If I wanted to say "I ate something this morning" or "Did you eat something this morning", would I use a particle with "this morning"?
Example:
けさ、なにかたべましたか？
vs
けさはなにかたべましたか？
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1I would perceive a difference in focus, from the action to the time. I would translate the first one as "What did you eat this morning?" and the second one as "This morning, what did you eat?". Not sure my interpretation is correct though - would like to hear an opinion from a more experienced speaker– pqnetJun 1, 2016 at 12:52
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1 Answer
You have a choice; You can say it with or without 「は」. The more informal the speech, the more often the 「は」 is dropped.
The only situation in which 「は」 is not optional and it must be used is when you talk about what someone ate/will eat this morning in comparison to what he ate/will eat on another day. That is always 「けさは」 as 「けさ」in those cases is an importat topic.
(The common mistake among Japanese-learners that I have been witnessing is to use 「に」 instead of 「は」 with words such as 「けさ」,「きょう」,「あした」, etc. .)