The particle "が" (ga) indicates the subject of a verb. Nominative case particle.
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What's the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)?
When is it correct to use は but not が, and when is it correct to use が but not は? Are there any times when you can use either without changing the meaning of the sentence? In other cases, how does ...
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4answers
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Why is it 日本語がわかります instead of 日本語をわかります?
From what I understand, は is the topic marker, が is the subject marker, and を is the object marker.
One of the first sentences I learned doesn't seem to fit the rules I described above. The sentence ...
17
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2answers
553 views
The difference between が and を with the potential form of a verb.
When using the potential form of a verb, I was taught that the particle を becomes が. However, in real life this seems to not always be the case. I've even heard Japanese people use を instead of が ...
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5answers
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Pronouncing が as 'nga'
I'm a beginner and am learning from CD (Pimsleur). There are two native speakers going through the dialogue. One, the man, pronounces が as I would expect - 'ga'. The other (female) pronounces it as ...
8
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2answers
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Double subject construction?
I've recently been having trouble with constructions that seem to mark two subjects in the same clause. I've only encountered them in ～の方が... constructions, but I can't seem to make sense of them ...
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3answers
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Problems with は and が
Consider:
[A] 猫が好きだ
To me this means [A']"I like cats."
Contrast this to:
[B] 猫は好きだ
To me this means [B']"I like cats (among other animals)"
I based my understanding of [B] from Derek ...
8
votes
1answer
186 views
が and に interchangeability and difference in meaning
Consider these sentences:
だれ{が・に}これが出来るか
だれ{が・に}日本語が分からないか
When both が and に are acceptable, what is their difference in meaning and practical usage?
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4answers
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Analyzing sentences like 日本がピンチだ and 明日は雨だ
How are sentences like 日本がピンチだ (Japan is in a pinch) and 明日は雨だ (tomorrow it will rain) analyzed?
Translating them trivially, as
日本がピンチだ Japan is a pinch
明日は雨だ Tomorrow is rain
doesn't make ...
6
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2answers
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Logic behind “が” preferrence when using a “-たい” form
I have learned that when using a "-たい" form, when the sentence would normally require "を", you can use either "を" or "が", but "が" was actually preferred, "を" sounding unnatural.
I searched about the ...
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3answers
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How do I say “I am the best” ? の,は or が and 私 or 俺?
I'm making a shirt for a (rather egotistical) friend of mine and so am trying to do something with the slogan "I am the best" for fun. I need something with four characters only, and would like to ask ...
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2answers
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… が決定しました rather than … が決定されました
Can someone explain what rules for が come in play that make the sentence:
発売延期となっていたネットワークレコーダー「nasne(ナスネ)」の発売が8月30日に決定しました
grammatically correct? I would have formulated it ...
5
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1answer
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の versus が used to mark the subject of an appositive clause?
A friend of mine wrote this sentence in Japanese:
彼女のどんな困難からも逃げない態度を尊敬しています。
'Her attitude of not running away from any hardships is something I respect.'
'I respect that she has this attitude ...
5
votes
1answer
146 views
Particle-が in restaurant's name. Genitive particle?
I was at a Japanese restaurant called 星岡 (ほしがおか). And I was trying to figure out what the が does in it.
I instinctively translated it to "Starry hill" (Not sure of my translation though).
...
5
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1answer
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を vs が with use against 好き?
The difference between が and を with the potential form of a verb. and Is it true that all nouns must be able to accept a が particle and a を particle? are noted as possible duplicates; however, I ...
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4answers
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Is it unusual to have the ga particle with a negative verb?
In saying that something doesn't exist, is it unusual to use the ga particle (が) and a negative verb? For example, would "(Uchi ni) Terebi ga arimasen" be an unusual way to say "There isn't a TV (at ...
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1answer
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When is disjunctive-が appropriate in connecting sentences?
Consider the following:
[1] 僕は日本人ではなく, シンガポール人です。 (I'm not Japanese, I'm Singaporean)
[2] 僕は日本人ではないが, シンガポール人です。 (I'm not Japanese but Singaporean)
Comparing my sentences to the worked ...
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1answer
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What's the difference between ことがある or ことはある?
In Tae Kim's guide, he wrote a few example sentences:
徹夜して、宿題することはある。
一人で行くことはありません。
パリに行ったことはありますか。
お寿司を食べたことがある。
そういうのを見たことがなかった。
In these examples, I don't really understand why some sentences ...
4
votes
1answer
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Shouldn't this も be が?
This sentence is in my JLPT practise book in a section on the use of 目{め}まぐるしい:
社会{しゃかい}の目{め}まぐるしい変化{へんか}についていけず、時代{じだい}遅{おく}れになる会社{かいしゃ}も多{おお}い。
I think the sentence is saying, "There are lots ...
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2answers
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Nominalization with のが、のを
I've just learned to nominalize verbs with のを but as I was looking for more info on the web I saw that this is also done with のが and こと. The question "What is the difference between the nominalizers ...
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2answers
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How do you avoid multiple が in a sentence
I would like to ask on how to avoid multiple Ga particle in a sentence. For example.
詳細{しょうさい}のクエリは削除{さくじょ}フラグが0がありません。
What I meant in the sentence:
The Detail query does not contain the ...
3
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1answer
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anata no koto suki vs anata ga suki [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ?
What are the guidelines of omitting particles?
It is possible to say both of these:
あなたが好きです
あなたのこと好きです
The ...
2
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1answer
224 views
Difference between に and が for intransitive verbs
What is the difference between 試験に受かる and 試験が受かる?
It seems that the first one means "to pass an exam" while the second one is more like "passing exams" (really not sure about it).
In which cases ...
2
votes
1answer
107 views
Extracting from, and introducing to Universe of Discourse using は and が with こそあど-demonstratives
Consider the following:
このりんご（ は / が ）食べないでください。
Person A: どちらが東ですか。
Person B： こちら（ は / が ）東です。
Workbook answers are は for 1. and が for 2.
In 1., I would expect the person to ...
