Genki II Lesson 17 particle notes.

1. Lesson 17 Particles

2. Ni particles
• Ni particles are pretty straight forward when it comes to verbs. It is an particle that
signifies action that takes place ‘in’ something, ‘to’ something, ‘at’ something or
‘place’ of something.
•に かぎ を かける ni kagi o kakeru to lock
Think of it as ‘lock in something’ when you lock something there is obviously
something you want to keep in from other things.
•に なれる ni nareru to get used to
To get used ‘to’ something, you are infusing yourself ‘in’ the surrounding. Or
taking ‘in’ your surrounding.
•に おいのりする ni oinorisuru to pray
When praying, there must be a object of worship you are praying ‘to’. You
can remember it as ‘praying to something to pray’ if it helps!

3. • に しゅうしょくする ni shuushokusuru to get a full-time job (at...)
When working you work ‘at’ a place and in this case a full time job. ‘ni’ is also
used for any job related verbs such as: working ‘at’.
• に する ni suru to wear (small items like necktie, watch etc)
When you wear accessories ‘on’ you. ‘suru’ usually means to do something but
in this case it means ‘wearing’ or ‘adorning’ accessories ‘on’ youreslf or
someone else.
• たからくじ に あたる takarakuji ni ataru to win a lottery
Ataru means ‘to hit’. Takarakuji means ‘lottery’. Literally means ‘made a hit in
the lottery’.

4. ‘o’ and ‘ga’ particles
• These two types of particles are what I find most confusing to differentiate,
mostly because as you learn more grammer structures these two particles
become exchangeable.
But firstly ‘o’ particles.
‘o’ particles will go before a verb that is preceded by a noun and signifies an
action directly relating to the noun.

5. • を えらぶ o erabu to choose; to select
The action of selecting something can only happen if there is an item to select
from, thus a noun is needed. Think of it as ‘ohhh I choose this one!’
• おゆ を わかす oyu o wakasu to boil water
‘to boil water’ water is the noun and ‘to boil’ is the verb relating to the water.
The ‘o’ reminds me of °C for the water temperature.
• を ぬぐ o nugu to take off (clothing)
(piece of clothing) o nugu. This is preceded by the piece of clothing a person
is taking off. The ‘o’ from ‘take off” is handy to remember!
• を はいる o hairu to make tea, coffee
(coffee/tea) o hairu. The Tea/coffee is the now and ‘hairu is the action.

6. • かみ を とかす kami o tokasu to comb ones hair
Kami(hair)= noun ‘o’ tokasu(comb)=verb
• ひげ を そる hige o soru to shave one's head
Hige(beard)= noun ‘o’ soru(shave)= verb.
Think of it as shaving ‘off’ ones beard!

7. ‘ga’ Particles`
• が こむ ga komu to get crowded
I remember this as ‘ga’ particle because both ‘get’ and ‘ga’ start with ‘g’.
‘ga komu’ / ‘gets crowded’.
• が うまれる ga umareru to be born
You can think of it as when babies are born they go ‘ga ga ga’.
• が たりる ga tariru to be sufficient; to be enough