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<h4>The topic particle は</h4>

<p>
	The particle <strong>は</strong> signifies that the word or phrase before it is the topic of the sentence.
	Normally <strong>は</strong> is pronounced as <strong>ha</strong>, but when used as a topic particle it is pronounced as <strong>wa</strong>.
	In the first example sentence, <strong>は</strong> marks <strong><ruby>私watasi</ruby></strong> as the topic of the sentence.
</p>

<table class="ui fixed celled table">
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<th>English</th>
			<th>Japanese</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>
	<tbody>
		<tr data-item="23947"></tr>
		<tr data-item="24014"></tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h4>Romanization</h4>

<p>
	There are different ways to write Japanese using the latin alphabet, called <strong>romanizations</strong>.
	In the west, the most commonly used romanization is the <strong>Hepburn</strong> romanization,
	which would romanize <strong><ruby>私watasi</ruby></strong> as <strong>watashi</strong> instead of <strong>watasi</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	We recommend using a romanization that is closer to the Japanese <strong>Nihon-shiki</strong> romanization system.
	The reason for this is that it is more regular and has a one-to-one relation to the kana systems.
	For example, using Hepburn, <strong>じ</strong> and <strong>ぢ</strong> are both romanized as <strong>ji</strong>,
	whereas with Nihon-shiki they are romanized as <strong>zi</strong> and <strong>di</strong> respectively,
	which makes it possible to differentiate between the two while romanized.
</p>

<h4>No conjugation for persons</h4>

<p>
	Note that <strong>です</strong> does not conjugate based on the subject.
	Whether we talk about I, you, he or she, <strong>です</strong> remains <strong>です</strong>.
</p>

The topic particle は

adjectival noun

adjectival phrase

adnominal

adverb

adverbial noun

adverbial phrase

auxiliary

case particle

compound

conjunction

conjunctive particle

discourse

discourse particle

expression

godan - group 1

group 3

hiragana character

hiragana writing

i-adjective

interjection

intransitive

itidan - group 2

kanji

kanji component

kanji writing

katakana character

katakana writing

na-adjective

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

pronoun

proper noun

reading vocabulary

sentence

suffix

transitive

verb

The verb to be

Hiragana 1

Kanji 1

Writing hiragana 1

Writing kanji 1

Hiragana 2

Kanji 2

The question particle か

Writing hiragana 2

This one and that one

Writing kanji 2

Reading exercise 1

Reading exercise 2

Hiragana 3

Negating nouns

Writing hiragana 3

Kanji 3

The possession particle の

い-adjectives and な-adjectives

The subject particle が

Here and there

There is, there are

Writing kanji 3

Kanji 4

Group 1 verbs, direct and indirect objects

Group 2 verbs

Hiragana 4

Verbs in the past tense

Negating verbs

Invitations and the particle と

Negating past verbs

Writing hiragana 4

Reading exercise 3

Writing kanji 4

Reading exercise 4

Kanji 5

Nouns and the past tense

This and that

The group 3 verbs する and 来る

The discourse particles ね and よ

The location particles に and で

Hiragana 5

Writing hiragana 5

Writing kanji 5

The destination particles に and へ

Kanji 6

The origin particle から

Hiragana 6

Relative positions

Conjugating い-adjectives

Writing hiragana 6

Writing kanji 6

Hiragana 7

Writing hiragana 7

Kanji 7

Conjugating な-adjectives

How are you?

The particle も

The word ちょっと

Reading exercise 7

Question	Answer
I	私わたしwatashi
topic particle	はwa
I am a person.	私わたし　は　人ひと　です。watashi wa hito desu.
you	あなたanata
You are a person.	あなた　は　人ひと　です。anata wa hito desu.

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