Particles are the exam topic learners fear most and the one with the best effort-to-payoff ratio: nine little words carry the entire N5 sentence system. The quiz video shows you which ones you mix up; this page gives you the decision map to fix them. Bookmark it, retake the video quiz in three days, and watch the difference.
How to use this page: take the video quiz first, pausing before each reveal to commit to an answer. Then work through the lesson below, and finish with the fresh quiz at the bottom — different questions, same skill. If the bottom quiz feels easy, the lesson worked.
The nine core particles
| Japanese | Reading | English |
|---|---|---|
| は | wa | topic — what the sentence is about |
| が | ga | subject — new info; targets of すき・わかる・あります |
| を | o | direct object — the thing acted on |
| に | ni | time point, destination, existence place, receiver |
| で | de | place of action, tool, means of transport |
| へ | e | direction of movement |
| と | to | with (a person); and (complete list) |
| も | mo | also / too — replaces は・が・を |
| の | no | possession / linking two nouns |
What to actually take away
に vs で is a "being vs doing" test. Existing somewhere → に (としょかんに います). Doing something somewhere → で (としょかんで べんきょうします). Ask: is the verb an action? Then で.
は vs が: known vs new. は marks what you are both already talking about; が introduces or singles out. And the special cases — すき, きらい, じょうず, わかる, あります/います — all take が. The full は vs が guide goes deeper.
を almost always has a verb "eating" it. If nothing acts on the noun, を is wrong. That is why すきです takes が — すき is an adjective, and adjectives cannot take objects.
も is a replacer, not an adder. わたしも (not わたしはも). It swaps places with は, が or を — but sits after other particles: とうきょうへも いきます.
Fresh quiz — same skill, new questions
1. にちようび、こうえん＿＿ サッカーを します。
Playing soccer is an action, and actions take で for their location. こうえんに would describe existing in the park (います/あります).
2. わたしは いぬ＿＿ すきです。
すき is an adjective, so its target takes が — the highest-frequency particle question in every N5 quiz ever made.
3. まいあさ ７じ＿＿ おきます。
Specific clock times take に. (７じから would mean "from 7 onward" — possible, but the plain "I get up at 7" is に.)
4. きのう ともだち＿＿ えいがを みました。
と marks the companion — "with a friend". に would make the friend a destination or receiver, which no one deserves.
Go deeper
- Particles master guide — every particle, one page
- Particle practice test — 60 questions with explanations — the video's big sibling
- Particles cheat sheet PDF — print it, stick it above your desk
More video lessons
- Video Lesson: Script & Vocabulary Practice
- Video Lesson: Everyday Vocabulary Under Pressure
- Video Lesson: Turning Recognition into Recall
- Video Lesson: The Daily Warm-Up Routine
Video and companion lesson by Rahul Kumar Singh. Published 17 July 2026. The lesson content on this page is original study material written to accompany the video — it extends the quiz, it is not a transcript. Spotted an error? Report it.