Questions tagged [particle-は]
助詞「は」. Indicates the topic of a sentence or shows contrast in the universe of discourse.
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Do ては and のは have the same meaning sometimes?
I was listening to a song (ロジックエージェント) and these lyrics came up:
枯れては戸惑いを募らせて
遠く揺らぐ日々を眺めてた
I assume that ては means 枯れるのは。
Is that correct?
I know ては can mean If/When but I don't think this is the ...
2
votes
1answer
111 views
Why is は used in phrases with はず, if they are formal nouns that take a subordinate clause?
Based on what I understand, formal nouns like はず take up a subordinate clause, therefore taking が to mark the subject, but when I see examples such as
あの人は若いはず
or
あの本は高かったはずだ
It makes it look like ...
0
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1answer
96 views
Particle Emphasis
Can the wa particle replace de, ni, wo, or he?
Take the following sentence:
Watashi ga Sakura ni Booru wo Koen de Nageru
Can I do this instead:
Booru wa Watashi ga Sakura ni Koen de Nageru
Sakura ...
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1answer
164 views
When do I have to use "place + de" instead of "place + de wa" at the begining of a sentence?
At the beginning of sentences, I usually see words referencing to a placing being followed by "de wa". For example,
日本では見れないという
I thought that when you started sentences with a place you ...
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2answers
249 views
Why 忘れてる in「来週（明日）には忘れてる」?
来週（明日）には忘れてる
Initially, this strikes me as odd, because I would expect 来週には忘れる. But it seems to make sense: "Come next week, (I) will have forgotten about it." How would 忘れる work ...
2
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1answer
87 views
Double は with 言っていました?
Is it suitable/permitted to use は twice when relaying what someone else said?
E.g:
ロバートさんはお母さんは料理するのが下手だと言っていました。
2
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2answers
144 views
壁は内側が白くて外側は緑です, why 内側が白くて use が and 外側は緑 use は
why 内側が白くて use が and 外側は緑 use は
why not 壁は内側は白くて外側は緑です or 壁は内側が白くて外側が緑です?
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0answers
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Is the をば particle combination an abbreviated version of XはXを? [duplicate]
As far as I know when the topic and the object are the same we drop the object from the sentence to avoid redundancy. For example the following sentence is not correct:
ラーメン は もう ラーメン を 食べました。
...
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1answer
117 views
Usage of は in two different phrases
As far as I understand the は particle marks the theme of the sentence. Sometimes it happens to be the subject, sometimes not. Is there any difference between this two formulation of the same idea?
...
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122 views
How basic is this sentence "日本語がわたしはちょっとだけわかります"
Is this sentence so basic or even understandable for Japanese speakers? I am just learning Japanese no prior knowledge about the language. I interchange は/が still. Can I make this even native sounding ...
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1answer
87 views
In the sentence, "母がすしを作ります。", why do we use が instead of は?
My book sentence: 母がすしを作ります。
I consulted another book, which states:
The case particle ga can mark the subject of the sentence. However, when the subject noun is also treated as the topic of the ...
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1answer
80 views
What nuance does the が particle add in the following sentence? At what time would each sentence be more appropriate?
両親は結婚した時、どこにも行きませんでした。
VS
両親が結婚した時、どこにも行きませんでした。
3
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1answer
173 views
About the Verb1+ては+Verb2 structure
Background
According to the 大辞林, the particle は can be used to emphasize a description after attaching to the 連用形 of a verb followed by the particle「て・で」. Example:
少なくとも分かってはいる。
I think this ...
2
votes
1answer
95 views
Difference in sentences using は+が vs は+は
So I've come across these two sentences:
雨は降っていますが、雪は降っていません
and
雨は降っていません。雪が降っています。
so what i think is happening is that the first sentence shows contrast.
in the first sentence, we simply ...
0
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1answer
88 views
is は/が always needed to make a grammatically correct sentence?
I listen to a lot of Japanese music, and a common trend I've seen with a lot of them are to say 「≪pronoun≫≪noun≫」. For example,
「あたし猫」 = "I'm a cat."
My question is, is this grammatically ...
2
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1answer
118 views
Question on particles は and を
In a language exercise, I was supposed to write the following in Japanese: "Please close the window." Intuitively, I thought, since 窓 is the direct object of 閉めて, then probably
窓を閉めてください
I ...
2
votes
1answer
273 views
Noun phrases before and after は
I was working on Duolingo and there is this sentence: My favourite food is sushi. I put down:
寿司は私の好物です,
thinking "My favourite food is sushi" is essentially the same as "Sushi is my ...
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1answer
141 views
Usage of は in these sentences
I am learning the lyrics to the song "Last Summer Whisper" by 杏里. I came across these lines:
Baby, love again 二人の愛はもどりはしないけど
Baby, love again せめてあなたをにくみたくはないの
What is the usage of the は ...
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What is the meaning of は in this context? [duplicate]
Context: A car approaches ルパン, 次元 asks over the radio who is in driving it
次元「ルパン、スコーピオンか？」
ルパン「いやぁ、違う。我が宿命のライバル。ご存じ警視庁は銭形警部さ」
I can't tell what は is supposed to mean in this context, is it the same ...
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2answers
116 views
Comparison with ほうは rather than ほうが
Continuing my mission to understand how people can learn Japanese with Duolingo (I'm sure it's not possible) I was posed the following sentence:
My current apartment is more spacious than my previous ...
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2answers
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Problem with choosing のは or は with と思います
So in my textbook there are examples like
あまり便利じゃないと思います
いいと思います
But I was wondering, how would you say something like "I think it's ok to eat food". From my knowledge it should be ...
4
votes
1answer
106 views
Use of は in indirect quotes
This question had the following example:
人間に上下はないと考えるアメリカ人にとって、日本の目上と目下の関係は面倒だろう ?
and the OP was asking about the meaning of は. I'd like to expand on this.
Firstly, I'm assuming that 上下は is part of ...
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0answers
101 views
山には多く雪があります。 what does ”は” after ”に” mean? [duplicate]
Why can't I say ”山に多い雪があります”? What does ”は” after ”に” mean?
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1answer
105 views
Meaning of 彼は好きです
My fellow Japanese-learning friend was told the following difference in meaning:
彼が好きです means I like him. Potentially, I can like many others; there is no emphasis whatsoever on the person that I ...
2
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1answer
113 views
What are the differences between the usage of は and では in negative sentences?
I understand that in a sentence such as
わざわざあなたが行くことはありません。誰かに行かせます。
the general meaning of ～ことはない is that there is no need to do something.
But why would it be wrong to say ではない ?
Is there a ...
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Is はの even possible?
I found this sentence on jisho.org:
税制改革はの圧力が高まっている
The pressure for tax reform is growing.
And I'm wondering if this is a typo. Having both は and の together somehow sounds a bit odd to me. I would ...
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1answer
304 views
Clarification on the particle following 今年
In an assignment I wrote「今年にローラースケートを習いたいです。」 which was corrected to 「今年はローラースケートを習いたいです。」My guess is that it was corrected because in this sentence, "this year" is the ~topic~. Is that ...
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1answer
65 views
Difference between using は and を in 遊びでも手は抜かない
全員この場で野々村の宣戦布告を受け取る。
We all accept Nonomura's declaration of war.
たとえ遊びでも手は抜かない。
Even if it's just for fun, we will go all out.
How would these lines have read differently if it said たとえ遊びでも手を抜かない. ...
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0answers
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Understanding あるとは珍しい [duplicate]
「おおっ、こんなぜいたくな物がうちにあるとは珍しいね」
Oh, finding such luxurious presents at our place is unusual.
I'm a bit confused by the と in this sentence. I can only imagine that it is a conditional と. I guess "if ...
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1answer
110 views
「が」(ga) vs 「は」(wa) when it comes to specifically "this" object / referring to self
Learning particles and looking at wa vs ga. From what I have seen wa is the topic/general and ga is for the subject/specific.
I was watching this video which had the following example:
I like Van ...
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1answer
162 views
Meaning of してならぬ
I found this instance of してならぬ in the following passage:
養父を殺した騎士!
報仇の念が胸に猛った。 血の脈動と共に衝動が全身を駆け、目的を唯一事に定めて走り出そうとする。
そうしてならぬ理由が、何処にあろう。 そんなものは何処にも――
I'm well aware of the usage of してならない to mean "...
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ABSOLUTE necessity of particle に in "topic marker" には
"This store has all sorts of bags": この店は鞄が色々あります should be a good translation and a natural sentence, which is different from "There are all sorts of bags in this store": ...
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1answer
94 views
Wa and wo differences
Hi? What's the difference in terms of usage of wa and wo in some sentences like this one
"are wo kudasai" and "are wa nandesuka?". But I'm sure it's not because of wether it is a ...
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0answers
64 views
What does it mean when 連体形 is directly followed by は? [duplicate]
Here are two lines of the lyrics in a specific song:
[出]{で}[逢]{あ}いしは [運命]{さだめ}か
and
[纏]{まと}いしは [緋]{ひ}[色]{いろ}の[棘]{とげ}の[鎧]{よろい}
I'm 99% sure that the し here is the 連体形 of き; it follows the 連用形 of [出]...
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1answer
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"wa" vs. "ga" in the question "do you have...?" (child speak!)
If a child were to casually ask their teacher, "do you have [some object]," which would they say?
先生、「何か」はあるの？ (Sensei, [nanika] ha aru no?)
先生、「何か」があるの？ (Sensei, [nanika] ga aru no?)
I ...
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2answers
81 views
Double negation sentence in manga
だけど...
冷えるんだったら スカートじゃない ほう が いい ん じゃないのか?
I just don't understand this sentence.
I'm not keen on if ん is の(?) in both cases and I assume ほう（方）simply indicates an action and there's a double ...
2
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1answer
171 views
は after words like 何か or 誰か
So I know you can't use は after an interrogative word like 何 or 誰. However, if you add a か after them, they're no longer interrogative words, right? So I should be able to say something like:
...
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1answer
90 views
は versus が in this sentence
In the Genki 1 textbook, the question prompt
本を読んでいる人は誰ですか？
appears alongside an illustration with a bunch of people doing different activities. The textbook user is then supposed to pick out a ...
0
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1answer
89 views
Can が be replaced by something else in this structure?
So reviewing basic grammar I've come across a structure where you use は and が to show contrast in the following way:
(私は)土曜日は暇ですが、日曜日は忙しいです。
This sentence sounds right to me, but it would sound ...
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2answers
220 views
how to know when to say "ha" or "wa" with は
it is going to be the end of week 3 in learning japanese and i've noticed how sometimes in sentences the hiragana は can sound like "wa" as well, why is this so? And also when do i know when ...
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1answer
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question about meaning of と言われては in this tweet
そんなに特殊なあれこれはしていないと思うのだけど……。「誰かがこのサイトを偽装しようとしています」と言われては、背景を調べずにokを押すわけにもいかない。こんなことをしている場合ではないのに。
Im don’t understand the meaning to this part : と言われては This might be an answered question but I ...
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2answers
409 views
Conflicting rules for when to use は vs が
I came across this video on the difference that I found particularly helpful, but there was a special case not addressed in the video that I was curious about. I will summarize the video here as I ...
0
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1answer
106 views
は vs が in neutral sentences
I have a couple of situations I was hoping someone could help me understand if が or は is more appropriate in the following situations.
Scenario A: Describing what a person is doing.
You are by ...
0
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1answer
87 views
please help me break down this confusing sentence involving the usage of は and の particle and also ことにする
実のある話はしないことにしています。
I'm not going to tell you anything substantive.
I found this in a bio of an author. after finding the meaning with the help of an auto-translator
I had a several questions,
I ...
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3answers
204 views
What is the difference between XはYが and XにYがあります?
For example, what is the difference between these sentences?:
日本は神社が多い。
日本に多い神社があります。
Don't they both mean "There are many shrines in Japan"?
2
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1answer
204 views
Multiple subject?
When I say I’m now busy, it’s
今は忙しい
But what I don’t understand is that 今 is being used as the topic. I’m this sentence, the real person that’s busy is me, so if I choose to not omit the person, but ...
0
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1answer
69 views
Why wasn't が used instead of には in [そんなこと、私にはとても出来ない。]?
Why wasn't が used instead of には in
[そんなこと、私にはとても出来ない。]?
Is it correct to use が? What is the meaning/sense and role of には in the sentence to choose it over the が particle?
English:
There's no way I ...
3
votes
3answers
305 views
Usage of は over に to mark seasonal changes
For context, I have the following text speaking about the leaves of a maple tree.
これは花ではありません。
「かえで」 の葉です。
秋は赤いです。夏は緑です。
I understand that the phrase in bold would be translated as something like &...
4
votes
1answer
530 views
Emphasizing words in Japanese
Maybe I haven't heard enough spoken Japanese to know how fluent speakers do it, but I always get confused with how to translate the way I emphasize words in English into Japanese.
The boy kicked the ...
