What is a Japanese particle?

A particle (助詞, joshi) is a short, unconjugating word that follows a noun, verb, or clause to mark its grammatical role — subject, object, location, direction, and so on. Particles do the work that word order and case endings do in many other languages, and Japanese word order is relatively free because of them.

What is the difference between は and が?

は (wa) marks the topic — what the sentence is about, often already known — while が (ga) marks the grammatical subject, frequently introducing new or emphasized information. The same noun can take either depending on whether you are setting it as the topic or identifying it as the doer.

Why is は pronounced wa?

When は functions as the topic particle it is read wa, not ha, a historical spelling preserved in modern Japanese. Likewise the particle へ is read e rather than he, and を is read o. These three particles keep their old kana but take their modern readings.

How do に and で differ for location?

に (ni) marks the location where something exists or a destination/point in time, as in 'at the station' for being there, while で (de) marks the location where an action takes place, as in 'at the station' for doing something there. The verb determines which one is correct.

Are sentence-ending particles grammatical?

Yes. Particles like か (question), ね (seeking agreement), and よ (asserting/informing) attach at the end of a sentence and carry real grammatical and pragmatic meaning about mood and the speaker's stance, not just emotion. They are a core part of natural Japanese.

Japanese Particle (助詞) Reference

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Japanese marks grammatical relationships with particles (助詞, joshi) — short words that follow a noun or clause to show its role in the sentence. Because particles carry this information, Japanese word order is flexible. This tool lists the major particles with their reading, function, and an example, and lets you filter to find the one you need.

How it works

Each particle attaches after the word it governs and is invariable. The main groups:

Case-like markers: は topic, が subject, を direct object, の possessive.
Location/direction/time: に (point/destination), で (place of action), へ (direction), から (from), まで (until/to), より (than/from).
Connectives and additives: と (and/with), も (also/too).
Sentence-final: か (question), ね (agreement), よ (assertion).

Three particles keep old kana but modern readings: は → wa, へ → e, を → o. The classic pair to master is は vs が: topic versus subject.

Example and notes

Compare 私は学生です (“As for me, I’m a student” — は topic) with 誰が来た (“Who came?” — が subject, new info). For location, 駅にいる (“I’m at the station,” existence with に) versus 駅で会う (“Meet at the station,” action with で). Sentence-final particles add nuance: 行きますか asks a question, いいね invites agreement (“nice, right?”), and 行くよ asserts (“I’m going, you know”). Learn particles by the function they mark, not by a single English translation, since most map to several depending on context.