Japanese: Intermediate Guide

You’ve made it to the tutorial island

You’re starting to get familiar with reading, writing, and sounding out hiragana and katakana, and you’re ready for the next step. By now, you may have even picked up some words or phrases along the way. This is where things get more interesting—you’ll begin combining sounds with particles to form words and sentences that carry nuance and intention!


The Japanese Sentence Structure

One of the biggest challenges English speakers face when learning Japanese is that the sentence structure often feels “backwards” compared to English. This is because the two languages follow different word order rules.


English: Subject → Verb → Object

vs

Japanese: Subject → Object → Verb 


Learning the Particles

Unlike English, which relies heavily on word order, Japanese uses particles—small markers that clarify meaning. Particles can be quite complex, and using them incorrectly can change not only the meaning of your words but also the level of formality, which is an important part of Japanese culture.


The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)

The JLPT is one of the leading globally recognized certifications for non-native Japanese speakers. It consists of five levels, starting from the beginner level N5 through the most advanced level N1.

Since our mission is to help gamers reach a conversational level of Japanese—equivalent to JLPT N3 proficiency—we’ve gathered some common particles to get you started in the right direction, aligned with JLPT standards.

 

JLPT N5


For JLPT N5, you’ll need to know the most common Japanese particles that mark topics, subjects, objects, and relationships in sentences. Some examples includes, but not limited to, (は, が, を, に, で)

You might also encounter some other common particles like (～から, ～けど, and ～たい)


  •  は (wa) – Topic marker; sets the theme of the sentence.
    • Watashi wa neko ga sukidesu - “I like cats”

 

  •  が (ga) – Subject marker; emphasizes the subject.
    • Used to mark a subject usually implied “of all the options”
    • Watashi wa neko ga sukidesu - “I like cats”

 

  •  を (wo) – Direct object marker.
    • Receives the action of the verb
    • Ramen wo Taberu - “Will eat Ramen”

     

    •  に (ni) – Indicates direction, location, time, or indirect object.
      • Juuji ni nemasu - “Will sleep at ten o’clock”

     

    •  で (de) – Marks location of action or means (“by/with”).
      • Marks location of action
      • Kouen de asobu - “Will play at the park”
      • “With” as in the method
      • Pen de kaku - “Will write with a pen”
      • “By” as in the method
      • Densha de ikimasu - “Will by train”

     

    •  へ (e) – Directional particle (similar to “towards”).
      • Nihon e ikitai - “I want to go to/towards Japan”

     

    •  から (kara) – “From” or “because”
      • Nihon kara kita - “I came from Japan”
      • Kara = “because” (when followed by an adjective)
      • Samui kara nemasu - “Will sleep because its cold”
      • Daraka = “because” (when followed by a noun)
      • Fuyu dakara samui - “It’s cold because its Winter”

     

    •  たい (tai) – “want to”
      • Ramen wo tabetai - “Want to eat Ramen”

     

    •  けれども / けど (keredomo/kedo) – “But” and “although”
      • keredomo = when followed by an adjective
        • Samui keredo daijoubu - "Cold but it’s alright"
      • dakeredomo = when followed by a noun
        • Shigoto dakedomo daijoubu - "Work but it’s alright"

     

    JLPT N4


    For JLPT N4, you’ll need to know a wider range of particles beyond the N5 basics. It’s worth familiarizing yourself with polite and casual speech distinctions. Some less basic particles you might see includes, but not limited to, (～ている,  ～てしまう, ～たら, ～ば). You may also see a little more complex particles like (までに, より, しか, だけ)

     

    •  まで (made) – “Until” or “up to”
      • Yoru made shigoto desu - “Work until night”

     

    •  までに (madeni) – “by” (deadline)
      • Kyou made ni shukudai wo owarasete kudasai - “Please finish your homework by today”

     

    •  より (yori) – “more than”
      • Natsu yori fuyu ga suki - “I like winter more than summer"

     

    •  たら (tara) – Conditional “if/when”
      • Once the condition has been met
      • Tabetara nemasu - “Will sleep, once I eat”

     

    •  ば (ba) – Conditional “if/when”
      • If the condition has been met
      • Tabereba genki deru - “Will have energy, if you eat”

     

    •  だけ (dake) – “Only”
      • Gohan dake morau - “Will only have(receive) rice”

     

    •  しか (shika) – “Nothing but” (with negative verbs)
      • Hiragana shika shinai - “I know nothing but Hiragana”

     

    •  ている (teiru) – Presentense verb”-ing”
      • Tabeteiru - “Eat-ing”

     

    •  てしまう(teshimau) – Regretful or accidental completion similar to “I accidentally/unintentionally/regretfully…”
      • Itsumo zenbu tabeteshimau - “I always end up eating everything”

     

    JLPT N3


    JLPT N3  is where you will start seeing more polite and casual long, complex, conditional, and nuanced connector types of particles. Some includes, but not limited to, (～なら, ～ば, ～たら, ～のに, ～のように, ～わけではない)


    •  なら (nara) –
      • Conditional “if” and Assumption “if it is the case”
        • Ame nara samukunaru - “If the weather is “rain”, it will be cold”
      • Topic marker “Speaking of...”
        • Ame nara tsumetai - “Speaking of rain, it is cold”

     

    •  のに (noni) – “Although / even though / despite…”
      • Often carries a nuance of frustration, regret, or surprise
      • Ganbatta noni katenakatta - “I could not win even though I tried”

     

    •  のように (noyouni) – “Like”, “Similar to”, and “As if”
      • Expresses similarity, manner, or resemblance.
      • Kyou wa fuyu no youni samui desu - "Today is cold like winter"

     

    •  わけではない (wakedewanai) – “It’s not necessarily the case that…”
      • Used to partially deny, qualify, or clarify a statement.
      • Samui wakedewanai kedo nagasode wo kimasu - “it’s not that its cold, but I’ll wear a long sleeve”

     

    The JLPT N3 will also challenge you with passive, causative, and causative-passive forms of particles as:

    •  Ichidan (ru-verbs): Replace ru → saseru
      • Taberu “to eat” → Tabesaseru “to make/let someone eat”

     

    •  Godan (u-verbs): Change the final (consonant)u sound → (consonant)a + seru
      • Kaku “to write” → Kakaseru “to make/let someone write”
      • Nomu “to drink” → Nomaseru “to make/let someone drink”

     

    •  Ireregular Verbs:
      • Suru “to do” → Saseru “to make/let someone do”
      • Kuru “to come” → Kosaseru “to make/let someone come”
      • Both are irregular as the vowel changes, but they follow the same principle.

     

    More useful particles:

    Linking & Conjunctive Particles


    • と (to) – “And”
      • Ramen to sushi to takoyaki ga sukidesu - “I like Ramen, Sushi, and Takoyaki” (no etc.)
      • Also used to quote ” “
      • “Tanoshii” to kare wa iimashita - “ ‘Fun’, he said”

     

    •  って (tte) – Informal quotation marker.
      • “Tanoshii” tte kare wa iimashita - “He said it’s ‘fun’ “

     

    •  や (ya) – “And” (non-exhaustive list).
      • Ramen ya sushi ya takoyaki ga sukidesu. - “I like Ramen, Takoyaki, etc.” (in some form is relevant list)

     

    •  ので (node) – “Because” (more formal than から)
      • Samui node iidesu - “It’s okay, because its cold”

     

    •  し (shi) – “And also” often for listing reasons.
      • shi = when followed by an adjective
        • Samui shi “Also it’s cold”
      • dashi = when followed by a noun
        • Soto dashi “Also it’s outdoor”

     

    Emphasis & Nuance Particles

    •  も (mo) – “Also”, “too”, and “as well”.
      • Kyou mo samui - “ Today is cold too/as well”

     

    •  ばかり (bakari) – “Just” or “only”
      • Repetition involved
      • Otoko bakari katsu - “Only the guys keep winning”

     

    •  こそ (koso) – Strong emphasis (“precisely this”).
      • Kyou koso, ore wa taberu - “Today, I will eat”

     

    •  でも (demo) – “But”, “however”, or “even”
      • Pro demo makeru - “even a pro loses”

     

    Sentence-Ending Particles


    •  ね (ne) – Seeks agreement (“right?”).
      • Samui ne - “It’s cold, right?”

     

    •  よ (yo) – Adds emphasis (“you know”).
      • Samui yo - “it’s cold you know”

     

    •  な (na) – Casual assertion or prohibition.
      • Samui na = “It’s cold”  (Casual assertion)
      • Taberu na = “Don’t eat” (prohibition)

     

    •  ぞ (zo) / ぜ (ze)  – Strong masculine emphasis.(Often implies the recipient to address accordingly)
      • Samui zo/ze = “It’s cold” (Implies to turn up the heat or bring a jacket)

     

    •  か (ka) – Question marker
      • Samui desu ka? - “Is it cold?”
      • Samui ka? (Casual/informal)

     

    Other Specialized Particles


    •  の (no) – Possessive (“of”), also nominalizer (endings that make verbs/adjectives into nouns. I.g. Decide - Decision. Run - act of running.)
      • Streamership no discord server - “Discord server of Streamership”
      • Hashiru no ga suki - “I like run-ning”

     

    •  やら (yara) – “Such things as…”
      • Hon yara game ga sukidesu - “I like things such as books and games”

     

    •  など (nado) – “Etc.”
      • Hon ya game nado ga sukidesu - “I like books, games, etc.”

     

    •  くらい / ぐらい (kurai/gurai) – “About”, “Around”, or “approximately.”
      • Starbucks de go-jikan kurai machimashita - “I waited for about 5 hours at Starbucks”

     

    •  ほど (hodo) – “Extent” or “as much as.”
      • Watashi wa gorilla hodo tsuyoku arimasen - “I am not as strong as a Gorilla”