Particles

は (wa)

1. Topic marker

Marks the topic of discussion. Can be thought of like “as for” or “regarding”.

2. Contrast marker

Shows contrast between several things in a sentence.

The contrasting thing can also be implied rather than explicitly stated.

の (no)

The role of の is to indicate that noun 1 is an attribute of noun 2. This can manifest in a number of different ways, with just a few examples below.

1. Possession

Like the “apostrophe s” or “of” in English.

2. Location

3. Characteristic

4. Relationship