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WorksheetsOur first two particles は・か
Total questions: 23
Worksheet time: 54mins
A particle tells you what the function of the word is (the part of speech), whether it is a noun or a verb or an object or a time or a direction or a thing you use or whatever.
はい！
いいえ
I still don't understand, please explain it again as many times as I ask you to.
This is the particle that tells you "Whatever comes right in front of me is the topic of what we are talking about"
は
か
を
に
で
「は」looks like it should be pronounced with an "h" sound (and it normally is!), but when it is a particle for the topic of what you a should are talking about, it reverts to a...
w-sound
still an h-sound
Thedifference between は and か
A topic marker
"This is what we are talking about"
A question marker
Everything I just said is a question
Is what I said a question, or...?
I'm comparing two things, and I just switched what the topic was
Careful! There's a negative coming up!
Hey! Look at this word! It's important!
「か」is already a question mark. So this sentence is correct:
これは butterfly ですか (a)
は pronounced “wa.” (We’ll get into the fact that it is actually written “ha” later.) Whenever you see this, it means that whatever word comes right in front of it is the subject. It is also used to denote the topic of the conversation, to draw attention to what you are talking about. (“Pepperoni is all well and good, but squid is an excellent topping for a pizza.”)
ペパロニはいいですけど、イカはピザに最高ですよ。
It is also used to draw attention to the fact that a negative is coming up. (“But I said I didn’t want squid on my pizza.”)
イカはほしくないです。
か means “question mark.” This comes at the end of a sentence. The only time you will ever see an English question mark in print is if the「か」 has been left off.
イカが本当においしいですか。（”Is squid really and truly delicious?")
ええ！？本当！？("Whaaa--! Really?!")
(bonus: You will notice that the exclamation point and question mark are in a backwards order from English. You did notice that, right? Right?!)
Which is the topic marker?
は
か
Which is the question mark？
は
か
Pronounce「は」
Pronounce「か」
This is the simplest sentence you can make
Is 「です」technically a verb?
いいえ、it is just a politeness marker. But we can pretend it is just like English "is are am was were" while we learn.
はい?
I still don't understand. Please explain it in a different way, as many times as I need you to.
This is the order of words in a simple sentence
subject
は
the thing it is
です
（Add か if it is a question）
わたし (a) ピカチューです。
あかい です (a) 。はい、あかい です。
("Is he red? Yup, he's red.")
ギロロ (a) あかい です。（”Giroro is red”）
かわいい です (a) 。はい、かわいい です。
("Is she cute? Yeah, she's cute.")
よつば (a) かわいい です。
("Yotsuba is cute.")
("Speaking of Yotsuba, she's cute.")
つよい です (a) 。はい、つよい です。
("Is he strong? Yessiree, he's strong.")
アームストロング (a) つよい です。
（”Armstrong is strong”）
("Speaking of Armstrong, he is strong.")
おんな です (a) 。はい、おんな です。
("Is that a girl? Yes, she's a girl.")
（Ribbon Knight's parents are hiding the fact that (gasp) they have a daughter instead of a son. We'll read some. It's cute. By the same guy who wrote Astroboy.)
りぼんのきし (a) おんな です。
（”Ribbon Knight is a girl.”）
ねこ です (a) 。はい、ねこ です。
これ (a) ねこ です 。
（”This is a cat.”）
ロボット です (a) 。はい、ロボット です。
("Is he a robot? Yes. he's a robot.")
てつわんアトム (a) ロボット です。
（”Astroboy is a robot。”）
ピカチューです (a) 。トトロです (b) 。
("Is that Pikachu? Is that Totoro?")
