passive or causative verbs. 't translates into

by or from.

&otion o% Per

Ni is used with fre!uency e0pressions such as per hour, per day, per person, etc.


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Sentence 0nding Particles

'n Japanese, there are many particles that are added to the ends of sentences. %heye0press the spea#er-s emotions, doubt, emphasis, caution, hesitation, wonder,

admiration, and so on. Some sentence ending particles distinguish male or femalespeech. &any of them don-t translate easily.

5a

&a#es a sentence into a !uestion. 1hen forming a !uestion, the word order of a

sentence does not change in Japanese.

5ana/5ashira

'ndicates that you are not sure about something. 't can be translated as ' wonder. 9ashira is used only by women.

&a

(:) Prohibition. A negative imperative mar#er used only by men in very informal

speech.

(;) 6asual emphasis on a decision, suggestion or opinion.

&aa

0presses emotion, or a casual remar# of wishful thin#ing.

&e/&ee

6onfirmation. 'ndicates that the spea#er wants the listener to agree or confirm. 't is

similar to nglish e0pressions don-t you thin# so, isn-t it


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=sed only by women. 't can have both an emphatic function and a softening effect.

6o

(:) mphasi5es a command.

(;) 'ndicates moderate emphasis, especially useful when the spea#er provides a new

piece of information.

7e

licits an agreement. =sed only by men in casual conversation among colleagues, orwith those whose social status is below that of the spea#er.

7omphasi5es one-s opinion or +udgment. =sed mainly by men.

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