How to Use the Particle Wa in Japanese - Part 1

Learn to use the particle wa

Lesson Transcript

Hi everyone, I'm Mari.

Welcome to the Japanese Whiteboard Lessons.

In this lesson, you will learn how to use the particle は (wa) in Japanese.

Let's get started.

Let's look at a dialogue.

When I read, I want you to pay attention to は (wa).

Find what は (wa) means and see how it's used in the dialogue.

私は小林です。(Watashi wa Kobayashi desu.)

I, Kobayashi, am.

I'm Kobayashi.

私は小林です。(Watashi wa Kobayashi desu.)

The pattern is: は (wa)... です (desu)... is.

は (wa).

Now let's look at some speaking examples.

私は田中です。(Watashi wa Tanaka desu.)

I'm Tanaka.

私は田中です。(Watashi wa Tanaka desu.)

私の電話番号は 080-1234-5678 です。(Watashi no denwa bangō wa zero hachi zero ichi ni san yon go roku nana hachi desu.)

My phone number is 080-1234-5678.

私の電話番号は 080-1234-5678 です。(Watashi no denwa bangō wa zero hachi zero ichi ni san yon go roku nana hachi desu.)

出身は大阪です。(Shusshin wa Ōsaka desu.)

My hometown is Osaka.

出身は大阪です。(Shusshin wa Ōsaka desu.)

私の趣味は釣りです。(Watashi no shumi wa tsuri desu.)

My hobby is fishing.

私の趣味は釣りです。(Watashi no shumi wa tsuri desu.)

This particle is written as は (ha) in hiragana,

but its pronunciation is wa when used as a particle.

In this lesson, you learned how to use the particle は (wa) in Japanese.

Thank you for watching.

I'm Mari and I will see you on japanesepod101.com.

皆さんレッスンお疲れ様でした。(Mina-san ressun otsukaresama deshita.)

また会いましょう。(Mata aimashō.)

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