Kilo Lingo
Japanese grammar Part of Chapter 1

CEFR A1-A2

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Test yourself (15 questions)

Japanese Particles: を, に, で and の Explained

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 19 October 2026

Japanese does with small particles what English does with word order. Each particle comes after its noun and says what that noun is doing in the sentence. Four of them carry most beginner sentences: , , and .

を (object)に (to, at)で (where it happens)What do the colours mean?
ParticleRomajiJobExample
othe object: what the verb acts on
niwhere to; whom you meet; where it is
dewhere an action happens; by what
noof, 's

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Choose the particle.

  1. コーヒー飲みます。 (I drink coffee.)

  2. 日本行きます。 (I am going to Japan.)

  3. 家テレビを見ます。 (I watch TV at home.)

Three more particles you have met, , and , get a short note at the end; they have their own lessons.

を: the object

marks the thing the verb acts on: what you drink, read, buy or watch. It is written and said o.

JapaneseRomajiEnglish
。Kōhī o nomimasu.I drink coffee.
。Hon o yomimasu.I read a book.
。Terebi o mimasu.I watch TV.
。Pan o kaimasu.I buy bread.

The object comes before the verb, never after it, because the verb is always last.

に: where to, whom you meet, where it is

points at a target. It has three common jobs at this level: where you go, whom you meet, and where someone or something is.

JobJapaneseEnglish
where you go。I am going to Japan.
where you go (home)。I am going home.
whom you meet。I am meeting a friend.
where someone is。The teacher is at home.
where something is。The book is here.

(read e) can replace with verbs of going, putting slightly more weight on the direction than on the arrival: 。 means the same as 。

Words for relative time take no particle at all: , and just sit in the sentence.

  • 、。 - I am going to Japan today.
  • 。 - I drink coffee every day.

で: where it happens

marks the stage of an action: the place where something is being done.

JapaneseRomajiEnglish
。Ie de terebi o mimasu.I watch TV at home.
。Hoteru de tabemasu.I eat at the hotel.
。Nihon de shigoto o shimasu.I work in Japan.

also marks the means, what you do something with or in: 日本語にほんご。 is "I speak in Japanese".

に or で?

The test is whether anything is being done at the place. Existing or arriving takes ; doing takes :

Placeに: being thereで: doing there
home。 I am at home.。 I sleep at home.
hotel。 I am at the hotel.。 I eat at the hotel.

の: linking nouns

joins two nouns, and the first owns or describes the second, like 's. It can chain:

JapaneseRomajiEnglish
sensei no honthe teacher's book
Nihon no terebiJapanese TV
watashi no tomodachi no iemy friend's house

The order never flips: the owner first, the thing owned second. は and です has more on with and .

Putting it together

Particles let a sentence carry a lot before the verb arrives. A typical order is topic, time, place, object, verb:

Topic
Time
Place
Object
Verb

I drink coffee at home every day.

。 - I drink coffee at home every day.

Because each noun is tagged, the nouns can move for emphasis; only the verb is fixed at the end.

は, が and も: a quick map

These three are not taught here, but you need to recognise them:

ParticleRomajiJobExample
wathe topic: as for X
gathe subject; the thing liked with
moalso; it replaces , or

takes the place of the particle it replaces: 。 is "I eat bread too", with no .

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
takes
an action happens
being somewhere is
relative time takes no particle
replaces

What to do next

  1. Make five sentences on the pattern topic, place, object, verb.
  2. Learn every new verb with its particle: , .
  3. Then go to the ます form and conjugate every verb in this lesson.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/6

Choose the particle.

  1. コーヒー飲みます。 (I drink coffee.)

  2. 日本行きます。 (I am going to Japan.)

  3. 家テレビを見ます。 (I watch TV at home.)

  4. 友達会います。 (I am meeting a friend.)

  5. 先生本 (the teacher's book)

  6. ホテル食べます。 (I eat at the hotel.)

Complete the story

0/5

Choose the particle for each gap.

A day with a friend

私は毎日家コーヒー飲みます。今日は友達会います。友達家に行きます。友達の家パンを食べます。

Gap 1 of 5

Spot the mistake

0/4

Tap the wrong particle.

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Japanese · Free printables

Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. Table 1
  3. を: the object
  4. に: where to, whom you meet, where it is
  5. で: where it happens
  6. に or で?
  7. の: linking nouns
  8. は, が and も: a quick map
  9. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between and ?
is about a point: where you are going, or where something simply is (, I am at home). is the stage where an action happens (, I eat at home). If something is being done there, use ; if something just exists there or is heading there, use .
Is pronounced wo or o?
In modern standard Japanese it is said o, exactly like お. It is written only as the object particle, and many people type it as wo on a keyboard, which is why you see that spelling in romaji.
Why is it and not ?
Because , to meet, treats the person as someone you go to rather than something you act on, and so takes . English says meet a friend with a direct object, which is why English speakers reach for . It is a fixed habit of the verb: learn it with the verb.
What is the difference between and ?
marks the topic, what the sentence is about; marks the subject, as with and (, I have a friend), and the thing you like with (, I like coffee). The full difference takes a while to feel and gets its own lesson later. At this stage, for X is Y and with and or will rarely let you down.
Can Japanese word order change?
Within limits. The verb stays at the end, but because each noun carries its particle, the nouns before it can move for emphasis: and 、 both mean I drink coffee every day. English cannot do that without changing who did what.