I’m currently learning speaking in Japanese, but when I am reading a sentence I don’t which pronounciation I am supposed to use, is it situation based or with context?
as far as i know, は is pronounced ‘wa’ when 1) it become particles, 2) こんにちは and こんばんは
It’s pronounced “wa” when it’s used as a particle marking the topic of the sentence. Otherwise it’s “ha”.
It is pronounced ‘wa’ when it is a particle. Otherwise, it is pronounced ‘ha’.
As your vocabulary expands, it will be easier to find the particles. It is especially easier when more kanji is used.
Example: ははははいしゃへとはなした。 vs: 母は歯医者と話した。… Much easier to determine how は is read
If it’s used as a particle, it’s pronounced “wa.” If it’s part of another word, it’s pronounced “ha.” The only exceptions I can think of are こんにちは (今日は) andこんばんは (今晩は), because they were originally longer phrases in which は functioned as a particle. That’s pretty much all there is to it.
what are you using to learn japanese? im struggling to think of a resource that doesn’t explain particles
[deleted]
when は is used as a particle, it’s read as “wa” when in vocabulary, such as 母 it’s read as “は”
from reading the comments, just keep going dude. the question will answer itself soon enough
Don’t worry too much about it. You’ll get it from context more and more as you learn.
I was *terrified* of context-based reading when I was learning Arabic because you have to get *so much* from context (which vowel you read any consonant with), but I ended up not having to spend much time wrestling with it directly. I just started getting it from instinct as I learned more and more vocabulary and grammar. It’ll be the same for you with this.
My response isn’t going to be incredibly helpful but I think the comments here already are. I’d just like to add that as you practice more and more Japanese, I promise it will get easier to the point where you’ll never have to even think about it. I had the same questions as you but after consuming enough content in Japanese I’m able to tell immediately from context.
It helped me to realize that kanji are usually used for the “root” of the words, and knowing the suffixes after preceding the kanji, you can reasonably discern if it’s being used as a particle or not, as the “grammar” parts are usually in Hiragana. With は as a topic particle, it’s towards the start of a sentence immediately proceeding the topic.
Like for example, ***名前は何ですか*** (What is your name? / Namae wa nan desu ka), when you learn more and easily recognize the grammar and common sentence structures used, it’s easier to identify the は as the ‘wa’ topic particle.
Hope that maybe helps.
Ah, just wait until you get to へ. 😱
But as everyone else has mentioned already, once you start going beyond the kana’s with Japanese grammar, you’ll figure it out pretty quickly. If the は is *not* part of the word itself, but hanging off the end, it is the particle and so pronounced “wa”, not “ha”. It’s a historical thing, and did not get fixed during the language reforms after WW2. And just as well, you’ll find it makes the particles stand out, as real Japanese is written without spaces between the words, and that は and へ will pop out in the text. You’ll also get used to the sound of these both, which will also be a big help to you.
By the way, this will also explain the は in で**は**ありません, as it’s the same particle being used in a different sense.
12 comments
as far as i know, は is pronounced ‘wa’ when 1) it become particles, 2) こんにちは and こんばんは
It’s pronounced “wa” when it’s used as a particle marking the topic of the sentence. Otherwise it’s “ha”.
It is pronounced ‘wa’ when it is a particle. Otherwise, it is pronounced ‘ha’.
As your vocabulary expands, it will be easier to find the particles. It is especially easier when more kanji is used.
Example: ははははいしゃへとはなした。
vs: 母は歯医者と話した。… Much easier to determine how は is read
If it’s used as a particle, it’s pronounced “wa.” If it’s part of another word, it’s pronounced “ha.” The only exceptions I can think of are こんにちは (今日は) andこんばんは (今晩は), because they were originally longer phrases in which は functioned as a particle. That’s pretty much all there is to it.
what are you using to learn japanese? im struggling to think of a resource that doesn’t explain particles
[deleted]
when は is used as a particle, it’s read as “wa” when in vocabulary, such as 母 it’s read as “は”
from reading the comments, just keep going dude. the question will answer itself soon enough
Don’t worry too much about it. You’ll get it from context more and more as you learn.
I was *terrified* of context-based reading when I was learning Arabic because you have to get *so much* from context (which vowel you read any consonant with), but I ended up not having to spend much time wrestling with it directly. I just started getting it from instinct as I learned more and more vocabulary and grammar. It’ll be the same for you with this.
My response isn’t going to be incredibly helpful but I think the comments here already are. I’d just like to add that as you practice more and more Japanese, I promise it will get easier to the point where you’ll never have to even think about it. I had the same questions as you but after consuming enough content in Japanese I’m able to tell immediately from context.
It helped me to realize that kanji are usually used for the “root” of the words, and knowing the suffixes after preceding the kanji, you can reasonably discern if it’s being used as a particle or not, as the “grammar” parts are usually in Hiragana. With は as a topic particle, it’s towards the start of a sentence immediately proceeding the topic.
Like for example, ***名前は何ですか*** (What is your name? / Namae wa nan desu ka), when you learn more and easily recognize the grammar and common sentence structures used, it’s easier to identify the は as the ‘wa’ topic particle.
Hope that maybe helps.
Ah, just wait until you get to へ. 😱
But as everyone else has mentioned already, once you start going beyond the kana’s with Japanese grammar, you’ll figure it out pretty quickly. If the は is *not* part of the word itself, but hanging off the end, it is the particle and so pronounced “wa”, not “ha”. It’s a historical thing, and did not get fixed during the language reforms after WW2. And just as well, you’ll find it makes the particles stand out, as real Japanese is written without spaces between the words, and that は and へ will pop out in the text. You’ll also get used to the sound of these both, which will also be a big help to you.
By the way, this will also explain the は in で**は**ありません, as it’s the same particle being used in a different sense.