がSubject marking particle, Identification particle

が emphasizes what comes before it, while は emphasizes what comes after it

Structure

Subject + が

Details

Part of Speech
Particle
Word Type
Case Marking Particle
Register
Standard

About が

が is considered to be the subject marker in Japanese. This means that it marks someone or something that is performing an action, or it identifies someone or something as having a specific feature (this is usually a feature that the listener is not aware of).

In both of these sentences, が puts focus on the thing performing an action/existing in some way (as opposed to any other thing). Because of this, が is usually said to highlight what comes before it, while は highlights what comes after it.

が always shows the 'target' of a statement, when other targets also exist. This is why が is used to describe situations that are happening either 'in the moment', or 'individually of other things'.

Because the group in this sentence is only one group out of many possible 'groups of people' that could be described, が will be used.

Caution

が is not usually used to describe something about yourself, unless you are intentionally describing yourself compared to other people. If you want to talk about yourself 'in general terms', は will sound more natural (there are exceptions).

Examples

--:--

お茶(ちゃ)が冷(つめ)たいです。

The tea is cold.

何(なに)がいい？

What is good? (What would you like?)

それがいいです。

That is good. (That is what I would like)

カレーが辛(から)い。

The curry is spicy. (The curry is the thing that is spicy)

木(き)が高(たか)い。

The tree is tall. (The tree is the thing that is tall)

Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
Try Bunpro

Self-Study Sentences

Study your own way!

Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.

Try Bunpro

Online
- Bunpro Breakdown
  How to use は, は vs が
- The 「が」 identifier particle
  Tae Kim
- The Particles Ga & Wo
  Imabi
- The Subject Marker が
  Imabi
- Thorough breakdown of は and が - Page 299
  80/20 Japanese
- Very in depth difference between「は」and「が」
  NihonShock
- What it’s for and when to use it (and not “wa”)
  80/20 Japanese
- Why you should call が the "identifier particle"
  Tae Kim
- が vs は
  Japanese From Zero
- は vs. が quick breakdown and comparison
  Japanese StackExchange

Offline
- [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
  Page 118
- Genki I 2nd Edition
  Page 195
- Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
  Page 36
- みんなの日本語 I
  Page 146 [CH 23]
Track Resources!
Bunpro tracks all of the resources you’ve visited, and offers relevant bookmarks of physical books to help with offline tracking.
Try Bunpro

が – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

Jake
subject marker
Structure
- Subject + が
[subject marker・particle]

View on Bunpro
jabusia
Hi guys,
For those of you struggling with は vs が, this video is THE best(が) there is.

Thank you and good luck!
matt_in_mito
Even now I make mistakes on this semi-regularly. Thanks!
Solista
I don’t get why ga can be used to describe things that you are experiencing in the moment while wa can’t. Help?
nekoyama
I think the idea is that when you’re experiencing something with your five senses and you want to tell someone else about it, it’s often going to be new information, and は can’t be used to introduce it.

But on the whole I don’t like this statement either because it seems it would apply to a statement like ここは寒い which sounds weird with が. It’s probably not what it’s intended to mean, but IMHO the English description (actually the other two orange lines too) is way too simplistic for this topic and it would be better to not have anything at all and make people read up on the details in a more comprehensive source.
felicjli11
In this sentence, why is it 父は背が高い instead of 父の背が高い？
Fuga
Hey @felicjli11 !

The reason の is not used here is because this particle is used for possession and in Japanese height is not something a person possesses. Since it is a physical trait of a person, は would sound more natural.

For example, 父は背が高い would sound like ‘my father is tall’ in English and 父の背が高い would sound like ‘my father’s height is tall’ in English. Although the sentence can be understood, it does sound a bit unnatural.

Hope this helps!
discopatrick
The following is an example sentence from the lesson on だった/でした but I have a question related to its use of が:

猫が大好きだった。 I really liked cats. (Cats were loved by me)

Since we have a が instead of a は here, should the translation not be “I really liked the cat”?

It seems to me that は would suggest cats in general, whereas が would suggest a particular cat.

At thee same time, は could suggest animals in general, whereas が refers to cats in particular.

And I’ve also just remembered that が is used (among other things) as a particle of emotion, so perhaps it would only ever be correct to use が here as we are talking about what someone likes.

Can anyone help clarify?
Fuga
Hey @discopatrick !

This could be either ‘I really liked cats’ or ‘I really liked the cat’ and the difference really just depends on the nuance. For this sentence we went with the nuance, ‘I really liked cats’.

When が is used it has the nuance of ‘Cats are the animals that I like’, and using は will change the nuance to ‘I used to like cats (, but I did not like any other animals)’.

I hope this helps!