Part 1 · How a sentence works · Lesson 5
が: who, what, and the new thing
How が differs from は without hand-waving: が points at something and says 'this one'. When Japanese uses it, why question words take it, and how to choose between the two when reading.
Now for the particle that is always compared with は. The comparison is useful but only if you get one thing straight first: は and が do different jobs, and sometimes the sentence needs both.
が points at something
が marks the thing that does the action or is the described state, and it puts the spotlight on that thing. Where は says "as for X", が says "it is X that".
Notice that these sentences introduce something new. You hear a noise outside and say "a cat is meowing". Nothing was set up first, so there is nothing to be a topic. That is the typical home of が: news, discoveries, and things the listener has not been told about yet.
The question-word rule
A question word is a request to be told who or what. So it takes が, never は:
And the answer repeats the pattern, because the answer is the missing piece of information:
は vs が: a test you can use while reading
When you hit one of them and are not sure, ask "Is this thing already known in the conversation, or is it new?"
| Known, or the starting point | New, or the answer |
|---|---|
| は | が |
| 田中さんは学生だ。(as for Tanaka, a student) | 田中さんが学生だ。(it's Tanaka who is a student) |
Here is the standard story pattern. First mention uses が, then it becomes the topic:
You will see this in folk tales and in the first few lines of a story all the time. A new character is introduced with が. After that they become the topic and take は.
が in descriptions
Many sentences describe a feature of the topic. The pattern topic は + part が + description is extremely common:
The topic is the big thing, the が-marked piece is the part that has the property, and what comes last is the description. You do not need to translate it literally. Just recognise the shape.
Verbs and adjectives that take が
Some predicates mark the thing they are about with が, even though English would make it an object. The ones you will see first:
| Predicate | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 好き / 嫌い | like / dislike | 猫が好きだ |
| 上手 / 下手 | good at / bad at | 料理が上手だ |
| 分かる | understand | 日本語が分かる |
| できる | can do | 運転ができる |
| 欲しい | want (a thing) | 車が欲しい |
| ある / いる | exist / have | お金がある |
| 見える / 聞こえる | can be seen / heard | 山が見える |
These are really descriptions of a state: "cats are liked", "Japanese is understood", "a car is wanted". The thing that is liked or understood is the one doing the being, so it takes が. English turns them around.
が in clauses
Inside a smaller clause that describes a noun or sets a condition, が is the normal subject marker, because は is reserved for the main sentence's topic:
We will return to this when we do clauses. For now: inside a clause, が is the default.
が as "but"
If が appears at the end of a clause with a verb or adjective right before it, it may mean "but" or "and" (just a mild connector):
Context tells you which が it is. The "but" が follows a complete clause that has its own predicate. The subject が follows a noun.
Common mistakes
Longer sentences
Stories and explanations use が to bring things in, then は to talk about them. Read this little story and watch the switch.
Descriptions: topic は + part が.
A mystery in が and は
Key points
- は sets up a known topic; が pinpoints the person or thing and spotlights it.
- New information, answers to questions and discoveries take が.
- Question words take が (誰が、何が、どれが).
- Topic は + part が + description is a core pattern: 象は鼻が長い。
- 好き, 分かる, できる, 欲しい, ある and similar predicates take が for the thing they are about.
- Inside a clause, が is the default subject marker.
Drill these patterns
Short example sentences for the points in this lesson: