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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Role of は when following phrases ending in particles
I have read several linguistic accounts of the particle は that claim it has two fundamental uses:
To indicate the theme/topic of the discourse (assuming that the speaker can take for granted that the ...
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Subordinate clauses that are not for comparison - should we use が or は？
In a subordinate clause, が is often used.
However, some sentences with けど or のに are used with は because they are for comparison.
But it seems to me that some sentences with けど or のに are not for ...
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Regarding the use of が instead of は
いけのなかにさかな＿たくさんいまですか。
So my question is, would the particle affect the emphasis we want to put on either asking if there ARE Fish inside the Pond, or if we are asking how MANY Fish are there in the ...
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Implications of using either が/は in 足跡が/は消えない
I came across this line in a song and was wondering why が was used over は:
足跡が消えない
I would interpret the usage of が to mean that out of everything, the 足跡 left behind is specifically the thing that ...
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Is there a way to tell which sentences or structures particle wa can replace particle wo for emphasis in?
I've been told that in the sentence,
kare wa tsugou ga warui koto wa kakusu
wo can be used instead of wa in the last particle like,
kare wa tsugou ga warui koto wo kakusu
but that wa is used ...
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What’s the usage of “では” in this sentence?
歴史の授業は大きい教室でやります。歴史の先生は日本人で、授業ではあまり英語を使いません。
Is it composed of “で+は“ while は just highlights the noun before it? But if that’s the case then does 授業 here refer to a period of time?
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“は…は” usage: What’s the function of the first は?
午後は授業はありません。
I saw this sentence in my book, and from my understanding the second は marks the topic of the sentence, and in some cases “は…は” highlights the contrast between two topics, but in this ...
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日本語は話せますか, 日本語が話せますか and 日本語を話せますか what's the difference?
日本語は話せますか
日本語が話せますか
日本語を話せますか
What's the difference? Some people said it means the same thing, but when I googled it several people were saying several different things and I'm lost. I read that ...
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~のは at the end of the sentence. What does it mean?
I started reading 君の名は and this sentence came up: そんな気分になったのは。。
(1) what does the なった means here? Is it the past tense of the verb なる which means “to become”? What meaning does it have in this ...
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Is 6月 the subject in 6月は涼しい?
This webpage, under Specific Time, says that 6月 in 6月は涼しい is the subject of the sentence and thus does not take に, but that's like saying 日曜日は忙しい and ignoring the implied 私が. In the former case, that ...
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は in 名詞節 (content clauses)
I'm not sure what I'm missing here, but
来年の１月には３５歳になりますが、サッカーは年齢じゃないということを証明していきたいですし、若い選手に負けないように頑張りたいと思います。(source)
我々はお荷物じゃないことを証明しよう。
Aren't those 名詞節? Is the rule about は not occurring in ...
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Meaning of 巡り合う好機 in this passage
A passage from the first chapter of 夜は短し歩けよ乙女 by 森見登美彦:
あな恐ろしやと思いながら肩身の狭い思いをしてカウンターをすり抜けると、その奥に隠れ家のような薄暗い空間があって、羽貫さんが四人のナイスミドルの方々に交じってお喋りしていました。
紅い布張りのソファに座ったおじさん方は、皆さん紅いネクタイを締めています。...
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Parsing「図々しくはなれなかった」
From 義妹生活, 浅村 got asked what does he think about 綾瀬 and it went like this
「……。美人……、だとは思います。はい」素直に答えた。
歯切れが悪くなってしまうのは、これから家族として一緒に暮らす異性のことをそんなふうに形容してしまうことへの罪悪感で胸の奥がモヤモヤするからだ。
人間関係に関するスタンスは近いものがありそうだけど、...
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What are the proper usages and the meaning of くはある / くはない?
I recently learnt the contrastive usages of the は particle and I read the Tofogu article which has an interesting section which says I can use は contrast marker with the adjectives/nouns positive and ...
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When to use は、に or no particle?
I mostly understood the particles in Japanese, but there is still one thing I couldn't get over with. And that is the following problem:
I do not exactly know, when to use は、に or no particle. It's ...
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Can the は particle be a topic and contrast marker at same time?
I know the は particle can function as a topic marker or contrast marker. But can it be topic and contrast marker at the same time?
Here are a few examples:
A) ビールは飲{の}まない。
B) 肉{にく}は食{た}べないけど魚{さかな}は食{...
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What's the difference between the particle は and the combined particles では and には?
I know that は can be translated as 'speaking of...' or 'as for...', but what's the difference between saying ここは 'speaking of here/as for here' to ここには?
In the same frame of reference from the ...
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Uses of double が, or が + は, in the same sentence, in Japanese
This sentence:
もう少しディスプレイが大きいのはありませんか。
is supposed to mean:
Do you have one with a slightly larger display?
However, I don't understand why もう少し doesn't go attached to 大きい, since the former is ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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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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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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 ...
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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。
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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