“Particle” is a catch-all term for words that have no clear part of speech, like “hmm.” (Many English particles are also described as “interjections.”) A modal particle is a word that’s used in speech to convey extra emphasis or emotion, without any real grammatical function.

It’s often said that English has no modal particles, but we have some pretty similar features. Think of asking a small child “What have you got there?” or “What’s your name then?” The there and then aren’t really necessary in those sentences, they’re just a friendly way of expressing interest. Or if you say “Come on now!” to express disbelief or frustration, the now isn’t strictly necessary. Some other examples are a little more old-timey: “What ever are you talking about?” or “I’ll get him but good.” Notice that all these words have ‘ordinary’ usages apart from their use as particles; this is also the case for the German particles below.

In any case, the exact definition of a modal particle is complicated, but hopefully you’re getting the idea. For our purposes, let’s just define them as any common verbal flourish in spoken German. (Another way to think of them is as ‘verbal emoticons.’) You’re going to hear a lot of these if you talk to native speakers, so it’s useful to know them. Some can have different emphatic meanings, so they appear under more than one heading below.