Three Scripts and Particles

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Hiragana, katakana and kanji in one lesson, the topic particle は vs subject が, and を・に・へ・で.

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Three scripts, one sentence

Japanese mixes three scripts: ひらがな (hiragana — native words and grammar), カタカナ (katakana — foreign words: コーヒー kōhī), and 漢字 (kanji — meaning-characters from China: 日本語 nihongo). A normal sentence uses all three: 私はコーヒーを飲みます (I drink coffee). Learn hiragana first (46 characters, a weekend's work), katakana next, kanji gradually.

は (wa) vs が (ga)

The most famous distinction in Japanese: は marks the TOPIC (what we're talking about), が marks the SUBJECT (who does it). 私は学生です (as for me — student): neutral. 私が学生です (I am the one who is a student): emphasis, answering "who?". Rule of thumb: new information takes が (誰が来ますか — who is coming?), established topics take は.

を・に・へ・で in one pass

を (o) marks the object: 本を読みます (read a book). に (ni) marks destination/time: 学校に行きます (go to school), 八時に (at 8). へ (e) marks direction with a nuance of journey: 日本へ行きます. で (de) marks where an action happens: 図書館で勉強します (study at the library) — versus に for where things ARE: 図書館にいます.

も and か — also and questions

も (mo) means also/too, replacing は: 私も学生です (I too am a student). か (ka) ends questions: 学生ですか (are you a student?) — answered はい/いいえ (hai/iie). Note: はい to a negative question confirms the NEGATIVE ("aren't you?" — "はい" = correct, I'm not). Question words: 何・誰・どこ・いつ・なぜ・どうやって (what, who, where, when, why, how).

Particle	Job and example
は (wa)	topic — 私は学生です
が (ga)	subject/new info — 私が学生です
を (o)	object — 本を読みます
に (ni)	destination/time — 学校に行きます
で (de)	place of action — 図書館で勉強します
か (ka)	question — 学生ですか

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