SEASON TWO - BRYAN MANGIN

The particle は

Important ! I strongly recommend that you review the following courses : the particle の and the particle と.

Introduction

Today we are going to see a very important particle in the construction of sentences in Japanese and also very easy to learn. This is the particle は. Before going any further, first know that the particle は is not pronounced « ha » but « wa ».
The particle は is the topic sentence’s particle. Before I go any further, I would like to add one thing. The topic of the sentence is something different from the subject of the verb. Remember this for now. You will no doubt have to confuse the two, which happens quite often, but for now, remember that.

The topic of the sentence

So, what is the topic of the sentence ? This is a noun or a nominal group that is always at the beginning of a sentence and announces what the sentence is about. The particle は is placed after this noun or nominal group.
As a reminder, a nominal group is a group of nouns. In Japanese, we can possibly find in nominal groups the particles の and と. It can be :
Higashiyama’s towel. → 東山のタオル。
Yamamoto’s house. → 山本の家。
Alice’s rabbit. → アリスの兎。
Hanae’s pencils and brushes. → 花絵の鉛筆とブラシ。

Now that the introduction is done, let’s move on to the examples. Observe how we translate the particle は. Let’s take this opportunity to take up some Japanese surnames and first names that we have already used in the previous course.
For example, if we say :
マリオは
In English we will literally translate as :
« Regarding Mario »
The topic of the sentence is therefore Mario.

If we say :
香織は
かおりは
In English we will literally translate as :
« Regarding Kaori »
The topic of the sentence is therefore Kaori.

If we say :
山本と花絵は
やまもととはなえは
In English we will literally translate as :
« Regarding Yamamoto and Hanae »
The topic of the sentence is therefore Yamamoto and Hanae.

If we say :
兎は
うさぎは
In English we will literally translate as :
« Regarding the rabbit »
The topic of the sentence is therefore the rabbit.

So, you understand that with the particle は, we are going to announce the topic at the beginning of each sentence. This being done, we will now use these topics in sentences. Let’s start with something we already know :
草食動物だ。
そうしょくどうぶつだ。
This is an herbivorous animal.

Now I add a topic :
兎は草食動物だ。
うさぎはそうしょくどうぶつだ。
Regarding the rabbit, this is an herbivorous animal.

In good English we will say : « The rabbit is a herbivorous animal. ».
It is important here to understand the distinction that the Japanese make between the topic of the sentence and the subject of the sentence. We said at the beginning that these are two very different things in the Japanese language. In our Japanese sentence, 兎は . うさぎは is the topic of the sentence and in the English translation, « The rabbit / The bunny » is the subject of the sentence.
We will see later the particle of the subject of the verb and how we can specify a subject to a verb. In Japanese, it is not necessary to specify the subject, we’ll prefer to put a topic in the sentence without specifying the subject, so the information given relates to the topic.

To give you another example :
アリスは少女だ。
アリスはしょうじょ。
Regarding Alice, it’s a girl.

In good English we will say : « Alice is a girl. ».
So, as seen above, in the Japanese sentence, アリスは is the topic of the sentence and in the English translation, « Alice » is the subject of the sentence.

A third example :
トトロはサツキとメイの隣だ。
トトロはサツキとメイのとなりだ。
Regarding Totoro, he’s Satsuki and Mei’s neighbor.

In good English we will say : « Totoro is Satsuki and Mei’s neighbor. ».
So, as seen above, in the Japanese sentence, トトロは is the topic of the sentence and in the English translation, « Totoro » is the subject of the sentence.

Now, we are going to do the reverse and start from a sentence in English in order to go to Japanese. If we mean for example :
Sherlock Holmes is a detective.
We will build the sentence like this : « Regarding Sherlock Holmes, he’s a detective. »


→ Sherlock Holmes is a detective.

Let’s take another example. If we mean :
Doctor Watson is Sherlock Holmes’s assistant.
We will build the sentence like this : « Regarding Dr. Watson, he is Sherlock Holmes’s assistant. »


→ Doctor Watson is Sherlock Holmes’s assistant.

Let’s take a final, slightly more complicated example. If we mean :
Conan Doyles is the author of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
We will build the sentence like this : « Regarding Conan Doyles, he is the author of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. »


→ Conan Doyles is the author of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.

After these three examples, it is important that you understand that you should not make translation word for word between English and Japanese. This is impossible because the way these two languages work and the sentence construction system are completely different.
It is also very important that you fully understand the difference between the topic of the sentence and the subject of the verb. In the Japanese sentences above, what is in red is the topic of the sentence, and in our English sentences, it is equivalent to the subject of the verb.
As always, to learn a language, you have to understand how that language works and never try to make bizarre amalgamations, invented from scratch between the language you are learning and your native language, especially if the two are not alike at all. It may take longer and more complicated to integrate the workings of the language you are learning, but it will make learning easier and clearer afterwards.
That being said, let’s move on.

It is possible that a topic applies to more than one sentence. To help you understand better, take a look at the example below, first in English.
Mario is a plumber. Mario is Luigi’s brother. Mario is the hero of the mushroom kingdom.
Here we have three sentences which in Japanese will all have the same topic. In this case, we will put the topic only once for our three sentences.
This is how we will translate these sentences into Japanese.
マリオは配管工だ。ルイージの兄弟だ。キノコ王国のヒーローだ。
マリオははいかんこうだ。ルイージのきょうだいだ。キノコおうこくのヒーローだ。
Mario is a plumber. He’s Luigi’s brother. He is the hero of the mushroom kingdom.

So, as you can see, as long as the topic doesn’t change from sentence to sentence, there is no need to repeat it.

Some sentences with personal pronouns

Okay, so far, we haven’t seen personal singular and plural pronouns in Japanese yet, so we’ll get to that later in this second season. Although, exceptionally, to give you a little insight, I will introduce to you very simple sentences as examples.
Let’s imagine a sentence with the personal pronoun 私 . わたし.
I am a man.
We will build the sentence like this : « Regarding me, I am a man. »


→ I am a man.

Another sentence with 私 . わたし.
I am french.
We will construct the sentence as follows : « Regarding me, I am french »


→ I am french.

Now let’s imagine a sentence with the personal pronoun 彼 . かれ.
He is a fan of Japanese culture.
We will construct the sentence as follows : « Regarding him, he is a fan of Japanese culture. »


→ He is a fan of Japanese culture.

Now let’s imagine a sentence with the personal pronoun 彼女 . かのジョ.
She is a princess.
We will construct the sentence as follows : « Regarding her, she is a princess. »


→ She is a princess.

Now let’s imagine another sentence with the personal pronoun 私 . わたし again.
I am a fan of video games.
We will construct the sentence as follows : « Regarding me, I’m a fan of video games. »


→ I’m a fan of video games.

Now let’s imagine another sentence with the personal pronoun 貴方 . あなた.
You are the child of Luciano and Matilda.
We will construct the sentence as follows : « Regarding you, you are the child of Luciano and Matilda. »


→ You are the child of Luciano and Matilda.

Conclusion

We have finally come to the end of this course. Like what, the more examples the better. Now that you know how to use the particle は and the personal pronouns, you can finally talk about yourself, your life, isn’t that great ?
So, of course, you don’t know any verbs, which greatly limits your possibilities, so from the next particle’s course, you will broaden your horizons by learning your first list of Japanese verbs.
That being said, I am giving you your exercises, theme and version including the use of the particle は, you will also have the particles previously seen present in most of the sentences.
Also, I want to clarify one thing : in this course, I have given you a small overview of the personal singular pronouns in Japanese, in particular the « you », the « he » and the « she ». Japanese personal pronouns are a very big topic and we won’t see that in detail until much later in this second season. In all of the following exercises until we get to the subject in detail, you will not have any sentences with the personal pronouns 彼 . かれ, 彼女 . かのジョ and 貴方 . あなた. I just wanted to give you a little insight and that’s it. Just keep that in the corner of your memory, we’ll get back to this when the time comes.
Well, this lesson on the particle は is finally over ! It’s been quite long and the ones to come will be just as long, so hang in there because you are not done exploring the incredible world of particles !
Have a good day everyone and do your homework properly.

単語. Vocabulary

草食動物 . ソウショクドウブツ . the herbivorous animal
少女 . ショウジョ . the girl
探偵 . タンテイ . the detective
博士 . ハクシ / はかせ . the doctor; the expert (honorary suffix)
助手 . ジョシュ . the assistant, the help
冒険 . ボウケン . the adventure
著者 . チョシャ . the author
配管工 . ハイカンコウ . the plumber
日本文化 . ニホンブンカ . the Japanese culture, the Japanese civilization
王女 . オウジョ . the Princess
ファン . the fan

EXERCICES,
The particle や The institutions