In this guide
- Introduction
- Start with what you read, eat or drink: を
- Say where an activity happens: で
- Say where someone or something is: に
- Say where you’re going: に and へ
- Add how you get there: で for means
- Say what you’re talking about: は
- Identify the subject: が
- Build a longer noun phrase: の
- Add someone or something to the same fact: も
- Link nouns or name a companion: と
- Put an event at a time: に
- Give a starting point and an endpoint: から and まで
- Use the ending to address the listener: か, ね and よ
- A quick reference for the 14 particles
- Build a sentence by deciding each phrase’s job
- About the author
When I first started learning Japanese, I underestimated the particles. These are small words that often follow another word to show what job it has in the sentence. I was prepared to spend time learning long words and unfamiliar kanji, but I expected the little words around them to be fairly straightforward. Most were only a character or two. Yet I could know all the words I needed for a simple sentence and still spend ages wondering which particle to put between them.
What helped was looking at a complete sentence and thinking about what someone was trying to say. A place can be somewhere you’re going, for example, or somewhere you’re doing an activity. Seeing how Japanese expresses each of those ideas gave me a reason for choosing a particular particle.
We’ll take that approach to 14 common particles in this guide, spending a little more time on the choices that are easy to confuse. The practice along the way will help you check your understanding before you try a few sentences of your own.
Start with what you read, eat or drink: を
To say that you read a book, put を after the book and follow it with the reading verb. を marks the thing the action is directed at. Grammar books call this thing the object. In this use, を is pronounced “o”.
本を読みます。
I read a book.
本 means “book” and 読みます means “read”. The order is book + を + read. English puts “a book” after “read”; Japanese marks the book with a particle and puts the verb at the end. Keep 本を together as you read: the particle tells you the job of the word before it.
パンを食べます。
I eat bread.
お茶を飲みます。
I drink tea.
Bread is what you eat, so it takes を. Tea is what you drink, so it takes を too. Once you know a verb that uses this object pattern, you can change the thing involved: read a book, read manga; drink tea, drink water. You’re choosing を because of the relationship to the verb, rather than because a particular word always takes it.
The “I” in these translations comes from the situation. If you’re explaining your own habits or plans, Japanese can leave the understood speaker unsaid. You don’t need to add a word for “I” to make each sentence complete. The polite ending ます is useful here; depending on context, these examples can describe a habit or a future action.
Try the same pattern with water. Find the thing being drunk, then put its particle directly after it.
Choose what is being drunk
Say “I drink water.” Choose the particle for the blank.
水［ ］飲みます。
みず［ ］のみます。
Say where an activity happens: で
Now give the action a place. When you say where someone reads, eats or studies, use で after that location. The place is the setting for the activity; it isn’t the thing being read or eaten.
図書館で本を読みます。
I read a book at the library.
図書館 means “library”. 図書館で tells you where the reading happens, while 本を tells you what is read. Each phrase carries its own particle, so the sentence can hold both kinds of information without making you choose between them.
家でパンを食べます。
I eat bread at home.
公園で日本語を勉強します。
I study Japanese in the park.
In the second example, 公園 is “park”, 日本語 is “Japanese”, and 勉強します is “study”. The park takes で because it is where the studying happens. Japanese takes を because it is what you study. To make a sentence of your own, keep the activity pattern and change the place: home, school or the library.
English uses “at” for one of these places and “in” for another. That difference doesn’t decide the Japanese particle. The useful question is: am I saying where this activity happens? If so, で is the choice in these patterns.
Read at school
Say “I read a book at school.”
学校［ ］本を読みます。
がっこう［ ］ほんを よみます。
Say where someone or something is: に
Being in a place uses a different pattern from doing an activity there. To say where a person or animal is, put に after the place and use います. To say where a thing is, use the same location に with あります.
公園にいます。
I’m in the park.
図書館にいます。
I’m at the library.
Perhaps someone wants to know where you are. These sentences locate you; they don’t say what you’re doing there. The English “in” or “at” still appears in the translation, but Japanese uses に to locate someone with います.
家にあります。
It’s at home.
If someone is looking for a book, 家にあります locates the book. あります says where the thing is, just as います does for a person. For now, learn these as useful pairs: place + にいます, and place + にあります.
公園で本を読みます。
I read a book in the park.
公園にいます。
I’m in the park.
The park hasn’t changed. What you’re saying about it has. The first sentence puts a reading activity in the park; the second locates someone there. I find this pair more useful than memorising “に = in” and “で = at”, because neither English shortcut survives even these two ordinary sentences.
Be in the park
Say “I am in the park.” 公園 (こうえん) means park.
公園［ ］います。
こうえん［ ］います。
Say where you’re going: に and へ
With 行きます, “go”, に can mark the destination. Put it after the place you’re going to. This is another use of に, separate from the location pattern with います or あります.
学校に行きます。
I go to school.
学校 means “school”. Here you’re going to school, rather than stating that you’re already there. The verb gives you that relationship. Compare 学校にいます, “I’m at school”, with 学校に行きます, “I go to school”. The same particle participates in two different patterns.
へ also works with this going sentence. As a particle, へ is pronounced “e”. It presents the place as the direction of the movement.
学校へ行きます。
I go to school.
For an ordinary statement that you go to school, both 学校に行きます and 学校へ行きます are valid. に marks the destination; へ directs attention towards where the movement leads. You don’t need to manufacture a difference in the journey to use the second sentence. へ doesn’t mean you fail to arrive, and に doesn’t guarantee arrival.
図書館に行きます。
I go to the library.
図書館へ行きます。
I go to the library.
Learn both versions, even if you choose one as your usual way to say it. But keep へ with the movement pattern here: it can’t replace the に in 公園にいます, “I’m in the park”. Direction and being somewhere are different jobs.
| What you want to say | Japanese | Why this particle? |
|---|---|---|
| Go to the park | 公園に行きます。 / 公園へ行きます。 | に gives the destination; へ gives the direction. |
| Be in the park | 公園にいます。 | に locates the person with います. |
| Read in the park | 公園で本を読みます。 | で gives the location of the reading. |
The next question accepts every form that works. Consider both destination patterns before you submit your answer.
Say where you are going
Say that you go to school. Select every particle below that works for the school as your destination in this sentence.
学校［ ］行きます。
がっこう［ ］いきます。
Add how you get there: で for means
で has another useful job: it marks the means you use to do something. For a journey, this can be the train or bus you take. The destination and the means can appear together because they tell you different things about the journey.
電車で学校に行きます。
I go to school by train.
電車 means “train”. 電車で answers “by what means?”, and 学校に answers “where to?”. Keep those two decisions separate. You can change the transport to a bus without changing the destination pattern, or change the school to the library without changing the train’s role.
バスで図書館へ行きます。
I go to the library by bus.
The same means use extends beyond travel. A pen can be the tool you write with. It isn’t the place where the writing happens, but で still marks it as what you use.
ペンで名前を書きます。
I write my name with a pen.
Now combine the means and the destination. Both に and へ still work for school, so check every pair that produces the requested journey.
Go to school by train
Say “I go to school by train.” 電車 (でんしゃ) means train. Choose every pair that works, in blank order.
電車［ A ］学校［ B ］行きます。
でんしゃ［ A ］がっこう［ B ］いきます。
Say what you’re talking about: は
Sometimes the important choice is how to frame a statement, rather than where an action takes place. は puts a person or thing forward as what you’re talking about. This is the topic. As a particle, は is pronounced “wa”.
私は日本語を勉強します。
I study Japanese.
私 means “I”. 私は sets up a statement about me; 日本語を勉強します says that I study Japanese. An “as for me” translation can help you see the structure, although you wouldn’t normally say “as for me” in English every time you use は.
ミナは図書館にいます。
Mina is at the library.
この本はおもしろいです。
This book is interesting.
In the first sentence, Mina is the topic and the rest tells you where she is. In the second, the topic is this book and the rest tells you that it’s interesting. Notice that は itself doesn’t mean “is”: it can frame a sentence about studying, a location or a property. The rest of the sentence supplies that information.
は can also bring out a contrast. Imagine talking about your tea and coffee habits.
お茶は飲みます。コーヒーは飲みません。
I drink tea, but I don’t drink coffee.
Both drinks get は because you’re contrasting them: tea, yes; coffee, no. 飲みません means “don’t drink”. Sometimes the other side of the contrast is left understood, so お茶は飲みます can suggest “Tea, I do drink” in the right conversation. Context gives that contrast its point. You don’t need to treat every は sentence as a hidden disagreement.
I’d keep the ordinary use firmly in view first: choose what you want to talk about, put は after it, then say something about it. You can still omit an understood topic. The short 本を読みます from the opening doesn’t need 私は added to make it proper Japanese.
Identify the subject: が
が marks the subject: the person or thing that does something, exists or has the property being described. A particularly useful first case is identifying who does an action. If someone asks “Who will eat the bread?”, が marks the person you identify in your direct answer.
誰がパンを食べますか。
Who will eat the bread?
ミナがパンを食べます。
Mina will eat the bread.
誰 means “who”, and the final か makes this a polite question. In the reply, ミナが fills the “who?” place: Mina is the one who will eat. パンを still marks the bread as what is eaten. The person and the food have different roles even though both are involved in the same action.
A subject doesn’t have to perform an action. If you say that a cat is there, the cat is the subject of that statement about its existence.
公園に猫がいます。
There’s a cat in the park.
公園に gives the location; 猫が names what is there. The sentence uses が even though the cat isn’t described as doing anything. This is why “が marks the doer” is a useful start for some action sentences, but too small a rule for the particle.
To compare は and が, give the sentence a reason to be said. If you’re telling me about Mina’s plans, ミナはパンを食べます frames a statement about Mina. If I ask who will eat the bread, ミナがパンを食べます identifies Mina as the answer. Both sentences can be grammatical. They present the information differently, so the context matters.
この本は、ミナが読みます。
As for this book, Mina will read it.
Here the book is the topic, marked by は, while Mina is the subject who will read it, marked by が. The example also shows why “topic” and “subject” aren’t interchangeable terms. Often one person serves both purposes; sometimes, as here, they are different. You don’t need both particles in every sentence.
For the next question, the context asks you to identify the eater directly. Choose for that purpose, rather than asking whether an alternative could appear in some other conversation.
Identify who will eat
Someone asks “Who will eat the bread?” You directly identify Ken as the person who will eat it.
ケン［ ］パンを食べます。
けん［ ］ぱんを たべます。
Build a longer noun phrase: の
の connects two nouns: words that name people, places or things. The first tells you something about the second: who owns it, what it relates to, or what kind it is. For ownership, put the owner first and the thing owned second.
ミナの本
Mina’s book
Start with ミナ, connect it with の, then finish with 本. The whole expression is a kind of book, so the final noun tells you what the phrase names. This is useful when an English “of” translation would tempt you to reverse the order.
日本語の本
a Japanese-language book
Here Japanese doesn’t own the book. 日本語 specifies its language. の expresses that connection between the nouns, so “possession” is only one part of its job.
ミナの本を読みます。
I read Mina’s book.
A group of words that names a person or thing is a noun phrase. Once の has built the noun phrase ミナの本, the whole phrase can take a particle. を follows the complete phrase because the thing read is Mina’s book. の connects the words inside the phrase; を gives that phrase its role in the sentence.
ミナの本は家にあります。
Mina’s book is at home.
This time ミナの本 is the topic, so は follows the same complete phrase. You can reuse a noun phrase in different sentences without rebuilding its internal connection. I find it helps to read ミナの本 together before looking at the next particle; otherwise it’s easy to start assigning Mina a job the book actually has.
In the next sentence, locate を and look back for the complete phrase it marks. The library gives you the reading location; it doesn’t name what is read.
Find the whole object
Which complete phrase names what is read in this sentence?
図書館でミナの本を読みます。
としょかんで みなの ほんを よみます。
Add someone or something to the same fact: も
も means “also” or “too” when you add another person or thing that shares a fact already stated or understood. Put it after the item you’re adding. Start with a statement about Mina, then add Ken as another person who does the same thing.
ミナは本を読みます。
Mina reads books.
ケンも本を読みます。
Ken reads books too.
In the second sentence, も follows Ken because he is the additional reader. It takes the place of は here; you don’t attach it after は. The connection to the earlier fact is what makes “too” useful. ケンは本を読みます would state something about Ken, but it wouldn’t explicitly add him as another reader.
Add another reader
You have said ミナは漫画を読みます (みなは まんがを よみます), “Mina reads manga.” Add that Ken reads manga too.
ケン［ ］漫画を読みます。
けん［ ］まんがを よみます。
Where you put も matters. You can also add another thing that someone eats. Suppose you’ve said that Ken eats rice, and now you want to add bread to the food he eats.
ケンはパンも食べます。
Ken eats bread too.
Here も follows bread and replaces the object を. You’re adding a food, whereas ケンもパンを食べます adds Ken as another person who eats bread. The English “too” can sit at the end in both translations, so look at the Japanese attachment to see what’s being added.
Don’t turn those replacements into a rule that も removes every other particle. If you go to school and also to the park, 公園にも行きます means “I go to the park too”. に keeps the destination relationship, and も adds that destination. Learn these combinations in a sentence rather than deleting a particle wherever you want “also”.
Link nouns or name a companion: と
To name two things together, put と between the nouns. This gives you an “and” list. If that list is the object of an action, put を after the whole group.
パンとチーズを買います。
I buy bread and cheese.
パンとチーズ names the two things you buy; the を after チーズ marks the group as the object. You can extend the same pattern: パンとチーズとお茶を買います, “I buy bread, cheese and tea”. と links the named items into the list you’re giving.
と can also mark the person you do something with. Put the companion before と and the activity afterwards.
友だちと図書館に行きます。
I go to the library with a friend.
ミナと日本語を勉強します。
I study Japanese with Mina.
友だち means “friend”. In the first sentence, 友だちと names the companion and 図書館に gives the destination. In the second, ミナと names the companion and 日本語を gives what you study. The position of と after a person is useful, but the whole construction tells you whether you’re making a noun list or naming someone who joins the activity.
Keep this “and” use to nouns for now. Joining “I buy bread” and “I go home” is a different grammar task; placing と between complete sentences doesn’t give you a general English-style “and”. If you want to join actions in sequence, the te-form guide shows how to connect them and set the time with the final verb.
Put an event at a time: に
に can place an event at a specific time, such as a clock time or a calendar date. With clock times, put に after the time expression and then say what happens. For plans with a date as well as a clock time, the guide to Japanese dates explains date readings and puts both together.
三時に勉強します。
I study at three o’clock.
五時に図書館に行きます。
I go to the library at five o’clock.
The second sentence has two に phrases: 五時に gives the time, and 図書館に gives the destination. Repeating the particle is fine. Each occurrence belongs to its own phrase, and the meaning comes from how that phrase fits the event.
Not every expression of time takes に. 明日, “tomorrow”, ordinarily appears without it in this beginner pattern: 明日、勉強します, “I’ll study tomorrow”. So don’t automatically add に after anything that answers “when?”. Learn ordinary time expressions with their patterns: 三時に, but 明日 on its own.
Give a starting point and an endpoint: から and まで
から marks where or when something starts. まで marks where or when it extends to. Together they let you describe a span, such as the hours you study or the route you walk.
三時から五時まで勉強します。
I study from three until five.
三時から is the starting boundary and 五時まで is the ending boundary. Compare this with 三時に勉強します, “I study at three”: に places the studying at a time, while から tells you when it begins. まで adds how far the studying continues in this example.
三時から勉強します。
I start studying at three.
五時まで待ちます。
I’ll wait until five.
You can give either boundary on its own. The first sentence leaves the finishing time unsaid. The second leaves the starting time unsaid. You don’t have to invent the missing end of a span just to use one of these particles.
家から学校まで歩きます。
I walk from home to school.
家から gives the place you start from, and 学校まで gives the endpoint of the walk. The idea of a boundary carries over from time to space. This is a useful way to describe a route when you want to say both where you start and how far you go.
“Until five” and “by five” are different
For plans, there’s one small addition worth learning now. まで gives an endpoint for an ongoing activity. までに gives a deadline: something is to happen or be finished by that time.
五時まで宿題をします。
I’ll work on my homework until five.
五時までに宿題を出します。
I’ll hand in my homework by five.
In the first sentence, working on the homework continues until five; the sentence doesn’t itself promise that all the homework gets finished. In the second, 出します means “hand in”, and five is the latest time for handing it in. You could hand it in earlier. Choose according to the event you mean, rather than treating までに as a more detailed spelling of まで.
This is a distinction I pay attention to in practical plans. Waiting until five and handing something in by five arrange the afternoon quite differently. Ask whether you’re describing how long an activity continues or setting a latest time for something to happen.
Use the ending to address the listener: か, ね and よ
The particles so far mostly follow a noun or noun phrase and show its relationship to the rest of the sentence. The next three come at the end. They affect how you present the whole message to the listener, so a situation is more helpful than a one-word translation.
か: ask a polite question
Add か to the end of a polite statement to make a question. You don’t need to rearrange the other words into English question order.
学校に行きます。
I go to school.
学校に行きますか。
Are you going to school?
If you’re asking the person you’re speaking to, the understood subject can be “you”. に still marks school as the destination, and 行きます still gives the going action; the final か makes the whole thing a question. Similarly, 三時ですか means “Is it three o’clock?” when you’re asking about a time.
Use this as your first polite question pattern. You will also hear casual questions made with a rising voice and no か, so an absent か doesn’t mean a sentence can never be a question.
ね: invite agreement or confirm something
ね often brings the listener into something you think you share. If you and a friend are both enjoying the weather, you can invite that shared feeling with ね.
いい天気ですね。
Lovely weather, isn’t it?
The English tag is one way to capture the invitation to agree. You aren’t necessarily requesting a factual weather report. In another situation, you might use 三時ですね, “Three o’clock, right?”, to confirm an appointment time you think you’ve agreed on. ね can seek confirmation or share a feeling; it isn’t always a literal question.
よ: offer information or draw attention
よ directs the listener’s attention to what you’re saying. Often you use it when giving the other person information they may not have. If someone is looking for a book you can see, you might point it out.
本はここにありますよ。
The book’s here.
本は sets up the book as the topic, ここにあります says it is here, and よ presents that information to the person looking. There’s no single English word that must appear for よ in the translation. The situation already gives the English sentence its helpful, informative purpose.
おいしいですね。
It’s delicious, isn’t it?
おいしいですよ。
It’s delicious, you know.
If you’re both eating the food, ね can share the pleasure. If the other person hasn’t tried it, よ can offer your opinion to them. These are useful starting situations, rather than fixed translations for every conversation. Tone matters too: adding よ doesn’t automatically make a sentence excited, and repeating it everywhere can sound more insistent than you intend. I’d practise these endings with a clear reason to address the listener, rather than attach one to every sentence.
A quick reference for the 14 particles
Use this table to find the pattern you need after working through the examples. It summarises the beginner uses in this guide; each particle has more to discover as you read and listen.
| Particle | Useful first jobs | Pattern to remember |
|---|---|---|
| を (o) | The object of an action | 本を読みます。 |
| で | Activity location; means | 図書館で読みます。 / 電車で行きます。 |
| に | Existence location; destination; specific time | 公園にいます。 / 学校に行きます。 / 三時に行きます。 |
| へ (e) | Direction of movement | 学校へ行きます。 |
| は (wa) | Topic; contrast | ミナは本を読みます。 |
| が | Subject; direct identification | ミナが読みます。 |
| の | Connection between nouns | ミナの本 |
| も | Add someone or something sharing a fact | ケンも読みます。 |
| と | Noun list; companion | パンとチーズ / 友だちと行きます。 |
| から | Starting boundary | 三時から / 家から |
| まで | Ending boundary | 五時まで / 学校まで |
| か | Polite question | 行きますか。 |
| ね | Confirmation or shared agreement | いい天気ですね。 |
| よ | Information or attention for the listener | ここにありますよ。 |
Build a sentence by deciding each phrase’s job
When I’m unsure of a particle, I start with what I want to say is happening. Then I add the people, things, place and time according to their relationship to that event. It’s easier to check one relationship at a time than to search a list for an English word like “at”.
Suppose you want to say: “Tomorrow, I’m going to the library with a friend by train.” Start with the going pattern 図書館に行きます. Add the train as the means with 電車で. Add the companion with 友だちと. Finally, add 明日, which doesn’t need に here.
明日、友だちと電車で図書館に行きます。
Tomorrow, I’m going to the library with a friend by train.
You could use 図書館へ here too. Neither choice makes the train or friend need a different particle. There’s also no need to begin with 私は if the conversation already makes it clear that this is your plan. The sentence is longer, but every added phrase uses a relationship you’ve already met.
Once you get to the library, the sentence you need changes. 図書館にいます locates you there; 図書館で本を読みます tells someone what you do there. Returning to those small choices is a good way to catch a particle that looked right only because of its English translation.
Write three sentences about your day
Choose familiar words and write three short sentences: one saying where you are, one saying what you do in a place, and one saying where you go and how you get there. Use the examples above to check the job of each phrase. If you want another step, add a companion with と or a starting time with から. This writing space is for your own practice; it isn’t assessed or saved.
Copy your Japanese text, then paste it into the checker. This writing space does not assess or save your text.
About the author
B. Rungswell
B. Rungswell is the editor of the Bunpo Check blog and a native English speaker who has passed JLPT N1. Drawing on many years of life in Japan and experience working at Japanese companies, Rungswell writes practical guides to Japanese grammar for English-speaking learners.