Basic particles: は, が, を, に, で, へ, と and も

Particles are short words that come after a word and show its job in the sentence: the topic, the object, the place, the time and so on. Because particles carry this information, Japanese word order is flexible — but the verb always comes at the end.

Look at this sentence: わたしは日曜日にちようびに友ともだちとレストランでばんごはんを食たべます — “On Sunday I eat dinner at a restaurant with a friend.” Every part has its particle: は (topic), に (time), と (with), で (place of the action) and を (object).

The eight particles at a glance

Particle	Main job	Example
は (wa)	topic: “as for …”	わたしは学生がくせいです
が (ga)	subject; new information	ねこがいます
を (o)	object of the action	パンを食たべます
に (ni)	time; destination; where something is	七時しちじにおきます
で (de)	place of an action; means	でんしゃで行いきます
へ (e)	direction “towards”	日本にほんへ行いきます
と (to)	“and” between nouns; “with”	友ともだちと行いきます
も (mo)	“also, too”	わたしも学生がくせいです

に or で? Where something IS vs where something HAPPENS

Use に for the place where something or someone is (with あります / います) and で for the place where an action happens.

• へやにねこがいます — There is a cat in the room. (existence → に)
• へやでべんきょうします — I study in my room. (action → で)

に or へ? Going somewhere

With 行いきます (go), 来きます (come) and かえります (go home), both work: 日本にほんに行いきます and 日本にほんへ行いきます mean the same. へ focuses on the direction, に on the destination; in everyday speech に is more common. Remember that へ is read e.

は or が?

This takes time to master, so start with three simple rules:

• は introduces what you are talking about (the topic): わたしは学生がくせいです.
• が marks the subject with あります / います and with words like すき (like) and わかります (understand): ねこがすきです.
• Question words take が, not は, and so does the answer: だれが来きましたか — リンさんが来きました.

と or も?

と joins nouns (“bread and coffee”: パンとコーヒー) or means “together with” a person (友ともだちと). It cannot join verbs or sentences. も means “also” and replaces は, が or を: わたしも学生がくせいです, not “わたしはも”.

Common mistakes

• Using で with あります / います: say えきのまえにコンビニがあります — the place takes に.
• Adding に to きょう, あした, まいにち or いま. These time words take no particle: あした行いきます. Clock times and dates do take に: 三時さんじに.
• Saying “わたしはも”. も replaces は: わたしも.
• Using と to join two actions. と only joins nouns.
• Using を with あります: お金かねがあります (“I have money”), not “お金をあります”.

New kanji: 行, 来, 食, 見, 友

Verbs are written with a kanji and hiragana endings (okurigana): 行いきます (go), 来きます (come), 食たべます (eat), 見みます (see, watch). 友ともだち (friend) is written with 友 plus hiragana. Note that 来 changes its reading in different forms: 来きます, 来くる, 来こない.

How to practise

• Describe your day in short sentences, one particle at a time: time に, place で, object を.
• Make pairs with に and で for the same place: へやにいます / へやで食たべます.
• Do the fill-in-the-particle exercise on the worksheet and check the answer key.
• Take the quiz and read the explanation for every answer, even the ones you got right.