Editing Japanese grammar (section)

===Particles===
{{Main|Japanese particles}}

Particles in Japanese are postpositional, as they immediately follow the modified component. Both the pronunciation and spelling differs for the particles {{nihongo3||は|wa}}, {{nihongo3||へ|e}} and {{nihongo3||を|o}}, and are romanized according to pronunciation rather than spelling. Only a few prominent particles are listed here.

====Topic, theme, and subject: {{lang|ja|は}} {{transliteration|ja|wa}} and {{lang|ja|が}} {{transliteration|ja|ga}}====
{{see also|topic and comment}}
The complex distinction between the so-called topic, {{nihongo||は|wa}}, and subject, {{nihongo||が|ga}}, particles can often be confusing for second language learners.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stainton|first=Jenny|date=July 7, 2020|title=は and が: What's the Difference Between These Japanese Particles, Really?|url=https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/wa-and-ga/#:~:text=The%20murkiness%20surrounding,%20from%20beginner%20to%20advanced%20level.|website=Tofugu|access-date=May 29, 2025}}</ref> The clause {{nihongo||象は鼻が長い|zō-wa hana-ga nagai}} is well known for appearing to contain two subjects. It does not simply mean "the elephant's nose is long", as that can be translated as {{nihongo||象'''の'''鼻'''は'''長い|zō-'''no''' hana-'''wa''' nagai}}. Rather, a more literal translation would be "(speaking of) the elephant, its nose is long"; furthermore, as Japanese does not distinguish between singular and plural the way English does, it could also mean "as for elephants, their noses are long".

Two major scholarly surveys of Japanese linguistics in English, clarify the distinction.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shibatani |first=Masayoshi |date=1990b |title=The languages of Japan |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}} {{ISBN|0-521-36070-6}} (hbk); {{ISBN|0-521-36918-5}} (pbk).</ref><ref name="Kuno1973">{{cite book |last=Kuno |first=Susumu |date=1973 |title=The structure of the Japanese language |place=Cambridge, MA |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=0-262-11049-0}}</ref> To simplify matters, the referents of {{transliteration|ja|wa}} and {{transliteration|ja|ga}} in this section are called the ''topic'' and ''subject'' respectively, with the understanding that if either is absent, the grammatical topic and subject may coincide.

As an abstract and rough approximation, the difference between {{transliteration|ja|wa}} and {{transliteration|ja|ga}} is a matter of focus: {{transliteration|ja|wa}} gives focus to the action of the sentence, i.e., to the verb or adjective, whereas {{transliteration|ja|ga}} gives focus to the subject of the action. However, when first being introduced to the topic and subject markers {{transliteration|ja|wa}} and {{transliteration|ja|ga}}, most are told that the difference between the two is simpler. The topic marker, {{transliteration|ja|wa}}, is used to declare or to make a statement. The subject marker, {{transliteration|ja|ga}}, is used for new information, or asking for new information.

=====Thematic {{transliteration|ja|wa}}=====
{{see also|Topic marker#Japanese: は}}
The use of {{transliteration|ja|wa}} to introduce a new theme of discourse is directly linked to the notion of grammatical theme. Opinions differ on the structure of discourse theme, though it seems fairly uncontroversial to imagine a first-in-first-out hierarchy of themes that is threaded through the discourse. However, the usage of this understanding of themes can be limiting when speaking of their scope and depth, and the introduction of later themes may cause earlier themes to expire.{{explain|date=November 2021}} In these sorts of sentences, the steadfast translation into English uses constructs like "speaking of X" or "on the topic of X", though such translations tend to be bulky as they fail to use the thematic mechanisms of English. For lack of a comprehensive strategy, many teachers of Japanese emphasize the "speaking of X" pattern without sufficient warning.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|ジョン は 学生 です。
|JON wa gakusei desu
|(On the topic of) John, (he) is a student.}}

A common linguistic joke shows the insufficiency of rote translation with the sentence {{nihongo||僕はウナギだ|boku wa unagi da}}, which per the pattern would translate as "I am an eel." (or "(As of) me is eel"). Yet, in a restaurant this sentence can reasonably be used to say "My order is eel" (or "I would like to order an eel"), with no intended humour. This is because the sentence should be literally read, "As for me, it is an eel," with "it" referring to the speaker's order. The topic of the sentence is clearly not its subject.

=====Contrastive {{transliteration|ja|wa}}=====
Related to the role of {{transliteration|ja|wa}} in introducing themes is its use in contrasting the current topic and its aspects from other possible topics and their aspects. The suggestive pattern is "X, but…" or "as for X, …".

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|雨 は 降って います が…
|ame wa futte imasu ga…
|The rain is falling, but…}}

Because of its contrastive nature, the topic cannot be undefined.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|＊誰か は 本 を 読んで いる。
|*dareka wa hon o yonde iru
|*Someone is reading the book.}}

In this use, {{transliteration|ja|ga}} is required.

In practice, the distinction between thematic and contrastive {{transliteration|ja|wa}} is not that useful. There can be at most one thematic {{transliteration|ja|wa}} in a sentence, and it has to be the first {{transliteration|ja|wa}} if one exists, and the remaining {{transliteration|ja|wa}}s are contrastive. The following sentence illustrates the difference;<ref name="Kuno1973" />{{rp|48}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|僕 が 知って いる 人 は 誰も 来なかった。
|boku ga shitte iru hito wa daremo konakatta
|(1) Of all the people I know, none came.<br>
(2) (People came but), there weren't any of the people I know.}}

The first interpretation is the thematic {{transliteration|ja|wa}}, treating {{nihongo|"the people I know"||boku ga shitte iru hito}} as the theme of the predicate {{nihongo|"none came"||dare mo konakatta}}. That is, if the speaker knows A, B, ..., Z, then none of the people who came were A, B, ..., Z. The second interpretation is the contrastive {{transliteration|ja|wa}}. If the likely attendees were A, B, ..., Z, and of them the speaker knows P, Q and R, then the sentence says that P, Q and R did not come. The sentence says nothing about A', B', ..., Z', all of whom the speaker knows, but none of whom were likely to come. In practice, the first interpretation is the likely one.

=====Exhaustive {{transliteration|ja|ga}}=====
Unlike {{transliteration|ja|wa}}, the subject particle {{transliteration|ja|ga}} nominates its referent as the sole satisfier of the predicate. This distinction is famously illustrated by the following pair of sentences:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|ジョンさん は 学生 です。
|Jon-san wa gakusei desu
|John is a student. (There may be other students among the people we're talking about.)}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|(この グループ の 中 で) ジョン が 学生 です。
|(Kono gurūpu no naka de) Jon ga gakusei desu
|(Of all the people we are talking about) it is John who is the student.}}

The distinction between each example sentence may be made easier to understand if thought of in terms of the question each statement could answer. The first example sentence could answer the question:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|ジョンさん の 仕事 は 何 です か。
|Jon-san no shigoto wa nan desu ka
|What is John's occupation?}}

Whereas the second example sentence could answer the question:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|どちら の 方 が 学生 です か。
|Dochira no kata ga gakusei desu ka
|Which one (of them) is the student?}}

Similarly, in a restaurant, if asked by the waitstaff who has ordered the eels, the customer who ordered it could say:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|僕 が ウナギ だ。
|Boku ga unagi da
|The eels are for me (not these other people).}}

=====Objective {{transliteration|ja|ga}}=====
For certain verbs, {{transliteration|ja|ga}} is typically used instead of {{transliteration|ja|o}} to mark what would be the direct object in English:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|ジョンさん は フランス語 が 出来る。
|Jon-san wa furansu-go ga dekiru
|John knows French.}}

There are various common expressions that use verbs in English, often transitive verbs, where the action happens to a specific object: "to be able to do something", "to want something", "to like something", "to dislike something". These same ideas are expressed in Japanese using adjectives and intransitive verbs that describe a subject, instead of actions that happen to an object: {{nihongo|"to be possible"|出来る|dekiru}}, {{nihongo|"to be desired/desirable"|ほしい|hoshii}}, {{nihongo|"to be liked"|好きだ|suki da}}, {{nihongo|"to be disliked"|嫌いだ|kirai da}}. The equivalent of the English subject is instead the [[Topic–comment|topic]] in Japanese and thus marked by {{transliteration|ja|wa}}, reflecting the [[Topic-prominent language|topic-prominent]] nature of Japanese grammar.

Since these constructions in English describe an object, whereas the Japanese equivalents describe a subject marked with {{nihongo||が|ga}}, some sources call this usage of {{nihongo||が|ga}} the "objective ''ga''". Strictly speaking, this label may be misleading, as there is no object in the Japanese constructions.

As an example, the Japanese verb {{nihongo||分かる|wakaru}} is often glossed as transitive English verb "to understand". However, ''wakaru'' is an intransitive verb that describes a subject, so a more literal gloss would be "to be understandable".

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|ジョンさん は 日本語 が 分かる。
|Jon-san wa nihongo ga wakaru.
|* John understands Japanese.  → translating into idiomatic English, using the transitive verb "to understand"<br>
<nowiki>*</nowiki> As for John, Japanese is understandable.  → translating more closely to the Japanese, with "Japanese" as the subject of an intransitive descriptive verb}}

====Objects, locatives, instrumentals: {{lang|ja|を}} {{transliteration|ja|o}}, {{lang|ja|で}} {{transliteration|ja|de}}, {{lang|ja|に}} {{transliteration|ja|ni}}, {{lang|ja|へ}} {{transliteration|ja|e}}====
The direct object of transitive verbs is indicated by the object particle {{nihongo||を|o}}.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|ジョンさん は 青い セーター を 着て いる。
|Jon-san wa aoi sētā o kite iru
|John is wearing a blue sweater.}}

This particle can also mean "through" or "along" or "out of" when used with motion verbs:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|メアリ が 細い 道 を 歩いて いた。
|MEARI ga hosoi michi o aruite ita
|Mary was walking along a narrow road.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|国境 の 長い トンネル を 抜ける と 雪国 で あった。
|kokkyō no nagai TONNERU o nukeru to yukiguni de atta
|(The train) came out of the long border tunnel into the snow country.}}

The general instrumental particle is {{nihongo||で|de}}, which can be translated as "using" or "by":

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|肉 は ナイフ で 切る こと。
|niku wa NAIFU de kiru koto
|Meat must be cut with a knife.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|電車 で 行きましょう。
|densha de ikimashō
|Let's go by train.}}

This particle also has other uses: "at" (temporary location):

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|町角 で 先生 に 会った。
|machikado de sensei ni atta
|(I) met my teacher at the street corner.}}

"In":

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|海 で 泳ぐ の は 難しい。
|umi de oyogu no wa muzukashii
|Swimming in the sea is hard.}}

"With" or "in (the span of)":

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|劇 は 主人公 の 死 で 終る。
|geki wa shujinkō no shi de owaru
|The play ends with the protagonist's death.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|俺 は 二秒 で 勝つ。
|ore wa nibyō de katsu
|I'll win in two seconds.}}

The general locative particle is {{nihongo||に|ni}}.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|東京 に 行きましょう。
|Tōkyō ni ikimashō
|Let's go to [[Tokyo]].}}

In this function it is interchangeable with {{nihongo||へ|e}}. However, {{transliteration|ja|ni}} has additional uses: "at (prolonged)":

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|私 は 大手町 一丁目 99 番地 に 住んで います。
|watashi wa Ōtemachi itchōme 99 banchi ni sunde imasu
|I live at Ōtemachi ichōme 99 banchi.}}

"On":

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|氷 は 水 に 浮く。
|kōri wa mizu ni uku
|Ice floats on water.}}

"In (some year)", "at (some point in time)":

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|春 の 夕暮れ に……
|haru no yūgure ni…
|On a spring eve…}}

====Quantity and extents: {{lang|ja|と}} {{transliteration|ja|to}}, {{lang|ja|も}} {{transliteration|ja|mo}}, {{lang|ja|か}} {{transliteration|ja|ka}}, {{lang|ja|や}} {{transliteration|ja|ya}}, {{lang|ja|から}} {{transliteration|ja|kara}}, {{lang|ja|まで}} {{transliteration|ja|made}}====
To conjoin nouns, と ''to'' is used.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
| かばん に は、 教科書 三冊 と 漫画本 五冊 を 入れて います。
| Kaban ni wa kyōkasho san-satsu to manga-bon go-satsu o irete imasu
| I have three textbooks and five comic books in the bag.}}

The additive particle {{nihongo||も|mo}} can be used to conjoin larger nominals and clauses.
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
| ヨハン は ドイツ人 だ。 ブリゲッタ も ドイツ人 だ。
| YOHAN wa DOITSU-jin da. BURIGETTA mo DOITSU-jin da
| Johann is a German. Brigitte is a German too.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
| 彼 は 映画 スター で あり、 政治家 で も ある。
| kare wa eiga SUTĀ de ari, seijika de mo aru
| He is a movie star and also a politician.}}

For an incomplete list of conjuncts, {{nihongo||や|ya}} is used.
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
| ボリス や イバン を 呼べ。
| BORISU ya IBAN o yobe
| Call Boris, Ivan, etc.}}

When only one of the conjuncts is necessary, the disjunctive particle {{nihongo||か|ka}} is used.
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
| 寿司 か 刺身 か、 何か 注文 して ね。
| sushi ka sashimi ka, nanika chūmon shite ne
| Please order ''sushi'' or ''sashimi'' or something.}}

Quantities are listed between {{nihongo|'from'|から|kara}} and {{nihongo|'to'|まで|made}}.
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
| 華氏 92 度 から 96 度 まで の 熱 は 心配 する もの で は ない。
| Kashi 92 do kara 96 do made no netsu wa shinpai suru mono de wa nai
| A temperature between 92 Fahrenheit and 96 is not worrisome.}}

This pair can also be used to indicate time or space.
: {{lang|ja|朝9時(午前9時)から11時まで授業があるんだ。}}
: {{transliteration|ja|asa ku-ji kara jūichi-ji made jugyō ga aru n da}}
: You see, I have classes between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Because {{transliteration|ja|kara}} indicates starting point or origin, it has a related use as "because", analogously to English "[[wikt:since|since]]" (in the sense of both "from" and "because"):
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
| スミスさん は とても 積極的 な 人 です から、 いつも 全部 頼まれて いる の かもしれません。
| SUMISU-san wa totemo sekkyokuteki na hito desu kara, itsumo zenbu tanomarete iru no kamoshiremasen
| Mr. Smith, because you're so assertive, you may always be asked to do everything.}}

The particle {{transliteration|ja|kara}} and a related particle {{transliteration|ja|yori}} are used to indicate lowest extents: prices, business hours, etc.
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
| 私たち の 店 は 7時 より 営業 して おります。
| Watashitachi no mise wa shichi-ji yori eigyō shite orimasu
| Our shop is open for business from 7 onwards.}}

{{transliteration|ja|Yori}} is also used in the sense of "than".
{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
| お前 は 姉ちゃん より うるさい ん だ!
| omae wa nē-chan yori urusai n da
| You are louder/more talkative than my elder sister!}}

====Coordinating: {{lang|ja|と}} {{transliteration|ja|to}}, {{lang|ja|に}} {{transliteration|ja|ni}}, {{lang|ja|よ}} {{transliteration|ja|yo}}====
The particle {{nihongo||と|to}} is used to set off quotations.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|「殺して… 殺して」 と あの 子 は 言っていた。
|"koroshite… koroshite" to ano ko wa itteita
|The girl was saying, "Kill me… kill me."}}<!--Could a less violent example be used in an encyclopedia?-->

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|猫 が ニャー ニャー と 鳴く。
|neko ga NYĀ NYĀ to naku
|The cat says meow, meow.}}

It is also used to indicate a manner of similarity, "as if", "like" or "the way".

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|彼 は 「愛してる よ」 と 言って、 ぽっくり '''と''' 死んだ。
|kare wa "aishiteru yo" to itte, pokkuri '''to''' shinda
|He said "I love you," and dropped dead.}}

In a related conditional use, it functions like "after/when", or "upon".

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|雨 が 上がる と、 子ども達 は 授業 を 忘れて、 日 の 当たっている 水たまり の 誘惑 に 夢中 に なる。
|ame ga agaru to, kodomo-tachi wa jugyō o wasurete, hi no atatteiru mizutamari no yūwaku ni muchū ni naru
|Rain stops and then: children, forgetting their lessons, give in to the temptation of sun-faced puddles.}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|国境 の 長い トンネル を 抜ける と 雪国 で あった。
|kokkyō no nagai TONNERU o nukeru to, yukiguni de atta
|(The train) came out of the long border tunnel (and then) into the snow country.}}

Finally it is used with verbs like {{nihongo|''to meet (with)''|会う|au}} or {{nihongo|''to speak (with)''|話す|hanasu}}.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|ジョン が メアリー と 初めて 会った の は、 1942 年 の 春 の 夕暮れ時 の こと だった。
|JON ga MEARI to hajimete atta no wa, 1942 nen no haru no yūguredoki no koto datta
|John met Mary for the first time on a dusky afternoon of spring in 1942.}}

This last use is also a function of the particle {{nihongo||に|ni}}, but {{transliteration|ja|to}} indicates reciprocation which {{transliteration|ja|ni}} does not.
: {{lang|ja|ジョンはメアリーと恋愛している。(usually say ジョンはメアリーと付き合っている。)}}
: {{transliteration|ja|JON wa MEARI[II] to ren'ai shite iru (JON wa MEARI[II] to tsukiatte iru)}}
: John and Mary are in love.

: {{lang|ja|ジョンはメアリーに恋愛している。(usually say ジョンはメアリーに恋している。)}}
: {{transliteration|ja|JON wa MEARI[II] ni ren'ai shite iru (JON wa MEARI[II] ni koi shite iru)}}
: John loves Mary (but Mary might not love John back).

Finally, the particle {{nihongo||よ|yo}} is used in a hortative or vocative sense.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|可愛い 娘 よ、 私 に 顔 を しかめるな。
|kawaii musume yo, watashi ni kao o shikameruna
|Oh my beloved daughter, don't frown at me so!}}

====Final: {{lang|ja|か}} {{transliteration|ja|ka}}, {{lang|ja|ね}} {{transliteration|ja|ne}}, {{lang|ja|よ}} {{transliteration|ja|yo}} and related====
The [[sentence-final particle]] {{nihongo||か|ka}} turns a declarative sentence into a question.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|そちら は アメリカ人 でしょう か?
|sochira wa amerika-jin deshō ka?
|Are you perchance an American?}}

Other sentence-final particles add emotional or emphatic impact to the sentence. The particle {{nihongo||ね|ne}} softens a declarative sentence, similar to English "you know?", "eh?", "I tell you!", "isn't it?", "aren't you?", etc.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|彼 に 電話 しなかった の ね。
|kare ni denwa shinakatta no ne
|You didn't call him up, did you?}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|近々 ロンドン に 引っ越される そう です ね。
|chikajika rondon ni hikkosareru sō desu ne.
|I hear you're moving to London soon. Is that true?}}

A final {{nihongo||よ|yo}} is used in order to soften insistence, warning or command, which would sound very strong without any final particles.

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|嘘 なんか ついて ない よ！
|uso nanka tsuite nai yo!
|I'm not lying!}}

There are many such emphatic particles; some examples: {{nihongo||ぜ|ze}} and {{nihongo||ぞ|zo}} usually used by males; {{nihongo||な|na}} a less formal form of {{transliteration|ja|ne}}; {{nihongo||わ|wa}} used like {{transliteration|ja|yo}} by females (and males in the [[Kansai region]]), etc. They are essentially limited to speech or transcribed dialogue.

====Compound particles====
Compound particles are formed with at least one particle together with other words, including other particles. The commonly seen forms are:
* particle + verb (term. or cont. or {{transliteration|ja|-te}} form)
* particle + noun + particle
* noun + particle

Other structures are rarer, though possible. A few examples:

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|その 件 '''に''' '''関して''' 知っている 限り の こと を 教えて もらいたい。
|sono ken '''ni''' '''kan-shite''' shitte-iru kagiri no koto o oshiete moraitai
|Kindly tell me everything you know concerning that case. (particle + verb in cont.)}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|外国語 を 学習 する '''上''' '''で''' 大切 な こと は 毎日 の 努力 が もの を 言う と いう こと で ある。
|gaikokugo o gakushū suru '''ue''' '''de''' taisetsu na koto wa mainichi no doryoku ga mono o iu to iu koto de aru
|In studying a foreign language, daily effort gives the most rewards. (noun + particle)}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=ja|indent=3
|兄 は 両親 の 心配 '''を''' '''よそ''' '''に'''、 大学 を やめて しまった。
|ani wa ryōshin no shinpai '''o''' '''yoso''' '''ni''', daigaku o yamete shimatta
|Ignoring my parents' worries, my brother dropped out of college. (particle + noun + particle)}}