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Japanese particles, in real sentences

One word is missing. Put it back. 2,857 sentences where exactly one particle is correct — and every answer tells you why.

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Read the sentence

Real, everyday Japanese with the reading and translation one tap away if you need them.

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Fill the gap

Four particles, one right answer. We throw out any sentence where two could work.

3

Learn the reason

Every answer explains itself, and your dashboard names the pairs you actually mix up.

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Accuracy per particle 助詞別

Play a round and every particle you meet appears here.

What you confuse 取違え

The answer, then what you picked instead. This is the most useful thing on the page — it names the specific pair to study rather than telling you to "practise particles".

Nothing yet. Get a few wrong and the pattern shows up.

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SentenceParticleEnglishWhy

Example sentences

例文

A sample from the set, with the answer shown. Every one of these has been checked so that only one particle fits — any sentence where a second would also be acceptable never reaches the game.

SentenceParticleEnglishWhy
これは母からのプレゼントです。からThis is a present from my mother.から indicates the source or giver.
友達映画を見ました。I watched a movie with a friend.と means 'with' when doing an action together.
私はパン食べました。I also ate bread.も means 'also' and replaces を when adding an item.
まで歩いて行きます。までI walk to the station.まで indicates the endpoint of movement.
私はテレビ見ます。I watch TV.を marks the direct object of 見る.
私は肉好きです。I like meat.が is used with 好き to indicate the object of liking.
から働いています。からI have been working since morning.から marks the starting point of an action.
部屋本を読みます。I read a book in the room.で marks the place where an action occurs.
私は友達話します。I talk with my friend.と marks the person you do something together with; に would be direction, で place, を object.
学生です。I am also a student.も indicates addition, meaning 'also'.
九時から働きます。からI work from nine o'clock.から marks the starting time.
まで歩きます。までWe walk to the station.まで indicates the endpoint of movement; に/へ imply arrival.
私は犬好きです。I like dogs.好き requires が to mark what is liked.
スーパー買い物をします。I do shopping at the supermarket.で indicates the place of action; に is for existence, へ direction, を object.

The particles that actually cause trouble

要点

Japanese particles are short, unstressed and do the work that word order and prepositions do in English. There are not many of them, and the grammar is not complicated. What makes them hard is that the mapping to English is not one-to-one, so the rules people learn first — "は is the topic marker", "に means to" — are true but insufficient. What closes the gap is volume in context: enough real sentences that the right particle starts to sound right before you have finished reasoning about it.

and

The famous one. は marks the topic — what the sentence is about — while が marks the grammatical subject and tends to introduce new, contrastive or newly-identified information. 私学生です presents "me" as the topic; 私学生です answers "which of you is the student?".

Here is the part most games get wrong: in a large share of sentences both are grammatical. 天気はいいです and 天気がいいです are both correct Japanese with a difference in nuance, so a quiz that blanks that slot and accepts only one is marking correct answers wrong. This game therefore tests は against が only where が is genuinely obligatory — after 好き, 嫌い, 上手, 下手, 得意, 苦手, 欲しい, ある, いる, できる, わかる, 見える, 聞こえる. Those predicates take が, full stop, and they are also where learners slip most, so the mode is narrower and far more useful for it.

and

で marks the place an action happens: 部屋本を読みます, I read a book in my room. に marks a destination, a point of existence, or a time: 部屋入ります, I go into the room; 七時起きます, I get up at seven. The working test is whether the location is the setting of an activity — で — or the endpoint or site of being — に. で also covers means and instrument: バス行きます, I go by bus.

and

With verbs of motion these are largely interchangeable. 学校行きます and 学校行きます are both correct, へ leaning slightly towards direction and に towards arrival. Because both are right, this game never offers one as the wrong answer to the other, and any generated sentence that would require it is rejected before you see it.

, , , から, まで

These are the friendly ones and they repay early attention. を marks the direct object, and also the path or space traversed: 公園歩きます, I walk through the park. と marks a companion or a complete list. も replaces は or が to mean "also" or "too", which is why 私 and never 私は. から and まで are from and until, in space and in time alike, and they very often appear as a pair.

How to use this

Play Fill the Gap until your accuracy per particle stops moving, then read the confusion matrix on your dashboard. It names the exact pair you mix up — に for で, は for が — which is a far more actionable instruction than "practise particles". Then run Review, which serves only sentences you have already got wrong.

Questions

質問
How do I know which particle is right?

Every question is built so that exactly one is. Sentences where a second particle would also be acceptable are rejected before publication, and に and へ are never offered against each other. After you answer, the explanation tells you what the particle is doing in that sentence rather than just marking you.

Why is the は versus が mode so narrow?

Because that is the honest scope. In most sentences both are grammatical with a shift in nuance, so testing them against each other would mark correct Japanese wrong. What is genuinely fixed is が after 好き, 上手, ある, わかる and their family — so that is what the mode drills, and it is also the case learners get wrong most often.

Where do the sentences come from?

They are written for Nihoner and then checked mechanically: the gap must land exactly on the particle it claims to test, that particle must appear only once in the sentence, the reading must contain no kanji, the wrong options must be real particles that are genuinely wrong here, and any explanation that admits another answer also works causes the sentence to be discarded.

Can I study without being scored?

Yes — Browse Sentences shows the whole set with answers and explanations visible, no timer and no lives.

Is it free?

Completely, and no account is needed. A free account saves your XP, day streak and review schedule across devices instead of keeping them in one browser.

— part of Nihoner, the Japanese learning platform.