願いは叶う or 願いが叶います?

Question

Reading a raw manga and 願いは叶う was the chapter name which I think is "Wishes Come True" however after checking online "Wishes Come True" is apparently 願いが叶います, there is 2 differences, one being は and が the other is 叶う and 叶います, please explain what these differences are and which phrase i should use.

Answer 1

叶う is called the "simple" or "dictionary" form of 叶います. 叶う to me is the "true" or "original" form (grammatically), while 叶います is the polite derivation. Online translators will often give translations in polite form (～ます、～です) because they want to avoid learners being impolite. The rule of thumb for this (and Japanese classes in general) is that you can never go wrong or offend anybody with polite form. You could with the simple form, if you aren't careful.

Well then, I hear you say, why can't the chapter title use polite language?

Polite language implies that real humans are talking, and that there is some sort of human-to-human relationship structure. No one is "saying" your manga chapter per se, so there is no need to be formal. For the same reason, novels and newspapers are always written in simple form.

Examples:

叶う→叶います (to come true)

[書]{か}く→[書]{か}きます (to write)

[殺]{ころ}す→[殺]{ころ}します (to kill)

[立]{た}つ→[立]{た}ちます (to stand)

[死]{し}ぬ→[死]{し}にます (to die)

[読]{よ}む→[読]{よ}みます (to read)

[走]{はし}る→[走]{はし}ります (to run)

だ→です (to be)

Notice a pattern?

Answer 2

Difference between 願いは叶う and 願いが叶う is that the former is an answer to "How will my wish be?" and the latter is that to "What will happen then?".

Answer 3

Both は and が are particles of subject words, and those meanings are almost the same. Though が is more emphatic than は. For example, が is used in interrogative sentences for subject words usually.

"Who ate cookies?" 　｢誰がクッキーを食べましたか？｣
"I ate cookies." 　｢私がクッキーを食べました。｣

In the case of interrogative sentences for object words:

"What did you eat yesterday?" 　｢あなたは昨日何を食べましたか？｣
"I ate cookies." 　｢私はクッキーを食べました。｣

Those two conversations are not replaceable.

There is a detail of that in this site. http://www.japanese-language.aiyori.org/article1.html

Incidentally, が is used as follows.

"the cookies I ate" 　｢私が食べたクッキー｣

が had a meaning of の in ancient Japanese. の is a particle for the possessive case.

"my cookies" 　｢私のクッキー｣

Because "the thing I do" has a meaning of "mine", が is used in this case.