notes

the は particle

  • the は particle can never be one of the main parts of a core sentence
  • は can also not be part of one of the extra cars
  • は is a non-logical particle
  • consider は a flag that marks the topic and doesn’t say anything about the topic
  • は means “as for _”
  • ex: 「私は０がアメリカ人だ。」 means “As for me, I am an American.”
  • remember that 「０が」 is not always “I”

    the に particle

  • in “A does B” sentences, we can use three “noun + particle” cars:
    • が marks the doer (subject)
    • を marks the receiver of the doing (direct object)
    • に marks the target (indirect object)
  • example sentences showing usage of the に particle
    • 「私がボールを投げる。」 means “I throw the ball.”
    • 「私がボールをサクラに投げる。」 means “I throw the ball (to/at) Sakura.”
    • 「私にサクラがボールを投げる。」 means “Sakura throws the ball (to/at) me.”
    • changing a logical particle changes the meaning of the sentence
  • adding in the は particle can change the emphasis without changing the meaning
    • 「私は０がサクラにボールを投げる。」 mean “As for me, I throw the ball (to/at) Sakura.” (emphasis on 私)
    • 「ボールは私がサクラに０を０を投げる。」 means “As for the ball, I throw it (to/at) Sakura.” (emphasis on ボール)
    • changing a non-logical particle does not change the meaning of the sentence

      resources

  • youtube