Product Description

This is an easy-to-use student's reference guide to the 70 common particles used in the Japanese language. Each and every particle usage is covered and exemplified through sample sentences, and presented in English, Japanese orthography and romanized Japanese.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46372 in Books
• Published on: 1997-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Brandon Jirou Hayashi, The Hawaii Herald
"... nearly 11 years old, it is just as relevant now as it was then."

About the Author
Naoko Chino is a lecturer at Sophia University, Tokyo, and author of Japanese Verbs at a Glance and A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns.

Excerpted from All About Particles : A Handbook of Japanese Function Words by Naoko Chino. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Below is the complete section on Wa, minus the original macrons and with Japanese script represented by X's.

WA
Note: Wa has several usages, but its basic function is to set off a topic (e.g., of conversation) from the rest of the sentence, which talks about the topic. Technically, wa does not indicate case (subject, object, etc.). However, in practical terms, it often (but not always) comes after the subject of the sentence. See also to wa (#7) and -te wa (#47).

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1. Indicates that information is being presented about something that is already known or that has been identified.

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Asoko ni akai hon ga arimasu ne. Are WA kanji no hon desu.
Over there is a red book, right. It's a kanji book. / See the red book over there? That's a kanji book.

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Ano daigaku WA, Yotsuya-eki no chikaku ni arimasu.
That university -- it's near Yotsuya Station. / That university is near Yotsuya Station.

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2. Indicates a topic, which is then identified or explained.

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Ashita WA nichiyobi desu.
As for tomorrow, it's Sunday. / Tomorrow is Sunday.

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Kujira WA sakana de wa arimasen.
As for the whale, it is not a fish. / The whale is not a fish.

Note: If ga replaces wa in these sentences, the noun which it follows is no longer being presented as a topic but as the subject of the predicate (see ga, #2, I-2). The switch from topic (wa) to definite subject (ga) lays stress on the latter. For example:

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Asatte WA nichiyobi desu ne.
Chigaimasu. Ashita GA nichiyobi desu yo.
The day after tomorrow is Sunday, isn't it.
You're wrong there. Tomorrow is Sunday.

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3. In the construction N + wa N + ga, wa indicates a topic (the first noun) about which an aspect or quality (the second noun) is explained.

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Zo WA hana GA nagai desu.
The elephant -- its nose is long. / Elephants have long noses.

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Takemoto-san WA seikaku GA yasashii desu.
As for Takemoto, her personality is gentle. / Takemoto has a gentle nature.

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4. Used to show contrast between two items or ideas, both of which are signified by wa.

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Kanji WA muzukashii desu ga, Nihon-go no bunpo WA amari muzukashiku nai-n desu.
Kanji are difficult, but Japanese grammar is not very difficult.

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Hokkaido no fuyu WA samui desu ga, Tokyo WA atatakai desu.
The Hokkaido winter is cold, but [the] Tokyo [winter] is warm. / It's cold in Hokkaido in the winter, but warm in Tokyo.

Note: In some cases, only one item or idea is explicitly mentioned. For example, in the following sentence, the implication is that the person might go to a cheaper restaurant.

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Takai kara, ano resutoran ni WA ikimasen.
Because it's expensive, I won't go to that restaurant. / I am not going to that restaurant because it's too expensive.

Note: In its contrastive function, wa comes after other particles (e.g., ni wa, de wa). Two important exceptions are when it replaces ga and o, as in the next example.

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Bata o kaimashita ka.
Magarin WA kaimashita ga, bata WA kaimasen deshita.
Did you buy some butter?
I bought some margarine, but I didn't buy any butter. / I bought some margarine, but not any butter.

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5. In the forms V-te wa iru (first example below) and V-masu base followed by wa and suru (second and third examples), wa indicates emphasis. See also -te wa (#47).

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Konpyuta o motte WA imasu ga, mada tsukatte (WA) imasen.
I own a computer [I do own a computer], but I haven't used it yet.

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Ano hito o shitte WA imasu ga, amari hanashita koto WA arimasen.
I know him, but I haven't spoken to him much.

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Ocha WA nomimashita ga, jikan ga nakatta no de shokuji WA shimasen deshita.
I had some tea, but since there wasn't much time, I didn't eat (have a meal).

Customer Reviews

Dont be scared of the title, buy it :)
This is probably not a book for the absolute beginner, but I have only been studying Japanese for 4 months and this is now one of my favourite texts. In my class we are often asked “what particle goes here?” by our teacher. 9 times out of 10 we are guessing, Ni being the most common choice :p

This was my motivation to buy this book

This book is quite compact, a little smaller than A5. I have taken to carrying this around in my bag, and pulling it out for the occasional read. It does seem a little “geeky” to be reading a book about such a specific thing when I am still really just a beginner myself, but if you can get up the courage to buy it you wont regret it

WA for example (first in the book) is explained over the course of 3 pages. Presenting 5 ways in which the particle can be used within sentences, with 2 or 3 examples for each usage. Each example is presented in kana/kanji, romanji and English. So theres little need to refer to other texts whilst trying to comprehend the examples. As such, this makes the book very easy to read and not “heavy” at all, despite the subject matter

Great purchase!
From what I have read so far it seems like this is a great book.

The information is well structured (i.e. shows the more common particles/uses first and then the less common ones), it provides a brief, but clarifying, description of each particle, followed by examples presented in kana, kanji and roma-ji, aside from the english translation.

It also makes reference to particles which are used together and explanations on why this happens on some situations.

Overall a great, lightweight book and a must have especially if you are a serious student of Japanese.

simply amazing!!!
I bought this book and thought i'd find explanations for when to use wa, ga and wo but i found so much more! its filled with really good explanations which are really easy to understand! now that i have this book i dont know how i could even think of learning japanese without it!