Japanese Particles: Beginner Notes

は　＆　が

Readings:

• Wasabi: は vs. が Five Points You Need to Know
• Imabi: The Subject Marker が
• Imabi: The Topic/Contrast Marker は

	は	が
Core Function	Mark topic of sentence Indicate contrast	Mark subject of verb Indicate new information Emphasizes exclusivity
Use Case	Front is known (famous/looking at)	Front is new Front is question word （何、どこ、いつ、誰、…）
Information Flow	Front < Back	Front > Back
Edge Case		Refer Edge Case Example

Contrast Example

Q : フルーツ　は　好きですか？

A1: オレンジ　は　好きです。(speaker has something s/he dislikes, except for orange.)

A2: オレンジ　が　好きです。 (speaker likes orange more than other fruits.)

New/Old Information Example

1. 天気　は　どうですか？

   • ✅: 雨　が　降っています。
   • ❌: 雨　は　降っています。

2. 雨　は　降っていますか？

   • ✅: 雨　は　降っています。
   • ❌: 雨　が　降っています。

Edge Case Example

Regular Use Case:

1. NAME　は　学生ですか？　＝　Is NAME a student?
2. 誰　が　学生ですか？　＝　Who is the student?

Irregular Use Case:

1. NAME　が　学生ですか？　＝　Is NAME really a student?
   • To you, this is a new information.
   • To express your surprise.

ＸがＹ and ＹはＸ

1. 誰　が　社長ですか？
   • This phrasing is appropriate when there is a group of people present, and you want to identify who among them is the company president. The focus is on selecting the president from the group.
   • Emphasizes selecting a subject from options (new information).
2. 社長　は　誰ですか？
   • This phrasing is used when the company president is already the focus of the conversation. In this case, you are simply asking the listener to identify who the company president is. This conversation does not require the company president to be physically present.
   • Assumes prior knowledge or context, shifting the focus to confirming details about the subject.

が　＆　を

Readings:

• Imabi: The Object Marker が
• Imabi: The Particle を I
• Imabi: Object Marking: が VS を

に　＆　で

Readings:

• Wasabi: Location of Existence: に vs. で
• Imabi: The Locational Marker に
• Imabi: The Particle で I