Abstract Turbulence modulation of a nearly isotropic flow field due to the presence of single glass particles, with diameters in the range of 1−8 mm (~10–77 times the Kolmogorov scale), was studied experimentally in an oscillating grid apparatus. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to obtain the instantaneous, two-dimensional velocity field for grid Reynolds number, Re g , varying from 1080 to 10,800. Fluctuating velocity components, flow field length scales, energy dissipation rates, turbulence intensity modulation and energy spectra were determined. An apparent increase of ~2–25% in the turbulence fluctuating velocity in the inertial subrange was noted compared with the fluid-only system. Presence of the particle led to enhancement in the flow field isotropy ratio and this ratio was found to be more dependent on the particle size compared with grid Reynolds number. The integral length scale for both fluid-only and fluid–particle systems exhibited a decreasing power law dependency on the grid Reynolds number. A critical ratio (0.41) of particle size to integral length scale was obtained which demarcated the regime of attenuation and enhancement of turbulence intensity and found to be valid for general grid turbulence in multiparticle systems as well. Energy dissipation rate was observed to increase with increase in particle size. Both longitudinal and transverse energy spectrum exhibited less steep slope than −5/3 in the presence of particle which was reasoned to the production of turbulence in the inertial subrange region. Energy enhancements from large scale to smaller scale were explained by the dissipative spectrum which showed maximum energy enhancement in the inertial subrange followed by a decaying trend. In general, the role of a particle in modulating turbulence was explained through possible wake oscillation and vortex shedding due to boundary layer separation on the particle surface and interaction with bulk eddies.