は does not mean 'subject'. It sets the topic: the thing the rest of the sentence is about. How to read it, how it contrasts things, and how も swaps it for 'also'.
About 7 minutes to read
Few things confuse beginners more than は, and it mostly comes from a bad label. Textbooks often call it "the subject marker". It is not. It is the topic marker, and the difference is the whole lesson.
The topic is "as for..."
は (written は, pronounced wa when it is a particle) tags the thing you are about to talk about. Everything after it is a comment on that thing.
私Iはas for学生studentですis
I'm a student.
Read it literally as "As for me: student." You put something on the table, and the rest of the sentence is a statement about it. English can do this ("As for the movie, it was great"), but Japanese does it all the time, for everything.
The topic does not have to be the doer of the action. It can be anything the speaker wants to talk about:
昨日yesterdayの試験examはas for難しかったwas hard
Yesterday's exam was hard.
この店shopはas forラーメンramenがおいしいdelicious
As for this shop, the ramen is delicious.We will get to the が later. For now see that the topic (this shop) and the thing described (the ramen) are different.
That last sentence has a pattern worth naming: topic は + thing が + description. English would say "This shop's ramen is delicious". Japanese says "This shop: ramen is delicious". It is hugely common, and you will see it in the next lesson too.
Once you've set a topic, you can drop it
A topic stays active until the conversation changes it. That's how Japanese can leave out so much:
田中Tanakaさんはas for学生studentです
Mr. Tanaka is a student.
毎日every day学校schoolに行きますgoes
He goes to school every day.Same topic, not mentioned again.
は means "this, not necessarily others"
Because は sets a topic out of everything possible, it can carry a hint of contrast: this one, as opposed to others.
肉meatはas for食べるeatが魚fishはas for食べないdon't eat
I eat meat, but I don't eat fish.
コーヒーcoffeeはas for飲まないdon't drink
Coffee, I don't drink. (Tea I might.)Marking the thing with は in a negative sentence often implies "but something else, yes".
This is why は is common with negatives: if you say you do not do something, you are usually contrasting it with something you do.
も: the "also" version
Replace は with も and you get "also / too". It takes the place of は (and が, を) rather than sitting next to them:
私Iもalso学生studentですam
I'm a student too.
猫catもalso犬dogもalso好きlikedです
I like both cats and dogs.Using も twice means "both X and Y".
彼heは来comeない
He's not coming.
彼女sheもalso来comeない
She's not coming either.
In a negative sentence も becomes "not ... either" or "neither".
Asking questions with か
A statement becomes a question with か at the end. No word order change, no special verb:
あなたyouは学生studentですか
Are you a student?
これthisは何whatですか
What is this?
In casual speech people drop か and just raise their voice, or say の: 学生？ 食べる？ We will cover this later.
ね and よ: small words with big jobs
Two particles that change how a sentence lands:
いい天気weatherですね
Nice weather, isn't it?ね: "right? / isn't it?" — seeks agreement or shares a feeling.
もう行くよ
I'm going now, you know.よ: "just so you know" — gives the listener new information.
These two are in nearly every conversation. Do not try to translate them. Notice who knows what: ね when you both know, よ when you are informing them.
Longer sentences
When topics pile up, は acts like a signpost: "talking about X now". Read the passage and track the signposts.
私はas for me肉はas for meat食べますがeat, but魚はas for fish食べませんdon't eat
でもbut寿司だけはsushi alone好きですlike
I eat meat, but I don't eat fish.
But sushi, at least, I like.
A longer paragraph, with the topic changing from the weather to a plan:
今日はas for today朝からsince morning雨だis rainy
天気予報によるとaccording to the forecast明日もtomorrow too雨らしいapparently rain
明日のtomorrow's遠足はas for the excursionどうなるのだろうI wonder what will happen
It has been rainy since this morning.
According to the forecast, it seems it will rain tomorrow too.
I wonder what will happen to tomorrow's excursion.
A paragraph with several topics
日本のJapan's夏はas for summer暑くてhot and湿気がhumidity多いhigh
一方on the other hand北海道はas for Hokkaido夏でもeven in summer涼しくcool過ごしやすいeasy to spend time
私はas for me暑さはas for heat苦手だがI'm bad with, but寒さはas for cold平気なのでI'm fine with, so来年のnext year's夏休みはsummer vacation北海道にto Hokkaido行こうとgoing (quote)思っているam thinking
Japanese summers are hot and humid.
Hokkaido, on the other hand, is cool even in summer and easy to spend time in.
I'm bad with heat but fine with cold, so I'm thinking of going to Hokkaido for next year's summer vacation.
Key points
は marks the topic, "as for X". The topic need not be the doer.
Once a topic is set, you can omit it.
は can carry contrast, especially in negative sentences.
も means "also / too" and takes the place of は, が, を.
か at the end makes a question.
ね looks for agreement; よ gives new information.
Drill these patterns
Short example sentences for the points in this lesson: