Noun particle
A noun particle is any morpheme that denotes or marks the presence of a noun. Noun particles do not exist in English, but can be found in other languages such as Korean and Japanese.Korean particles are postpositions, which differ from English prepositions in that they come after the word they mark.
- Example #1: 새가 지붕 위에 있어요.
The particle "위에" is used to mean "on" or "above." It follows the word "지붕".
- Example #2: 도서관이 시장 옆에 있어요.
The particle "옆에" means "next to," and it follows "시장".Japanese particles
Just as in Korean, noun particles follow the noun being marked, and can serve any of several functions in a given sentence.
- Example #1: 昨日スーパーへ行きました。
- *Kinoo suupaa e ikimashita.
In this example, "e" is the noun particle for "suupaa". This particular noun particle denotes direction towards a place, being "supermarket."
- Example #2: 昼ごはんは私がピザを食べた。
- *Hirugohan wa watashi ga piza o tabeta.
The three noun particles all serve different functions:
