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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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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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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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。
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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 ...
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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 ...
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1answer
83 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 ...
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1answer
107 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 ...
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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
100 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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105 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 ...
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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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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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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 ...
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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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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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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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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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「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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What is the difference between Japanese は and を as a particle?
so for topic markers I usually use は but what about を? I assume its used for verbs? if its not then correct me.
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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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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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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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"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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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 ...
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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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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 ...
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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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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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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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Conflicting rules for when to use は vs が
So I'm new to learning Japanese, and as with most beginners I am trying to understand the difference between は and が. I came across this video on the difference that I found particularly helpful, but ...
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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 ...
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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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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"?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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3answers
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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 &...
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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 ...
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Can in this passive tense structure the topic be the same as the performer of the action?
I've been skimming through Minna no Nihongo and I found this structure:
[N1は]...[N2に]...[N3を]...「Vpassive]
And I understand the example sentence given with it:
私は弟にパソコンを壊されました。
They say that N1 is ...
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1answer
115 views
difference when using は and が with てくれる structure
So, I think that I'm not alone when it comes to being confused about when は and が are supposed to be used, but here I would like to ask about a specific example
浅野君は（私に）かわいい手袋を編んでくれた
x
浅野君が（私に）...
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What is the use of the particle "は" in this sentence? [duplicate]
I'm currently translating the lyrics of "Realize" by Konomi Suzuki. And the one thing that made me confused was the use of the particle "は" in this sentence of the lyrics.
...
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1answer
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Use of は in 「確認はされていない」
I think the quote
「確認はされていない」
translates to "It hasn't been confirmed yet". However, the use of は is leaving me a bit uncertain. As far as I know, 確認 can be used either a name or a する-verb,...
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3answers
126 views
What function does に serve in the following sentence?
I came across this sentence and I can't figure out what the purpose of に is. The full sentence in context is:
天照大神【あまてらすおおかみ】には須佐之男命【すさのおのみこと】という弟の神様がいたのですが、須佐之男【すさのお】はとても乱暴【らんぼう】で悪いことばかりするので、...
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114 views
Position of は relative to other particles
So I've had a feeling for a while regarding particle order, which I haven't managed to find much of anything to either confirm or deny in any of the learning resources I've tried, and I'm hoping ...
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Difference Between ほかに and ほかは
I came across these two examples and I don't see why one takes に and one takes は.
彼女のほかに知り合いはいません。
I have no acquaintances besides her.
ビールのほかは何もいりません。
I don't need anything other than beer.
I ...
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1answer
157 views
The meaning of は (wa) in 四月は君の嘘 ("Your Lie in April")
I was trying to translate the title of the film called "Your Lie In April" into Japanese.
I came to know that 四月は君の嘘 is the official name of "Your Lie in April". But I was not able to understand the ...
