A Better Understanding on Japanese Particles part 2

Previously, we mention on understanding Japanese particles part 1, where we covered the waは, gaが, noの, and niに particles. Today we will cover on the remaining particles, namely deで, heへ kaか and woを.

The “de” particle can be quite confusing with the “ni” particle. And yes of course, the famous sentences that most of you Japanese learners come across is　わたし　は　バース　で　がっこう　に　いきます - “I go to school by bus”. This sentence is very easy to understand but it gets confusing when you compare with this sentence, がっこう　で　ごはん　を　たべます. - “I eat at school”. Some people will try to compare the がっこう　に and the がっこう　で in the former and the latter sentence structure and then become confuse with it. You might think “I thought がっこう　is a school; a location so we should use the に particle, and why で in the latter sentence?

Guys, don’t compare both of them, its two totally different meaning. The former that says, バース　で　がっこう　に　いきます”de” in this context means via, or by, using a medium or transportation. Let’s look at an example

くるま　で いきます -> to go by car

kuruma de ikimasu

くるま、車 means “car”

でんしゃ　で いきます - >to go by train

denshya de ikimasu

でんしゃ、電車 means “train”

And for the latter, がっこう　で ごはん　を　たべます, “de” in this context is use because the speaker is doing something in a location, school. Take a look at two examples.

そと　で　テニス　を　します -> Play tennis outside

soto de tenisu wo shimasu

そと,外　means “outside”

くるま　の　なか　で　たべます ->To eat inside the car

kuruma　no naka de tabemasu

なか　means “inside ” or “within”

So can you understand now? Whenever you are doing something in a place, use the で particle after a location, but if you want to do something inside an object, like a car, or bus, or even a box, you should always add a の　なか after the object that you want to describe.

Now let’s head to the particle (he)へ. The (he)へ is a simple and straight forward particle to use. The only rule you have to remember is that, it is use only for direction and nothing else. Is is the same meaning as the niに particle. Two examples for you below.

がっこう　へ or に　いきます - go to school

トイレ　へ or に　いきます - go to toilet

どこ　へ　いく？ - Where to?

And for the kaか particle, it is also another easy to use particle. It is use for asking questions. Just simply add the か at the end of the sentence to ask a question. But wait, there are some things you should take note of. Never ever use the か particle after a plain verb or adjective. Always either change the verb into a masu form and then add the か at the end. Or if its an adjective or noun, add a です after it and then follow by the か.

If you don’t inject any politeness in your sentences, you are going to sound very rude to your Japanese acquaintances. But in the manga or anime world, you can see lots of plain words that are use and ended impolitely.

And lastly, we will touch on　woを particle. This particle is use when a verb is directly acting on an object. But not all verbs can be use together with the woを particle. It depends on the context and actions. Here is an example for you.

すし　を　にぎる - “to mold a sushi”

ごはん　を　たべる - “to eat rice”

コーヒー　を　のむ - “to drink coffee”

ほん　を　よむ - “to read a book”

So when do you actually use woを to describe something? The rule is, only when an action occurs together with an object, you are able to use the woを particle.

That should be all for today’s guide to learn Japanese.

Have fun learning Japanese!