Japanese particles are small words that indicate the grammatical function of other words in a sentence. They are an essential aspect of the Japanese language and can be challenging for beginners to master. In this blog post, we will focus on the particles found in the JLPT N5 level, the lowest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.
The first particle we will discuss is the particle “wa” (は).
This particle is used to indicate the topic of a sentence or what the sentence is about. For example, in the sentence “Watashi wa gakusei desu” (私は学生です), “watashi” (私) is the topic, and “gakusei” (学生) is the subject. In this sentence, “watashi” means “I”, and “gakusei” means “student”.
The next particle is “ga” (が),
which is used to indicate the subject of a sentence. In the sentence “Watashi ga hon wo yomimasu” (私が本を読みます), “watashi” (私) is the subject, and “hon” (本) is the object. This sentence means “I read a book.”
The particle “wo” (を) is used to indicate the direct object of a sentence.
In the sentence “Watashi ga hon wo yomimasu” (私が本を読みます), “hon” (本) is the direct object. It is the thing that is being acted upon by the verb “yomimasu” (読みます), which means “to read”.
The particle “ni” (に) is used to indicate the location or direction of an action.
In the sentence “Watashi wa gakkou ni ikimasu” (私は学校に行きます), “gakkou” (学校) is the location, and “ikimasu” (行きます) is the verb meaning “to go”. This sentence means “I go to school.”
The particle “de” (で) is used to indicate the means or method by which an action is performed.
In the sentence “Watashi wa densha de gakkou ni ikimasu” (私は電車で学校に行きます), “densha” (電車) is the means, and “gakkou ni ikimasu” is the action, meaning “to go to school.” This sentence means “I go to school by train.”
The particle “to” (と) is used to indicate a connection between two or more nouns.
In the sentence “Watashi to Tomo-san wa gakkou ni ikimasu” (私と友さんは学校に行きます), “watashi” (私) and “Tomo-san” (友さん) are connected by the particle “to”, indicating that they are going to school together.
The particle “mo” (も) is used to indicate that something is also true or included in a statement.
In the sentence “Watashi mo gakusei desu” (私も学生です), “watashi” (私) is also a student, in addition to whoever else is being referred to