Back

Which particle book to buy from these two?

#1
1 A Dictionary of Japanese Particles
2 How to Tell the Difference Between Japanese Particles

Any suggestion from someone having these to will be great?
Reply
#2
So I don't know about A Dictionary of Japanese Particles, but the following discussion will give you more info about How to Tell the Difference and its counterpart, All About Particles.

Actually...now that I read it again someone does mention the dictionary in that post too, but they didn't have the other books to compare. It might still be helpful though?

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=7267
Reply
#3
I don't know about the other one, but A Dictionary of Japanese Particles is really good. It covers beginner stuff, but also grammar up to around JLPT N2 level, so it really grows with your skill level.
Reply
May 16 - 30 : Pretty Big Deal: Save 31% on all Premium Subscriptions! - Sign up here
JapanesePod101
#4
Another book on particles that you might consider is Japanese Particle Workbook. It's mostly a collection of exercises on particles - hundreds of them! - so it's a bit different from those. I found it really helpful.
Reply
#5
I wasn't a big fan of How to Tell the Difference Between Japanese Particles, and I ended up selling it back to amazon soon after I bought it. I know it's not listed in your choices, but IMO you'll find some of the best explanations and examples in The Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.
Reply
#6
I haven't used A Dictionary of Japanese Particles so I can't say how it compares to How to Tell the Difference Between Japanese Particles, but I've skimmed through the latter book before and it explains each particle with about a paragraph of text then provides a few examples demonstrating them in use. There's then a quiz section where you can practice. Seems okay to me, but not great. I haven't personally used it much and when I needed to look something up, I found it to be a chore to use.

If you're just looking for a handy reference, I found All About Particles: A Handbook of Japanese Function Words quite useful. I found it fairly easy to browse and its explanations and example sentences were easy to follow. It doesn't come with any exercises, however.

Also, I second fzort on the Japanese Particle Workbook. It doesn't explain each particle very thoroughly, but it provides lots of example sentences and exercises. I've found it quite helpful as a compliment to the Kanzen Master books.
Reply
#7
vebaev Wrote:1 A Dictionary of Japanese Particles
2 How to Tell the Difference Between Japanese Particles

Any suggestion from someone having these to will be great?
Neither.
Get "All About Particles".
I've used all three books.
Edited: 2014-02-24, 11:30 pm
Reply
#8
Another vote for All About Japanese Particles. The clearest explanations, cleanest layout, best fonts, easy to reference. Also, the cheapest if buying new. (I have all three.)
Edited: 2014-02-25, 2:26 am
Reply
#9
Well, so than I'll probably will pick a A Handbook of Japanese Function Words.....

And not to open another tread did some of you see a book for the functional and verbs sufixes with explanation for usage like all of these ....

〜んです
〜そうです
〜かもしれません
〜たら
〜といい
〜てみる
〜って
〜なくてもいい
〜みたいです
〜ながら

and so on....
Reply
#10
Going through Tae Kim's Grammar Guide should have you sorted out at no cost at all:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar

Most of those are covered under section 4. Essential Grammar.
Reply