Japanese Grammar Tips ~The Particles~ (1)

*This article is what I wrote on lang-8.
I'm going to post these articles and some additions here.


(1) Xは = The theme of the sentence is X
(2) が describes objectively what has happened
(3) When the subject changes in one sentence, we should use が
(4) Can't we repeat は in one sentence? 
(5) Some Japanese verbs used が to mark the direct object
(6) は can be attached to another particles
* (1) ～ (3) are the posts from lang-8

I've thought about the difference between は and が (Japanese particles) for the first time in my life since I corrected my friends' journals more often than before. Come to think of it, it is really hard to explain the difference between them though I use it everyday. So I googled and got some tips about the usage of は and が.

I'm going to write about those tips to share with you guys but I'm not a specialist, so I'm not sure if it's linguistically correct or not. I welcome your comments and suggestions. I mean, I'm also waiting for comments from Japanese people! :)


(1) Xは = The theme of the sentence is X
If we say "Xは", it shows that we're going to talk about X.
In other words, X is a subject of the sentence.

＞彼女 は クラスでいちばん可愛い。
She is the cutest girl in our class.
＞あの女の人 は 私の母です。
That woman is my mother.
＞父 は いつも朝早く起きて犬の散歩に行く。
My father takes our dog for a walk every early morning.
＞昨日の夕飯 は カレーだった。
Our last supper was curry and rice.

Let's see what does it sound like if these は changes into が.

＞彼女 が クラスでいちばん可愛い。
She is the one who is the cutest girl in our class.
＞あの女の人 が 私の母です。
That woman is the one who is my mother.
＞父 が いつも朝早く起きて犬の散歩に行く。
My father is the one who takes our dog every early morning.
＞昨日の夕飯 が カレーだった。
It was last supper when we ate curry and rice.

As you see, it sounds a bit different. We use が to emphasize "whom" or "what" we are talking about. So the theme of the sentence is placed at the latter part of the sentence.

So you can read these sentences as:
彼女がクラスでいちばん可愛い＝クラスで一番かわいいのは彼女だ
あの女の人が私の母です＝私の母はあの女の人です
父がいつも朝早く起きて犬の散歩に行く＝いつも朝早く起きて犬の散歩に行くのは父だ

Let's have a look at the difference between them with some examples.
Taro: あの女の人は誰ですか？ (Who's that woman?)
Akiko: 彼女は英語の先生です。(She's our English teacher.)
Taro: じゃあ、誰が数学の先生ですか？ (Then, who's your math teacher?)
Akiko: あの男の人が数学の先生です。(That man is our math teacher.)

Akiko use が when she answered Taro's question (WHO IS...?). This is the simplest tip. If you were asked 何が(what is)～？ or 誰が(who is)～？ you should use が.

Taro: 英語の授業は難しいですか？(Is your English class hard for you?)
Akiko: いいえ。数学が難しいです。(No. The math class is difficult.)
She said the math class IS difficult, not the English class or any other classes. This が is used to emphasize the word before it, and it has an exclusive meaning.

Let me explain more about its "exclusive meaning".
＞Aさんは日本人です。
＞Aさんが日本人です。
Both can be translated as "A is Japanese". But if we use が in this sentence, it implies that it's not B, C, D, nor E, but A IS Japanese. So it excludes others.

Let's recap!
-We Usually use は to describe things. So <AはB> is often translated as <A is B>. 
-が is used to emphasize the subject. <AがB> can also be translated as <B is A>.
-When we answer the questions like "who is...?" or "what is...?", it is natural to use が.
-が has an exclusive meaning. If we say Aが, it implies that not B, C, or D, but A.


<QUIZ>
What's the difference between these sentences below?
>これは良い
>これが良い
Please feel free to leave your comment. :)