JSLL #35 - Urashima Tarou aftermath - the particles

The Urashima Tarou story in this book introduces a whopping 22 particles, those one- or two-syllable words that follow a noun phrase, a clause or an entire sentence. The same particle can have different meanings in different contexts. Here are the ones encountered in the story:

に particle for location

に after a noun phrase can mean "in" if the verb does not describe an activity.

と particle for quotations

A quote is followed by the particle と followed by the attribution of the quote, it's roughly equivalent to the comma in English in He said, "I'm hungry."

は particle for topics

は (pronounced "wa" when used as a particle, but "ha" in all other contexts) indicates that the phrase before it is the topic of conversation. You should only use it when a new topic of conversation is introduced. Usually, this word doesn't need to be translated, but if it does, "As for..." is closest to what it means. The phrase is typically a noun phrase (in which case it's also often the subject of the sentence), but it can also be a prepositional phrase, like パリに ("in Paris").

の particle to connect noun phrases

Noun1のNoun2 indicates that Noun2 somehow "belongs" to Noun1. Typically, it can be translated as "Noun1's Noun2" or "the Noun2 of Noun1."

へ particle for direction

The particle へ (pronounced "he" or "e") is placed after a noun phrase to indicate motion toward that noun phrase.

を particle for direct objects

The particle を (pronounced "wo" or "o") is placed after a noun phrase to indicate that the noun phrase is the direct object of the verb.

が particle for grammatical subjects

The が particle indicates who or what is performing the action described by the verb. You will often encounter this particle in relative clauses whose subject is different from the subject of the main clause, and in main clauses where the topic (marked with は) is different from the subject. If the topic and subject are the same, it will usually be marked with は, not  が.

と particle for "and" between noun phrases

This と means "and" when placed between two nouns or noun phrases: 子供と大人 means "children and adults" (or "a child and an adult"). You can't use this particle to connect verbs or clauses.

から particle meaning "from"

This particle is placed after a noun phrase to indicate origin in place or time (so from Tokyo or from 9 o'clock, say).

で particle for location

で after a noun phrase can mean "in" if the verb describes an activity. Compare 東京に住んでいます ("I live in Tokyo") and 大阪で働いています ("I work in Osaka"). Working is an activity, living is not.

の particle as a nominalizer for clauses

If a clause (something that contains a verb at its core) needs to be used as if it's a noun, you need to place の after it. For example, the verb 見る "to see" takes a direct object, marked with を. This can be a noun (子供を見ました, "I saw the child") or it can be an entire clause (子供が遊ぶのを見ました, "I saw the child play"). Note how the clause, 子供が遊ぶ "the child plays" is nominalized (turned into a noun) using の. 

と particle after a clause to mean "when" or "whenever"

After a relative clause, と can be translated as "when." Another way of saying "when" is to put the word 時 (とき, toki) after the clause, which literally translates to "the moment that..." But note that 時 isn't a particle.

で particle for "with" or "using"

To indicate that something is used to accomplish a goal (that is, when talking about a tool or instrument), put で after the noun phrase.

と particle to mean "that" after verbs of belief

彼はバカだと思った。"I thought that he was an idiot." Works equally well with verbs like "believe," "assume," "suspect" and so on. In English, you can often omit the "that"; in Japanese, you can never omit the と.

ぞ particle after a sentence to make the sentence forceful

Some aspects of the Japanese language are specific to a gender, and this is one of them. ぞ is used by men but not by women. It equates to putting a few exclamation marks after the sentence.

に particle for indirect objects

Indirect objects are the recipients or beneficiaries of an action, rather than its target. This に is usually translated with "to" ("I gave a book to my friend" or "I said to him, 'Don't do it!'") or not translated at all ("I gave my friend a book" or "I told him, 'Don't do it!'").

や particle for a non-exhaustive enumeration of noun phrases

We saw previously that と connects two noun phrases with "and." や does the same thing, but it implies that the list may be longer: it means "X and Y and possibly more things like X and Y."

に particle for direction

に after a noun phrase means "to" or "toward" when the verb indicates motion, like "go," "come" or "return." This に is very similar to へ but implies more strongly that the noun phrase before it is the final destination. へ means more neutrally "in the direction of."

が particle after a clause to indicate a mild "but"

When you see が connecting two clauses, "but" is a decent translation. It's not as strong as "however," and sometimes it's so mild that it could be translated as a semicolon.

ね particle at the end of a sentence to ask the listener to agree

If the sentence is a claim, this particle translates to "isn't it?" or similar; if it's a request, it makes the request more polite, like adding "won't you?"

へと particle as an emphatic form of へ

See へ above, but this variant is a bit stronger.

も…も particles after noun phrases to mean "both ... and ..." or "neither ... nor ..."

The exact meaning depends on whether the verb is positive or negative.