Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 2: 1/12

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)

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が – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

  • Fuga

    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

    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

    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!

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