What does wa translate to?

Answer 1

The particle 'WA' is just that; a particle that marks the topic of a sentence. In Japanese, the word order can be switched to either Subject+Object+Verb OR Object+Subject+Verb, though the first is used most often. A particle's purpose is to mark the nouns (Subjects/Direct Objects/Objects of the Prepositions) and thereby convey the purpose of those nouns. For example, compare these two sentences:

Watashi WA hon wo yomimasu. (I read a book.)

Watashi no heya ni ikkou. (Let's go to my room.)

These are the four basic particles. Each serves a different purpose. The particle 'WA' signifies that 'watashi' (I) is the subject, whereas the particle 'wo' marks the word 'hon' (book) as the direct object. (A direct object receives the action of the verb.) Without them, one may be confused and we end up with a sentence like:

Watashi wo hon WA yomimasu.

This is not correct, and means 'the book reads me'. Not exactly the meaning the author intended, I'm sure.

In the second sentence, the particle 'no' shows possession. 'Watashi' (I) own the 'heya' (room). The second particle, 'ni' marks the place where something will happen. 'heya ni ikkou', therefore means 'Let's go to my room." The particle 'ni' can often be translated as the preposition 'to'.