Japanese particles

Particles are the GPS of the Japanese sentence: small syllables attached after words that say who does what, where, and by what means. Word order can change — particles can't.

Here are the essential ones with their function and examples, plus the two classic hurdles: は vs が and に vs で.

The core particles

日本語	Rōmaji	Meaning
は	wa	topic of the sentence (“as for…”)
が	ga	subject (new or highlighted information)
を	o	direct object
に	ni	destination, time, existence
で	de	place of action, means
へ	e	direction (“towards”)
と	to	with (company); and (closed list)
の	no	possession, belonging
も	mo	also
か	ka	question particle
から	kara	from (origin, starting point)
まで	made	until, up to

は vs が, finally clear

は introduces the topic — what you're talking about, already known to the listener; が highlights the subject when it's new information or answers “who?”. Practical trick: 私は学生です presents you as the topic; 誰が来た? — 私が来た puts the spotlight on who. It's the most famous doubt in Japanese: in the app you can ask Yuki about it, right on the sentence in front of you.

に vs で: where you are, where you act

に marks the destination or the place where something exists (東京に行く “I go to Tokyo”, 家にいる “I'm at home”); で marks the place where an action happens (カフェで勉強する “I study at the café”) or the means (バスで “by bus”).

Examples

Five minimal sentences using the particles above.

日本語	Kana	Rōmaji	Meaning
私は学生です	わたしはがくせいです	watashi wa gakusei desu	I am a student
水を飲みます	みずをのみます	mizu o nomimasu	I drink water
東京に行きます	とうきょうにいきます	Tōkyō ni ikimasu	I go to Tokyo
カフェで勉強します	カフェでべんきょうします	kafe de benkyō shimasu	I study at the café
猫の名前はユキです	ねこのなまえはユキです	neko no namae wa Yuki desu	The cat's name is Yuki

Stuck on は vs が? Ask Yuki

In the app every grammar point comes with exercises, examples and Yuki, the AI tutor you can ask “why は here and not が?” — free and ad-free.

Beta on Android (Google Play). iOS coming soon.

Frequently asked questions

As a particle it's read wa (私は = watashi wa); inside words it's read ha (はい hai). The same goes for へ (read e) and を (read o).

The essential ones are about ten — the ones in the table. Counting combinations and sentence-ending particles there are dozens, but the first ten cover the vast majority of sentences.

は marks what you're talking about (the topic, already known); が marks the subject when it's new or highlighted information.

In casual speech は, が and を often drop (コーヒー飲む? “want a coffee?”). In writing and formal speech, better to keep them.