Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 1: 3/12

As for... (Highlights sentence topic)

は can be also used to contrast several things

Structure

Sentence topic + , Pronounced "わ"

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Particle

  • Word Type

    Linking Particle

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    Standard

About は

(pronounced わ) is often considered to be one of the most difficult particles to master in Japanese, alongside . marks the topic of the sentence, and describes the whole sentence broadly. However, primarily marks single actions or statements. We will explore this distinction in more detail when covering .

In many sentences (especially short ones), either or would be considered perfectly natural. This depends on whether someone is simply stating something (), or highlighting it especially ().

In the first sentence, broadly describes what the sentence is about (curry). In the second sentence, again describes the whole sentence being about 'me', but highlights one specific piece of information (wine being the thing that is hated).

Caution

cannot be used to describe things that you are seeing or experiencing 'in the moment' (right now). This is due to 'in the moment' events being considered part of a larger experience (your whole day for example).

Caution

has 2 main functions. The first marks the topic of the sentence, the second is used for contrast or making comparisons. Although there are no 'strict' rules for this, when is used toward (or after) the middle of a sentence, it will usually have the nuance of contrast.

In the second sentence, will give the listener the impression that there is a comparison being made.

Examples

--:--

    (わたし)トムです

    I (as the topic of this sentence) am Tom.

    あなたジムです

    You (as the topic of this sentence) are Jim.

    トム先生(せんせい)です

    Tom (as the topic of this sentence) is a teacher.

    カバン(きたな)

    The bag (as the topic of this sentence) is dirty.

    カレンダー必要(ひつよう)です

    A calendar (as the topic of this sentence) is necessary.

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は – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (13 in total)

  • Jake

    Jake

    denotes sentence topic

    Structure

    • Sentence topic +
    • Pronounced ‘わ/wa’

    [topic marker・particle]

    View on Bunpro

  • liannallama

    liannallama

    Stupid
    Why are you pronounced “わ”!?

    (venting post from girl who just spelled it as “わ” instead of “は”) Someday I will get this one right every time instead of misspelling!

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    Hey

    You should read this amazing explanation:

  • liannallama

    liannallama

    Oh, thanks! I always love knowing the reason/history behind things.

  • Neldolas

    Neldolas

    Tell me if I’m wrong, but I’ve come to understand は as just being there to “flag” the topic of a sentence, while が, even though is not always seen, is always implied to be there.

    For example, the sentence “私はアメリカ人です”, while often used to mean “I am american”, could very well mean something else, such as “As for me, I am american” (implying that other people in the room might be from somewhere else, but I am from the US). In other words, the full sentence would actually be “私は、私がアメリカ人です”, but we don’t use the 私が since it’s obvious what the subject is.

    I think the sentence that made me understand that is this one: “私はえびすだ”, which, well, in a restaurant setting, would simply mean “As for me, the shrimp” (implying that the full sentence would be “As for me, I’ll have the shrimp or I’ll take the shrimp”).

    Then again, I might be completely wrong, but I would love to know what you think? Did I grasp the differences between は and が?

  • matt_in_mito

    matt_in_mito

    The whole は and が thing is pretty murky, but a simple way to understand the basics of it is:

    私はアメリカ人です (I am American) is a response to the question “Where are you from?”

    私がアメリカ人です (The one who is American is me) is a response to the question “Who here is American?”

    So you’re changing the focus of the sentence.

  • Laugerizor

    Laugerizor

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    @Laugerizor
    Hey and welcome on the community forums!

    The correct answer is は, as you wrote.
    へいく appearing as an answer is an error, checked this sentence and it should be working now as intended.

    Sorry for the inconvienience and thanks for informing us abot the issue,
    Cheers!

  • Sirfracis

    Sirfracis

    Hi, I’ve just come across the description: [Unlike が, は cannot be used to describe things that you are seeing/experiencing in the moment (right now)]

    Can anyone shed more light on this at all?

  • HermesHoshiyama

    HermesHoshiyama

    I just got started here, so apologies if this isn’t the right place/way to ask.

    In the example <玄関は暗い。>Would it also be correct to say <玄関は暗いです。>?Or is there a reason です is omitted?

  • matt_in_mito

    matt_in_mito

    Hi and welcome!
    Yes both examples are fine. The latter is simply more polite - you wouldn’t use です with a friend or a family member.

  • Savannah

    Savannah

    Yes, I also would like to know what this mea...

  • FredKore

    FredKore

    This makes sense if you translate は as “As for [the topic of]…”.

    When you’re talking with your friend about puppies:
    子犬かわいいね。-- “puppies are cute”, talking about puppies in general, as a topic
    子犬かわいいね。-- “those puppies are cute”, talking about a specific puppy, or focusing on puppies out of all animals

    When you’re standing in front of a pet store talking about puppies in...

  • jacobalbano

    jacobalbano

    Hi all, been a it’s been a while since I posted. I’m a very satisfied (former) customer and I help moderate a Japanese-learning discord community, where I recommend Bunpro to pretty much everyone I meet. However, the other day one member (who had picked up Bunpro at my suggestion) posted about this blurb on the は grammar point page, which has apparently been added since my sub ended last year:

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