Particles are probably one of the most difficult and
confusing aspects of Japanese sentences. A particle (joshi) is a word that
shows the relationship of a word, a phrase, or a clause to the rest of the
sentence. Some particles have English equivalents. Others have functions
similar to English prepositions, but since they always follow the word or
words they mark, they are post-positions. There are also particles that have a
peculiar usage which is not found in English. Most particles are
multi-functional.