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A Dictionary of Japanese Particles (A Kodansha Dictionary) (English and Japanese Edition) Paperback – June 30, 1999

by Sue A. Kawashima (Author)
ISBN-13: 978-4770023520 ISBN-10: 4770023529 Edition: First
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Kodansha USA; First edition (June 30, 1999)
  • Language: English, Japanese
  • ISBN-10: 4770023529
  • ISBN-13: 978-4770023520
  • Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #442,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author


SUE A. KAWASHIMA received BA (Cum Laude) and MA degrees from Columbia University and is now a lecturer in Japanese language at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
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See all 28 customer reviews
This book is an indispensable companion for any student.
George Dickerson
The explanation is thorough and the examples are very useful.
D. B. Le
This book is very helpful if you want to look up particles.
akakumo

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful
I never knew there were so many particles!
By Zachary Turner on March 6, 2004
Format: Paperback
I've been studying Japanese for about 3 years and I'm approximately JLPT 2kyuu level. However, I was dumbfounded when I saw this book. Every page there's particles I never even knew existed. I mean you always learn the basic particles in school: wa, ga, de, ni, to, mo, made, kara, yo, ne, bakari, hodo, yori, etc. And you even learn how to combine particles for compound particles: ni wa, ni mo, made ni, kara mo, just to name a few. But do you know what "made mo" is? In all the Japanese books I've ever seen, this has never even been given a mention. Did you know that "nite" was equivalent to "de" to mean the location where an action takes place? I'd never even HEARD of "nite". How about "kara shite"? I learned "tokoro de" to mean "by the way", but I had never even thought of the fact that perhaps "tokoro e", "tokoro ga", or "tokoro wo" existed. And they don't mean anything like what you might expect.
This book is a true gem.
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40 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Great book on Japanese particles
By Magellan HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER on March 10, 2004
Format: Paperback
In some ways, particles are the key to Japanese grammar, which are one of the many ways Japanese differs from Indo-European languages like English. As the author points out, someone can have a very good grasp of nouns and verb conjugations in Japanese, and yet without particles, still can't construct a grammatical Japanese sentence. And by using two different particles, two sentences that are otherwise the same can be made to mean totally different things.
The definition portion of the book discusses all the particle meanings, giving main as well as variant meanings. There are lots of example sentences, which are in both Roman transliteration and Japanese script. Another helpful aid is the 12 x 14 table of particles in blue in the front and end papers of the book, which is very convenient. At 340 pages long, there is a lot of material here considering it's not that expensive a book.
In the grammar discussion section, the author shows why you just can't replace the prepositions in an English sentence with the particles in Japanese. For example, take the sentence, "My mother and my father had dinner at a restaurant in Tokyo with a friend," which is Watashi NO haha TO chichi WA tomodachi TO issho NI tookyoo NO resuturan DO yuushoku O tabe-mashita in Japanese (the particles are in all caps). This sentence contains 8 particles serving various functions and only two prepositions, so obviously they aren't equivalent.
Particles can serve many different functions, ranging from altering the meaning of the verb to functions that resemble case-marking in Indo-European and other Ural- Altaic languages. The Negara particle indicates that the action described by the verb it follows is being carried out at the same time as another action is taking place.Read more ›
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
This book is absolutely perfect.
By George Dickerson on April 13, 2005
Format: Paperback
You cannot make progress, let alone master this language, without proper comprehension of particles and their rules and exceptions. This book is an indispensable companion for any student. The book simply explodes with information, including many good example sentences, concise usage explanations, and quick-reference sections with english equivalents and review exercises.

You should have this book.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Kodansha's Japanese Particle dictionary
By Kevin Moore on June 22, 2000
Format: Paperback
I love this book! Whenever I'm in Japan, I carry it with me as I find it even more handy than my dictionary. Plenty of example sentences. Particles arranged in alphabetical order.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Great and necessary book on particles
By dm on December 7, 2008
Format: Paperback
I can speak fluent Japanese, am slowly working my way towards being able to read a newspaper, and yet particles still haunt me.

I often confuse "ni" and "de," "wo" and "ga," just to give a couple of examples.

This book has many great features.

At the beginning of the book is a quick refernce guide to all of the particles covered.

The book has a colored alphabetical index which runs along the edge of the pages so you can find you place in the book very quickly.

The sample sentences are written using both romaji and kanji meaning that a beginner can use it as well as more advanced students.

There are little cartoons illustrating examples throughout the text making it much easier and fun to read.

There are exercises but they are at the END of the book, not clogging up the main content. Once you finish an exercise you pretty much don't need to refernce it again (some may) so it's much better to have them at the end or in a separate book.

One nitpick about the book is that the author uses the word "kisha" for train throughout the book. This word refers to a steam train and obviously isn't used anymore. I made the mistake in the past asking someone from Japan how long it took them to get to Tokyo by "kisha." They had a good chuckle.

Recommended for all students of Japanese.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
She is my teacher at Hunter College
By Rachel on January 27, 2008
Format: Paperback
Eight years after the last person who posted about Kawashima-sensei being their professor, here I am posting because she is my professor this year at Hunter College, three times a week. She is wonderful, and so is her dictionary of particles which she often refers to in class. She has us read the chapter on each particle we learn, and it is certainly enjoyable with all its lovely illustrations (drawn by Kawashima-sensei!) and is very detailed in it's information. A very good dictionary of particles by a wonderful teacher and author.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Five Stars

Very helpful with those "easy to understand" jk japanese particles.

Published 1 month ago by mark burnhauser
AWESOME

its in great condition when it came in and its what I wanted. I love the product, and nobody recommended it

Published 7 months ago by Nickolas S. Sine
Essential guide to learn particles.

Great and well indexed book. Contains many examples per particle and highlights which particles are most important. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Kevin van der Vleuten
Daughter found this very useful.

I bought this for my daughter right before she left for Japan. I couldn't believe how she squealed when she saw it as if I'd bought her a fab new dress or something. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Laura Quave
a dictionary of japanese particles

it seems like a good reference tool for a mind boggling grammar journey. the book was in excellent condition, like new.

Published 16 months ago by nori
Great guide to particles

This is a great guide to particles in Japanese and I can't recommend it enough. You can have a huge vocabulary but if you don't know how to form proper sentences then it's all for... Read more

Published 17 months ago by Robert L Aube
Great for learning, essential for consultation!

The one of japanese particle is a really wide world!This book is well made, with almost all particles and their more common (and uncommon too) use. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Michela
Particles are confusing!

This book "A Dictionary of Japanese Particles (A Kodama Dictionary)" explains situation and usage and just makes sense. It has been very helpful.

Published 18 months ago by Amazon Customer
A Must Have!

This book has so many particles! I had no idea there were so many and this book is just what you need to learn them! I highly recommend this^^

Published 20 months ago by Ashley
Thorough

I find this book to be very useful. As a relative newbie to Japanese, I need a lot of help with all the particles. Read more

Published 20 months ago by CoC Believer

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