Particles

A typical Japanese sentence is made up of a series of noun-particle sequences and then a verb (or adjective) at the end. Usually, nouns must be followed by a particle. Particles identify the relationship the noun has to the verb. I will go over eight particles here: は、か、の、で、へ、に、を、and　が.

は (pronounced "wa")
は is the topic particle. It identifies and puts forward what your sentence is about. It's kind of like saying "As for..." or "Speaking of..."
　わたしはだいがくせいです。 I am a college student. (As for me, I am a college student.)
　watashi wa daigakusei desu
Although in this sentence the subject and the topic are the same, this will not always be the case. The subject particle が is explained later.

か
Although か is not really a particle, I'm including it here anyway. か is the question marker. Creating questions is easy in Japanese: just place か at the end of a statement. A question mark is not needed when か is at the end of the sentence.
　ひできさんはだいがくせいですか。 Is Hideki a college student?
　Hideki-san wa daigakusei desu ka
When か is placed after a negative verb (ends in ません) the meaning of the question changes to "Would you like to...?"
　きっさてんへいきませんか。 　　Would you like to go to a coffee shop with me?

の
の is used to connect two nouns. It is used to indicate possession. Word order is the same as in English.
　みどりこさんのおかあさん 　　　Midoriko's mother
　Midoriko-san no okaa-san
　わたしのかさ　　　　　　　　　My umbrella
　watashi no kasa
It is also used when a noun is used to modify another noun to make it more specific.
　こうこうのせんせい　　　　　　a high school teacher
　koukou no sensei
　えいごのがくせい　　　　　　 　a student of the English language
　eigo no gakusei
　アメリカのべんごし 　　　　　an american lawyer
　Amerika no bengoshi

で
で identifies where the action of the verb takes place.
　わたしはうちでほんをよみます。　　　I read books at home.
　watashi wa uchi de hon o yomimasu

へ (pronounced "e")
へ indicates goal of movement; in other words, where you are going, coming, or returning to.
　 えりさんはとしょかんへいきます。　 　Eri-san is going (or goes) to the library.
　 erisan wa toshokan e ikimasu

に
に has many meanings, but I will only go over three of them. に also indicates goal of movement. The difference between に and へ is that に is used when your going has a purpose; i.e. you go to school in order to study.
　わたしはがっこうにいきます。　　I am going to school.
　watashi wa gakkou ni ikimasu
に is also placed after time expressions like "at six o'clock" and "on Wednesday." There are some expressions that do not need に, however. Those that relate to right now (いま, きのう), regular intervals (まいにち, まいばん), and when (いつ) stand alone.
　 ごじにうちへかえります。　　　　　 At five o'clock I return home.
　goji ni uchi e kaerimasu.
　もくようびにがっこうにいきません。 On Thursday I do not go to school. (Note the use of に for both time and goal of movement)
　mokuyoubi ni gakkou ni ikimasen
　まいにちあさごはんをたべます。　　　 I eat breakfast everyday. (Note the absence of に)
　mainichi asagohan o tabemasu
Some verbs also require the use of に. Those are listed in the verb section.
　あそこにびょういんがあります。　　　　　There is a hospital over there. (uses に instead of で for place description)
　asoko ni byouin ga arimasu
　わたしはスウさんにかきました。　　　　　　 I write to Sue-san.
　watashi wa suu-san ni kakimasu

を (pronounced "o")
を is used to mark direct objects; things that are directly affected by the action of the verb.
　まいにちしんぶをよみます。 　　　　　I read the newspaper everyday.
　mainichi shinbun o yomimasu.
　 エルエルでにほんごをべんきゅうします。 　I study Japanese in the L.L. (language lab)　
　erueru de nihongo o benkyoushimasu

が
が is a subject marker. It is similar to は, but there are several crucial differences between the two. First of all, は is used when the subject being talked about has already been introduced, or if it is familiar to the speaker and the listener. が is used when the subject is first being introduced.
After question words such as だれ, なに, and どれ, only が can be used. が must also be used in the response.
　 だれがきますか。 　　　　　Who is coming?
　dare ga kimasu ka
　みどりこさんがきます。　　Midoriko-san is coming.
　midorikosan ga kimasu
が is also used for emphasis, as in the case that you know something that the other person does not.
　だれがとしょかんへいきましたか。　　　　　　Who went to the library?
　dare ga toshokan e ikimashita
　せいべいさんがとしょかんへいきました。 　　Seibei-san went to the library.
　Seibeisan ga toshokan e ikimashita
が is also used instead of を in some cases, as with the verb わかる and the adjectives meaning to like or dislike.
　えいごがわかります。　　　　　I understand English.　
kissaten e ikimase

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